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Tag: Exchange

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By evavilloslada

I'm writing this while I wait for my plane and tears are threatening to come. This has been by far the best semester of my life, well the year in general. I can't believe the lucky I'm for being here and having the opportunity of meeting such amazing people and making friends that I'm sure are for life.

This last week, after all the finals, has been pretty exciting, we have done so many things trying to enjoy the last days together. We have gone to the waterfront to do ice skating, we have gone out and we have had lots of dinners in the best places. But after all, that can summarize this semester, exploring DC and having fun.

Thankfully I have another semester here, although it is not going to be the same. Most of the people is leaving, they were only here for a semester and I'm so sad about it. I never though I was going to find the best friend I could ever find here, in Washington DC. But I did, I found Martina and now I can't imagine my life here without her. That is the worst part of the exchange year, that you make many friends but most of them are from other countries, even from other continents. And then the only thing you can think about is, am I going to see them again? However, I'm sure we will do something about it.

I have a million of memories that I'm going to treasure all my life, as traveling around US and getting to know a new country, seeing New York for the fist time. But other memories,  the simplest ones, are the  closest to my heart now. Kayaking, dinners together, and a day trip to Philadelphia, being some of them.

This is not goodbye to DC, as I'm only going home for Christmas and then coming back. Is a goodbye to all the exchange students and a hello for the ones coming next semester. Thank you for the best experience of my life.

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By sarajebbar

This is it, the end of my journey in GWU. I can’t believe it’s already here, the end of one of the best semesters I had so far. But yeah, we all knew this time will come sooner or later. Here I am sitting in the airport waiting for my flight and writing my final blogpost for the semester. I never thought this moment will come by this fast, but time flies here in GWU. Last week was such a hectic week. From finals to the last goodbye parties, it was so emotional to live the last days of the semester.

Studying abroad was an experience that I enjoyed so much. For me being an exchange student meant experiencing a new culture, traveling a lot, meeting new people, and adapting to a new environment that is very different from the one I live in my home country Morocco. Washington DC was one of the greatest places to live in. I really enjoyed living in the city center of the capital of the US and visit all the monuments, museums and touristy spots whenever I felt like: late at night, on sunrise or on sunset… One of the things that I’m very glad I did this semester were all the trip I did around America. Starting from Baltimore, to New York to Florida, to Mexico to Canada to Cuba and finishing with the West coast. I’m so grateful I had the chance to travel around the continent, discover new cultures and take more and more pictures. I believe that being in the US helped me visiting new places I never thought I will visit from Morocco.

Travel was great but the most precious thing I earned this semester were the friendships with people from all around the world. Before coming to the US, I knew I will meet people with whom I will have fun and spend good time. But I never expected that I’ll meet people that will become family in such a short period. I met people with whom I laughed, cried, danced, cooked (mostly pasta and ramen), traveled to exotic places, sang, chilled at dorm on lazy days, spent hours in Gelman procrastinating, and more and more. And I’m grateful I shared the best moments of my GWU journey with them. I think the worst part of the study abroad is the fact that these people will not be around on a daily basis. But memories never fade away and I’ll never forget about all what we lived in GWU. I believe that we will meet again somewhere in the world, maybe in Morocco (such a great country to visit lol) *coughcough* or maybe somewhere else. I know we might be in opposite sides of the planet, but I know for sure our friendships will not end here. The boarding time of my flight to West coast is here, which means I need to end this blogpost here.

GWU was great, the US was great and special thanks to all the people who made my semester memorable. Can’t wait to come back to DC again. It was a BLAST.

IG:@Sarajebbar

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By sarajebbar

The countdown to the end of the semester is here and I can’t believe we reached that point where only two weeks are left to the end *CriesCries* Time really flies in GWU and I feel like orientation week was here days ago.

Having two of my exams really early made my week an intense studying week in Gelman library. Even if the library is really big compared to what we have in our home university, you need to go early to find a table especially when you’re in a group which I never do since I always wake up late and procrastinate a lot before actually starting to study.

