Traveling Soul

It seems crazy to think that just a couple of months ago, I was in Paris and not long before that, I was exploring other countries in Europe. Now that I have (officially) finished undergrad, the necessity to move and a longing to travel has returned. I decided to add a minor to my Bachelor's of Arts degree because I didn't feel fully prepared to leave the comforts of the University nor was I ready to end my education. These months have been a conglomerate of incomprehensible feelings of joy and fleeting moments with a diversity of people from my oldest friend traveling to Peru (who I'm so excited to reunite with) to hosting a Russian student for a week and a half (who I will get to visit this Summer!) to a dear friend visiting from Iowa (who I met in China 2 years ago), I have been bombarded and blessed by constant changes. Thus, leading me to my next adventure: Colombia.   Derived from my desire to continue practicing and using Spanish and my keen interest in South Amer...

Happy Veteran's Day to everyone who has served, especially my beloved Father. In light of recent news regarding the election, I would like to clarify some misconceptions. This is not just another political post. Protests for many years have historically been a symbol of unity and change. The purpose of a protest is to increase awareness, to allow voices of the minority to be heard and to create a movement. Nonviolent protests are effective and revolutionary. We can never forget the work of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and so many more before us (and hopefully more after). I am aware that there are protests across the nation that have turned violent and destructive and while this may be the result for them, in Eugene, Oregon, this was not the case. I watched as members from the community-students, children, high schoolers, older folks, everyone of all backgrounds- joined together in solidarity, in a peaceful protest, to resist. Furthermore, I watch...

I have, for a long time, always wanted to travel to Greece. Asides from wanting to visit my relatives there, I also had  a yearning to explore the ancient sites. Florent and I had discussed in length of our trip to Athens, but when the time finally arrived, we were both unsure of how it would go. Through a series of long and detailed messages between my relatives, we were recommended many sites and places to explore and were offered a home to stay, located in the heart of Athens. Our first stop was the New Acropolis Museum where we learned about the history of the Parthenon which began in 447 BC and read extensively about how it was built and the destruction that it went through with the invasion of the Ottomans and the Venetian Empire. It has been used for many things including a temple for Athena, a Christian church, and a mosque. It sits on top of the Acropolis hill, standing tall as a symbol of Greece, overlooking the city of Athens. The day that we went, it was incredibly ...

When I saw the huge cross on top of the Alps that symbolized our accomplishments of making it, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that I would never see it. Drenched in sweat and out of breath, the view on the Alps was truly breathtaking. In the distance, you could see the top of nearby mountains and down (down) below was the beautiful tiny town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Three guys had reached the top before us and not long after was a middle aged couple. We ate our packed sandwiches and store bought smoothies and as badly as we wanted to rest and stay up there, we had to rush because we were on a time limit. Florent had to be at his bus station at 6:40 which meant that we needed to leave the hike by 3 depending on traffic. The steep incline up was a battle against gravity on the way down, but asides from the minor falls, no one was terribly hurt. Halfway through we reached the restaurant, meaning that we had survived past the worst of it. Along the Alps, but mostly ...

Amsterdam was such a whirlwind of movements and sounds and I absolutely loved all of it. Over 100 canals ran through this busy beautiful city, one of them being the Canal Belt considered on the list of UNESCO's World Heritage site. The first thing that you see when you get to Amsterdam is the endless rows of bikes so of course we had to do what the locals did and we rented bikes for the whole day. Not only did Amsterdam have a big separate street for bikers, but they also had a huge sidewalk for pedestrians, a tram that ran through the main roads, the public bus system, and regular streets for drivers. At first it felt crazy with all of the honking, the yelling, and the talking, but eventually, you get comfortable with the different twists and turns of the lanes. Your bike bell indicates that someone is trying to pass you (mine was broken) and if a motorcycle/moped or those tiny little cars were behind you on a bike, you better move out of the way because they are running over...

June 17th With the long week of training coming to an end, everyone was anxious to finally explore the country a bit, beyond the borders of this base. There are 3 military bases in Germany and although I am staying in the Panzer base, I actually work at Patch. As a result, I have to take a bus every day (which is about 20 minutes), commuting there and back will be tiring, but hopefully, I will end around 6 every evening. We did some observations and got to meet some of the kids that we will be working with (they are so so excited for the summer to begin and as are we!). I had made plans to meet with a friend that I met in Beijing last summer who happened to also coincidentally live in Stuttgart. He picked up my friends and I at the gate of the base and we took us to downtown Stuttgart where we ate at a traditional German Biergarten (wanting to do what the locals do). I ordered some yummy vegetarian thin crusted pizza. We sat there as he told us some German phrases and common c...

May 18th, 2016 I've known since November when I was studying abroad in Mexico that I would be traveling to Germany in June and now that the time is approaching fast, it feels unreal. I am beyond excited to be working with the same internship program that I worked with last summer when I was in Beijing, China. On June 12th, I will be leaving for Stuttgart, Germany and working on a military base until August 20th. Then I will be extending my stay until towards the end of September before I start school again for Fall to explore Europe and ultimately to grow. Being here has actually opened my eyes to the world and to the reality that I was living in. So many people go through their daily lives, uninterested in genuine connections and just simply "passing through". I do not want to simply "pass through" life.  With the combination of staying an extra term Freshmen year, studying abroad, and coming in with some extra credits, I suddenly went from a Freshmen 3 yea...