T-24 hours until India!

As I write this at 1 pm on July 14, 2015, I’m realizing that in EXACTLY 24 HOURS from now I’ll be at the Richmond airport, beginning my journey to India. I’m feeling a combination of anxiety, excitement, and eagerness to land in Delhi and meet up with my fellow...

The Palio of Sienna

The Palio is a festival in Sienna Italy that has been going on since medieval times. There are 17 district in the city called contradas.  Each contrada has its own flag,  traditions, and public buildings. The people of a contrada are considered your family and stay...

The Harbor and Tivoli

My initial impressions of the city of Copenhagen were fantastic!  Keeping in tune with our short stay in Amsterdam, we started off our sightseeing in Copenhagen with, you guessed it, a canal tour.  The scenes from our boat were phenomenal. I was excited for a tour of...

Summer in France!

I can’t believe that I have already finished over a month in France!  I have been to France once before, but this was my first study abroad experience.  I am choosing to write this reflection of my trip as my first blog post because I felt that I would not have...

Apreciacion y respeto

While being here in Barcelona, my level of appreciation and respect has grown tremendously for not only Spain and all of Europe, but for my home country America. Being here I have adjusted to the customs and ways that Europeans follow. Although it was kind of tough at...

An American in China

After thirty-six hours of traveling, I have finally arrived in China. When we arrived at the Beijing airport, our group had two hours to explore before the next flight. So, a few of my classmates and I decided to eat at one of the airport restaurants. The waitress did...

Berlin, Ghent, and London

When I first arrived in Berlin, Germany, we immediately went to go explore the city. Although I was tired, I was so excited to be in this new country and I wanted to experience new things. We had a little bit of trouble trying to find somewhere to eat lunch. Either...

Never Leaving!

When I first arrived in Barcelona I was terrified.  I started wondering why my parents would ever let me do something like this.  When I was waiting in the customs line no one spoke any English and I started asking myself ‘what have I got myself into?’. ...

London Calling

  As I sit and stare at the pile of clothes on my bedroom floor I wonder how I could have let this happen. Its 2 am and my flight leaves in 6 hours. I haven’t put one thing in my suitcase. How does a college student from Alabama pack for London for a month?...

Pre-departure Thoughts

Three sleepless nights, two over-packed suitcases, and one pre-study abroad beach trip with the family down and tomorrow I head off to Europe. I am studying abroad in Denmark at Denmark Technical University, and am leaving the country for the first time. I am...

Coming Home

It feels weird packing up.  For the past four months, all of the people and friends I have met, the places I have seen, and the adventures I have been living will now all be a part of the past.  It is hard knowing that Italy is far away from me.  Don’t get me...

The Case for Photography

I am in a 9 week study abroad program that starts in Rome (3 weeks), continues in Paris (3 weeks) and London (2 weeks) and finishes in Glasgow (1 week). In my five weeks studying abroad, I have taken a lot of photographs.  Some of them have been pretty good, which is...

#america

I have just completed my first week back home in the United States and it was not what I was expecting. I have been able to see my family and friends as well as have some interesting encounters with strangers. When I arrived in the airport, it was weird hearing...