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| Rolling with the Locals |
Outside of studying at Schloss Brunnenburg with fellow
UTD classmates, I spent some time before and after traveling through Europe to
study other types of European architecture. Every European city I visited was
so different from anything I knew in America--so many of the buildings,
especially the museums and churches, are so old and magnificent. I loved
learning about the different quirks of each city through free tour guides as
well as my hostel-keepers. Although I had studied abroad in Argentina the
previous summer, I had never traveled extensively on my own, so this summer was
my first time doing that. Thankfully, the rail system in Europe is very easy to
navigate, and after a few nervous rides on my own, it seemed like there was
nothing to it.
Even though I have only studied Spanish in school, I
surprised myself with the ability to pick up limited but essential phrases in
other languages, such as Italian and German. For example, while wandering around
Berlin with a couple of new friends from London, I surprised them by reading
off gelato flavors in German! While traveling on my own, I also was reminded of
how different, yet how similar, people across the world are to each other. In
Seville, I bonded with two sisters from France and a guy from Australia over
the course of two short days. Even though we were from very different parts of
the world, we could still easily relate to each other and joke with each other
as we explored a new city together. Overall, I am very thankful for the
opportunity to travel and study abroad in Europe this past summer, and the
experiences and memories that I made while there will not soon be forgotten.
