Venturing into the city center on a random Tuesday afternoon for pranzo (lunch in Italian) is a rarity in the typical university education system. However, for an Italian project, my professor asked us to go to one of her favorite restaurants around the city and order in Italian. My group, consisting of three people total, …
2016 is the year of the monkey and London held quite a celebration for this Chinese New Year. People of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance and it was exciting to experience the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia. With events being held in Trafalgar Square and nearby China Town there was an abundance of …
The Beijing Center takes students on a two-week excursion every semester. In the fall, students travel the route of the Silk Road; in the spring, students travel around the Yunnan Province. Yunnan means “south of the clouds” and its weather is known as being eternal spring. It’s the furthest province south in China, bordering Myanmar …
-Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas Hello family and friends!! I know it’s been a while, but time moves differently when you’ve got 9AM-6PM classes every day and a strong affiliation for napping. I’m here to fill you in on some of my adventures that I’ve painstakingly wedged in around all the hard schoolwork we’ve been up to …
I cannot stop sweating, my skin is sunburnt, my feet haven’t been clean since I arrived, I have given up trying to control my hair, the internet never seems to work, and the house I live in is infested with cockroaches. Also, I would not change one single thing. Africa is beautiful. Cape Town makes me feel …
Ciao! Week three already?? As I mentioned before on my last blog post, I don’t have any classes on Mondays, so I took advantage of this and explored downtown Rome with my friend Alanna. We started our day in a great shopping district doing some window-shopping and looking at all of the deals. (No mom, …
I had the most fortunate opportunity to spend four insightful days with my partner Mai in her hometown. Kien Giang and her family of 8 siblings and 2 hard-working parents welcomed me with open arms straight to their dinner table. I arrived on Saturday evening after a smooth 8 hour ride to the southern province. The house was …
Following my first night in Rome, myself and the other JFRC students entered into a few weekends packed full of Orientation activities. Between crash courses in Italian, general meetings, and community meals, we had the opportunity to go out and do some sightseeing in and around Rome, as well as on the Amalfi Coast. You …
This past weekend I visited the coastal town of Cadiz to participate in the Carnaval of Cadiz. Thanks to I Love Spain, a student travel agency, and 22 euros I got to sit on a coach bus for one-and-a-half hours each way with other students from Loyola and University of Sevilla. I looked at this opportunity …
7am, you descend and all you see is stillness. Water simply sits, waiting for the passage of life and lights are rising, not quite awake yet. Enveloped in the shadow of dawn we arrived; enveloped by the cloak of night we left. Venezia, the strong woman we fell in love with. She loves us back, …