Country – Page 13 – #RamblersAbroad

Hello Ho Chi Minh City!

By luctechco | January 17, 2018

Hello all! These past few days in Vietnam have been absolute chaos, but in the best way possible. Classes have just started, but I have already learned a lot just by living in Vietnam for around a week now (I don’t even exactly know how many days I’ve been here due to the time change, but we will get into that in a little bit). For this first post, I think I’m just going to talk about some of the experiences I’ve had on my way over and the first few days, so if you want to follow me along my 8,697-mile journey to Vietnam just keep reading.

In classic Emily style I didn’t start packing for my four-month journey until the week before I left. I tried to pack light knowing that Ho Chi Minh City can average around 30 degrees Celsius, so you know, only 86 degrees Fahrenheit. That is quite the change from the frigid and now snowy weather in Chicago. I don’t think I’m adjusted to the heat yet, but the key is to drink a lot of water and have Gatorade packets to keep electrolytes up. We are very lucky to have air conditioning and we sure do use it.

Saying goodbye was a lot harder than I had thought and one highlight from the airport included my goodbyes. Before I left the US, I wanted to make sure I had Vietnamese dong with me when I landed so I don’t rack up too many international ATM fees. I didn’t realize I needed to go through security to get to the correct currency exchange location and I only knew this as I was almost to the front of the line. Almost like a movie, the camera pans and you see me dash out of line to find my mom and boyfriend to say goodbye before I go through security and not have to go through everything again and end up being late and miss my flight. After a good tearful goodbye, I was off on my way!

Let’s get things straight: a 22-hour flight is not fun. I know, shocking? I flew to Shanghai and had a layover which was interesting to say the least. You meet so many people while in long lines to go through security again which I do think was my highlight of my flights. One girl was just backpacking and didn’t really have a plan for when she lands in Vietnam and my mind still wanders to what she is doing right now. The second flight was not as rough as the first as it was a lot shorter and I slept through it like a baby. Once I landed at the wonderful time of 2:00am Vietnamese time, program members picked me and a few other Loyola students I had met up with to bring us to the dorm we are staying at.

Prepare yourself because I’m about to rant about Vietnamese food and drinks now so hold tight. Vietnamese iced coffee (cà phê sữa đá) is a staple here and a great way to socialize as there are so many coffee shops around Saigon (another name for Ho Chi Minh City by the way). It’s iced coffee with condensed milk and tastes nothing like the bitter coffee experiences I’ve had at home. Street food is also a vital part to my experience. Street vendors are almost everywhere selling various kinds of food, which by the way are all delicious. I’ve eaten so much phở this past week its ridiculous, but I’m not even mad because its so good.

I came to Vietnam without many expectations as I have never visited Southeast Asia before, but I have been surprised many times over. Motorbikes are a huge part of the city here. They are certainly the majority in the streets over cars and do there own thing all the time. They are a very convenient way to get around, but man do they like to not follow any rules. Driving on the sidewalks are not out of question as well as ignoring traffic patterns. They do seem very scary, but slowly I’ve gotten used to them. Walking through the streets with “predictability and a slow pace” is how to attack getting one place to another. The bikes will go around you and it is very safe and kind of fun after a bit of an adjustment. The public buses are also something very soon. They slow to almost a stop when they pick you up, but you have to be prepared to flag them down to pick you up as well as hop onto a slow rolling bus.

As I close out this entry, I do want to say a few things to anyone thinking about coming to Vietnam to study abroad: do it. It’s like living in a dream. There are some difficulties I’ve encountered like the 13-hour time difference from Chicago (saying good morning to everyone as they say good night to me is still pretty odd) and not knowing Vietnamese at all, but I do not regret my decision at all. Every Vietnamese student I’ve met has been so open and warm to us, the classes I’ve been to so far have already opened my mind, and the faculty has been wonderfully helpful. I’ve been asked “Why Vietnam?” so many times and the best way I’ve responded is “Why not?”. Yes, this is all very new and can be odd, but to learn you have to be uncomfortable in some sense.

If I don’t stop myself now, I’ll keep talking forever but, I can’t wait to keep everyone updated on my semester at the Vietnam Center!

Emily Hansen

From Home to Rome

By luctechco | January 14, 2018

It’s been a crazy couple of days already. Well it’s actually only been 5 days. Throughout my time here, I have learned a lot. I’ve learned that snacks in airports are crazy expensive. I’ve learned that having a 9-hour flight can suck. I’ve learned that it is possible to get the stomach flu within the first two days abroad ANDD…I’ve technically learned a lot of things. Fun right?

