Julia's Journeys

The last three weeks... It's been bittersweet. A lot of saying, "this is our last time" walking down a certain street or eating at one of our favorite restaurants. Some people were saying they couldn't believe we're about to leave because it feels like we just got here, and some were saying it feels like we've been here for ages. But I think one thing we could all agree on is that "time is just a feeling." Intention in every last moment... Weeks 16 and 17 were the last two weeks of classes and week 18 was finals. In an effort for the study abroad students to spend as much time together as we could, we organized some events. The students from the University of Maine brought their annual Maine Day to AUBG. It was a long day spent out on the lawn in the sun playing games, listening to music, dancing, and even learning the Maine Stein Song.  The next week we organized a toga party, a relatively popular theme for college parties in the US but seemingly u...

This week... It was Eastern Orthodox Easter, so we had a four day weekend. And what does a four day weekend mean? Go somewhere new! This week I flew to Brussels, Belgium with four friends (one of whom is from Brussels so we got to have him as our professional tour guide), and I met a fifth friend there. What a blessing to be able to meet one of my best friends, teammate, and roommate in Belgium for the weekend. Bri is studying abroad this semester in Germany, so she hopped on a train, and we were reunited. Brussels has such a great vibe, and it was a dream to go. We landed and were immediately met with refreshing modernity. It's wild how in just a 2.5 hour flight, the world can change so much. There is a striking difference between eastern and western Europe. Even within eastern and western Europe themselves the differences in the architecture, culture, food, and lifestyles is drastic. I think this was abnormally noticeable to us because we've gotten used to Bulgaria. Sometimes...