Bama Bloggers Abroad
Up Up and…17 hour flight away
Hello all!! This is my first ever blog post, so here goes nothing. I just finished my senior year! Yay class of 2018! So you might be asking yourself, why is this person going on a study abroad and...
Back in Belgrade!
Almost a week ago, we arrived in Belgrade, Serbia for the start of our program. Last year was my first time coming to this country as a delegate with the Serbia Fellowship Program and this year I...
Only a Few Weeks Till Greece!!
Studying abroad was something I always knew I was going to do in my collegiate years. I did not know when or where I would study abroad, but it was something that was always in the back of my mind...
You comin’, blondie?
Before leaving for study abroad (and leaving the country for the first time...ever), I often compared what I thought my experience would be like to a scene in my favorite movie-Tangled. It's the...
First Time For Everything! Zambia Bound
Never in my life would I imagine that my first trip out of the country would be to Zambia, Africa. I have always dreamed to visit there one day in the future, but not as a nursing student. When the...
Prague First Impressions
I have never been to Europe therefore I did not have many expectations for Prague. Within the first hour of arriving and walking around Old Town Square I realized this place was amazing. The...
Shenzhen and Shanghai. Off to Vietnam!
China is incredible. I can’t say enough about the country. However, my view is biased as we only saw the high-tech cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen. I stepped off the plane and the temperature was a...
Academics at St Andrews
In some ways, academics at the University of St Andrews is very different from the University of Alabama. I expected many of the obvious differences, such as new set of terminology: module instead...
Off to Asia! Pre-Departure!
I chose to study abroad because I have never truly traveled outside of the United States for an extended period of time. I hadn’t intended on going to China or Vietnam, but this class gave me a...
The Serbia Fellowship Experience: Belgrade Bound
On May 12th, I along with fourteen other UA students will journey to Serbia for our Summer Interim semester. Many of us didn't know much about Serbia before being selected for the Serbia Fellowship...
Wait Serbia?
In a matter of thirty-one days, I have graduated from The University of Alabama, will travel to Serbia and teach high schoolers about American Music and its relevance in America today and then I end...
Why study abroad in Asia?
A year ago when I was deciding where I wanted to attend college, my school counselor laid out a list of common deciding factors that were supposed to help me decide. There were the obvious ones like...
An Update on my Tanzanian Adventure
I’ve been in Tanzania for almost 3.5 months now, and I've loved every minute of my time here. Despite being very different from the United States, I didn’t have any issues adjusting to life in...
Preparing to Return Home from Italy–Crazy!!
Ciao Everyone! It is insane to be saying, but I already only have eleven days in this beautiful city of Florence, Italy. I honestly have no idea where time has gone and I am totally not ready to...
Returning to the United States
My post trip experience has been a very interesting one. I have officially been home for a little bit over a week and I am glad to be back home! Despite my elation to see my family and spend time...
Study Abroad: The Decision Process
I am so excited to go abroad! I have always wanted to travel abroad, especially to a Spanish-speaking country. Though I have learned about Hispanic culture, I have never had the opportunity to...
Feeling Like a Sevillano
After being in Seville for a few months now, I can without a doubt say that I picked the perfect place to study for a semester. Seville is not exactly what I imagined, as I began my adventure in...
Beware of Baboons
For my final weekend adventure in Ghana, I chose to fly to the Northern Region to Mole National Park. The northern part of Ghana is very different from the area I lived and worked in and I was told...
Cape Coast Castle
With our weekends free, we have been able to explore a great deal of Ghana’s beauty. One of our favorite places to visit is Cape Coast, which is a historic fishing town with beautiful beaches. We...
This is Ghana be an adventure
I chose to study abroad because I believe there is only so much that can be learned through our own cultural lens. I have learned the most in life when immersed in conversations and experiences...
A Multi-Cultural City
Hello again from London! It’s been a while since my last post, and I’ve definitely adjusted more to my surroundings much more. Unfortunately, it’s only less than a month before I head back home to...
Off The Proverbial Beaten Path
When my friend Ruth told us about a student trad night, we knew that we could not resist going to check it out. But as we walked past the familiar sights and sounds of Galway’s Latin Quarter and...
Time flies when you’re having fun!
As I am writing this, I am exactly 5 weeks away from my departure date back to the USA. That is almost surreal to write; I cannot believe how fast the semester has flown by! I have made some...
Appendicite…
"What's the scariest thing you've ever experienced?" Before last month, I used to say that I was scared of heights, of spiders, or even public speaking. Then, on a weekend trip six hours away from...
The Semester of Me
At the start of 2017, I promised myself that I would push myself to do things that scared me. Last summer, I decided to move to a new city alone for an internship, and it created a renewed sense of...
¡Quien lo vive es quien lo goza!