There’s a lot you can expect when studying abroad but you are never truly prepared for it until you make it to your destination. So for those who are curious or want to know what one may go through when studying abroad, let me give you a recap of what I’ve gone through so far.

The first day was hectic and emotional because not only did I not know what to expect, but I was also not ready to say goodbye to my family, friends, and loved ones. It didn’t hit me that I was going to leave all of them for such a long until my final week at home. It was harder because I have never been away from home. Ever. So to study abroad in Rome, somewhere far far away, was a huge step. I started counting down the days and hours until I left and I was honestly dreading the little amount of time I had left. It wasn’t something I was used to.

So if you plan to study abroad, but you have never been away from home, expect to feel like this. Don’t worry though. That feeling will go away with all the great adventures and long walks you go on (literally). I only knew one person in my program, but with all of the outings I’ve had I’ve been able to make a good group of friends. Don’t be shy and, especially, don’t be sad to be away from home. Go head first and embark yourself in this incredible journey you are in!

Another thing…packing is hard. I literally wear a different set of clothes everyday, so to limit myself to only a suitcase and carry-on for my study abroad trip was a struggle. Right now, I still miss my clothes at home. Packing was hard because you literally want to bring everything, but also because you feel like you are leaving a part of you behind (not to be cheesy). Don’t panic! You will have tons of opportunities to buy stuff over there for a cheaper price and better quality. Also, you will have the opportunity to discover a new you through all the experiences you go through, which may include a new fashion style!

Don’t overpack, but also don’t underpack. Currently, I’ve been wearing the same yoga pants for 4 days because I only brought two pairs (sad times). Also, start packing ahead of time because you’re going to need all the time to weight your suitcases and triple check the clothes you bring. I know somebody here who actually forgot to bring their pajamas. Oh! Leave the heels at home. There is way too many hills and rocks for you to be able to efficiently walk in those.

Once I got through the struggle of packing and dealing with my feeling, I was able to start enjoying my journey. The very first day I got here I went to eat gelato and visit the Trevi Fountain. It was amazing! It didn’t feel like I was in Rome until that moment. It was great and I was low-key having a Lizzie McGuire moment when I threw my coin in the Trevi Fountain.

In that moment, I knew I’d enjoy my three to four months here. I was obviously going to miss home and everybody that was there. I was going to miss my mom’s food, my dog, the Chicago skyline, and everything about home. However, I knew that great experiences would be formed here. After going through so many orientation sessions and making some new friends, I am ready to start off school. I am ready to take on new challenges in a new country, surround myself in a different culture, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

For those of you who are reading this and are thinking about studying abroad…DO IT. Even if it is just a winter or summer term. It will be worth it. For those of you who are reading this for funsies or because you were curious…well now you know what I’ve gone through so far. It’s been a rollercoaster full of emotions, but in between all of that, memories have been made already.

I hope to make even more memories so I can continue updating you, but for now CIAO!

P.S: Here’s a picture of me finally visiting the Colosseum 🙂

Amsterdam, aka cutest city ever!

By luctechco | December 14, 2017

Hello!

So, after the week that my sister and cousins visited me, I went to Amsterdam! My friends went there sooner, but I couldn’t go on Friday because my family was still in Madrid, so I met up with them on Saturday.

When I arrived, I took the airport shuttle to the hotel we were staying in for the weekend to meet up with my friends. Then, we went back to the airport and got on the train that took us to the central station in the city. When we got there, I was so happy to see how cute Amsterdam was and all the Christmas lights everywhere. It was the first city that I’ve gone to where they had some Christmas decorations and I loved seeing them! It made me really homesick though, but I tried not to think about that because I was in the cutest city ever!

We were starving so after walking around a little, we found a place that had gluten free pasta and it was really good. After that, we made our way to the I Amsterdam sign and went ice skating! It was so fun! I can’t ice skate very well, but I didn’t fall at all so I call that a win! However, my friends and I saw a girl fall and she definitely broke her wrist. It was so crazy. My friends and I (also nursing majors) tried to help her and make sure she was going to get help. We were all careful after that. Anyway, it was so fun and it was also hailing at one point and for some reason that made it even better haha! When we were done, we were literally freezing so we decided to go buy some hot chocolate. It was amazing because my hands were literally frozen. Then, we were pretty hungry so we stopped at a place that was selling fries and literally whatever sauce you want. I tried it with spicy mayo and it was so good! We continued walking around while eating our fries and just enjoyed seeing the city! It was a really good day! We were pretty tired though, so we made our way to the hotel.

