Ciao da Roma!

This past weekend, I decided to be spontaneous and take a day trip to the beautiful city of Bologna, the home of spaghetti alla bolognese (aka spaghetti with meat sauce), some of the best red wine in Italy, and medieval architecture.  Upon going there, I did not know what to expect, as this beautiful city in the Emilia-Romagna province is one less traveled by Americans.  However, I thought I would take the plunge and check it out.

When I got off my fast train from Rome, I immediately went to a wonderful restaurant for lunch called the Ristorante Donatello.  For my meal, I ordered a glass of house red wine, lasagna, and tiramisu.  The red wine tasted very full bodied, almost like a cabernet, but with a bit of a fruitier after taste, which regardless, paired very well with my lasagna.  The pasta used in the lasagna was a spinach pasta, topped with a hearty, meaty ragu sauce.  The tiramisu, in my opinion, was the best part of the meal.  It was served in a martini glass, where the cake part was topped on top of a custard-like frosting.

After lunch, I decided to take a look at the central plaza, the Piazza Maggiore, where I found the central cathedral of Bologna.  As you can see from the featured picture, the Cathedral was absolutely massive, breath-taking, and an utter delight to visit.

Once I spent about half an hour inside the cathedral seeing the various alters (unfortunately cannot be pictured because photography was not allowed inside the cathedral), I ventured along a main street to Bologna’s most famous set of towers, Le Due Torre.  One of the towers had not been completed, as construction was forced to stop in the 12th century.  However, the other tower had been completed, and its inside is currently accessible to tourists.

For just three euros, I was able to make the hike to the top, which, if you decide to go there, is a hike.  Although I was out of breath once I got to the top, the views of the entire city of Bologna were incredible.

For the next several hours, I decided to wander the streets of Bologna and visit the numerous parks and shops in the city.  Once I got tired, I went to a gastropub called Swinebar, where I was able to get another glass of red wine.  This time, I ordered a Sangiovese red, which was paired with some simple crackers and olives.  Since I had time to kill until my train back to Rome, I headed to another restaurant, Caffe Roberto, where I got a 7 euro aperitivo special.  For just 7 euros, I got a glass of house red wine, cured meats, cheeses, crackers with aole spread, tomato topping, and peppers.  The setting was very tranquil, as I was able to read my book, sip on wine, and relax in peace in the center of town.

All in all, this experience of traveling by myself and taking the chance of a new city was incredible.  Because I enjoyed myself so much, I decided to take another spontaneous day trip this coming weekend.  Tomorrow I head for Genoa, and I cannot wait to continue my travels.

Ciao per ora,

-I

Two weekends ago I had the privilege of visiting Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica.  The trip was organized entirely by USAC, which is the program I am studying abroad through. USAC organizes two field trips per semester and the field trips vary depending on the semester. While in Monteverde we spent the first day hiking around the national park, and the second day we went zip lining.  We zip lined through the Cloud Forest. The location was stunning and zip lining is always a fun time. To my surprise zip lining was not my favorite part of the trip. My favorite part was the view at the end of the hike on the first day. The lookout in the Cloud Forest absolutely took my breath away. A picture of the view should be attached below, but like anything truly amazing, a picture cannot do it justice.  I would recommend Monteverde to anyone and everyone who is considering visiting Latin America.

Last weekend my friends and I visited Puerto Viejo. Monteverde still remains my favorite location in Costa Rica, however Puerto Viejo has some of the best beaches I have seen. The coast is full of clear water, and when I went swimming I saw hundreds of little fish attempting to blend in with the ocean floor. Some of the braver fish would brush against our feet and legs as we walked. Unlike Tamarindo, there were no large rocks on the sea floor, which are very hazardous to surfing. The beach was simply clear water and fine light sand.

Another thing Puerto Viejo has to offer which is unique to the area is the Jaguar Wildlife Rescue.  The Rescue Center was founded by two biologists, and provides proper veterinary care to wild animals who were injured or abandoned.  The Center offers tours twice a day which allow visitors to interact directly with the animals. When we visited they let us go into the baby monkey enclosure.  The monkeys would occasionally climb on some of us tourists, however they seemed rather attached to their caretakers, all of whom are volunteers.

