April 19th, was Census Day here in Chile. The census occurs every four years and is carried out by individual census volunteers going to every home in the country and having the residents living in those homes fill out different documents. Consequently, everything shuts down on that day, including schools and universities. As a result, a few friends and […]
Archive | Study Abroad Students
Terremoto or Temblor: Notes on Chilean Earthquake Culture
By | Hannah Lussier Just last week, the song “Shaky Shaky” by Puerto Rican music artist Daddy Yankee was featured on Spotify as one of Chile’s Top 50 singles currently reaching ears country-wide. The song emphasizes the word “terremoto”, or earthquake, in order to describe the powerful shake of a woman’s hips. Shaken up another […]
Reminiscing About Spring Break
After having completed my two week spring break around Europe, I have come back into reality after discovering that dreams can come true. For my spring break, I traveled to London and Paris, two cities I have wanted to visit since I was young. I have always dreamed of traveling to Paris and tasting different […]
The One Where I Explain Afternoon Tea
I will never forget a message my mom, Meg, sent me when she was planning her trip to visit me in London. For her trip, she had a bucket list of everything that she wanted to try and see and do while in the city. Her list was like most, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, changing […]
The One Where I Went To Scotland
Living in London is a lot like living in any other city: it’s loud, it’s a little dirty, it’s cold a lot of the time, it’s crowded, it’s amazing. I love London, and I love living in the city, but after about four months, my cabin fever had started to get the best of me. […]
Another Election?
Despite the recent presidential election of the United States of America, I now find myself in the midst of another presidential election here in France. Thus, I have taken this opportunity to learn more about the French presidential election process. Some of the differences are as follows: 1) The Electoral College The most obvious difference […]
Analyzing the experience
Upon arrival in Barcelona, I was very prepared to be overwhelmed with culture shock. I could not wait for that awe of being in an unknown city, or for that matter unknown country. I had expectations that my growth would be immediately noticeable with the major change in lifestyle. I have always considered myself a […]
Hit the Halfway Point
Mid March marked the halfway point of my time here in Spain for Study Abroad. Sometimes it feels like time is flying and other times it feels like it is taking forever to return to America. What I can suggest to make this experience feel even more like home is find people who you really […]
A Brief Guide to Life in Florence
Here are some tips and things I’ve learned while living in Florence: Walking Florence is a small enough city that everything is within a walkable distance. That being said – you will walk a lot, so wear comfortable shoes because the cobblestones are not always forgiving! People will not move out of your way when you […]
The End is Near
My time here is rapidly coming to an end. A natural response is to reflect on my experience in Barcelona. Of course it is nothing like I expected, as nothing seems to be. It is difficult to put this experience into words, but I know I will return not the same as I was before. […]