Coming to Florence, I had a lot of expectations of the people, food, culture and city. But after spending almost three weeks in this lovely city I can confidently say that most of my expectations were not met by the reality.

Expectation: Everyone eats pizza and pasta all the time.

Gusta Pizza is a popular pizza place that will shape your pizza like a heart!

Reality: Ok so this is very true when going out to eat. At almost every restaurant I’ve been to the menu is completely filled with different pasta dishes and unique pizza toppings. But when at the local markets it’s clear that the locals have a more colorful pallet. And this pallet includes rabbit and horse!

Expectation: Everyday is another magical adventure in Italy.

Reality: Since getting to Florence I have had many moments where I have felt at peace with Italy. And honestly almost none of those moments have been while taking in a breath taking view or eating the world’s greatest pasta. Those moments have been when I have gotten lost by myself and have found my way back. Or when I have been walking through the rain eating a Panini completely alone. Because lets be honest, what’s cooler than eating a Panini in Italy???

While walking in the rain with a panini has been great, the views here in Italy are unbelievable as well.

Expectation: Locals welcome you into their culture with open arms.

Reality: I have not had a bad experience with locals, but I have yet to have an amazing moment. Other than my teachers and staff members at school, I have not had a chance to interact with many locals. As an American it feels like they are aware of my inadequate knowledge of how their culture works. My goal in fixing is going to be to get out of comfort zone and put myself in more situations where I am able to interact with locals.

Expectation: Other students will already have a lot of friends and will be cliquey.

Reality: This expectation has definitely been the most wrong when it comes to the reality! I have five other roommates and two are from Arizona State University, two from Rutgers University and one from Mexico. Even though we all come from different places we have been able to connect through the great experience we are all having together. We have already traveled to Rome, Pisa and Lucca together and we plan to go on more trips in the near future!

For the most part, I have been enlightened by the reality of not needing to have expectations and just “going with the flow.” When coming abroad you can imagine all you want what your experience will be like but I promise that reality will change everything. And if you allow it, the reality will be better than any expectation you could imagine.

All I can say for my first blog in Ecuador is wow. I have been here for a week already and have already fallen in love with this majestic place.

I arrived at the Quito airport at about 11pm on Monday night along with the other Penn state students. We were tired, but excited, and a little annoyed from the lack of movies and TV shows to watch on United airlines. We flew through customs and collected our luggage, fortunately with no issues. Then we proceeded to walk through the doors to meet our host families at last. Our hearts were pounding. That is when it hit us. We were about to be temporarily adopted into a brand new family that doesn’t speak our language, who were complete strangers. We walked through the doors, only to be greeted by large, beautifully decorated signs and balloons with our names on them. It was crowded with people! I saw a young, short, smiling Ecuadorian women holding my sign. I go over and we greet each other with a hug and kiss on the cheek, but there wasn’t much time for introductions because our taxi was waiting outside the airport. I followed this stranger outside and climbed in the back of the taxi while the driver kindly loaded all of my luggage into the trunk. It was dark, and my host mom, Guadalupe was worried I would be freezing, but it was only 55 degrees! Ha-ha, it was already 30 warmer than it had been when I left the states that afternoon. The drive was about 25 mins, and I couldn’t see much because it was dark. I had some small conversations with my mom about my flight and about my new family, and how my family coped with me leaving. I was excited and wanted to talk, but more tired from a long day of travel. We had a layover in Panama City, I told her where it was 90 when we landed. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy living in South America.

