My time in Russia is hard to narrow down to a single meaningful moment or experience to do a 
short blurb about. I studied there for an entire school year, and having never previously left the country, I was trampled with new and foreign experiences (both good and bad) the moment I landed. The experiences ranged from going to The State Hermitage in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and seeing literally millions of pieces of priceless and original artwork from seemingly every artist ever born, to the small, rural town of Pskov and the area Pushkin was exiled: to the huge, looming, infinite skyline of Soviet era architecture of Moscow, plus everything else in between, including all of the Russian friends I made. I am undecided as to which to write about, and could not say which one is the most significant. But, taking a step back and looking at it all, one of the big events that stands out for me is my trip to Moscow, and seeing Red Square, the Kremlin, and Lenin’s Tomb.
Standing in THE Red Square, in Moscow, at the base of the Kremlin’s wall, with the tomb of Lenin to my side is when the realization hit me: how important the place I was standing and how pivotal of a role it had played on world history. From when Moscow was first founded a little under one thousand years ago, to its impact on WWII, and shortly after, through the decades of the Cold War. The man who had dissolved the Russian Empire and created the 
USSR, the Communist himself, was embalmed fifty meters to my left, at the base of the Kremlin and across the square and the high end shopping center located there. It was humbling.
Fast forward several months to my last day in Saint Petersburg, I climbed to the top of St. Isaac’s Cathedral to get one last great glimpse of the city. The nine months of winter had ended, and there was actually a bit of sunshine, so the view I got of the rooftops and city scape was incredible. Sitting at the top of the Cathedral’s dome, which had survived the siege of Leningrad, looking at the word “ЗАПАД”, Russian for “west”, and looking straight ahead, to the 12,000 miles to the west coast in the USA, I was again humbled by how large and important this city was.
My time in Russia was a fantastic adventure, and was one of the best learning experiences in my life, and not only for developing my Russian language skills. The two experiences above though stick out to me particularly well, as they encapsulate how different and far away Russia is from what I was used to, and how they made me realize the importance of the area I was studying in.
– Josh Forrey, St. Petersburg, Russia
One of the highlights of my study abroad, in Nicaragua, was my trip to the Caribbean coast. It was one of the program’s planned activities, all the students and coordinators in the group travelled to the coast. We went for a long weekend so that we could have 3 days for exploring and learning about the culture in that part of the country. The people in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, consider the Caribbean coast to be a completely different culture and experience. I agree with them because the coastal people speak a mix of English and Creole and have different traditions and festivals. The journey, the people we met, and the landscape all made this experience one of the most memorable of my time in the country.
One of the best days I had while studying abroad, was a trip to Howth I took with two other girls in my program. Howth, a small fishing village just a 20 minute train ride outside Dublin, was a huge contrast to the bustling city centre of Dublin. We arrived in the morning, and ate breakfast at an adorable farmers market. While the food was delicious, and the handmade jewelry intriguing, the real highlight of the trip was the seven mile cliffside hike.
two girls I had met only days earlier, makes you feel so much closer. We finished the seven mile hike, not without getting lost of course, and stopped for a beer before heading back to the city.
center of a lake over 15 meters deep, you just hold your breath and hope.
immensely. I am incredibly grateful for the support I received before, during, and after my study abroad trip. This support has ranged from receiving generous scholarships from GEO Study Abroad and the Mills International Center, to extensive support from my friends and family, and to my host mother and Rosario program staff for making my experience unforgettable. While what I’m saying may sound cheesy or cliché, it’s truly an emotion I’ve been feeling an awful lot of – grace and gratitude. AHA Rosario –now GEO Rosario—taught me how to grow more in five weeks than I would in a year.
After asking the handful of local friends we had made about the reservations and what even the día del amigo is, they had informed us they already made reservations for our study abroad group and all their friends to eat and go out.
their lives in a way that was well above and beyond what was expected of their participation in the program. They truly became our good friends. My conversation partner, Agustín, quickly turned into my closest friend in Argentina. Along with Julieta, another law student, those two shaped my experience. On the Día del amigo, these two made themselves very clear of how grateful they were to take the chance to meet us all; making each of us feel very, very welcomed in Rosario. I will never forget this about Argentina, and urge others to visit the country to experience its welcoming community for themselves.