The weather in Dc is getting colder and colder and this week was the first snow of the winter. I usually prefer warm weather and hate snow and rain but the first snow of the year is always exciting especially in Christmas time. We usually don’t celebrate Christmas in Morocco so it was really nice to experience the holiday vibes in the US. From Christmas tree, to free hot chocolate and cookies to all the Christmas lights decorations and lights, Washington DC and its weather were really welcoming the holiday season. And to really get into the winter vibe, we decided to go ice skating in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink. It was my first time ice skating and I was really bad at it, my only goal was not to slip and break my bones. But it was fun to start learning how to ice skate, maybe one day I’ll be good at it.

We ended the week by a final Christmas party where we had cookies, brownies, candy canes, made ginger bread house and danced to Christmas songs. Since most of us are busy with finals and some will be leaving soon, it was nice to gather one last time and spend great time before we get hit hard by finals.

One more week left in GWU. Stay tuned.

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By evavilloslada

This week hasn't been anything special. After all, I have all my final exams now and I have spend most of my time studying and finishing papers. But between breaks I had time to go get some coffee in new places. One I really liked was Paul, it is on campus and it is amazing. It is not  expensive and it has an awesome bakery, you can chose so many things that I literally spent 20 minutes deciding what to get.

Another place I went is Churrería Madrid. One thing everyone in Spain does when it is cold is eating churros with chocolate. It is a Spanish tradition and I missed it so much that I started searching for places where they have churros. I found this place and I have to say they were really amazing, I wasn't expecting them to be like the ones back at home but they were. All of you should try them because they are so good they are addictive.

However, the best part of the week was that it finally snowed. On Sunday everything was covered in snow, and Washington was even more beautiful in white. I live in the north of Spain so I see snow every year, and my family and friends had been sending me pictures in the snow for two weeks, I was so jealous. But on Sunday I got to send them one instead. Ass you can guess, I´m a huge fan of snow and Christmas.

One thing I have realized is that when final exams arrive free food is even more of a thing than it was before, which means free food everyday. On Thursday there was free grilled cheese, hot chocolate, and traditional Pakistan food. The on Sunday we had cookies, snacks and coffee. And on Monday there is free breakfast in Gelman library and free Midnight Breakfast at night. Taking breaks from studying here means having free food, which is awesome.

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By evavilloslada

Thanksgiving was simply amazing. I’m very lucky because my roommate is from the US, she lives in Pittsburgh. When she arrived at the dorm 3 months ago, she was with all her family, and her mom immediately told me I was invited to have Thanksgiving with them. So I was so excited all this months. In Spain we don’t celebrate thanksgiving, so it was a huge thing for me. I spent the whole week there, and I really have a good time. I ate so much food, I had never eaten so much as I did during Thanksgiving. There were so many different types of food, and I had to try everything, Hope’s family made sure of it, not that I complained.

I also went to my first football game, although the team lost I really liked. I’m not a sports girl, and at first I didn’t understand what was happening. However, when they explained me the rules I started enjoying it. I’m definitely going to go to another football team this year. I also got to know Pittsburgh, the city of bridges and steel, which was great. It really was an amazing week.

Overall, spending time with Hope’s family was the best, it reminded me so much about Christmas and my family. It also made me homesick, but I loved every single minute of it.

Then it was time of coming back to Washington. And on Thursday we had a farewell dinner with all the exchange student team. I really enjoyed it, the food was so good and we played trivia. It was fun trying to guess things about this country and the leaders.

On Friday we went to a bar to play billiard, and we had so much fun. It is nice trying new things, and going to different places. Washington DC is the best city for that, there are so many restaurants that look amazing, the only sad part is that I can’t afford to go to as many as I want.

Saturday arrived, finally. We went to New York, yeah again. I sincerely would go every weekend if I could. Everyone told me about New York on Christmas, and how beautiful everything is with all the lights. We were only going for two days, but we had such a good time. We even had time to go to see a Broadway show. We went to see Chicago and I loved it, although I love every single musical. I think New York is one of my favorite cities ever.