The next day, we woke up early and made our way to the Anne Frank house! We had a little history lesson before and then got to go inside the Secret Annex. I read her diary as a kid, so I was really looking forward to actually seeing it! It was really cool and an amazing experience, and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to see it. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for her and her family to live there for 2 years. She wrote in her diary that they couldn’t run water or speak too loudly out of fear that the people below the Secret Annex would hear them. It’s amazing how much of an inspiration she is, and that there are millions of unknown stories just like hers. The Anne Frank house was definitely my favorite part of the trip!

After, we bought some souvenirs and had a little snack. I tried a stroopwafel (which has gluten in it lol oops) and it was sooo good! It’s made of two thin layers of dough with caramel in the middle and is a popular snack in the Netherlands. Definitely worth eating gluten for. After that, we went to the Van Gogh museum and got to see a lot of his amazing artwork and see how it developed throughout his life. It was a really cool museum! After the museum, we got dinner at a pancake place. Since they didn’t have any gluten free pancakes, I ordered an omelette which was actually really good. We continued walking around Amsterdam after that, and got even more fries. They were so good I had to get more! Eventually, we made our way back to the hotel for our early flight the next morning. It was a pretty short trip, but I definitely enjoyed my time in Amsterdam! I wish I could have seen the bench from the fault in our stars, but we actually forgot. It was okay though because the original one was stolen lol. There’s one next to it that everyone uses for pictures, but it’s not actually the same one from the movie. If it was, I definitely wouldn’t have forgotten. Anyway, I loved Amsterdam and it was an amazing trip!

best week ever!!

By luctechco | December 7, 2017

Hey everyone!

So this is a little late because I’ve been super busy lately, but Thanksgiving week was my favorite week here! My sister, Rachel, and my two cousins, Shannon and Corrin visited me in Madrid! We wanted to go to Barcelona, so we planned a short little trip there. We were only there for 25 short hours, but it was definitely a trip worth taking.

When we arrived, we first went to the Sagrada familia, which was amazing! It was funny because when we were walking there, some buildings were blocking it. Google maps told me that it was like right in front of us and I told my family, “There it is!”. They were confused because we still couldn’t see it and then all of a sudden, it was right in front of us. That moment was so breathtaking and mind blowing. It is so beautiful. Gaudi, the creator of the Sagrada familia, did an amazing job designing it. It is also interesting because it isn’t like a typical Spanish cathedral. It looks very modern and something like I’ve never seen. The painted glass all over the inside is stunning. We all really enjoyed it! Since we were super hungry, we then decided to get some dinner. We found the perfect place right by the Sagrada familia. We sat outside where they had giant heaters, and ate some paella and pasta. It was the perfect dinner right after such an exhausting day. Since my family was super tired from their long flight, we went back to our airbnb and hit the hay.

In the morning, we woke up early to go to Park Guell. If you get there before 8 am, they let you in for free, so we forsure wanted to take advantage of that. We left at around 7:45 am, which should have been enough time because our airbnb is a 5 minute walk from the park. We ended up going the wrong way though, so we made it at 7:59am!! It was a close one, but super funny because we were literally running up a hill so we wouldn’t have to pay. Anyway, Park Guell is the public park designed by Gaudi. His house was even in the park too, and it was funny because we walked right by it and said it was a cute pink house and later we realized it was Gaudi’s house lol. Anyway, the paying section of the park has an amazing view of the city and a really cute area for pictures. Since we were there early, we got to see the sun rise too. It was definitely worth running up the hill lol.

After Park Guell, we decided to be spontaneous and go to the beach! We only had a couple hours till our flight, so we needed to be fast. It took an hour metro ride, a little walk, and then we were there. We were hungry, so we decided to eat lunch at a restaurant on the beach. It was really cool and the ocean was so pretty. It was nice catching up and eating by the water. After lunch, we spent some time on the beach. Corrin and Shannon were looking for sea glass the entire time, and Rachel and I were just hung out and took some pictures. It was really fun and a good last thing to do before leaving. Since Corrin, Shan, and Rach aren’t used to flying in Spain, they were really worried they were going to miss their flight. I wasn’t worried at all because getting through security doesn’t take that long, but they were totally freaking out. Don’t worry though, we made our flight with plenty of time to spare! After arriving in Madrid, we went to burger king for dinner lol. Why burger king in Spain? I don’t know haha. They were hungry and wanted it, so I chose not to argue with them. After that, I checked them into their airbnb and then went home and ate dinner with my host mom.