We arrived to Lumbisi, the indigenous community I live in, only to my surprise, I saw more dogs than humans. So many dogs running across the streets, playing, sleeping, and chasing our taxi. The dogs in Lumbisi are insane. As a dog lover, this upset me a little at first, but my host mom reassured me that most of these dogs have homes, they are just outdoor dogs, which I’m sure the dogs appreciated much more than being stuffed in a cage all day, since the weather is so nice. The taxi driver stopped out front of a quaint little house with a bunch of flowers outside. This little red house will be my new home for the next 4 months. Not only was the outside adorable, but the inside was even more quaint. It was filled with oranges, reds, huge colorful paintings of Volcan Cotopaxi, and a bunch of fruits and plants. There were so many colors bouncing off the walls. The house was quiet and only my host Dad, Rodrigo was still awake. I was immediately greeted by two tiny little dogs jumping up at me, Brunito and Miluca. (Milo and Bruno). They have dogs, I thought to myself. I could live here. We did our introductions but I told them soon after I needed to get some sleep so tomorrow would come faster! We said goodnight, and I unpacked a little, only to find I forgot one of my most important bags. I texted my mom from home and asked her to send it out the next morning (sorry Mom). I fell asleep within minutes, despite the 100s of barking dogs outside.
In the morning, I woke up to the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen from laying in my bed. I was greeted by humming birds, misty mountains, and the relentless squawking of my host moms roosters and chickens. Most of the day Tuesday was spent relaxing, talking with my mom unpacking, and learning how to work the buses. I slept a lot, the altitude in Quito is about 9500 ft. in the air, and the oxygen is thin and it can be sometimes hard to breath and it can make you fatigued and tired. Around 3pm, my host brother and sister came home (14 year old twins) after a long day at school. Cristina is a little shy, but Felipe immediately asked me to play him in chess. (I was very impressed with myself when I beat a 14 year old at chess). We had a nice dinner together and I went to be early, still tired from the day of travel.

Wednesday and Thursday I woke up early. We had orientations starting at 8 pm. The orientations consisted of a walking tour around Cumbaya (where my university is located) and learning how to take buses, get around, and the layout of the city. We had a little campus tour and met with an extremely helpful Ecuadorian women named Margoth. Thursday was an orientation for all of the international students studying here this semester. (There are a lot of us from the United States and I met lots of people, one evidently from my hometown!) We talked a lot about health, safety, security, trips, how to cope, what to do, where to go, and how to do it! It was an extremely long day, complete with another campus tour, lunch, and questions and answers. The campus is extremely beautiful, and all of the buildings are named after famous scientists, not wealthy donors like most universities.

Friday was another early morning. We took the bus into Quito with Margoth for the first time to register our visas at the embassy. We were there for about 2 hours waiting in a packed, noisy room, but thankfully, I brought my Harry Potter along with me. For Christmas my Dad got me the first three books in Spanish. Since I know the stories so well (I read all 7 books about 3 times) I thought it would be an easy transition to start reading for pleasure in Spanish. The rest of the day was pretty mellow, and we began making plans to go out for our first time, even though many people were exhausted from a busy week of information, tours, and early mornings. I did not want to waste a minute, so after dinner, I went into Cumbaya with some of my friends from my program and we went to a few bars close to our university.

Saturday was another extremely busy day. A tour of Quito. We spent the morning taking buses, and we visited 3 different churches, museums, the government building where President Correa lives, and just walking around the old historic centers. There is amazing history on these streets, beautiful views, and quaint restaurants. The historic center was bumbling with tourists and locals alike, snapping photos, enjoying some freshly squeezed juice. Never in my life have I seen such amazing beautiful sights, (too bad my camera died before the best part). I will be making more trips back to the historical center, so I’m not too worried. We ended the day with a sketchy climb up to the top of La Basilica, (one of the largest churches in America, and one of the highest), which offered an incredible view of the entire city, along with little downs tucked into the peaks and valleys of the breathtaking mountains. This day in Quito, was by far my favorite day here. Saturday night, we stayed in, too tired to move after a long day of sightseeing and walking.

Sunday was my first day to relax, and boy did I. I slept in late, read a lot of Harry Potter, gave my two little dogs a bath with my host mom, walked around my community, snapping pictures left and right, and mentally prepared myself so the first week of classes. Checking, and double checking my classes and buildings, so I would not be late or get lost. I got to bed early, after a delicious meal, and Harry Potter helped me fall asleep, although I was giddy with excitement to begin my first day of classes, (and no I never thought I would ever say that in my life).

More to come about my first week of classes, and my frist night out in Quito!