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By sarajebbar

 

At this point, I think you can understand that one of the main things I enjoy doing in my 4 days long weekends is travelling. I just enjoy visiting new places, taking more pictures and discovering new cultures. And I would say that the on-campus part-time job I got this semester helped me a lot in doing that. This weekend destination was Havana, and it was the most exotic and different place I have been to. I’ve never thought that I would visit this country before, but I think Camila Cabello’s song “Havana” had a big influence on this decision. And it was such a perfect place to celebrate my roommate’s 21st birthday.

Havana was the best place to escape Washington’s cold weather because of its tropical warm weather. I stayed with my four friends in an Airbnb that was in the Old Habana, and once we got there we knew we’re in a totally different place from the US. Havana felt like an old movie from the 70’s and it was beautiful. The special thing about the city was the colorful retro classic cars. And what was really cool about this trip was taking open cars music for a city tour or just to get from a place to another as a normal taxi. Besides that, I also enjoyed taking the Coco taxi, which a yellow cute covered motorcycle, around the city. Not only the cars in Havana were colorful but also the buildings especially the ones around the capitol. What I enjoyed doing the most was wandering around the colorful narrow streets of the city and taking tons of pictures in front of the classic cars. What was also interesting was visiting the museum of the revolution. They portrayed the whole timeline of the Cuban revolution in the walls of the museum and it really helped me learning a lot about the history of this country. And of course what would be a vacation in the warm Havana without going to the beach. The beach was 30 minutes from the city but the road was really enjoyable since we took an open car to get there. From enjoying the clear water of the ocean to drinking coconut water, the beach day in Havana was perfect to forget about studies and GWU.

Even though Havana was a great place to visit and spend four days in, I don’t think I would be able to live there. It felt like the country was laid back in the 70’s. One of the most surprising thing during this trip was the limited internet not only for us tourists but also for citizens. To get internet in Cuba, we had to purchase an internet pass which was around 1$ per hour, search for a WiFi hotspot (Internet park) which weren’t many in the city, and then hope to get some really slow internet connectivity. It was really funny to see dozens of people around the WiFi router trying to connect to the world outside. When I asked locals about how they felt about it, they said it doesn’t really matter for them since they are used to socialize more. No wonder locals were always socializing in the streets or balconies or trying to make conversations with us.

Havana was great and having this trip with great company made it even better. Now, it’s time to stress about finals coming in a week and begin my late night journeys in Gelman library.

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By sarajebbar

This week we had the thanksgiving break that we all were waiting for to get some rest from studies and classes. Since it was kind of a long break, I took the opportunity to travel to Canada. I know many of you will wonder why am I leaving the US in such a big American holiday, Thanksgiving. What’s great about the US is that they start their holidays days before the actual day so I got the chance to try some Thanksgiving food before my trip.Being in Washington DC made it really easy for me to travel to Canada unlike when I’m far in Morocco. I started my trip by Montréal. The city was in Québec, the French speaking province of Canada. Since my second language is French, I and my French friends enjoyed speaking French with the locals. We also enjoyed hearing the Quebec French accent because it was really different from the one in France, which I’m used to use in Morocco. Montréal reminded me a lot of Europe (The architecture, the language, the streets…) One of the coolest thing I did was to hike to the summit of Mont-Royal. The hike was pretty tiring and cold but the breathtaking view of the whole city from the top made me forget about all of that. We visited a lot of places like Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, the old port…  And I enjoyed walking through the old city of Montréal in the Christmas vibe. I also tried my first Poutine there which is a typical Canadian meal and I loved it.After 2 days in Montréal, we took the bus to Toronto. I really loved Toronto over Montréal. Because of the cold weather, the streets in Montréal become dead as soon as it gets dark. However, Toronto was such a lively city and it had a lot of places to visit. One of the main characteristics of Toronto’s skyline is the CN tower. So, we took a ferry to Ward’s island to see the beautiful skyline from front of the water. I also enjoyed taking pictures in the Graffiti Alley, trying to ice-skate in the Nathan Philips square with regular shoes on, walking through the Christmas market and trying the really good food in all the diverse restaurants of the city.One of the main reasons of my Canada was to take Niagara Falls off my bucket list. And the greatest thing was that I had the opportunity to visit them from both sides, the American and the Canadian one. The Niagara Falls were the most breathtaking natural wonder I’ve ever seen. They were just magnificent and powerful. I got the chance to see them from really close by taking the ferry to the heart of the Falls and you can feel their real power from there. We walked after that to cross the bridge that links between Canada and the US. It was really cool to cross between the countries in such an easy way. In the US side, I saw the Niagara Falls illuminations which were colorful lights projected on the Falls, and made them even more beautiful during the night. Seeing the Niagara Falls was one of the most impressive things I saw in the nature, and I’m grateful for that. And what a great unexpected way to end my Canada trip is by enjoying music, ice-skating show, Christmas tree lighting and fireworks in my last night in Toronto.

