2020 Spring, Semester

Blake Page: Post 2

Blake Page AIFS Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, Spain Spring 2020 I’ve arrived in Barcelona and it has exceeded every expectation. The city is beautiful and very full of life. It is also very fast paced, with a lot of people walking, which was overwhelming the first few days. My main transportation for getting around the city and to class is the subway, of which I had to get familiar. The subway system was very confusing with many different routes and stops, in addition to the large amount of people using it. After the first week or so, it became much easier […]

2020 Spring, Semester

Anthony Vinson: Post 2

Anthony Vinson UVA in Valencia Valencia, Spain Spring 2020 Three weeks later, I feel fully adjusted to Spain. I realized how lucky I am to have a host mother who truly enjoys my company and loves to enhance my Spanish. I have made friends on the trip who are less fortunate and fell victim to unloving host mother that serves cold food and had set strict rules to follow in the house. My host mother cooks hot meals and sends me to school with buffalo wings, fresh cooked potatoes, and fruit for a delicious snack. When I arrive home after […]

2020 Spring, Semester

Anthony Vinson: Post 1

Anthony Vinson UVA in Vaelncia Valencia, Spain Spring 2020 It has been one week since I left the U.S. to embark on a journey to Valencia, Spain; here, I will be studying with the University of Virginia. Since this is my third time studying abroad, I was not nervous to be in a foreign country for an extended period of time; instead, I was excited. After landing in Valencia, and running on four hours of sleep, my host sister picked me up from the local soccer stadium, la Mestalla. She immediately started speaking Spanish and I quickly flipped the switch […]

2020 Spring, Semester

Blake Page: Post 1

Blake Page AIFS Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, Spain Spring 2020 When deciding where I wanted to go for my semester abroad, it came down to architectural landmarks and architecture classes. AIF’s program in Barcelona, Spain met both those requirements, as Barcelona is a beautiful city with breathtaking architectural landmarks, while also offering architecture classes. I chose to stay with a host family because I heard great reviews of experiences while doing a homestay abroad. I am definitely looking forward to meeting my host family and eating traditional Spanish food, while also learning Spanish. I am also looking forward to the wonderful […]

2019 Fall, Academic Year

Thomas Salamon: Post 3

Thomas Salamon London School of Economics & Political Science London, England Fall 2019 Thankfully, for me, the UK is an English-speaking country. That’s not to say that I would be uncomfortable had I studied somewhere I needed to learn the language; after all, I did fine in Germany two summers ago. I can say that learning advanced topics in mathematics and finance would be a lot more difficult if I had to learn a language as well. The classwork is pretty demanding, and mostly is taught in a way that you need to get the foundation yourself and use the […]

2019 Fall, Academic Year

Thomas Salamon: Post 2

Thomas Salamon London School of Economics & Political Science London, England Fall 2019 Every city has a pattern. Some are organized into grids- some about a central expressway or an intersection of those. Some are oriented in a way to divert traffic to certain districts. London is all of these. It’s a constant reminder of its rich history as an evolving city from the time of the Roman Empire. It isn’t in a grid of streets or even circled about a central location like many European cities. The river Thames cuts it in two, so it’s an easy reference point. […]

2019 Fall, Semester

Will Driskill: Post 3

Will Driskill Semester at Sea Fall 2019 As we enter our tenth day at sea, crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Europe and Africa, and head towards South America, I am very aware that Semester At Sea is quite a different and unique study abroad experience. Unlike any other study abroad program, it offers a college semester traveling by sea on a large cruise ship to eleven different countries, and three continents in the span of three plus months. While on the ship, more than four hundred students are taking classes, studying, exercising, eating and socializing while traversing the globe. When […]

2019 Fall, Semester

Will Driskill: Post 2

Will Driskill Semester at Sea Fall 2019 It has been a little over a month now since I started my journey with Semester at Sea. It is hard to believe that I have already been to five countries in Europe and am now headed to the second continent with this voyage, Africa. Starting in Amsterdam a little over a month ago, I had no idea what to expect. I have never really done solo travel, let alone traveled to five completely different countries in such a short amount of time. Looking back now, it is amazing how much I have […]

2019 Fall, Semester

Will Driskill: Post 1

Will Driskill Semester at Sea Fall 2019 I started my Semester at Sea adventure about a month ago in Amsterdam, Netherlands and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Most of my travels before Semester at Sea have consisted of family vacations up and down the East coast. But, my travel bug really started several years back when I traveled to Pamplona, Spain to Run with the Bulls. For many, running with the bulls would be well outside their comfort zone, but I considered that to still be well within my comfort zone because, I traveled to […]

2019 Fall, Academic Year

Thomas Salamon: Post 1

Thomas Salamon London School of Economics & Political Science London, England Fall 2019 I only applied to one abroad program because I wanted it to improve upon the studies I was doing at Hampden-Sydney. I had already taken a May Term Abroad in order to study German with some fellow students of mine but when I chose to apply to the LSE, I knew it would be a different experience- for one, I was applying alone and wasn’t going to be abroad with a fellow Hampden-Sydney student. What I knew about the London School of Economics (and indeed, London at […]