Journals from Abroad – Page 19 – Linfield students studying around the world

March 21, 2022March 22, 2022

Daily Life in Southern France

Rebonjour!

My last blog covered travels, so I figured the next one should focus on the bulk of my experience abroad, Southern France!

Alleyway on a bright blue sunny day. Surrounding tan buildings with two parked cars on either side of the cobblestone street. — A snapshot of a small walk to another building 5 minutes away to the main school building for a wine class at the end of the day.

The weather here in Aix is a stark contrast to that of McMinnville Oregon. It rarely, if ever, rains and is warm and dry. There is a great wind that is known as the Mistral winds that come from the coast. Some days it’s a nice gentle breeze, and others it nearly knocks you off your feet with one step outside.

Tall white pillar fountain on the right, bare trees on the left pointing up to the blue sky with a busy market underneath. — One of the many town squares with a monumental fountain in the middle during a market day.

Walking street lined with restaurants and shops under a blue clear sky. — A picture of the Cours Mirabeau, a main street that is lined with restaurants and shops with fountains in the middle.

Fresh fruits and vegetables lined up under the sun for the food market. — The food market, always filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, meats, and honey.

Let’s take a look at a daily schedule of mine. I currently live with my host mom about a 30 minute walk away from the middle of town and school. If it’s a particularly nice day, I wake up a little earlier so I can enjoy my walk down to class. There are actually African Ringneck Parakeets living in downtown Aix, they flit above your head on your walk down as bright green flashes. After arriving downtown depending on if I have a morning or afternoon class I grab a bite to eat. If it’s the morning I go to my favorite boulangerie and grab a pain au chocolate and a beignet with some coffee. It’s become such routine that the lady that works mornings has memorized my order and now we talk a bit when she makes my coffee.

Bright yellow flowers surrounded by other bouquets in a market setting. — The flower market in town a mere 5 minute walk from the food market.

I then head to class for an hour or two and grab lunch in town. Sometimes hitting the market and strolling through the vendors and smelling the fresh flowers. Each day I still take in everything like it’s my first time. The architecture always blows my mind and the historical rich town and culture is a constant dream. The locals that have gotten to know me wave as I pass their shops and/or restaurants. The happiness here in the community is overwhelming. Sometimes I stumble into a new street or corner I haven’t seen before and there is a new fountain or church with beautiful art carved into the stone. Most of the time it feels like I have walked on to a movie set and I have the amazing opportunity to soak it up and live in it every day.

73 year old woman wearing a white and orange apron holding out a skillet with a freshly made crêpe. — My host mom Josette proudly held her crêpe out for a photo for the blog. She has been hosting students for 20 years!

At the end of the day I have to make it back to my homestay for dinner at 7pm. Due to the one mile hike to go back up to the homestay and after a long day of walking the town, I take the bus for a 15 minute ride back home. There are times our host mom will cook crêpes for dinner and they are a thousand times better than what you can get on the street.

I’m so thankful for this experience and I hope this gave you a little peak at the wonderful every day life of a study abroad student in Aix en Provence.

À bientôt!

Emma Libby

March 16, 2022March 18, 2022

March madness

It feels like so much and so little has happened this month and it’s only and already the third week. I guess that’s the magic of Ireland, or just my inability to keep track of time while here. Either way, it’s already been quite the month and the main event (Saint Patrick’s Day) has not even happened yet. Nevertheless, I will take you through this month’s adventures so far.

The last weekend of February and the first week of March my family came to visit me. It was pretty crazy that all three of them made the trip out here and it was such a fun experience getting to show them around my new temporary home. I gave them a walking tour throughout Galway which included a trip to campus and the Salthill beach and diving board.

My parents rented a car for their time in Ireland, so we were able to drive to the countryside of Connemara and hike Diamond Hill. I have completed this hike once already with my roommates in the pouring rain, but this time around it was clear and sunny which made for an entirely different hiking experience. In comparison, I preferred the blue sky over the wind and rain, but the landscape is beautiful regardless.

Also within the first week of March McCall and I played for the NUIG Ladies Club team in the National League final. We went into double overtime and eventually penalty kicks before we came away with the trophy! It was so fun playing soccer with such a welcoming group of women, and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to be a part of a first place victory for our school.