This semester I am studying abroad in Barranquilla, Colombia--home of the world's second largest Carnaval and I arrived just in time to experience the wonderful celebration. Carnaval is a...
Closer to God: Semana Santa in Colombia
Studying abroad is all about embarking on new adventures that challenge you to expand your comfort zone, right? In a small town tucked away in the Andes Mountains, Villa de Leyva, I had such an...
¡Una cálida bienvenida a Palenque!
One of the reasons I chose to study in the Atlantic coast of Colombia was because I wanted to learn more about AfroLatinx culture in the Caribbean. Cartagena, and the neighboring town of Palenque,...
Espresso, Architecture, and Pastels
I don’t think there are words to succinctly summarize my past month and a half in Budapest, but here’s my best shot. I’m sitting, laptop out, in a small square in the Palace District of this capital...
When the tide is high
During my final day in Costa Rica, I had the opportunity to do something on my bucket list I had yet to cross off. Surfing. I’ve always been a land person—running, hiking, backpacking and camping. I...
A New Mode of Transportation
As I sat in a rocking chair on the porch of my little Costa Rican cottage, I watched an assortment of cars, busses and bicycles zoom by. With no plans for the afternoon, I hoped to make my way into...
(Water)Falling Into Costa Rica
As a writer for VIDA Magazine at UA, I somehow found myself flying solo to Costa Rica less than 48 hours ago. Upon landing among the surrounding Costa Rican mountains and volcanoes, I hopped aboard...
A Hansard Scholar in London
Anyone who has ever studied abroad will most likely describe the first few weeks in one compact, colorful term: whirlwind. My time so far here in London, England, has been just that. So much...
If at first you don’t suc(skied)…
For me, study abroad has been full of a lot of firsts. First time leaving the country; first time out of the state of Alabama for more than ten days, but some of these firsts haven't been quite as...
One Month in the Land of Saints and Scholars
I knew early on in high school that, whatever academic discipline or disciplines I chose to pursue in college, I was going to study abroad. As I reach the one-month mark in my semester in Galway,...
Florence Italy Spring Semester 2018
Ciao! We just took off from Logan Airport and are finally on the way to Florence, Italy! Woohoo! We have a connecting flight in Zurich, Switzerland (already checking another city off the list). I am...
First Impression, University of St Andrews
Two weeks ago I got my first glimpse of Scotland from a window seat inside a small regional plane that heaved and rattled and jerked back and forth with every gust of wind. As we descended out of...
The Morning Of
It is currently 7:34 AM as I write this blog post, which means I am less than T-4 hours until I am needed at the airport. My journey to Seville will officially begin when I board my first flight to...
New Year, New Country!
The semester abroad that I have been looking forward to since before I even started college is finally here! I have always been passionate about traveling to new places and knew that studying abroad...
Berlin with other Exchange Students
Over the Christmas break my Finnish roommate and I went to Berlin to celebrate New Years Eve with some Mexican, Russian, and German friends that we've met since being in Stuttgart this semester. We...
My final undergraduate adventure: Tanzania!
If you had told me four years ago that I’d be spending my last undergraduate semester in Tanzania, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I knew that I was going to do everything in my power to...
What type of traveller are you?
You learn a lot about yourself when you travel because you see how you react to new situations. One thing I learned about myself was the type of traveler I was. People have different interests and...
Semester At Sea
I had no expectations coming into this study abroad program because every time I saw it it seemed unreal or too good to be true. This program takes you to various countries all around the...
What the world has taught me?
The last four months I spent my time traveling all parts of the world with Semester at Sea from the Fjords of Norway, the schools in Ghana, and the buddhist temples of Myanmar. For starters I...
Before I leave
Ever since Alabama introduced me to the idea when I toured, I have wanted to study abroad. Sophomore spring is the perfect time, because I have made some great friends, but my classes aren’t so hard...
And Away We Go…
Today is the day. The day we've all been waiting for. Okay, just me. Today is the day that I fly to London to begin my study abroad adventure. I will be (hopefully) falling asleep as I fly over the...
Goodbye 2017!
It's been unbelievably fun here in Japan ever since I arrived in September. At first it was a little difficult to adjust to everything, and I'm still sad that fruit is so expensive to buy... But...
Before I Go: My Promise on the Wishing Steps of Ireland
If you wander far enough through the garden full of blushing blooms, mossy rocks, and murmuring brooks on the grounds of Blarney Castle in Ireland, you’ll find a set of magical stone stairs tucked...
Story Behind the Picture: The Rosenberger Trunk Company
The next photo in our "Story Behind the Picture" series comes from Dan Shelton, who won first place in our Photo Contest's UA Spirit category for his photo, "The Rosenberger Trunk Company,"...
A Weekend in Costa Rica
While studying abroad in Costa Rica, I have found that there is no such thing as a typical weekend. Although most are filled with travel, the activities are as diverse as hiking a mountain, beach...