The days leading up to my departure date to Jordan were filled with a perpetual sore throat, sneezing, and frantic trips to the pharmacy to request ‘literally anything you have that will make me not sick.’ The pharmacists tried, and I thank them for their valiant efforts, but my body’s determination to succumb to a…
Birthday Island
Not much can pull me out of bed at 3:30 am. My dog panicking over a thunderstorm Tornado sirens (probably, hasn’t been tested) Nightmares involving losing teeth But in this case it was a $60 direct, round trip flight to Larnaca, Cyprus that forced me awake before dawn. 6 am flights suck. Bleary-eyed I boarded…
Halfway
February 12th was the halfway point of my time in Romania. (!) I wanted to take time and evaluate my experience thus far. The post has been divided into sections and subsections indicated by bolded font. Not gonna lie, I got a little real and feel kinda vulnerable, but writing this was cathartic. Difficulties Loneliness…
Traditions & Resolutions
The American Corner English Class I taught met on 18 December for a special Christmas and NYE-themed lesson. Related vocabulary (reindeer, ornaments, wreath, champagne, countdown) and American holiday traditions were shared (Elf on the Shelf and the Times Square ball drop). To practice, I asked students to write down their own childhood Christmas traditions. A…
[Not] Home for the Holidays
Christmas 2018 was unique. It was my first Christmas away from home. I wasn’t home to sort of help Mom cook, to clean and set the table, to quietly snap candid photos and preserve memories. I missed out on the annual Friendsmas with my high school crew and our sometimes absurd/sometimes serious White Elephant gift…
Moldova: Europe’s Least Touristy Country
In early December I craved a quick weekend getaway. I was fighting a cold, popping Zinc and Vitamin D tablets like candy and resembling Rudolph due to blowing my nose 96,000 times. I did not want to fly anywhere because if you’ve flown with congestion before, you know how terrible it feels. That left either…
Weekly Recap: 10 & 11
Highlights: It’s soup season! Thanks to Pinterest I made two delicious soups to help keep the cold at bay. One was a vegetarian stuffed pepper soup with lentils and the second was a chicken broth based tortellini soup. Our landlords hosted a holiday dinner at their apartment on the 5th. We stuffed ourselves silly with…
Weekly Recap: 9
I’ve been in Romania for over 2 months now! Wowwww. Highlights: On Sunday the 25th Connor and I watched Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald at the local movie theatre. The movie was only offered in 3D and we had to purchase 3D glasses (that we got to keep) in addition to the movie ticket. The total…
Get to STEP-ping
As a Study Abroad Advisor, I would be remiss not to point out the importance of enrolling in STEP whilst traveling internationally. The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program is a free service provided by the U.S. Department of State for American citizens and nationals to register international travel or residency. The program provides four vital services…
Weekly Recap: 7 & 8
It’s been a busy fourteen days! Apologies for the delay. Time to catch up. Highlights: I attended my first two Romanian language lessons! The first day was presided over by a sub because the normal professor wasn’t feeling well. A French guy who sat next to me let me look over his workbook during class….
An Ambivert Abroad 