by Andreea T. | Jul 10, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
As I landed in Charles de Gaulle, the strongest emotion I felt was tiredness. I had not slept at all on the plane; moreover, I was hauling around a broken suitcase and carry-on luggage. I was overwhelmed on the bus ride home but as my new host “mom” welcomed me to...
by Andreea T. | Jul 10, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Celebrating the Fourth of July after coming home! As I adjust to life in the United States and reminisce about my time in France, I find comfort in a familiar environment, yet I miss many aspects of my life abroad. When I first landed at the Atlanta Airport, I was...
by Lillian J. | Jun 27, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Hello everyone! Last time I posted, I showed some photos from Freiburg where our group has been studying and talked about what all we’ve been getting into. This post will be about two excursions some of us took during our program, to the French city of Strasbourg and...
by Jacklyn D. | Jun 24, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
I have experienced many culture shocks just from attending UA—one of the biggest being game days. At least for that, I had a relative idea of what going to an SEC school would be like, but the culture shock of living in a different country was further from anything I...
by Jacklyn D. | Jun 24, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, _
If there is one thing that anyone knows about traveling, it’s that there is a likely chance you may get jetlag going from point A to point B. While this may not have been the biggest worry I had in preparation for my trip, it was definitely something to note. The time...
by Saphia H. | Jun 23, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
I landed at the airport around noon in Paris, France and took a bus to Tours, France to meet my host family after landing. I was tired and super nervous to meet them. Meeting them eased some of my worries a bit, and the country is so beautiful. I cant wait to go see...
by Saphia H. | Jun 23, 2025 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, _
After spending a month in Tours, France, I have had numerous interesting experiences. The culture shock has worn off, and I have adjusted to life here. Classes were intensive, and my French has improved a lot since I’ve been here. The Language and Culture Study...
by Kyndra L. | Dec 12, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Faculty-Led, South America, Summer
I can confidently say that I had (and still have) a great first impression of Colombia. Everyone was warning me about how hot Colombia is during the summer, but as a native of Mobile, Alabama, heat is nothing new to me. The humidity was a little stronger than...
by Kyndra L. | Dec 12, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Faculty-Led, South America, Summer
Now that I’m back home, I have such a great perspective for the rest of my summer and the rest of my college experience. I have learned so much over the past few weeks, both academically and socially. I struggled with a lot of homesickness during my trip, but in...
by Hadden M. | Dec 12, 2024 | Commerce & Business, Europe, Semester, UA-Affiliate, _
What an incredible experience traveling abroad. I have attached one of my favorite pictures – sky diving out of a helicopter in Swiss alps. It was an experience I will never forget. I came to Barcelona without knowing anyone, and then I found a great group of...
by Nathan Hodgson | Dec 10, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
For the first full month in Madrid, I met so many cool people and had so many great experiences. From walking around the city and interacting with locals, to trying new food and drinks, I would not have changed anything about it. For the second half of the first...
by Nathan Hodgson | Dec 10, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
For the last month in Madrid, I finally found the rhythm of things. I had found all of my favorites: restaurants and convenience stores were some of my favorite things, and I grew a lot closer with those that were in Madrid for session 2. We had a lot more free time...
by Hannon Bulger | Dec 10, 2024 | Community Health Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
I was fortunate enough to spend the month of June studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, and there were many things I loved about the city; here are a few of them! The Metro System: Madrid has an incredible metro system that was easy to navigate (definitely a couple times...
by Hannon Bulger | Dec 10, 2024 | Community Health Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
When I studied abroad in Madrid, I took two different Spanish classes: conversation & composition and grammar. I was super nervous for these classes, but after coming back, I can give you a little bit of insight into what my experience was like. Each class was two...
by Trista M. | Nov 26, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Hola chicos! I’ve been in Madrid since June 4th, and still wake up everyday completely in awe of this city. The people, the culture, the SHOPPING, and the sheer amount of enthusiasm that Spaniards live their lives with is just something I could write about...
by Marley Froscello | Nov 22, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer
During my month-long stay in Florence, I took advantage of the weekends to explore different parts of Italy. One weekend, I decided to visit an Italian beach that wasn’t crowded or expensive. After some online research, I found Moneglia, a small comune with beautiful...
by Nathan Hodgson | Nov 19, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer, _
Before coming to Spain, I was not sure what to expect. I was unsure of how my Spanish language knowledge would hold up. I also did not know how the people would act towards us Americans. When we arrived in Madrid, the first thing that stood out to me was the ease of...
by Anna Hill | Nov 19, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer
For the last activity of the UA in Spain faculty-led program, we took a trip to the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid. Last week we visited the Prado Museum with 17th, 18th, and older century styled artwork, but the Reina Sofia is a contemporary modern art museum. It was...
by Hannon Bulger | Nov 15, 2024 | Community Health Sciences, Europe, Summer, _
The day before I left for my study abroad in Madrid, I sat in my room sobbing. This was about to be the first time I was away from my family from this long, with an ocean separating us if something were to go wrong. I only live a few hours from Tuscaloosa, so if I...
by Addison L. | Nov 15, 2024 | Arts & Sciences, Europe, Faculty-Led, Summer
...
