Reverse Culture Shock is Real
Coming back to the USA from being abroad always requires a period of readjustment, and this journey abroad was no different. My first feeling upon landing in Charlotte was that of being completely overwhelmed. American airports are a sensory overload! Everyone was speaking English, the A.C. was blasting and it was so so cold and all of the different fast food smells mixing together was a lot to take in. After a 20 hour travel day I...
While Abroad
The first emotions I experienced after arriving in Bali, Indonesia were excited, but also quite nervous. Arriving at midnight, taking a cab in an unfamiliar city, and concluding that I might die on the seemingly unregulated roads left me feeling terrified as well. When the sun rose the next day, I felt more at ease and happy to finally be at my destination. I met more of my fellow students and my host family, and explored the city of...
Life in Cuba
Life in Cuba has been amazing! Throughout my three, almost four, weeks that I’ve been here I’ve gotten the opportunity to travel around the island as well as the city I’m living in. I’ve gone to Trinidad and tried their local drink of Canchanchara (amazing), danced the night away in a discoteca in a cave, swam in the Caribbean at Playa Larga, seen the historical landmarks and monuments in Santa Clara, and gone to a coffee and tobacco...
Upon Return
After 35 hours of traveling, I arrived in my home-town airport. There were so many different thoughts running through my head, such as excited and relieved to be back home and also overwhelmed by the change in scenery. It took about a week to get used to being back; the first few days were challenging because I went from constantly being surrounding by people, walking long distances in the heat, and living in a developing country to...
Bonjour de Bruxelles!
Although I’ve only been in Brussels for two weeks, I’ve already come to feel at home here. I’ve found my favorite café on the corner of Place du Jordan and have eaten enough frites to feed a small family for a month. So far we’ve toured the Magritte Museum, visited the main three institutions of the EU here in Brussels – Council of the EU, European Parliament, and the European Commission – and had a meeting with a public diplomat at...
Packing Lightly for Serbia
I travel a lot, and yet packing is still something that I struggle with. It isn’t procrastination that I suffer from more than I can never seem to pack lightly. In the last year, I have traveled thousands and thousands of miles across the country and once abroad, and every single time I found myself overpacking. Although I never came close to the airline weight limit, my heart always dropped a bit when I placed my suitcase on the...