Finally back to the States

Having spent 5 weeks in Germany, I felt that I wanted to stay longer, but alas I had to return to prepare for fall classes. The travel back home ended up being somewhat of a nightmare. First, a security incident in Munich left hundreds of people delayed or stranded....

Coming Home!

I think that I may have had the most crazy series of return flights back the United States! My initial program in Europe in May was in Serbia, and so my round-trip flight to Europe was based out of the Belgrade airport. This meant that after my second program in...

Morocco is home

I finished my study abroad program in Meknes, Morocco on July 27th. I ended the ten week program with dozens of new friends, four “A” grades, a working knowledge of French and Arabic (إن شاء الله) and a new perspective on life. On July 28th, my brother met me in...

My Barcelona Mom

When I decided to go abroad, my program offered me three different options for housing: residence, host family, or apartment. A good friend of mine studied abroad the semester before and encouraged me to do a host family. I figured a host family would be the easiest...
Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

When you study abroad, people talk about how hard it is to adjust to your host country. They don’t talk about getting back, and it is exhausting. I spent 32 hours in transit from Sydney, Australia, back to Alabama and I’m still worn out five days later! I...

Home from Belgium

After a month in Europe, I’m now home again. It’s bittersweet, because as happy as I am to be back home with my family and all the conveniences of America, I’m already missing the amazing experience I had. I don’t think anyone can ever be fully prepared to go abroad...

Australian Excursions

Although my study abroad program was based in Canberra, the capital of Australia, I took every chance I could while abroad to travel to various other cities within the country. I had the opportunity to visit four different cities in Australia, each offering unique...

UA in Italy, while in Italia

Nothing is more emotionally riveting than stepping off the plane walking and getting onto a boat to take you to your new home for the next month. Luckily, with my program type, we are going to be in different cities every week with several excursions that will take us...

UA in India

The most prominent aspect of India is the people. Spending three weeks traveling to four different cities in northern India gave me a broad range of people to experience. They say that every 100 miles the language, dress, and people changes in India, and they are...

Home from India

Returning back home after three weeks abroad was like a breath of fresh air. I was ready to be back in my own bed, not rooming with anyone else, to have different food options besides Indian food, and to wash clothes in a washing machine instead of in the sink....

Beautiful Bavaria

After 4 weeks in Berlin, our group spent our fifth and final week in Munich and the surrounding area. Munich is about a third of the size of Berlin, and is still incredibly steeped in Bavarian tradition. The people there are much more conservative, and it shows in...

In Retrospect

While I enjoyed my experience in India, I’m certainly glad to be back in the United States, where people actually mean it when they set prices and where drivers actually use lanes! When I got home, I felt a bit like Tony Stark in Iron Man getting back to the...