Such a free people - The Dutch

Where to begin? Hmmm, I have so much to say about my weekend in Amsterdam. First of all, we need to back track to last Thursday night before my early departure. It was a fairly long day at school, I was definitely feeling very tired and still had lots to do before my trip. Well, that evening, I went to the ATM around 10:30 to take out the cash that was needed to pay for my hostel because they only accept a cash payment upon arrival. So I insert my card at the same ATM that I use every time, I type in my pin, it takes me to the next screen, I select the amount of money I want to take out, hit "continuar" and then the screen says something along the lines of "your card isn't coming back out, please contact your bank for further info." I nearly had a heart attack in Plaza Catalunya at this very moment. After everyone that I've talked to, no one seems to be able to tell me why the machine kept my card, just that it did! I guess it was just feeling frisky!? lol WHO KNOWS! So I immediately come home and call Bank of Freaking America...another screw up company that the government gives money too! Anyways, I explain the severity of the situation to the lady and she says that the only thing to do is to mail me out another card in standard mail and it should arrive in 10 -14 business days. I tried to kindly explain to her that 10-14 business days in America isn't the same as 10-14 business days in Spain and that i'll be lucky to receive it by the end of the month with the way their mail system works here. (This was during my "nice" phase.) She had really ticked me off by the end of the conversation mainly because she just acted like she didn't really give two flying fucks that I was living in a foreign country with no access to my money which I "trustingly" put into their hands because they said they could "offer me a lot through their international banking options." So, later on when I had calmed down and looked at all of my other options for cash, Alex and I decided that we would call back and talk to someone else. Luckily, we got a guy on the phone this time and he told me that they have options for this and that I could also call VISA 911. Gezzz, who knew this? Obviously not the first idiot that I talked too. So he says that it is possible to send the card through FED-EX (another option the lady insisted was impossible) and that they could also wire me my money, free of all charges, through western union and that I could just pick up however much I needed to hold me over until my card got here. So, TA DA!!! I felt a little bit better about the situation but I still had no cash, so I had to cash two of my traveler's cheques the next day in order to have enough cash for the weekend. So, point of this story is Bank of America and I are finito (finished) upon my return to America (if I come back!) Before I knew it it was past midnight and I was supposed to catch the bus at 3:30ish to get to the airport so I decided that instead of sleeping for about an hour that I would just go ahead and finish my packing, get a shower, head to the airport, and sleep there just to make sure that I didn't miss my flight. I'm glad I left when I did because it took the bus forever to get us there. I got checked in, went through security and tried to take a nap before my flight. I didn't get much sleep because I was nervous as usual before I fly but miraculously I got some sleep on the plane which is rare! I guess I was just THAT tired! I slept through the descend into Amsterdam so when the plane hit the ground at full speed I woke up scared to death!! I thought we were going down. (probably not a good experience for someone who is already scared of flying!)

So after I landed I had to wait around in the airport for about 30 minutes because Kevin and I were on different flights. I located some directions and such and when he arrived we caught the train to Central Station. Our hostel was a short walk from the train station, easily locatable pretty much in the center of the red light district! How pleasant! The hostel...hmm...I'm not sure where to begin on this one. My book recommended some good ones but they were completely booked and we would have gotten into this one hostel if it wasn't for Kevin wanting to wait and see if we could get a house boat? So instead, we had to stay at the White Tulip, Kevin also found this place. The name is a little decieving. There was nothing pure about this place. Granted, it could have been worse but the showers weren't the cleanest, and I had originally requested to stay in an all female dorm but upon arrival the stoner at the front desk was like, oh well I'll just put you guys in the same room together! I didn't want to come off rude and ungrateful because he probably felt like he was doing us a favor when in reality, he wasn't! So, I had to sleep on a top bunk in a room with 2 other girls and 7 other guys! It was a sausage fest in the room and guys are disgusting and loud. It's like they don't know how to sleep peacefully. They snore and they make noises, i don't know its just not the same as a room full of girls. I was not happy with this situation but it seemed like the hostel was pretty full and you can't really do much complaining at these places. Also, the guy who was sleeping on the top bunk perpendicular to mine, his feet were in my bed pretty much the whole night. It was so nasty, I couldn't sleep because I was scared that my feet were going to touch his. EW!! AND another thing - right across from our hostel was a shop called *Ohmibod - The most vibrating shop in town* if this gives you any idea about the area that we were staying in! lol We were surrounded by sex, sex, and more sex!!