I understand that all of my fun stories are from traveling various places, but I still do go to school.  While Costa Rica is a beautiful country, and has provided me with many wonderful experiences, it would not be worth studying abroad here if the school I was going to did not benefit me. Thankfully, I have been learning a great deal of Spanish in and out of the classroom. Costa Rica has proved to be an amazing experience.

Until next time,

April Skillings

This past weekend was hands down the best I’ve had while abroad. I knew from the moment we landed in Madrid that it would ruin me. There’s no way a culture that believes in sleepless weekends, tapas, house-made sangria, and excessive amounts of pork would fall short of a personal heaven. Although Madrid is easily covered within a weekend, I would have happily stayed the rest of my semester.

Our first day in Madrid was spent seeing all the tourist essentials: The Prado Museum, El Retiro, Plaza Mayor, The Market of San Miguel, Gran Via, Puerta del Sol, etc. Usually, site seeing is stressful at best. Waiting in line for entrance to museums or fighting off other tourists to get that “perfect shot” of some stereotypical monument usual but in Spain the agenda was altered. It was more easy going. The city of Madrid was very walkable, so we never took public transit but willingly got lost running into grand plazas and quaint cafes in the process. It was a relaxed day wandering around and with the weather on our side we decided to find some good tapas for dinner. Tapas, for those unfamiliar, is small plates of traditional Spanish dishes that are meant to accompany drinks (remember that house-made sangria I mentioned before?).

Throughout the weekend we frequented Museo del Jamon which literally translates into “the museum of ham.” At first I was skeptical of this chain of restaurants, but with legs of ham lining the walls and hoards of people always crowding the bar how bad could it be? The answer: not bad at all, actually quite amazing. For around 3 euro you got your pork fix with a bacon and cheese sandwich and a beer. They also had a deli counter where mass quantities of Spain’s specialty of Iberico ham could be purchased. Evidence of Spain’s love for ham doesn’t solely exist in entire restaurants being dedicated to swine, but rather how pigs are treated. Some pigs are only fed chestnuts and acorns in an effort to produce the purest pork possible.

This type of care for Spanish cuisine extended to nearly everything we ate that weekend, which is not a far stretch from Italian food. One stark contrast between Madrid and Rome, however, was how clean the city was. Madrid looked as though it had been cleaned thoroughly with a toothbrush. There wasn’t garbage laying around and each boutique or restaurant or cafe was not only in pristine condition but so freakin’ friendly! Everyone we encountered those three days was more than willing to help us, whether it be for directions or for a suggestion on where to grab the best paella in town.

If I hadn’t bought a return flight to Rome, I would still be exploring Madrid. A city that offers hospitality, beauty, and delicious food gives no incentive to leave. I’m confident I’ll be back someday ready and willing to dive deeper into Spanish culture. Adios, until next time Madrid.

Before I arrived in Rome, before I had even heard what other study trips were being offered for the Fall 2014 semester, I had already set my heart on the Poland study trip. A year ago, my best friend of 17 years had been a part of this excursion and she had urged me to go, claiming it was the best trip JFRC offered and that “everyone who didn’t go was jealous.” I was sold.
October tenth finally arrived, and we Ryanaired our way to a tiny airport an hour outside of the city center of Warsaw. Going into the city by bus opened my eyes to suburban and rural areas of Poland, which, oddly enough, reminded me of my home in Chicago.

Warsaw was an autumn wonderland: red, orange, and yellow leaves spiraling down from tall trees, fountains bubbling in the misty morning air, and plenty of parks to enjoy these fall spectacles in. Our tour guide, a self-proclaimed patriot named Adrian who was kind enough to give us the tours for free and also herd us on and off public transportation, led us around the city showing us where the uprising had occurred and where the Jewish ghetto once stood during the horrors of World War II.

