Being away from home these last few months have been great. I enjoy the freedoms, living independently and eating good food whenever I want. Life has treated me good here. Until more recently, a certain stage of being away finally starts. Lately, homesickness has really started to kick in. I’ve really started to miss my friends, family and things I really took for granted back home. It really is bad when I am craving my mom’s homemade food. (Mexican Food.) Midterms and all the studying is really killing my vibe at this point of the semester. My program is not your typical study abroad program that you go away for 3 months (not to mention that it doesn’t even apply to your major) on a semi vacation. I actually have to try real hard as my french studies here in Strasbourg France will help me graduate next year. Enough bashing.

With all this, one just feels that they are slowly losing control. Sure I am enjoying myself out here in France but still there is this emptiness of something that I have been away from for far too long. Hopefully, I hope some sort of enlightenment will come bring me back to life. Then It hit me, I would see my friends in just a few weeks. I honestly couldn’t believe in such short time I would be right in front of them.

So I would be meeting up my good friend Sammy and soon-to-be friend Mitch. They have never been to Europe before, so I figured why not show them around Paris, a city that I know decently and use my French to get to Point A to Point B and of course with the help of good ol’ Google Maps. Paris- Weekend 1

These guys had a hell of a time getting to Paris during the 24 hours before arrival. I’ll let them explain that one.

So I picked the guys up from Charles De Gaulle Aiport. I still feel bad on making you guys wait for me. :/ I ran up to my dude Sammy and gave him a bro hug! It has been way to long since I have seen that dude! I also got to meet Mitch and got to know him more through out the weekend. Cool Dude! So I showed them around Paris. To be honest, Paris is beautiful with history written all around. As with any major city, Paris is no exception, it is dirty and smelly. I really hope that the guys did not have too high of hopes for the “City of Love.” Paris is overrated in my opinion but why not take advantage of leaving Strasbourg for a few days.

So we went to various monuments such as The Louvre, Arc of Triumph, Versailles and so much more. Many of the places were breath taking. The Eiffel Tour is always a good place to scope out as well as walking along the Seine River. Getting around Paris is no piece of cake but we managed. Never have I ever gone up so many round staircases. Climbing the Cathedral of Notre Dame was such a struggle. Whenever you are in Europe, walking is really the way to get around.

Night life in Paris is pretty popping! We went to a few clubs in the Grand Boulevard District! This district did not disappoint. I wish we could have checked out a few other ones. One of my favorite places was the Irish Pub. Music, dancing, girls and drinks. Man was that a fun night!

We ate some good food throughout Paris. The guys had their first legit French Croissants and baguette sandwich. It’s totally acceptable to have a sandwich on you at all times. I also had them try one of my favorites, a kebab sandwich. Man are they delicious! Sammy had actual ramen noodles for the first time ever! Overall we pretty much stuffed our faces all weekend.

Bruxelles- Weekend 2

Ah Bruxelles!! The place known for its deliciouos fries and waffles. You have no idea how much I stuffed my face this weekend. Just writing this post makes my mouth water. Was eating all this food this worth it? You bet it was!! When I arrived in Bruxelles, it was gloomy and misting. Not the way I wanted to start the weekend. The weather stayed the same all weekend. That did not stop the fun.

Spending the weekend in Brussels was totally worth the waffles! The sugar definitely made me bounce off the walls. #belgium #worldtravel #unkstudyabroad A post shared by Pablo Morales (@pablo.morales1) on Mar 19, 2017 at 9:55am PDT

We checked out many popular attractions throughout the city. There was so much we saw, I started to lose my mind a bit. One of the coolest places I saw was a “World Shop.” They had souvenirs and artsy things from all around the world. I was so intrigued with the place that I ended up buying a few things from there.

The other purpose of coming to Bruxelles was to meet up with our friend Kellie and Sammy’s brother, Louis. It was good to see some other friends from back home. I missed those two! Kellie is just a keeper, to keep a long story short. These two are actually on Spring Break right now. I am so jealous of you guys spending your holiday in Malta! I hope you enjoy every second of it!

Bruxelles treated everyone well!

These last few weekends have been pretty awesome! It was good to see a few friends from back home. I couldn’t of asked for a better time. Traveling becomes more exciting when you are hanging out with people you know and love. I can’t wait for the next adventure with them! So, is it sprangggg breakkk yet? I wish!