The glasshouses were my favorite spot in the entire city. There were palm trees and coconuts, pitcher plants and lilies, lemon and orange trees. It was life, and life abundant. I could (and, in fact, did) spend countless minutes crouching and staring at the pond in the Lily House or trying to find every yellow plant to match my rain jacket. One glasshouse even included the corpse flower, which is a giant flowering plant that smells like rotting meat to attract flies for pollination. It is native to the rainforests of Sumatra, and this was the first time I'd ever seen one in person.
Read MoreI've dreamed about studying abroad ever since I can remember. When my brother and I played house as little kids, I was always a missionary in China or a college student in Germany. Then, in high school, I became enraptured with British television (Doctor Who, Merlin, Sherlock—the works), and I set my sights on England, hoping to one day spend a glorious semester across the pond and become a bona fide anglophile.
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