Once our time in Warsaw was up, all 14 of us packed our things and crammed into tiny train compartments that fit eight people each. In these train cars, with our bags tucked neatly overhead, I found myself reflecting on the strength of our JFRC community. Sure, some of us were friends beforehand, but only two days into the trip and I was already feeling an incredible and unique bond with my travel companions, and that bond would only grow as the week went on.

Following a three-hour journey, we started our Torun experience with an incredibly moving documentary called “Ghosts of Rwanda” that would set the stage for the Human Rights and a Just Society Symposium and left me sobbing in a very cold movie theater.

The main event of Torun was held at Nicholas Copernicus University, we had the immense privilege of being a part of the symposium. There, Carl Wilkins, the only American to stay in Rwanda during the genocide, his wife Theresa, and a panel of other international lawyers shared their unique views on genocide and what has to be done to prevent it and the necessary steps that have to be taken in the attempts to fix a society that has gone through such terror.

That night, we had one of the best dinners of my life (just a huge skillet of meat, vegetables and pierogi, so many pierogi!) and attended a gathering with the Loyola alumni at a lovely Polish brewery where they serve gingerbread beer!
The next day we mentally prepared ourselves for an emotionally taxing day as we set out for Auschwitz. There is so much that could be said about this experience, but I think I can sum it up in one word: vital. I truly believe that it is vital for us as humans to travel to this place and see and learn about what the prisoners and the people who died there had to go through. It is important to keep the stories of these brave people alive so that we can ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. The most unusual thing about the camp, though, was its incredible beauty. Surrounding the barracks where people suffered and prayed for salvation are towering trees just now changing color with the season. All around, these beautiful leaves fall on the brick and dirt roads leading through camp as if the Earth itself was trying to apologize for what horrific things happened there. For the entirety of our journey through this solemn place, hardly a word was said.

Auschwitz was a truly transformative place. After delving into a place of true evil and horror, I was able to feel a stronger bond with those JFRC students who had chosen the same fall break trip as I had for many of the same reasons. It turns out more than just a small portion of the global population care about human rights, and this simple, small fact made me feel so much closer with not only my companions, but also the world.

From the beginning to the end I found that every bit of the study trip was infested with magic. I was able to experience a refreshingly beautiful and hopeful country with truly amazing people, and I hope JFRC continues to offer this absolutely life-changing trip for years to come. Thank you JFRC for providing your students with such a wonderful and transformative experience!

Another weekend has come and gone in Costa Rica! Time flies so fast when you’re having fun!

This weekend I went to a province in Costa Rica called Limon. Here we stayed in Puerto Viejo, on the Caribbean side of the country. It was my first time on this side, thus far we have been traveling to the Pacific beaches. We stayed at a hostel that was located on a beach called Playa Negra, where the sand was literally black!

This part of the country was a completely new experience. We woke up early, rented some bikes and found our way to the the Jaguar Wildlife Refuge. This was the closest I have ever gotten to a sloth! On top of that, I got to hold and play with a baby monkey! This was the MOST AMAZING experience in the world!

The motto of Costa Rica is PURA VIDA. This is used as a greeting, a farewell, it means ok, and so much more. The phrase means much more than it’s literal translation of pure life. By saying Pura Vida, people really mean, relax, take it easy, everything will be alright. This is definitely something I feel every time I visit a beach. The beach areas are full of tourists, but there are always those little beaches that are full of locals, and to my experience, these are the BEST beaches. This is where you really feel Costa Rica.

I only have another 4 weekends left in this amazing country. It is so sad to think that I will be leaving behind a country I have fallen in love with.

Pura Vida!

After this weekend I have truly experienced most of “must do” activities of Italy! On Saturday a group of friends and I woke up at the crack of dawn to catch an early train down to Naples for a day trip. Once there, we hopped on another train that took us out to the ancient roman city of Pompeii. So many of the ruins were in such amazing condition! There were still many frescos on the walls and it was very easy to picture what the town might have looked like back in the day before the famous explosion of Mt. Vesuvius. The weather was great; my only wish was that I knew more about what I was looking at! The best part of the whole experience was getting to hear one of the tour guides sing opera in the ancient theater. I would have been extremely bummed had I left Italy without seeing Pompeii!