Other than more school work and some local exploring around Galway, that pretty much sums up the first three weeks of March! I’ll be back to report on my full Irish St. Patrick’s Day experience soon.

Best,

Laney Green

P.S. Mask restrictions have lifted here (as did Oregon’s soon after) and it is so weird!

March 14, 2022

Dublin Adventure

Hello from Galway, Ireland!

This month we have been doing a lot more exploring around Ireland including a trip we took to Dublin for Zell’s 21st birthday. We were able to get a hotel room in Dublin and train tickets there to have a fun long weekend celebration. The first thing we did when we arrived in Dublin was check into our hotel.

ducks, seagulls, and other birds in water. trees around the shoreline — Dublin Park

After the hotel we headed straight to the museum of archaeology. We were delighted to find that the museums in Dublin are completely free, and we spent all the time we could exploring and learning about Ireland’s diverse archaeological background. It was cool to see the things we have been learning about in our Irish, medieval, and Viking archeology classes in person. We got to look at the famed bog bodies, Viking age materials, and many intricate pieces of jewelry among other artifacts.

Outside architecture of the museum of archaeology in Dublin — Museum of Archaeology

We found a wonderful place to eat that night and then crashed at the hotel. The next day was Zell’s birthday, so we headed out to Dublin Zoo! The zoo was amazing, and it was well worth the hour walk to get there. There were many really cool animals, and we were blessed with great weather for our entire trip.

Red panda walking down a log in its enclosure — red panda at the zoo

After the zoo we headed to the art museum and wandered around until it closed for the day looking at artwork, furniture, and clothing from all around Europe.

window overlooking a courtyard with art building viewed through it — Dublin art museum

We found a perfect place for birthday drinks, dinner, and dessert that night to end Zell’s 21st.

Three drinks on a table with smiling girl on opposite side of the table — bday drinks

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and visited Trinity college to see the book of Kells in all its glory. The library was stunning and seeing the book of Kells up close was a surreal experience.

library shelves and marble busts — Trinity College Library

After the library we took a long walk back to the train station where we read our books until it was time to board out train back to Galway. We had an amazing adventure packed weekend in Dublin, and we are already planning our next visit there for a concert we are seeing in April.

Best,

Isabel Brown

March 9, 2022March 9, 2022

Carnaval Break

This last week was Carnaval break, and we had a whole week to relax and participate in various festivities. Carnaval happens in many countries around the world and each place has its unique traditions.

In Ecuador specifically, there are various cities that attract a ton of Ecuadorians due to their different ways of celebrating. In almost all the cities, people go out on the street and throw water and foam at their family, friends, and even strangers. I personally went to the Ecuadorian coast with another American girl and our Ecuadorian friends. We traveled 5 hours from Quito and finally arrived at the beach. The area we stayed at was full of college students or young adults from Quito. For the next few days, we spent our time swimming in the ocean, dancing, and drinking coconut smoothies. It was super relaxing and fun to be able to meet other students and forget about school for a bit. After this trip, I had exactly 24 hours to go home and wash my clothes and pack my bags for the trip I would be taking to Galapagos.

The trip to Galapagos was organized through a tour guide recommended from San Francisco who arranges trips to several locations solely for international students. We started the trip by flying to Baltra and taking a small boat to the biggest Island Puerto Ayora. While on this island, we went to the Charles Darwin Research station. Here we had the opportunity to learn about Darwin’s life, his theories and see a ton of tortoises. From here, we explored the island and went to Tortuga Bay which is considered the most beautiful beach in Galapagos. The next few days we spent time on several beaches where we snorkeled with sharks, turtles, sea lions, and several beautiful fish. It was amazing how close you could be to sea lions, iguanas, and birds wherever you went.

One of the most surprising things to me was how small and local the islands felt. Big companies aren’t allowed to go in so everything feels very authentic.

Overall, I loved spending my break on the beach, and although both locations were very different in terms of activities, both were unforgettable and amazing.

