WOW Time flies!

Wow! Time flies as I am now nearing the end of February and more than halfway through my semester abroad! Due to the shorter term, I’ve been trying to keep busy and ensure Im continuing to explore new things. I feel like after the first few weeks its easy to get comfortable and in the grove; however I’ve been trying to keep branching out and avoid continuing to go to the same spots and places, no matter how good they are. I think the biggest thing I learned during my last term abroad is that time truly does fly; you will always be shocked or irritated with how many places or corners you didn't explore by the end! I have indeed finally felt homesick multiple times, mostly during times of illness and high-stress days. I never truly knew how stressful trip planning was until I actually did it! It is crazy to say that is actually the most stressful and time consuming part of abroad so far. The fact that you have to align transportation, flights (which in my case normally has to align with friend’s schedules), classes, and accommodations can be a lot. I have also learned that I do indeed get sick every. single. time. I come back from a trip. But without diving too deep into my travels, let me give you a run down on the past two months.

As for traveling, I have been nonstop going throughout January and February. I think I am scared of not being to see it all, which motivates me to travel so frequently! I had my first weekend trip to the capital of Morocco, Rabat, right after my two-week update blog. We visited a friend whom we met on our first night, who kindly let us stay at her house. Rabat was the ideal first weekend trip, just one train ride away from Casablanca and gave everyone a feel for how Morocco works on a larger scale. Just shortly two days after the trip, I got too antsy and decided to take my very first solo trip!! This was a huge step for me, and I decided Marrakesh, Morocco was the perfect place to start. It is hands down my favorite place in Morocco so far. Something about the hustle and bustle of everything is simply so beautiful, and I cannot wait to make many more trips here in the future! For my first solo trip, I just did two nights in a hostel located in the medina. The hostel itself was full of young travelers from all around the world! I met a few people from the UK, Germany and even Egypt. I’ll do a more in-depth blog post regarding Marrakesh as a travel destination, so definitely look out for that soon!

Soon after I returned to Casablanca, the real traveling began. ESCA does academic scheduling alot different from how schools in America work; therefore, we had our equivalent to “spring break” on our fourth week of class. I decided to spend three days in Paris, a part of it solo and a part of it with friends, before spending some time in the UK. These were my first trips in Europe and were definitely memorable. The food in both London and Paris was unbelievable, and I was shocked to see myself enjoy Paris more than I thought I would. A friend and I even took a day trip to Brighton, UK to hike the Seven Sisters trail. However, looking back at these trips, it is easy to notice things I would do differently. You never really notice these things on your first big trip, however, as you get more comfortable with the process and understanding how to plan a successful weekend, it's easy to see how we could have made Paris and London better. With my return from break came the “after-trip sickness” I referred to earlier, and shortly after that came my big Spain trip! This was planned as a more relaxed trip, and I spent time in both Madrid and Barcelona hanging out with friends who were studying in both locations. This is definitely a huge tip of mine if you are planning on going abroad on a budget. Staying with friends or relatives, no matter where they are located, can save a lot of money on accommodations!

First solo date in Paris featuring steak and frites!

Seven Sisters hike in the UK!

Famous Abbey Road in London!

The rest of my February was spent spending time with my friends back in Casablanca and visiting families, while also continuing to visit friends in Florence and Rome, and then returning the favor by having friends visit and explore the Sahara Desert in Morocco with me! The desert was definitely a highlight trip for me, I highly recommend anyone studying abroad in Europe to take a weekend to explore it!

The Sahara Desert!

Overall, there have been lots of curveballs and obstacles that have led to me actually becoming pretty Type B. This is very unheard of for me, and I am excited to see how my personal growth shifts as I continue my last month abroad before backpacking around!