In the afternoon we headed back to Naples. We knew very little about the city, we just knew we had to get pizza! Right off the bat, we headed over to L’antica Pizzeria da Michele to wait in line for the best-rated pizza in town. If you have ever seen Eat, Pray, Love staring Julia Roberts, this is the same place she ate at! Let me tell you, it was the best pizza I have EVER had. You wouldn’t think a simple margarita could taste so amazing, but every ingredient was spot on!

Naples is known for a variety of other foods and we sampled them throughout our day. They are the birthplace of espresso, so stayed well caffeinated with delicious cafes done in the Neapolitan style. We also had lemon granite that was SO GOOD. Granita is a slushy like dessert made of ice and flavoring. I don’t know exactly what it looks like in its traditional form but the modern day electronic slushy-maker style still tasted amazing to me!

Naples is a beautiful city! Since it can be a little sketchy at night the city has gotten somewhat of a bad name, especially at our Rome campus. We weren’t there for long but I enjoyed it enough to want to go back! I don’t think it is totally deserving of its bad reputation. The location is too beautiful, the food too good, and the culture of the buildings, churches, and everything else to unique, to pass up.

In addition to my excursion down to Naples, this weekend I attended my first AS Roma soccer game! Since soccer is such a big deal all across Italy, it is an important part of one’s Rome experience to cheer on our home team. I was not disappointed by the excitement of the fans! Everyone is so into the game, the excitement is entirely contagious! Big games, especially against they’re rival Lazio, can get really out of hand; Fortunately we won against Turin 3-0. All in all, I would definitely go again! I would love to go with some native Romans that can teach me all of the cheers that the crowd chants!

One of the obvious expectations of studying abroad is constant traveling. Being in Europe puts a person near so many beautiful and cultured countries. I had this image of myself on a bus every weekend, ending up in the Netherlands, Germany, or France, coming home dazed and with an artifact on my lap from each city. Over the summer, I couldn’t imagine there’d be any limitations to this beautiful plan. My class schedule isn’t too full. Why not?!

I realized ‘why not’ when I started booking tickets to these romanticized places. Prices add up and a trip every weekend hits hard on the bank account.

Two weekends ago, I visited a friend in St. Andrews, Scotland and there was an error with my train ticket into the country. When I thought the original price was 39 pounds (About 63 dollars), it was 130 (About 209 dollars)!

My heart broke.

The following week, I booked flights to Spain and Paris during Reading Week – our Fall Break equivalent. Flight after flight I began to lose my excitement for taking future trips solely because I’m feeling sure that I won’t be able to afford them. I’m thinking of going on two or three more, but I’d hate to come home with no souvenirs and feeling defeated because airline companies ate all my money.

And so, to make up for the realization that fun isn’t always free, I decided a full weekend in London, doing things like a tourist would be perfect. I should get to know the city I’m living in anyway!

But there’s a catch and a challenge. Everything I did had to be free! I found this to be a challenge indeed, but here we go.

A continuously updated List of Touring London on a Student Budget:

STEP 1: Go to a Museum

I went to the British Museum expecting to spend an hour or two absorbing the usual museum painting and statues, but the British museum is huge. I visited maybe 5 out of the 32 (if I recall correctly) displays. The exhibits had art and cultures from various time periods and each different continent, sometimes individual countries. Almost three and a half hours later I forced myself to move on.

Step 2: Realize your original itinerary may change

The Westminster Abbey is large, beautiful, famous and highly suggested for all tourists. Also, entrance is  £15.00 for students. I’d really like to go see this renowned church and I was also hoping to get to the Tower of London (which was also on my To-see list for  £18.70). At this point I had to re-evaluate. My tourist weekend should be filled with popular sites in the big city that I should write home about! But I can’t afford all of these big city things in one day.

UPDATE: 888,246 ceramic poppies are set up outside the tower of London to honor each life lost during WW1.