Un abrazo,

Salma Galvan

Photo of the gate at Galapagos airport — Arriving in Galapagos

Photo of the shore in Galapagos with boats in the background — Island shore

Photo of a giant tortoise with two girls posing behind it — Galapagos Tortoises

6 students hugging on a boat with a huge rock in the background — Amigos en Galapagos

Photo of an airbnb complex where the pool, palm trees and other buildings are visible — Ecuadorian Coast

March 9, 2022

International Student Life

One of the best parts of being an international student is that you not only meet people from your host country but from around the world. In Universidad San Francisco de Quito, the international programs are very well organized and there’s a lot of support that is offered to its students. One of the best parts of academic life is that you have the ability to choose between having classes with international students and local ones.

Sometimes it depends on your Spanish ability, but other times it varies based on what classes sound most interesting. In my case, I have 3 classes with local students and one class with international ones. I think this is a great mix because it allows you to improve your Spanish and meet people from different groups and origins. Other than the access to special cultural classes, there are also other trips and activities for international students to be a part of. There are smaller activities like clubs or outings around the city, but there are also larger trips that the international office organizes or recommends. Specifically, they organize a trip to Tiputini which is a biological base in the Amazon jungle. Through this trip, you have the opportunity to see the university’s biodiversity station and enjoy several activities in nature. In addition to this, they recommend a trip to Peru and Galapagos during the mid-semester break where you go on an organized trip with other international students.

One of the activities I’ve been able to participate in is making traditional Ecuadorian food with professional chefs from the Gastronomy faculty. Through this activity, I was able to join 10 other international students in watching a cooking demonstration and cooking various dishes. On this day, we arrived at the gastronomic part of the campus where we put on our aprons and were given instruction. After a brief introduction, we were able to cut up vegetables, meat, and fruit, in order to prepare the ingredients. In total , we made a warm fruit drink ( colada morada), empanadas de Morocho and a fish and shrimp ceviche. Everything was delicious and it was amazing how organized and quick we were able to make so many things.

Un abrazo,

Salma Galvan

Pictured are students in aprons cutting up veggies in a kitchen — Cooking Class

Photo of the several pots cooking both fish and fruits — Cooking Class

Pictured is a bowl of fish and shrimp ceviche — Ceviche Ecuatoriano

Pictured is the gastronomy classroom with students sitting at desks being instructed — Learning from the Chefs

Pictured are empanadas being fried in oil — Empanadas

Pictured is one of the most beautiful buildings on campus, it's white and has a dragon on the top of it — Dragon Building

February 28, 2022

Visit to Limerick

Hello from Galway, Ireland!

Yesterday my roommates and I traveled to Limerick, Ireland which was about an hour and a half on bus. We had decided to do some more exploring around Ireland because we have been spending a lot of time in Galway lately.

Graveyard and old church — st. Mary’s cathedral

When we arrived in Limerick, we started by wandering around and seeing the adorable Saturday markets they had set up on some streets. Then we made our way to King John’s castle which was about a 30-minute walk from the bus station. We paid for student tickets to enter the castle and museum where we learned a lot about the history surrounding its building and life in the castle afterwards. We were also able to learn about Limerick’s history and the different occupants of the city.

Archway and turret of King John's castle with girl standing in the archway — Zell in the castle

The castle was extremely interactive and supplied many opportunities to get involved in learning about its history. There were areas where you could pretend to be one of the workers in Limerick and help to build the castle, games where you matched up shipping exports to their respective towns, and drawers you could pull out to look at recovered artifacts from excavation on the site.

girl using blocks to build the archway of a castle — Haley being a stonemason

The self-guided tour also allowed you to travel down under the museum to see the actual foundations of the castle. The tour then led up to areas where you could explore the turrets and main courtyard of the building, and this area had many fun games to play with your group.

two girls wearing a helmet and chainmail from the norman armory in King John's castle — armory dress up

There was horseshoe, tug of war, archery, see saws, and a part where you could go into an armory and dress in chainmail and helmets. We had lots of fun messing around with the games, and even got laughed at by a security guard watching us on the see saw.

two girls playing on a see saw in the castle courtyard — see saw in the courtyard

After we tired ourselves out with the castle, we headed to some food carts and got some great food from local places. Then we were able to explore Limerick on foot and checked out some local shops, and I was able to buy an Irish tarot deck which is something I was looking to buy while visiting. After checking out the shops we headed back to the bus station to return to Galway.

rainbow stretched out over city and river — rainbow from the top of King John’s castle

We had a wonderful time checking out more of Ireland, and we hope to visit Limerick again to do more in the area.