It is difficult to come up with an opening for a blog post about first impressions of Freiburg, since I really can’t remember the last time I’ve been this caught off guard by a city and by the new people that I’ve met. Freiburg itself is a lot more built up than I originally expected, but the cobbled streets and the imposing, intricate cathedral are exactly as they have appeared online. Although the weather has been cold and overcast the first few days, Freiburg is charming its way into my heart. After only being in Freiburg for a few days, I finally understand what so many people were saying when they told me how much I would love Germany. Freiburg is truly a magical place.

After a tearful goodbye to my parents at security, the bast part of my journey began. Without a doubt the best part of the last five days has been the people that I have met. Every single person, from friends I met waiting at the gate in Newark to my neighbors, has been so friendly and outgoing. When I left for Germany, I had met 5 other people on my program who were on the same flight as I was. After collecting our luggage and buying a train ticket from Frankfurt, our little troupe was 13 strong by the time we reached Freiburg. We had spent the afternoon helping one another load luggage onto and off of trains, hail cabs, and try to chip away the language barrier, and considered ourselves friends by the time we reached our destination. When I received my housing assignment, I was a little disappointed that I would be living in a single studio apartment, and not in a shared apartment with German and IES students. However, there are about 10 IES students living in our apartment complex, and 4 who live just 2 short tram stops away. Each one is nicer than the next, and we have all been making the 10 minute tram commute to the city center together daily, and tonight we headed to an Irish pub to cheer on the Seahawks, as 3 people with us come from Washington. I feel so lucky to have made a great group of friends only a few days into what will be a wonderful semester!

As far as my German goes…

I’ve still been adjusting to a new city and getting my lay of the land, but I’ve been trying to use German as much as possible. It is a little hard when I say that yes I speak “ein bisschen Deutsch”, and the Germans launch into a quick sentence that I don’t have a prayer of following. Although I keep practicing at bars ordering dinner and listening to the announcements on the tram, here’s hoping that I can get more comfortable and confident when I speak!

Today was a welcome break from the confines of indoor info sessions and headed out into the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) to Lake Titisee and Hinterzarten for a hike. It is only about 30 minutes outside of Freiburg by train and a popular destination by the locals. This morning the train was packed with people of all ages who were headed out to the forest to hike, ski, or sled! Yesterday we had some snow flurries which continued through the night, and by the time we left on the train this morning there was a fresh 3 inches throughout the city. Up in the forest was 6 inches of fresh powder against a blue sky, and we hiked for miles through a landscape so gorgeous that words truly do not do it justice. Thank goodness for cameras. I felt as if I had stepped into the set of ‘Santa Claus is coming’ to Town’, and was waiting for a winter warlock or a talking woodland creature to pop out. Instead, we only saw a lot of Germans cross country skiing and hiking through the Schwarzwald. We completed our first real German outing with ‘Kafe und Küchen’, a traditional Schwarzwald snack of coffee and black forest cake! Sehr Lecker!

Location: Freiburg, Germany

First things first; France is awesome! I have to say I am really getting the hang of living in France. Whether it’s eating a baguette with cheese and coffee for breakfast, using public transportation to go everywhere, or even traveling, I am definitely very happy with the trip so far.

This week was the first week of classes. It was actually really similar to “Syllabus Week” since what we mostly did was go over syllabi and introduce ourselves. My schedule consists of 5 classes: grammar, methodology, French conversation, Contemporary civilization, and writing. I actually do not have class on Wednesdays and Fridays, which gives me a bunch of free time.

Yesterday (Friday), I decided to go on an adventure to a neighboring town called Sète. This town has a decent-sized port and is very mountainous. I went with 7 other students in the program (making friends has actually turned out to be pretty easy since everyone is on the same boat). I took tons of pictures and videos that I will display below:

I am currently scrambling to catch up on all of my homework for next week. I am also trying to plan a weekend get-a-way to Rome in the next few weeks. What I think is absolutely fantastic is the fact that traveling in Europe is so cheap. I found tickets to Rome for about 30 Euros, which is not too bad. Traveling is definitely something I look forward to doing in the next four months that I will be spending here.

À la prochaine!

Location: Sète, France