Step 3: Realize there are always free events to attend

After rerouting from Westminster Abbey, I went to Trafalgar Square, known for its contemporary art installments and hosting lively events. I went for the view and stumbled into an American Football rally! The entire Atlanta Falcons team was there, so cheers to the NFL coming to England once a year and keeping my day spontaneous. That night, Thrill the World took place, encouraging zombie dressed persons to dance the famous Michael jackson ‘Thriller’ dance in Covent Garden for Halloween.

Step 4: Treat yourself!!

After saving some many, I’m hoping it’s okay to buy a think here or there. Turns out Trafalgar Square is a very short walking distance from Covent Gardens, which is home to shops, food, and more events. On the way, you’ll pass by some other enjoyable things, such as the theatre. London is very well known for it’s live arts, but it didn’t quite hit me until every magazine, tube station, street vendor and more brought up tickets to a new show. And since student prices are so tempting, I bought ticket! The following week I saw The Scottsborough Boys, a musical detailing the real lives of 9 black men convicted of raping two white women in the 1930s. Deep topic, but an entertaining night out.

Step 5: Research

There are always events going on in large places. There are people. There are holidays. There are people who want out the house. Join them! Don’t know where to go?  A quick google search or look on Time Out or Thrillist will help you out. I ended up at Apple Day, a local fall celebration, as well as an art installment further down the road. Local artist, Alex Chinneck, created a full sized two story house made out of wax. It was very interesting to see it being melted away.

Step 6: Call a friend!

After spending a month and a half here I’ve of course met some locals from my classes. I went bowling the other day! While it wasn’t exactly free, it’s cheap and you can spend quite some time having fun with people who are happy to show you around.

Theres fun to be found around every corner! So keep turning them and enjoy the foreign day. I’ll keep trying to explore London in my last month. More to come!

Lydia

It is the final stretch. I have 19 days left in Costa Rica. It is amazing to me how fast time really does fly by. All of the people I know call my friends I just met three months ago, and sooner than we know it we will go our separate ways. I am so grateful for all of the people who make me excited to go home. I have not seen most of my friends at Loyola since May, and I cannot wait to see them again. This will be the first Thanksgiving that I have ever been away from family. I can take comfort in knowing that I return the week right after Thanksgiving with enough time to get into the holiday spirit before Christmas.

Our adventures in Costa Rica have become increasingly more laid back compared to the first few months, during which we traveled almost every weekend.  Last weekend we spent our time playing basketball in a nearby town and visiting local bakeries. This weekend we took a day trip to San Jose to go souvenir shopping for our families and ourselves.  Getting to know the area we live in is just as important as discovering the rest of Costa Rica, and to be honest I think we all got a little tired of traveling.

In the upcoming week I have a presentation and two papers due. We do not have class on Friday so that we can meet with the other study abroad groups in Costa Rica and have an end of the year fiesta. I have been promised futbol and BBQ, so needless to say, I’m excited.

The thing I miss most about home, besides the people, is everything that makes home unique. The variety in restaurant choices, Chicago’s skyscrapers, and dare I say it, I miss the snow. Costa Rica has been a wonderful experience for me, and I would not change a thing about my decision to study where I did. That being said, I cannot wait to go back and step outside into a cold that takes your breath away. (I will then quickly run inside and hide in a snuggie for the next four to five months, but that’s as much a part of living in Chicago as anything else.)

What. A. Week. It’s been an incredible, exhausting, hilarious, crazy, and absolutely wonderful ten days. I’m so tired but also so delightfully fulfilled. This past week was our North and Central Vietnam excursion, planned and led by the Loyola program. It was so much fun, but so much traveling … We flew into Danang, spent a few days in Hoi An and then drove to Hue, the imperial city. And then we flew to Hanoi, took a day trip to Halong Bay, and ended with a weekend in Sapa, a northern mountain town. It was a lot of moving and schlepping our bags, but we saw so many beautiful things and hit so many famous tourist sights. To be completely honest, I don’t even know how to fit everything we saw into this post–but I’m going to try!! Here we go …