The next day, I skipped class so I could show my family around. Don’t worry, it was only my dance class. First, we went to Retiro park and went in the little row boats in the pond. It was super fun! At the beginning, Rachel and Corrin were both rowing and it wasn’t really working. We all wanted to try rowing, so we kept rocking the boat while switching seats. Haha I thought we were gonna tip the boat over. Thankfully, we didn’t! After Retiro park, we went to Cherry pecas, a mexican restaurant by my school, for lunch. Our food and drinks were so good! After, we walked around Puerta de Sol, which is the popular shopping and touristy area in Madrid. We went into a million souvenir shops, listened to a mariachi band in the square, and also tried chocolate with churros. (I even had some too because how could I have studied in Madrid without at least trying a bite?) It was sooo good! My cousins didn’t really like it, and I couldn’t believe it! After churros, we made our way back to the airbnb. Rachel, Shannon, and Corrin needed to get up early Tuesday for their day trip to Toledo and El Escorial. Since I have class all day, they planned day trips for Tuesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, we slept in a little bit and then walked around the park by my house. After that, we made our way to cien montaditos, a restaurant that many students go to by my school. Every Wednesday, they have mini sandwiches for 1 euro. They aren’t gluten free, but they have other things like nachos too. We hung out there for awhile and enjoyed the food and tinto de verano. After lunch, I brought Rach, Shan, and Corrin to my flamenco class to watch! They said they really enjoyed it and wanted to join in! My dance teacher, Yolanda, is super funny and speaks only Spanish, so Corrin and Rachel were very confused the whole time. Shannon could understand her though, so she was the translator lol. Anyway, I was really happy that they enjoyed my class! After that, we went to a rooftop bar called Circulo de las Bellas Artes. It had a beautiful view of the city at the top, and we got to watch the sunset! It was a great place to enjoy a glass of wine and talk. We stayed there awhile and then made our way to my house. My host mom had invited my family over for dinner that night for pasta, salad, and some tapas! It was so good (of course because my host mom is a wonderful cook), and my family really enjoyed it! It was cool introducing them to my host mom and showing them where I have been living for the past 3 months!

When we celebrated Shannon’s bday at Ojala!

Thursday was Thanksgiving and Shannons birthday!! Unfortunately, I had a spanish presentation and other classes, so I couldn’t go to Segovia and Avila with them. I already went to Segovia though, so it didn’t really matter. After my classes, I met up with them and we went to a restaurant that I made reservations for. The restaurant is called Ojala and it has a super cool beach bar in the basement. There is literally sand on the floor and you sit in cute little beach chairs. It was the perfect place to celebrate Shannon’s birthday! We had a great time at the restaurant and then explored Madrid’s night life a little more. It was kinda sad that I couldn’t spend Thanksgiving like I usually do every year, but I was happy I could celebrate it with some of my family. It made me miss my parents and my brother a lot, but it was okay because I knew I was going to be home before I knew it!

On Friday, we woke up and went on a nice walk to the Royal Palace of Madrid! We took a little detour to see the templo de Debod, the ancient Egyptian temple that was donated to Spain. We went at the wrong time though because it is best to see at sunset. It was still cool to see though. When we arrived at the Royal Palace, we decided we needed to go inside. It was super pretty and had so many different rooms. Shannon could not get over the fact that they have a room for just silverware lol. It was a fun last thing to do before they catch their flight back home. I went halfway with them to the airport to say goodbye. It was sad, but I was still excited for my last few trips here. Also, I was going to Amsterdam the next day, so I was super excited about that! Overall, I am beyond grateful that they visited me and enjoyed seeing what I now consider my second home. It was a really amazing week with them!

My Internship in Rome (Final Week)

By luctechco | December 2, 2017

This semester in Rome, I was fortunate enough to get hired as a marketing intern for a company called The Roman Guy. The Roman Guy specializes in various VIP tours of different tourist attractions all around Rome, as well as several local food tours in different areas. As an assignment for my class ROST 370, I am required to reflect on my experience of working as an intern for this company.