 

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By evavilloslada

So this week was really good, but only because on Thursday it was my birthday. Also, on Tuesday I went to the movies to see Murder in the Orient Express, and I really loved it. The end was so unexpected, and it kept you guessing all the movie. You should go, because every Tuesday the tickets cost only $5, which is really cheap.

On my birthday I woke up to receive calls from all my family and friends, which I loved because it had been a long time since I've talked with some of them. Then I went to have lunch at a restaurant called Mediterranean Grill, and I really loved the food. Later we went to buy groceries because we were going to make two cakes for dinner. We spend all the afternoon cooking, and my Spanish friend also made me Spanish tortilla for dinner, which is my favorite food, so it was great. Then we invited everyone to have cake, and we spent the night talking and eating. I also received an awesome present from my family, a map in which you can scratch the countries you have visited, and as I love traveling there is no better present for me.

Friday was also amazing because we went to see a NBA game, the Wizards against the Miami Heats. Sadly we lost, but only for two point in the end, so the game was really exciting. It was the first time I went to a basketball game, and I really loved it, more than football I think. Then, we went to have dinner in Chinatown, and I have to say I have never tried a fried rice as good as that one. I really want to do both things again.

On Saturday we went to Georgetown, as we usually do every week, to buy some things, and see if the ice skating ring was already prepared. It was closed, but I think it will open this week, and I'm eager to go. I have loved ice skating since I was a little kid, and it will be so much fun. Also, walking down M Street and the Waterfront is one of my favorite  things to do here in DC, I think I will never get tired of doing it.

We finished the week going to Founding Farmers for brunch, everyone had told us that we should go, but we hadn't gone before because you have to make a reservation, and we always forgot about it. The food was amazing. I'm starting to get used to have breakfast food for lunch. Well, American breakfast food, because no one in Spain eat that kind of things for breakfast, we usually only eat toast or something like that. Either way, I definitely will be doing brunch more often.

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By sarajebbar

At the beginning of the week, I and another exchange student were invited to have a dinner with an American family to get to know more about the culture and try some homemade food. The event was organized by the exchange program advisors and it was a great opportunity to discover other sides of the Americans and their local life. Our host was working as an exchange advisor in GWU years ago. So, it was really nice to talk to her and her partner about her previous experiences with exchange students and to share with her our adventures in Washington DC. The food was really good and the two hours we spent there made me realize more about the American culture in some different states of the US.