Best,
Isabel Brown

February 28, 2022

Weekend Getaways

Bonjour et Hello!

Alex Burkeen and I standing on a grass field in front of the Eiffel Tower, clear blue skies. — Alex and I happy to finally make it and see the wonderful Eiffel Tower on a windy but sunny afternoon.

This past month of February consisted of so many adventures I’m not even sure where to begin! First, I went with my friend Alex Burkeen to Paris for a weekend and absolutely adored it. During this weekend trip, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs and the Notre Dame (albeit only the outside because it is still closed to the public after the fire in April of 2019.)

Hundreds of colored glass windows of red, blue, green, yellow and purple in an arched church. In front is an ornate worship box for prayers. — Each window in this picture depicts a scene from the bible and each scene is completely different on each pane. So much beauty you can’t get enough.

So, to cover up missing the inside of that Cathedral we ended up visiting a gorgeous one not too far from the Notre Dame, Chateau Sainte Chapelle. We ended our weekend of fun with the Louvre Museum. The sights inside were grand and magnificent as we strolled through the current greek exhibit and snuck a small peak at the Mona Lisa. So much to see in so little time!

A cross tombstone surrounded by bits of human skulls and bones in arch shapes in the cave of the catacombs. — This haunting photo and framework of the cross tombstone gave me chills.

After a week back at school it was time for yet another weekend trip with Alex, this time to the U.K! When we arrived the Stansted airport was in a sort of panic, as there was a big wind and rain storm headed directly our way. We couldn’t board a train to our airbnb so we found an Uber, who mistakenly dropped us off at the wrong address in the middle of the storm. Luckily our airbnb hosts were parents themselves and picked us up, only for us to find out they had lost power! So, whats the next thing we do? We go get dinner with our hosts of course!

Wet Westminster Abbey Cathedral with blue cloudy skies. — Despite the rainy windy weather the westminster abbey was beautiful!

The power soon came back on and we traveled to downtown London the next day to see all the wonderful sights….in the pouring down rain! We were able to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben (also sadly under construction.) The views were wonderful but the rain and wind started to get a bit chilly so we found another attraction to visit, The London Dungeons. We partook on a small dark and damp journey learning about the plague, Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd. All in theatrical fun encounters with some jump scares to boot! Afterwards the rain had stopped and a beautiful sunset overtook the London skyline.

Stormy sunset, highlighting Big Ben clock across the river from Alex and I on the bridge. — The afterstorm sunset was too gorgeous to pass up. Do you spot Big Ben?

Different dwarf magical characters from the harry potter movies. Pointy ears and all. — Lifesize figures of promenant characters in the Harry Potter films!

The following day was the highlight of the entire trip, a tour of Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios! My inner child was crying the entire day, as we saw the main set and props where all 8 movies were filmed. We ended the day by buying some wands of our own (obviously I chose Sirius Blacks wand).

Dark blue small scale image of Hogwarts from Harry potter. — Smaller scale version of the entire Hogwarts School of Witchcraft.

Overall, it has been a great adventure filled month with surprises everyday. I’ve gotten the hang of the cultural life here in Aix en Provence and love each day more than the last. I’m so excited to tell you all about my next journey!

À Bientôt,
Emma Libby

February 24, 2022

Mini month adventures

After a big adjustment period in January, I’m happy to report that I’m feeling much more at peace and at home here in Ireland. I owe this all to February, even though it’s been a whirlwind of a month.

February has been filled with plenty of events and new experiences, both big and small. Everything from more school work and a trip to Paris, to lots of soccer matches and local excursions. Let’s recap some of these adventures!

McCall and I both play soccer at Linfield and while it’s technically our off season, we couldn’t be stopped from seeking out a way to get touches on the ball. We joined the NUIG Ladies Club team and so far we have played in four matches. Our team is even set to play in the league final next week! It has been such a fun experience to play with and against local girls here, and it’s also been a great way to meet new people. Fingers crossed we can continue performing well and come out on top next week.