This week at the Roman Guy, my boss assigned me several tasks that I had to complete by the end of the week. Some of these tasks were my usual assignments, like finding TripAdvisor reviews and posting them to our website, editing blogs using the blog life cycle rules, and posting three instagram pictures and two stories. However, since this was my last week working as an intern for the Roman Guy, I was also assigned some tasks that were very different. Instead of writing a Rome Key Attraction paper, I was assigned to write my own blog while following all of the rules that I learned this semester. There is so much more than what meets the eye about blog writing. When you write one, you have to follow about 15 different rules of the Blog Life Cycle. These rules range from what kind of title you chose, to the pictures you have, all the way down to how the grammar is composed. This was one of my challenges for this week, because although I learned all of the rules and worked with them throughout the semester, I found it hard to make your blog post still apply to them. For example, my blog could be about whatever I wanted it to be, so I chose to write about three different places in Italy that I went to while studying abroad and what my favorite memories were there. My coworkers loved this blog idea but it was hard to write since everything was in the past tense, which is a rule that the blog life cycle wants you to avoid. In order to make my blog pass all of the rules, I had to figure out how to edit my post and keep it in the past tense, but change some sentence structures in order for the blog to be completely green and good to post. Before starting my internship, I created three learning objectives that I wanted to achieve by the end of my internship. One of the learning objectives that I set for myself was to improve my writing. I believe that I definitely achieved this goal while working as an intern for the Roman Guy, because the majority of the tasks that I had to complete involved writing. This at first was another challenge of mine, because I was not that confident in myself and I thought that all of the tasks that I had to do that involved writing would not turn out well. I overcame this by becoming more confident in myself and my writing, and overall others have told me that I have improved significantly. So far, one of the most impressive things about my internship to date is my co workers and how well good they are at their job. They are some of the most creative people I know and they are always coming up with ideas that are outside of the box. Another thing that impresses me is how well my co workers work as a team together. They are all good friends, and yet they don’t let that get in the way of their work and they can all compose work with one another that is very professional. Overall, I am extremely happy that I decided to do this internship because it has helped me improve in many significant ways and it helped open my eyes up to what my future career could potentially look like. I am extremely blessed to have been able to work at The Roman Guy, and to have such amazing co workers that were constantly pushing me to do better and were so supportive of my decisions. I will forever remember and cherish the memories that I has working as an intern for this company. Thank you for reading about my journey working as an intern for the Roman Guy and ciao for now!

My Internship in Rome (Week 9)

By luctechco | November 23, 2017

This week at the Roman Guy, my boss assigned me several tasks that I had to complete by the end of the week. Some of these tasks were my usual assignments, like finding TripAdvisor reviews and posting them to our website, editing several blogs using the Blog Life Cycle rules, writing a small article about Palatine Hill for our Rome Key Attraction page, and posting three instagram pictures and two stories. Some tasks that I had to do this week that were brand new to me was that my boss, Sian, assigned me two challenges that I had to complete in a specific amount of time. The two challenges that Sian assigned me was that I had to come up with 10 different poll ideas for our Facebook page and try to find pictures for each idea, and the other challenge was that I had to think of two video ideas involving the Vatican and The Colosseum and try to find pictures and create quotes that I could include. Previous classroom knowledge has been helping me so far with my internship because in my previous marketing class that I took last semester, we learned how to create content that will attract followers and other tactics for marketing that I learned are also being used during this internship as well. Before starting my internship, I created three learning objectives that I wanted to achieve by the end of my internship. One of the learning objectives that I set for myself was to learn how to monitor my followers activity involving my content and overall learn how to market more successfully. I have been working towards achieving this learning objective because a lot of my work lately has been focused on instagram and creating content that helps attract more followers. This past week, I learned how to find other bloggers pictures on instagram and reblog them to our page. That way I am giving more attention to the blogger by using their picture on The Roman Foodie’s page and I am also building a relationship with the blogger. Some challenges that I have been facing recently regarding this internship is transportation and schoolwork. I usually have quite difficulty with transportation, because I always just miss the train by a minute and I have to wait another 15 minutes for a new one to come and sometimes that can almost cause me to be late. I am going to fix this for next week by researching the times that the train is coming and make sure that I am at the train station at that time. Another challenge that I have been facing is trying to balance my schoolwork with my internship. This has been kind of difficult for me recently because the end of the semester is coming which means that there are a ton of due dates coming up. I can admit that it can be really hard to balance school and my internship together, but I have been resolving this by working on projects ahead of time and also staying up a little later at night than usual to complete school work after my internship. So far, one of the most impressive things about my internship to date is how much it has been pushing me to be better in marketing and in writing. Before starting my internship, I was nervous that I would not be able to complete the tasks that were giving to me because I didn’t really believe in myself and it all seemed so overwhelming. I am really proud of myself because I have been pushing myself out of my comfort zone and I have been completing all of the tasks that are assigned to me. I am also impressed with how this internship has been helping me with my writing skills, because a lot of my professors have said that they have noticed a difference in my writing compared to the beginning of the semester and I owe it all to this internship. Sadly, next week is my last week working as an intern for The Roman Guy. My expectation for next week is that after learning how to edit other creator’s blogs, I am expected to write my own blog about my experience in Rome and all of the places that have I traveled to. I am also expected to use my own pictures from my experiences here in Italy for this blog. Some other work that I will be expected to do is to keep posting on the Roman Foodie’s instagram page, create more Facebook video ideas, and edit more blogs. So far I have been loving my internship and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for me. Ciao for now!

