it’s june in new zealand, that is to say, this whole experience goes by very fast.

How odd it has been to be home.  It is not that it was hard to fit back in to this routine, but the fact that nothing here has changed.  This makes it feel as though the past 5 months were a dream of somesort, because they were so far removed from the ordinary.  I loved every single second of my time abroad and cannot believe how much my fluency has increased, especially in speaking.  It is not that I am particularly sad about being back, simply that it is weird to think back on how fast the semester went and everything that I experienced.  I hope to return in October to visit my roommate and some other friends!  I definitely am no saying “goodbye” to Oviedo, simply “see you later- hasta luego!”

Every student has to take a 2 week long 5 hour a day intensive Czech language course. It is a lot to absorb but 100% necessary. Your brain will be fried by the end of the day but it’ll help you get by and you’ll receive 3 credits. (I believe SUNY schools, at least Purchase, grades you abroad on pass/fail and the grades won’t hurt/help your GPA. But check with your registrar) This all happens in the first weeks you are there before classes start. Normal classes meet once or twice a week for either 1.5 or 3 hours. They aren’t extremely hard and all of them are based off of Czech culture in some way. There are art history, literature, history, cinema studies, economics, and politics classes. It is really interesting to see how different the viewpoint of the Czech Republic is opposed to that of the US. Most of the midterms and finals are essays that are somewhat open ended so you can write about what part of the class interested you. The classes I took were Czech for Everyday Use, Alternative Literature, Music and Culture, Czech Art and Architecture and Czech Surrealism. All of the professors are native Czechs but teach in English. 95% of the other kids in the classes are other American students from your program. I have no Czech students in any of my classes and it is relatively hard to meet them. There are a few international students in each class which does mix up the class a bit. My one critique of the classes is the lack of student diversity. I was hoping I would be the odd man out because I was American but this wasn’t the case.

i spent my rent money on an impromptu plane ticket to samoa. eleven of my travelling companions and i stayed in “fales,” which are open huts with thatched roofs and blinds made out of coconut leaves.

we slept under mosquito nets (note to anyone who travels to a south pacific island: do not sleep with your arm outside the mosquito net. you will wake up with thirty bug bites. on your elbow.) we were literally just a few steps from the most beautiful beach.

samoa, although it looks like the perfect paradise, had a lot of unexpected imminent dangers. not only was our sweet flesh a feast for mosquitoes and the sun’s oven, but we had to beware of what tree we sat under because of the impending doom of falling coconuts. this was quite difficult to get used to!

but as much danger as coconuts had to offer, they also produced the sweetest milk.

the samoans try to live an ecologically friendly life. at night there are very few lights, and the resort was lit by lanterns instead. that makes for beautiful sunsets, and even more incredible stars.

another way that samoa has “gone green” (before it was popular) is that they collect rainwater for their showers and faucets. every day i bathed in an outdoor shower which is just about the most incredible thing ever.

there was even a sweet waterfall not too far of a drive from the resort.

and quite possibly the most gorgeous water-flowers ever.

the resort provided free island breakfasts which usually consisted of some sort of egg, coconuts, starfruit, tangerine, bread, and an exotic bean or rice or banana porridge. since i was broke having spent all my money to find paradise, i seldom ate, that is to say, i very much appreciated the complimentary breakfast. what i also loved was dinnertime, not because i filled my stomach, but because of the island boys i made friends with that sang and played guitar. they put a samoan spin on contemporary songs that are popular in the states and their creative energy reminded me of being back home in new paltz.

my favorite night in samoa was my last one – spent on the beach with the island boys pictured above and all my fellow world traveling friends.  we placed candles in the sand, played guitars, drums, sang, and my friend bea from spain and i even presented the group with a song we had written together about our week’s vacation. i even got to do a little bit of spoken word poetry for the cypher of ecstatic friends.

we were free in samoa. it will always be skinny dip and moonlight in my heart.

The school that I am a part of is named Charles University and it was set up by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in 1348. Yes, 1348. It has history that predates our country by several hundred years. It is an urban campus consisting of dozens of individual buildings all across the city. I’d be walking down the street and look up to discover a new Charles building. They are everywhere. My favorite feature of these buildings is their architecture. Since there are so many buildings they range in styles throughout the centuries. There are school buildings that are from Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classicism, Functionalism, and Soviet designed buildings. This fascinates me coming from a school designed in the 1970s.

i would advise that before coming abroad, you get a job. two jobs, even. and you save up a ton of money. cut out everything extraneous from your life – manicures, driving to places you can walk to, coffee, cut it out – and use that money for your travels. nothing is worse than being broke while abroad. you feel absolutely trapped. especially when you get a notice tacked to your door that says if you do not pay $2000 in 21 days you will be evicted. so actually — there is something worse than being broke in a foreign country— its being homeless. so definitely don’t do what i did and blow your entire rent money on an island vacation to samoa — that would be stupid. and in other words, incredibly worth it. but seriously, studying abroad is a lesson in responsibility and independence, fiscally especially. make smart choices. budget. and save… so that you can do stupidly beautiful things, like go to samoa for a week with all of your equally broke friends and you can drink from coconuts and other once-in-a-lifetime things.

i love the diversity of the landscape in new zealand, and that everything i essentially need is in walking distance (if you don’t mind some hills).

10 minutes from my flat is the botanical gardens (free):

15 minutes from my flat is the culutural and artsy city, capitol of new zealand, wellington:

there is ridiculous grafitti everywhere!

35 minutes to the waterfront:

and just an hour walk to mount victoria. so much beauty everywhere, no straws big enough to drink it all up.

I overheard a girl talking excitedly about the fact that she was going home in a few days.  My thoughts are running in the absolute opposite direction as I contemplate that I will really be leaving in a few short days.  Luckily, I am staying for about an extra week just to have some time to spend with my roommate and another friend who is staying here, as well as some time to take pictures of everything that I haven’t yet.  Also, there is an awesome festival this week which showcases Asturian culture, sort of like how we have medieval fairs and such.  Everyone is dressed in traditional garb and there is food, wares and entertainment galore.  I bought some cheese to take home and sampled several different kinds of food, all of which were delicious.  I also saw several bagpipe and dancing exhibitions.