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Tag: Europe

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By crstein1

Madrid A few weeks before I left for Madrid, I went rock climbing with a few friends.  Rock climbing is one of my favorite things to do.  There’s a certain degree of thrill and exhilaration of heights.  When you’re high up and you look down, it’s definitely scary, but I still love it.  An extremely similar feeling has carried over to my experience in Spain.  I’m scared and anxious all of the time, but it’s all so amazing.

I clutch my bag very tightly when I’m out in the streets, I get flustered while I’m trying to decipher metro signs, and I feel my cheeks turning red whenever I can’t figure out how to phrase something in Spanish.  But I’ve never been happier.

I am absolutely obsessed with the city and the people here.  This week I attended art history classes at the Prado museum, ate the most delicious food, saw an adorable movie at the cinema, attended an exhibition at an art gallery and hung out with friends at discotheques. Madrid

MadridThe architecture of the city is absolutely marvelous and I’m positive that I could spend hours and hours just staring at buildings.  Madrid is filled with little neighborhoods that are each unique and stunning.  I’m so excited to visit more of these neighborhoods and to experience more of Madrid.  Every day is a new adventure and I’m learning so much.

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By jahdaimoriah

For weeks, I had been looking forward to go to carnivale in Venice. As a product of Caribbean parents, carnival is like the second coming of Christmas. I love every aspect about carnival, from the masks, to the bright colored costumes, to the musics, and groves of people having fun. I have a dream of attending all the worlds biggest carnivals: Trinidad, Barbados, Brazil, New Orleans.

I was ready to hit Venice, see the parade, and hitch a ride on a gondola. But did that happen...of course not. It was a monsoon when we got to Venice. The bright colored buildings that I saw in movies like the Italian Job and the Tourist were muddled by gray fog and clouds. Venice as you may or may not know is a city made up of little islands connected by bridges and traveled by boat. Because it is more water then land, when it pours it also floods. My beautiful Venice dream carnival turned into my wet gray nightmare. ...continue reading "Under The Sea: Venice"

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By jadoerge

As I sit writing this blog only one week away from my two-month long semester break, I think it is a good time to begin to reflect upon my time here before I leave my second-home here in Germany to go touring around Europe.

Since arriving here, my time here has been nothing short of a whirlwind. My three-week long orientation with the Junior Year in Munich program went by in a flash of meeting new people and trying to speak to each other in what our director calls “Mickey Mouse German” since we were all on different levels of speaking ability and had all been out of practice for most of the summer. ...continue reading "The Halftime Show"

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By aubreygunnels

Belgium is known for amazing food and drink. The stereotypes hold true and Belgians know a little something about waffles. They are absolutely everywhere. Downtown, there are copious amounts of shops and bakeries that specialize in the Belgian tradition. We have waffle food trucks on campus and at the exit of most metro stops. As if this weren't enough waffles are Belgian's version of a Twinkie. They are wrapped in cellophane in every vending machine and packaged in grocery stores. They are enjoyed plain of course but one can't help but try a delectable waffle covered in whip cream, chocolate, ice cream, and a delicate fruit topping. I've seen peanut butter, Nutella and a spread called Speculoos spread on top. I feel like it is Belgium’s version of a crepe? ...continue reading "Food Food Food"

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By unprofoundobservations

As a final excursion before classes begin on Monday, my program took a trip to Normandy this past weekend. The weekend was an adventure into the culture and history of one of France's northernmost regions and an excellent reminder of everything wonderful outside of its capital city that I call home. Early Saturday morning 20 of us in the program loaded ourselves onto a bus with our three intrepid directrices and Daniel, the fantastic and stalwart driver. Our trip north was punctuated with stops in small villages, a tour of a cider distillery, and numerous bathroom breaks. We were able to shop through farmers markets for the fruits de la mer and Camembert that Normandy is so well known for, and learn about the rich farming and distilling traditions throughout the area. Each town we passed through was a beautiful amalgamation of French, British, and German architecture and food, and seemed straight out of the medieval fairy tale. Each street we walked down was far older than any man-made structure I've visited in the United States and the ancient, wooden bell towers were breathtaking. ...continue reading "In 1945, when the Army told me to find my own job, I stayed on"

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By aubreygunnels

We toured our school, Vesailes College, today. It is a small school of approximately 300 students where all the classes are taught in English. It specializes in business, communication, and international affairs. Nearly half the student population are study abroad students from around the world. The students come from various programs affiliated with Vesailes College (VeCo for short) such as CIEE and ISEP. The teacher to student ratio is very low. My classes will have at most 30 students in them. ...continue reading "Vesailes College"

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By aubreygunnels

Through CIEE in Belgium, you have the option of a homestay and an apartment stay. Because GW is on a payment tier system, I would advise GW students to do a homestay so meals are included. Homestays by no means limits your ability to come and go as you please but merely gives you a better immersion in the Belgian culture.  ...continue reading "Homestay"

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By aubreygunnels

The second Saturday in Brussels we had the option to volunteer with the rest of CIEE students. We worked with a group called Serve the City; they help the homeless, elderly, abused women, and children around Brussels. The group is run by men and families that are funded from the states. They have monthly excursions of about 50 people to go out and help various nonprofits in the city. ...continue reading "Volunteering"

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By aubreygunnels

Because Brussels is the capital of the EU, the city is very diverse. When you sit on the tram, it is completely normal to hear three or four different languages. Therefore, being foreign isn't an out of the ordinary thing. We do stick out like sore thumbs however. We have found the public transportation buses and trams to be extremely quiet. However, the students in our group are very much the opposite. Speaking English in our normal tone is quite loud compared to the people of Belgium. ...continue reading "Perception of Americans"

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By jahdaimoriah

Its funny how one person can dictate your experience. This weekend I traveled to Assisi and Ravenna, two small towns north of Florence. I went to Assisi on Friday it was a quiet two hour drive to the town who only fame comes from the fact that Saint Francis came from Assisi and was buried there. Italy is known for its relics--basically dead bodies, sometimes body parts of saints, martyrs, and catholic heroes. Assisi is a small, mountain side town--it's really hard for me to call it a town seeing as it only has one road.  ...continue reading "Assisi and Ravenna"

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