Cars on the Wrong Side of the Road

By luctechco | November 21, 2017

Ciao!

These past two weekends, I traveled to Ireland and the United Kingdom. Both areas were beautiful yet strange since cars drive on the opposite side of the road. On the ground, there are signs that tell passerby’s exactly which direction to look in. It would have been helpful if I had used it, yet I wasn’t always looking at the ground when crossing a street. I almost died a few times. An easy way to tell a tourist is which way a person looks when crossing the street. Although Ireland is in the European Union, they use the same type of charger shape as the United Kingdom.

I traveled to Dublin, Ireland with two of my friends. The trip had a stressful start leaving the Rome Campus and taking a taxi to the airport. My friends and I made our flight by nine minutes. It took an hour to get to the airport with Rome’s terrible traffic. Many thoughts flooded my mind on what I would do if I missed my flight. It was a good thing we did not. Upon arriving in Dublin, the first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane was the cold. Rome is a tropical climate and Rome’s cold is nothing compared to Ireland’s. For the better part of the weekend, it rained almost the entire time. I was stuffed into layers and layers of clothes. I never left the hostel without a hat, scarf and pair of gloves.

The Irish accent is something both merry and vulgar. The taxi drivers were the most hilarious people I encountered. The pubs were endless. If we didn’t like the first pub we walked into, we just walked to the one right next door or down the street. No one every ordered wine, beer was the substance of the Irish people. It was a good stress relief to come to the pub after a long day of touring through freezing cold rain or windy chills. We went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, St. Patrick’s, Christ Church, Castle of Dublin, and shopped till we dropped. The most popular things to buy in Ireland were wool and Claddagh rings. I purchased a couple of both.

I also went with a tour to the Cliffs of Moher and Galway. It was the worst possible weather day to travel because of endless rain and chilly winds. Upon arriving at the cliffs, it was so foggy that I couldn’t even see the cliff’s I’d paid to see. It was fun despite the weather conditions because I was with a good group of people. We were mainly on the bus because it took three hours to get to the cliffs of Dublin. Then two hours north to get to Galway, then three hours back to Dublin. On the last day, we went started the day with an Irish breakfast and went to the Guinness Factory had toured the museum. I loved Ireland!

The next weekend, I went London to visit my cousin who is studying abroad there. I left Rome Thursday evening, and went shopping the entire day Friday. She let me stay in her apartment and took me around London to all the sites on Saturday along with her sister who flew in from Boston Saturday morning. Saturday was rainy and wet, but it was not as miserable as Ireland. I really did enjoy my time in London. I ate a lot of Indian food because as Mexican food is popular in the United States, Indian food is popular in the United Kingdom.

One thing I was unprepared for but loved was how big and familiar London felt to Chicago. Everything is in English and there are familiar food chains. London has some very huge markets, two of which I shopped at. I went to Camden Market and Portobello Market that is on Notting Hill. I saw the Tower Bridge at night and during the day. London is an hour behind Rome so it got dark very early. Everyone I encountered was very friendly and welcoming. I had no idea that London was bigger than New York! The tube was easy and quick to use. One of my favorite thing was cooking food in, especially breakfast because breakfast is not a thing in Rome. I had avocado toast and eggs every morning!

Ciao for now, next stop will be Vienna Austria!

