Spring 2009 - back at OSU

During spring quarter of my sophomore year I lived in a house on 16th and Waldeck (which is just off high street, next to Ohio State’s campus). In total there were eight of us living in the house! I had met one of the other students staying there on Semester at Sea, but the others were initially all strangers. It turned out great and we all got along – so much so that I decided to stay around for the following year too. The house was a dump, but it was cheap and in a great location. And on the plus side, when we threw a party we didn’t have to worry about trashing the place; it pretty much already was a mess!

With some of my roomates
With lots of college guys living together in one house, there was usually a (seemingly) good reason to party

I was glad that I had a guaranteed place to live for my junior year, especially as summer approached and I had other, more immediate things on my mind. I’m referring to what was to be my next trip: a one month language course at a German university during August 09. In addition I decided to travel for a month while I was there, two weeks before and two after the program.

Before heading to Germany I would start in Lisbon,
and then move on to Madrid and Barcelona

After arriving in London on a morning in mid July I took a flight later that evening to Lisbon, Portugal. From Lisbon my plan was to go to Madrid, Barcelona, Nice, and Berlin before heading to the University of Bonn. Since I would be constantly on the move I decided to carry a large backpack instead of using traditional luggage. Before leaving I got my eurorail pass and booked hostels in Lisbon and Madrid, but I left my plans open after that in case I wanted to change my route. So less than four months after coming back from Quito I was back at it again, ready to complete the study abroad trifecta. More on that to come!

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