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Best Spanish cities: Granada!
It’s difficult to pick just one favorite place in Spain, but the Andalusian city of Granada is probably the closest I’ll come to a definitive choice. I’ve been twice — another indication as I don’t always visit places multiple times when traveling — and would hands down go again. With a mix of Arabic, traditional…
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On building walls in Berlin
A neighborhood exists in Berlin, Germany. The streets of Neukölln are narrow and packed with people from different places. They wear hijabs and tight, trendy leggings; dark peacoats with bright headscarves; military-grunge apparel mixes among tropical patterns. Languages are tossed about and haggled with, coaxing the ears and brain to slow down and listen, to…
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Iceland: Still the best layover ever
It’s been three years since LaV and I stopped over for 12 hours in Iceland and fell in love with the small island country. It’s high literacy rate, welcoming attitude toward refugees and feminist prime minister were all reasons to recommend this country of just over 300,000 inhabitants. Due to its small size, we were…
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Regions of Spain: My Murcia
I’m at the end of my time in Murcia, the region in southern Spain I’ve called home for the past nine months. When it comes to tourism and language, Murcia often gets a bad rap. I’ve had various conversations with Murcianos about how they “don’t speak real Spanish” or “there’s nothing to do here, you…
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My visit to an ICE detention center
I have not seen anything more painful or broken than watching grown men cry in the presence of their family members at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in rural Virginia. Some of their stories I know, some I will never know. The only crime many have committed was being born in the wrong…
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Three girls in Morocco
When you live in a Western country, you often hear commentary like: “Don’t go to — insert Northern African or Middle Eastern country — in that part of the world. They don’t respect women; you’ll be kidnapped; people are out to get you, etc. Forbes went as far as to name Morocco one of the…
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Moving to Northern Spain!!
After five months of waiting, I’m excited to announce I’ve accepted a position with my program for another nine months in Asturias, a northern region of Spain. It will be a change from my life in sunny Murcia, but I’m eager to explore more of the country I’ve called home for the past eight months.…
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Barcelona!!
I was excited to visit the Spanish region of Catalunya (Catalonia) in order to interview Michelle and Matt Norman and explore the city I’ve dreamed of visiting since I was small and saw the Cheetah Girls singing in Park Güell. Also, “L’Auberge Espagnole” is one of my favorite films, so it was surreal to walk…
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Holiday trip: Catalunya and Aragón
During the holiday break, I took a trip to the regions of Catalunya (Catalonia) and Aragón to interview Michelle and Matt Norman, and meet up with my Austrian friend and overall hero, Stefanie. Stef and I have only been together on the same continent three times in our lives, so it was especially good to…
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U.K. trip to Newcastle upon Tyne!!
After being obsessed with British music, TV series and The Queen, LaVonna and I finally fulfilled our lifelong dream of just hanging ’round England together. I took advantage of a puente (long weekend,) we had at my school and flew to Newcastle upon Tyne where LaV is studying linguistics. We nerded out over accents, grad…
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Day hikes around Murcia, Spain
Murcia is an underrated region with some of the most beautiful views I’ve seen in Spain. I recommend visiting for a day hike or longer backpacking trip along the coast. Algezares: La Fuensanta Murcia has 19 natural areas and seven regional parks, including Carrascoy y El Valle. The park is large and has lots of…
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Living in Spain: meme edition
Full credit to The Foreign Language Collective and Language acquisition memes for stimulus-impoverished teens pages for a good chunk of these. Communicating with Spanish friends like When asked to teach Spanish children about Columbus When the kids start doing Spanish-style long division Pan every day!! When everyone from your home town is married/ engaged/ has…
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