My Internship in Rome (Week 8)

By luctechco | November 16, 2017

This week at the Roman Guy, I was assigned multiple tasks that I had to complete by a specific time. Some of these tasks were similar to what I have completed in the past, and some others were brand new. Some of the tasks that I accomplished this week we’re finding TripAdvisor reviews and posting them to our website, editing several blog posts using the Blog Life Cycle, writing about The Vatican Museums for our Vatican Tours, posting three instagram pictures and two stories, inviting people on Facebook to like our page, and finding 10 different photos that I will use to help create a video for our Facebook page. Previous classroom knowledge has helped me because a lot of what I learned, such as tactics for gaining followers, in my previous marketing class is being used during this internship as well. Before starting my internship, I created a learning objectives that I wanted to achieve by the end of my internship. One of my learning objectives that I have been working towards completing is to improve my writing skills for blog posts, various social media apps, and articles. I am working towards achieving this objective, because every week I am assigned a different tourism site in Rome and I have to research it extensively and write a small article about it. After I am done writing it, I send it for my boss to be looked over which will then be posted to The Roman Guy’s website when it is complete. I have also been working on improving my writing, because I have to edit several blogs using rules from the Blog Life Cycle. This challenges me because I have to know how to not use a passive voice, use better transitions, and reword sentences to make them shorter because ultimately that is what helps make a blog post good. A challenge that I have been recently facing regarding my internship is transportation. This past week, getting to work was rough because I missed my train and it was delayed a couple of times, and I also had to deal with a crazy Italian lady that was on the train one day that was giving me a hard time for being an American. Although I can’t control other people’s actions, I am going to fix the other problem by leaving an extra 10 minutes early so that I can hopefully avoid missing the train and dealing with delays. So far, one of the most impressive things about my internship to date is how creative my coworkers are. They can come up with really neat ideas involving photography, video, and content posting, and they push me to think more outside of the box in order to make our content be different and catch peoples attention. For the following weeks, I am expected to take full control of our company’s Instagram, The Roman Foodie, and incorporate creative pictures onto the profile and post more frequently. I will also be working on more creative projects that involve creating and editing videos for our Facebook and Instagram page. Besides that as of now, I am expected to keep interacting with followers, writing and editing blog posts, and marketing our social media to followers. So far I have been loving my internship and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for me. Ciao for now!

To bring or not to bring? That is the question.

By luctechco | November 15, 2017

There is something satisfactory about finally finishing packing for a trip. The feeling that you can check something off your list and it’s done. For some, they try to put it off as long as they can because they truly hate packing (me) or their packing is done a week before their trip. The one thing I have learned while studying abroad is packing efficiently. My family and friends are shocked that I have learned to not over pack, but when European dimensions are very constricting and very expensive to check a bag, the college student in you decides it’s time to pack a carry-on. It’s all fun and games until you have to haul your bag over your shoulder through the airport at an unamusing time in the morning or night. That is why I opted for a backpacking backpack and have 10 tips to help you pack.

If you are HESITATING to pack something, don’t do it. Hesitation is reason enough that you do not need to bring it.
Keep your outfits as INTERCHANGEABLE as possible. When traveling to a colder place it’s harder to pack light because sweaters can take up so much room, but if you can mix one or two pieces of your outfit, you’re golden.
ROLL, don’t fold. I cannot stress enough how much room this saves you, especially when it comes to jeans.
Cut the FOOTWEAR. Try to wear your heaviest shoes to avoid putting them in your bag, giving your bag extra weight.
LAY OUT all the clothes you want to take before packing. Seeing everything laid out before you will keep you from over packing.
Leave SPACE in your bag for souvenirs. You’ll buy things, it’ll happen so leave space in your bag so you won’t overstuff it.
Pack a few granola bars or SNACKS just in case. When you’re flying at odd times of the day it’s hard to get food right when you’re hungry, so pack some snacks just in case! They don’t take up much room and you’ll thank me later.
Travel size EVERYTHING. You don’t need a week’s worth of shampoo for a 3-day trip so consolidate your toiletries to smaller sizes, thus giving more room in your bag.
Convert your cash BEFORE traveling. The airport charges horrible rates for converting currency at the airport so to save the hassle do it before.
When in doubt SHOP. Don’t worry if you forget something because chances are you’ll be able to find it where you are going.

Waka Waka (this time for Africa)

By luctechco | November 14, 2017

Hey guys! If you don’t understand the title of this blog post, it’s from Shakira’s song! Anyway, this blog post is mostly about how I went to Africa and crossed another continent off my bucket list, but first I’m going to talk about Halloween.

