Intern International

    We finally made it to our first destination; Turin. We really only had two reasons to visit Turin. a) Our professor told us there was a spectacular Egyptology museum there. b) We wanted to go to the Waldensian valley. Our professor gave us the number of a tour guide who could take us to the Waldensian Valley. I texted him and hadn't gotten a response, so we were sure we wouldn't have a chance to do that. Which was disappointing, but in the end, we figured there would be enough to occupy us in the city.     Wrong. Our first impression of Turin was not the best. The hotel that we had booked was nice enough, but it wasn't in the nicest part of the city (turned out that none of the city was really nice). When we went out that Sabbath to explore, it was pouring rain and the entire city felt like it was abandoned. It took us twenty minutes of walking really sketchy streets before we actually reached the Old Town City Center, and even that was lacking much luster. ...

    Life is good and I'm blessed to have some amazing friends here at Bogenhofen. The last couple of weeks have been filled with warmth and safety. At Southern, I had a very hard time making close friends, but here there is no lack and I've created a very tight-knit group of friends. We hang out almost every day; studying, shopping, playing our favorite card game; coup, watching movies in German and English, or playing Minecraft. Even though I am so far from home for the Holiday season, every day that I get to spend with these guys brings back the warm feelings of those long winter days spent hanging out and laughing with my family.  I cannot get over how beautiful this campus is We just had our first snow the other day When I got back from Italy, these two beauties had moved into our pond I kept thinking they'd leave to head further south, but it seems we  are their final winter destination.  They are very aware that they're models. He stood there and posed....

   I have a LOT to talk about with Italy, so I will probably split it up into multiple posts. each one will focus on one of the cities I was in. But first, I want to reemphasize what I touched in on my post about Prague. I am not ignorant, but I can be naive. I knew that Italy would not be exactly like it has been portrayed through Instagram posts and other media representations, but that doesn't mean I was prepared for the reality. I simply didn't have enough information to create a concept of what the reality was truly like. Again, that's why I want to be completely transparent in this blog, because although I made some great memories in Italy, I also cried every other day, nearly had a panic attack, and was counting down the days until I could come home.     The timing of the trip was the first issue. I'd been traveling for at least four consecutive weekends preceding this trip so I was already exhausted. Trying to cram homework and exams into the three to fo...

      I've been traveling non-stop. I have been to a new city almost every weekend. However, it's not every day one gets to go to Europe, so I and three good friends decided to cram another trip in; Prague. I've officially been to three European countries now (not including Ireland), which is insane considering that just this summer I could have only dreamed about stepping foot in Europe.    As we were traveling, I found the Czech countryside very beautiful. The forests felt very old and warm. They were nostalgic and I couldn't stop thinking of the Narnia movie. The countryside was also much less populated. In Austria, it never really feels like you leave town, but there were many empty meadows and deep forests in the Czech that didn't seem well-traveled or utilized. The towns we did pass through were old and sort of run-down (In a quaint way). However, the closer we got to Prague the more apparent it was that the Czech had seen communism and survived it. A...