Thank you, Paris!

Two weeks after leaving Paris, I received the published report that I worked on while interning at Robin de Bois, an environmental non-profit organization. “A La Trace”, or “On the Trail”, reports incidents and events concerning the trafficking and poaching of endangered species worldwide. Looking at that document, I remembered the day I received the…

Saying goodbye!

It seems a little surreal that this will be the last post that I will write for this trip. These 8 weeks flew by so fast, yet at the same time I feel as if I have been living here for a considerable amount of time. Whether it is the 9-5 routine or learning how…

Getting Covid in Paris!

After more than two years of us facing a pandemic, I finally got Covid for the first time last week. I had two coworkers that went to the office while being sick in the beginning of the week that later tested positive. After a couple of days, all of us who were still working in…

What I have been learning!

Hi everyone!  It is crazy to think that I am more than halfway through this study abroad. I remember my first day here, arriving at my host family’s house, extremely insecure with my French and anxious about the upcoming weeks. Nearly a month later, I am very happy to see that I have used this…

Allez Les Bleus!

This past week flew by! Every day after work, I always found myself in a part of Paris that I previously didn’t know, trying out some new restaurant or just walking down the tiny Parisian streets and spending a lot more time window shopping than I should. Last Friday, I was able to go to…

Navigating Challenges

My third week in Paris has been one of the most unique and unexpected ones so far. Because there was a national holiday, I was lucky to get a four-day weekend and have a very much needed little vacation time. On Thursday, we all went to Versailles and as much as I grew up seeing…

Busy week!

Hey everyone!  I am honestly so glad to say that week one is over. If I were to describe this past week with one word, I would say “intense”. Before arriving in Paris, I tried to turn my brain into a blank canvas, with little to no space for expectations and hopes because I thought…

Salut, Paris!

Hi everyone!  I hope we all we were able to enjoy our cities a little bit before our internships started! My first few days in Paris have been super intense, and I very happy to be here. However, I am definitely already starting to feel a little bit of language fatigue! Meeting my host family,…

À très bientôt, Paris!

Hi everyone!  My name is Maria Stella De Carvalho, and I am a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh! I am pursuing a Bachelors of Philosophy in Political Science and International and Area Studies, a minor in French, and a certificate in Western European Studies. I am very passionate about politics and international issues,…