One of my favorite experiences so far this spring was showing my friend Jakob from Linfield all around Galway. He’s currently studying abroad at the University of Nottingham in England, but the Irish hills were calling his name so he booked a trip for the weekend. I had the pleasure of showing him around the NUIG campus, city centre and even Salthill Beach.

On Saturday we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher. We lucked out with dry weather and even a brief appearance of sun! It was crazy beautiful and definitely a destination worth exploring if you ever find yourself in Ireland.

We had booked our bus tickets to give us a three hour window at the cliffs. At the end of it, I did wish we had a bit more time as we could have easily kept hiking and also spent more time looking at the indoor exhibit about the cliffs. That being said, as soon as our bus pulled up to take us back to Galway it started to rain, so the timing worked out well in the end.

I’m glad to see short, but sweet February coming to a close- but not because it wasn’t good! Really, I’m just excited to see what March will bring.

Best,

Laney Green

February 23, 2022

Cafes and Storms

Hello from Galway, Ireland!

The month of February seems to be flying by here in Ireland. My group and I are settling in nicely in our second month of study abroad, and the work has definitely started to pick up. While we are currently planning for a few bigger trips and events, we have been having a wonderful time surrounding ourselves with all the fun things to do in our local area.

Girl standing on rocks with the ocean in the background — beach days

Galway is a wonderful spot for all sorts of different restaurants, pubs, and bars so we have been exploring new places to eat and drink every week. We have found some delicious places that have become favorites of ours, and other places to check off the list in the future.

lots of plants in front of a window in a cafe — cafe window

I was told by lots of people that it may be difficult to find good food options here since I am a vegetarian, but I have been delightfully surprised at the number of options I have around this city. We frequent a café with wonderful coffee and pastries where we like to read and work on our schoolwork (where I am currently writing this blog from).

laptop open on table in cafe — jungle cafe

My roommates and I have made it a mission to find the best avocado toast in Ireland, and so far, we have had lots of good ones to pick from, and when we need to save money, we make our own at home.

two different plates of avocado toast to showcase the selection — two of the best avo toasts

While we have been kept pretty busy lately with schoolwork and other events, we have also found ourselves diving deeper into local places and the beautiful outdoors.

beached ship on the rocky shore — shipwreck

The recent storms that have hit the coast of Ireland and the UK have made it a bit difficult to participate in outdoor activities because of the intense winds and constant rainy conditions.

window with gray skies and ice — storm eunice from the window

Once these storms are gone, we hope to go back to exploring Ireland, but for now we are pretty content on reading in cute cafes.

rainbow through clouds over top of buildings and trees — rainbow after the storm

Best,

Isabel Brown

February 23, 2022

Weekend in Paris

Last week’s adventure consisted of a quick trip to Paris with two of my roommates! We planned this trip about a month ago and after much anticipation it was finally time to head over.

We left our apartment at one a.m. on a Thursday and made our way to the Galway bus station. From there we had a three hour bus ride to the Dublin Airport and then a short flight before we landed in France. Even with the lack of sleep we were ready to take on everything Paris had to offer; especially some chocolate croissants and coffee.

We had three full days to spend in the city which we split up by dedicating two days to be complete tourists and go exploring, and saved the third day for museum visits. Our exploring consisted of trekking through the streets that led to major landmarks of Paris. This of course included the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc De Triomphe, and an impressive lookout point on the roof of a ritzy shopping center.

We did a lot of walking to get from landmark to landmark, which ultimately led to a lot of good eating along the way too. I had some of the best pizza and pasta of my life on this trip!

As for museums, we all visited the Louvre and it actually exceeded my expectations. It was just as big and beautiful on the inside as the outside architecture is. My favorite part of the museum were all the sculptures, but we also stopped to take a selfie with the ever famous Mona Lisa.

My roommates went on to visit the Musee d’Orsay while I wandered the gardens and trails around the Louvre.

On our last night we got caught up in riots which was a stressful way to end our trip. However, once we made it back safely to our hotel it only added to an overall memorable experience!

More adventures coming soon.

Best,

Laney Green