We flew into Danang on Thursday morning, and then drove about an hour to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Hoi An, where we had a delicious lunch and checked into our cute hotel. We spent the next four days touring this wonderful little village … biking the winding roads, sampling local street food, shopping in the most adorable boutiques, making multicolored lanterns, and relaxing on the sunny beach. It was so much fun to just chill and appreciate the lively, happy culture that just seeps from every corner of this little town. I fell absolutely in love, if you cannot already tell!! We also took two morning excursions–one to a local organic vegetable farm (YUM!) and one to My Son, a cluster of ancient Cham ruins located in the nearby mountains … both were absolutely gorgeous. Hoi An is also world-renowned for its incredible tailor shops … I had my absolute dream J.Crew navy blazer made overnight! So convenient, so cheap, and one huge item on my (already extensive) wish list checked off! Sunday was our final day in Hoi An, which we thankfully had “off.” I spent the day relaxing by the pool and biking around with miss Ashley (and maybe doing some more shopping. Who knows.)

We checked out of our hotel on Monday morning, and drove four hours north by bus to Hue, the imperial city. Another UNESCO World Heritage site, this city was a lot less touristy than Hoi An, but not nearly as adorable. That afternoon, we saw the ancient imperial citadel, followed by a evening boat ride down the Perfume River and a tour of a beautiful tiered pagoda … it was all so beautiful. Sadly, I had a slightly bad taste of Hue–quite literally! Hue is known internationally for its local delicacies, but after sampling some dishes, such as bun bo hue, both in Saigon and Hue itself, I was totally grossed out. Not my favorite. Oh well, Tuesday afternoon we were off to new places (and better foods) … this time on a flight up north to Hanoi!!

Dear family

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who hated wearing jeans, loved animals more than anything, and dreamed of travelling the world everyday. She would look at maps of the world and wonder when she could go to the places that seemed only finger lengths away on the map, but where she knew was truly thousands of miles away. This little girl would sit on the edge of her seat listening to the stories her grandmother would tell of travelling to Russia, the tales her mother and godmother had from their time in Africa, the magical fairytale her aunt told about her 16th birthday in London, and her father’s stories about driving through Germany and the rest of Europe.

Soon, this little girl, no more than five feet tall, started to grow up. As she entered high school and began taking Mandarin, Chinese, she wondered if the day would ever come when she could actually go to China and use the language and experience the culture. At night, when she couldn’t sleep, she would go on United Airlines’ website and search for flights to Taipei, Seoul, or Barcelona. She dreamed and dreamed, but was never really sure when she would make it to these beautiful and mysterious countries. She was content with her day dreams, but she always yearned for the day that she would be able to get herself there.

Then, in the summer of 2011, a miracle happened. Thanks to her generous, wonderful, and loving family, she had the privilege of  flying across the world to China. That summer, she got to taste what it was like to travel and what it was like to experience something entirely new; a culture so different, she was sometimes overwhelmed, but always excited. She knew, when she touched down in Chicago after 10 days in a country that would take up a special place in her heart, that she would forever be fighting off wanderlust.

Now, a little over three years later, this little girl is all grown up and is sitting at a desk in Rome thinking about how she got here.

I knew from the beginning that my family was incredible. We have been through good times and bad times together, and I know we have only grown stronger. It is all thanks to them that I was able to fulfil my major life long dream of studying abroad. I could not have done this without their constant support of every kind and never ending belief in me.

I am so grateful for all I have been blessed with that it is extremely hard to put it into words. Everything that I have been given, all the opportunities that I have had here that I know not everyone will get to experience, all of the love that I have been given every day of my life, it is all thanks to them. I have been given so much more than I could ever ask for, and I owe it all to my personal cheerleaders, my own collection of people who have loved me through my good moments and my bad ones.

So, thank you to my mother and my father! Thank you to my brother and my sister! Thank you to My godmother, my grandmother, and my aunt! Thank you to my cousins and my other aunts and uncles who have supported me!

I do not know how I could ever repay all of you for the impossible amount of priceless gifts you have given me, but I will try every day to show you how grateful I am and how much I have grown as a person because of you all. Every step of the way, I wished all of you could be there with me.

Thank you so, so much for giving me something so incredible, most would say it’s impossible: thank you so much for giving me the world!