I’m sure you guys all know what day it was 2 weeks ago. If you say Halloween, you are correct! Halloween in Madrid was very interesting. It is definitely not as big of a deal as it is in the states, so I actually forgot about it. I know, how could I forget Halloween? Well, not everything is decorated all spooky and scary. The only reason I actually remembered was because all the Americans I was around kept talking about it. I definitely wanted to have a chill night and watch halloween movies and eat candy, but my friends wouldn’t let me. They told me I would regret it if I didn’t go out and do something fun, so that’s what we did lol. We had a pretty good night, but Halloween in Madrid is kinda crazy. My friend Shrina can verify that it wasn’t that great, but hey, it was an experience right?

Two weekends ago I went to Morocco, and it was an amazing trip! I knew a lot of friends going, so I have been looking forward to it! It was through Discover Excursions, and it was nice because all of our food, transportation, and hotel was paid for in advance. It was nice to have everything planned out for us, but it was a pretty exhausting trip. We first had to take a 7 hour bus from Madrid to Seville to meet up with the tour guides. Once we met up with them we got on another bus, a ferry, and a bus one more time and then finally made it to the hotel. After 12 hours of travelling, we ate dinner at our hotel and then fell asleep. The next day, we took a 2 hour bus ride to Chefchaouen, aka the blue city! Mostly everything is painted blue, and it is really amazing to see. Unfortunately, it was raining a little bit, but I tried to stay optimistic. When we arrived, we had a tour and then some free time. The tour was really interesting because it is an undeveloped city and houses don’t have ovens and there’s also a communal laundry area where they use river water and washboard type things. It was really interesting to see this different way of life and imagine what it would be like to live there.

Of course we wanted to take a million pictures, so we started at the most famous steps in the city. We ran into these two Irish guys who were professional photographers just travelling, and he saw my bright pink umbrella. He asked if he could borrow it, and then went to show me how I could use it as a “prop” to get really good pictures. It was super funny because this guy was doing really girly poses to show me how I can use the prop. (On my instagram you can see that I followed his advice lol). After, we just walked around and ran into a super nice lady doing henna. My friends and I each got a henna on our hand, and then continued walking around the blue city. Overall, it was a really good day and the bus ride back to our hotel had really pretty views!

That night, we had some free time and then ate dinner. The meal was actually gluten free itself, so they forgot that the dessert wasn’t and that I couldn’t eat it. When I asked him if it had gluten, he took my plate away and brought me back an apple on a pretty plate lol. All my friends were laughing, but I was fine with it. It was a pretty good apple! After dinner, our tour guides told us to meet us on the top floor for a “surprise”. When we arrived they told us to sit against the walls and then presented a Moroccan show! It consisted of 5 men in traditional outfits and 3 of them were dancing and the other 2 were banging on drums. One of the guys at one point was dancing with a tray of candles on his head! It was really cool and super interesting to see, plus everyone was super into it! Then we joined in and had our own little dance party, which made it a super fun night!

The next day, we went to Tangier. We had a little bus tour around the city, where our tour guide described how Tangier is a rapidly expanding city. He said that in the last 20 years it has grown so much that the airport used to be 10 km outside the city, but is now included in the city limits. It was interesting to see an underdeveloped city and also a developed city that is continuing to expand in the same country. Our first stop in Tangier was to the cave of Hercules. It has a famous cut out in the shape of Hercules’ face that has a view of the ocean. The cave got its name from the legend that Hercules pushed apart Africa and Europe. Also, the tour guide told us that there is only a few times a year that you can actually see the sunset from inside the cave. It was interesting to see! Our next stop was to ride camels on the beach! It was really fun, but also a little scary and bumpy! I seriously thought I was going to fall off lol. The baby camels were super cute, and it was a really cool experience. When else can you say that you rode a camel in Africa? Yeah exactly!

After our camel ride, we went to the old section of the city and visited a Moroccan pharmacy where they sold all kinds of natural products. Morocco is known for producing argan oil, so it is actually pretty cheap to buy. In America it is so much more expensive. They sold many different lotions and other products that smelled amazing! There was no way I could walk out without buying something. After that, we spent some time walking around and shopping. Then, we had some lunch and made our way to the ferry to embark on our 12 hour trip back home to Madrid! By the time I got back to Madrid at about 7:30am I was exhausted! It was so much traveling, but definitely worth it in the end!

Last weekend, I stayed in Madrid and got some homework and studying done! I didn’t do too much, so there’s nothing really to blog about. Im super excited about this weekend though because my two cousins, Corrin and Shannon, and also my sister Rachel are coming to visit me! I’ve been a little homesick lately, so I can’t wait to see them and show them around the place I have been calling home for the past 2 and a half months!

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