Jazz the cook goes off into the forest to cut more firewood wearing a blazer and basketball shorts and comes back with a felled tree over his shoulder. It’s now week two of my research project, the second week of camping in the woods and staring at ducks for five hours a day, and I’m …
Continue reading "Antananarivo, May 12, 2022"If you told me I would take a fifteen-hour bus ride followed by two separate five-hour motorcycle rides (walking the bike and pushing it through the mud half of the time) in order to see the world’s rarest duck in its natural habitat, I would say yes, of course, that sounds like something I would …
Continue reading "Bemanevika, May 4, 2022"With the academic semester coming to an end, we finished our time abroad with a trip to one of the seven wonders of the world: Machu Picchu. I would argue that getting to Machu Picchu is its own wonder of the world. We flew from Quito, Ecuador to Cusco, Peru with a 10 pm to …
Continue reading "Journey to Machu Picchu"Today I just finished my last ever exam and class at the Sorbonne and so I decided to take this time to reflect on the time that I have had abroad. This experience for the whole year, as I mentioned in my first post, has been an experience that I will never forget. The BC …
Continue reading "Final Thoughts (May 11th, 2022)"Part of my abroad experience as a nursing student includes a clinical placement at a local health center. The Centro de Salud de Tumbaco is a governmentally run clinic that offers community health services, ranging from general family medicine, obstetrics, odontology, and psychology. As a student, I was placed under the oversight of a nurse …
Continue reading "On Tuesdays (and Thursdays), we wear scrubs."I have learned to find that my favorite country that I keep returning to (besides France) has been Italy. In the time that I have been abroad in Paris, I have been to Italy three different times, all to three different parts, and I continue to find beauty and joy in every place I go. …
Continue reading "Visiting Italy (May 9, 2022)"When you get to a new city, there are already so many things that you want to do: picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, go to Versailles, see Notre Dame, and do all the other fun touristy things. But you probably will want to go with people! It is nice to have other BC …
Continue reading "Making Friends in Paris and Headed to the South of France!"We follow after our professor like lost ducklings down the beach, dodging fishermen as they haul in their nets or groups of children digging for crabs in the sand. Our guides from the Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marines are in deep conversation with the local fishermen. I see them repeatedly point far out to …
Continue reading "Tulear, April 5, 2022"Spanish. They say it is one of the easiest languages for native English speakers to learn. However, I would argue it’s anything but easy. With no prior Spanish knowledge until high school (save for your occasional hola and adíos), the personal growth regarding communication abroad has been significant, but at the same time, a slow …
Continue reading "The Joys and Tribulations of Language Immersion:"After being at Sorbonne for more than one semester, there are still things that I learn about the school every day. When I first came to the school, it was super confusing. I did not truly understand what the “homework” was and the French way of writing a paper is not what I am used …
Continue reading "A Guide to Sorbonne"