Oh the places you'll go!

If humans were supposed to stay in one place we would have roots instead of feet.

Over the past year of studying abroad my feet have walked through 35 airplanes and even more airports. Ten countries with numerous cities and sites viewed in each; the soles of my wandering feet have stepped through the same walking paths as the Incas that designed the mysterious Machu Picchu

and the same cobbled walkways as those taken by the Gladiators that fought in the Colosseum of Rome. 

The same marbled walkway that Pericles and other Athenians took to leave offerings and prayers at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. The path that the infamous Berlin Wall once stood as a mocking threat to any that dared try and pass it. 

The streets of Venice, Prague, Barcelona, Reykjavik, and Quito all so drastically different and yet somehow connected by the humbled footprints left by my feet. The Ancient site of the Oracle of Delphi where Alexander the Great ventured to in order to obtain a positive prophecy for his conquests of the then known world.

 The battleground where 300 Spartans and numerous other Greeks fought the Persian invasion of their country at Thermopylae.

The ground where the first Parliament took place in Iceland and the same narrow streets in Quito that are now an UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The romantic and tiny city of Verona where Rome fell in love with Juliet. So many awe-inspiring cities, ancient sites, and wonders of the world. Places that in a normal university year one would never be able to experience.  

May all students have the opportunity to study abroad at least once. Whether it is to discover a country they have always wanted to go to, to learn a new language or improve on one they have learned for years, or even to go someplace they never thought they would want to go.

May all students have the opportunity to live, learn, and love in a new culture. May more students go abroad then those that do not. May the fear of the unknown become extinct and xenophobia be another Greek word that no one understands.

May all university students have the drive to push themselves outside of their comfort zones. May we all go to at least one place we have never been to once a year. May our feet step in the same footprints as the greats, while simultaneously creating a path that someday another person will want to follow.  May we all encompass the brave desire to discover new lands and new people. And more than anything may wanderlust be something that everyone experiences.

Thanks for the Memories Greece

As I sit on a red bench along the river in yet another unknown city where the language spoken around me is as unique as the people I am forced to think back on my study abroad experience. 

View of part of Athens from Mt. Lycabettus

I landed in Reykjavik, Iceland on the second of January and I head back to this same city on my last trip of studying abroad.When I first landed in Reykjavik for a short two hours it was stuck in nearly twenty-four hours of continuous darkness and now as I spend two nights there I will be blessed with twenty-three hours of sunlight.

Home of the first Parliament in Iceland

 I cannot say that these five months changed my entire life, but I can say it changed a portion of my life. Studying abroad has taught me how to live without a cellphone, how to communicate with others that don't speak English, to adapt to constantly changing surroundings, to live out of a back pack for weeks at a time, and that no matter what country you are in a smile can change your day. 

Picture from Meteora Greece

View of Prague

The weather is not always perfect, the plans always change, and people run out of money that's what studying abroad is. 

Taken from the Cinque Terre Hike Italy

It is adapting to the unknown, becoming use to traveling alone and becoming an expert at interpreting train schedules. You leave a part of yourself in every city you visit because it takes something out of you. Traveling is expensive and exhausting but if we don't do it today there won't be time tomorrow. 

View of Rome from above

If you don't see Meteora while you are in Greece

Meteora Greece

or the leaning Tower of Pisa while in Italy when will you ever get another chance?

Pisa Italy

 Studying abroad gives us a break from the monotonous classrooms we will spend more time than we hope to in and throws us out into the world we don't have nearly enough time in.

Enjoying Baklava in Athens

Some of the AIFS students at the Temple of Poseidon

Every city is different, every language has its impact, and every mile traveled another memory. Since I have been in Europe I haven't traveled to a new country every weekend, but I got to know a few very well. Greece has everything from the mountains with monasteries to islands with donkeys and the people are as hopeful in their future as they are proud of their past, 

Donkeys on the island of Hydra Greece

Italy has beaches surround by famous hiking trails, 

Florence Italy

everyone needs to visit Germany to see why Bavaria should be its own kingdom again, 

Fathers day in Munich 

Munich again

Prague has an active night life and free city tour which everyone should take advantage of,

Prague

Hohenwerfen Castle Austria

Austria has some of the nicest people you will ever meet and breath taking views,

More Austria

Spain is more than sangria and live dancing, and finally Iceland well Iceland is my last stop before I head back to the mainland so it will be the hardest to say goodbye to. 

One of many waterfalls in Iceland

My heart breaks that I have to leave Europe behind for a summer of working in my home town, but I don't leave empty handed. I met some of the most flamboyant and unpredictable people while abroad, I've made new life long friends, and reconnected with old friends.  I've watched the sunset from cities I only dreamed I would see and traveled on airlines I didn't know existed. 

Cinque Terre Italy

Sunset over Athens

But the most important thing that I am taking home with me is the memories. There are too many to comb through now, but I know they will always be there in the back of my mind lurking to make their appearance when I need it most. At the end of the day souvenirs take up space, pictures go missing, and the wine you brought back gets enthusiastically drank up, but no one can take your memories because those are there for you to keep the best five months of your life alive. We can't live in the past we have to keep moving forward, but your past is what makes you who you are today and maybe someday sitting on the park bench in Passau, Germany will be the memory you need to get your through another hard patch. So may we all become friends with people who speak different languages and not roll our eyes when a friend returning home from a semester abroad starts another sentence with "while I was abroad."

Saying goodbye to Greece with the Acropolis in the background

Until we meet again Europe.