For the weekend, as it says from the title, I went to MEXICO. I have always been dreaming of visiting this country but it was really difficult to do it from Morocco since the flights are really expensive from there. So being the US gave me the opportunity to discover Mexico. My flight was to Cancun but I stayed in Playa Del Carmen which is a city an hour from Cancun. I stayed there from Thursday to Monday. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever had. In the first day I went to an island called Cozumel where I had the chance to snorkel and swim with all types of fish, sea turtles and starfishes in the Caribbean sea. I also went to two parks: Xel-ha and Xcaret and they were insane. The first one was a water park with many snorkeling spots, slides, rope jumping… And the other one was exhibiting the Fauna and Flora of the region and at the end I stayed for a show that represented the specific music and dances of each region of Mexico. It was really beautiful to see how within one country there are different cultures, and that show was a summary of it all. Mexico is also known for its cenotes which are holes that lead to a pool of turquoise-colored water connected to secret underground caverns. I visited two of them: Dos Ojos and Ik-kil. Those cenotes were surreal and snorkeling there was simply fascinating because under the clear water you can clearly see all the reefs and the beautiful underwater life. And apart from the beautiful beaches and turquoise water, Mexico has a very rich history especially of the Mayans and Aztecs culture. So, it was a must to visit Chichen Itza which is a complex of Mayan ruins on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula and one of the seven wonders of the world. It was really fascinating to see how the history of Mayans was carved in the rocks and how it’s still preserved until now. Tulum was also a great city to visit both Mayan ruins and the beach at the same time. What made this trip special is spending it with other Mexicans so I had the chance to get to know more about their culture from a local perspective.Mexico is one my favorites countries right now because it combined between the beautiful white-sand beaches, the tropical forests, the turquoise-colored cenotes, the rich history, the great food and the nice and outgoing people. And it was really nice to see with my eyes that it’s really far from its stereotypes shown in the media.

 

 

 

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By evavilloslada

After nearly three months of good weather winter has finally arrived, and this week has been freezing cold. With cold meaning that on Friday we got -4 degrees. However, I really love winter, and the cold too, so it has been a nice week for me.

As always, my week has been the same until the weekend. Friday was really a long day due to all the things I did. We decided that after three moths of being here it was time of visiting the Library of Congress, so despite of the cold we took a bike and went through the National Mall to the library. The National Mall, as always, was mesmerizing with the sundown. I think I will never get tired of taking pictures there. Sadly we didn't arrive on time to the library, because it closes at 5 pm which is kind of early for me so I didn't think about it. It seems we will have to go another day.

Later that afternoon, we went to the first basketball game of the season, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. In my university back at home we don't have "university spirit" and I don't even think there is an official basketball, or other sport, team. So, it was quite surprising for me seeing so many students there. Of course, the event started with free food, drinks and music on the entrance. The food lasted from 6 pm until 7:30, when the game started, which is pretty awesome.

I loved the game, seeing the cheerleaders, the band and everyone supporting the team. Everything was just like in the movies,  which is one of the things I have always envied of United States' schools and universities. And to make everything even better we won the game. Needles to say, I'm planing on going to as many games as I can.

On Saturday we went to see the Archive. I have done many things in DC but I have been putting aside all museums and stuff like that, so it is time for me to start visiting all the museums I can. Most of them are free so no one has an excuse to not going. I really liked seeing the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, at the end of the day they are three of the most important documents of United States' history, and being able to read such old documents is a privilege. In the door there was also an exhibition of army helicopters and you could even sit inside and take all the pictures you wanted. It was a really cool experience.

Sunday was a busy day. We woke up early to go to the Tanger Outlets, some of the other students had told us that thy had good sales, so if you like shopping there is no better place to go. There are lots of shops and most of them have lots of discounts on everything, which is amazing. Nevertheless, it is also bad, at least for me, because you are tempted to buy everything!

We had all the day planned because that was the day the National Harbor´s Christmas Tree was going to be lighted up. We walked from Tanger Outlets to the Harbor, and we stopped to have lunch in the MGM Hotel and Casino, and it was quite an amazing hotel, sadly also too expensive.

National Harbor is just beautiful. I really loved the place, it reminds me of the beach and its atmosphere, which are the best. The afternoon was full of events, with Christmas films playing out in a big screen, an orchestra singing Christmas songs and even fireworks. Sunday was one of my favorite days so far, which probably has something to do with me loving Christmas.

 

 

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