Aside from the hostel, I had a great time in Amsterdam. Oh the Dutch! There is just so much to say about them and their way of life. They are such a free people. Anything goes in Amsterdam is my observation. It's a beautiful city with a rich, rich history and it's equally full of an extremely diverse population. Everything is very laid back in this city, at first, like other people, I wanted to contribute that to all the ganja they smoke but after a weekend there I don't think that's the only reason! lol The canals are so soothing and peaceful and everyone rides bikes, there are hardly any cars. Therefore, the city is very quiet. So quiet from the normal hustle and bustle of Barcelona that it almost seemed eerie at times. I thought that Amsterdam was a non-stop party kind of city but now I'm on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and I've decided that it would be really nice for a peaceful weekend getaway, as long as you don't stay in the Red Light District! lol So here are a few essential things to know about Amsterdam. Like I stated previously, almost anything goes here. It is legal to smoke weed here as well as do other "soft" drugs (Mushrooms were banned in June of 2008). Any place that you can buy weed is called a "coffee shop" and a bar is well, a bar. The government put these terms in place in order to differentiate the type of establishment in which the weed is actually sold. Some restaurants and bars are smoker friendly meaning that you can smoke weed inside but not cigarettes in most cases, obviously in some bars you can smoke either. Amsterdam also has many sex shops and smart shops. A sex shop is well...basically a porn store or a sex shop and a smart shop is where you can get all sorts of different herbal enhancers and hallucinogens as well as vitamins, aphrodisiacs and things of that sort. You can also buy space cake in amsterdam otherwise known as "weed brownies!" Ok, so now that we have the basics down....let's start with my adventure.... :D

The first thing we did after dropping off our bags was head straight for something to eat. We first made a stop at a "coffee shop" so that Kevin could buy some "laughing buddha" (the name of the weed that he bought) and then we ate at a small cafe that was smoker friendly. lol The food was really good, I had a banana juice with a raw salmon, cream cheese, and tomato sand-which on a white bagel. It was delicious! After lunch we headed for the Anne Frank Huis or House. We had to wait in line, it was pretty crowded. I have never read the book! (I know, don't judge me!) I've always wanted to but I've just never found the time (It'd probably make a good christmas gift!) I've heard a lot about it though and I know the story so it was still interesting for me. It was also sad and just seeing the actual journal that she wrote in made the whole thing so much more realistic for me. It's really terrible what happened to her and her family. Unfortunately you weren't able to take pictures, which is understandable, so I don't have any photos to show you. The house was really amazing though. It was so small and the stairs were incredibly steep. It has been renovated somewhat but for the most part, it's in the original condition. It was a really moving experience. I'm glad that I did it.

After this we headed back to the hostel to take a nap because we hadn't gotten much sleep obviously and we were really tired. After we woke up later we headed out for some dinner. We ate at a chinese restaurant and it was also good. After that we went to another coffee shop called El Guapo, it's pretty well-known. I bought an already rolled joint here and Kevin rolled one of his own. (Now don't act so surprised, I know what some of you are already thinking, OMG she smoked weed and she's writing about it in her blog for everyone to read!?! --- NEWS FLASH - #1 I'm in Amsterdam - Like they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans - Same goes in Amsterdam!, #2 I'm not ashamed of anything I've done - no regrets - if you don't live like this then your cheating yourself, and #3 This is MY blog about MY trip in Europe and I'm not about to not write something in here just because someone might not agree with it, these are MY memories and I gave everyone a fair warning with my email invitation.. *It might be rated "R"*) Deal with it!

So we stayed for a while and watched some pool on TV and then the international timber chopping championship came on and guess who was representing the USA? A husky looking mountain man from...you guessed it...WEST BY GOD VIRGINIA!! AH!! lol I was pretty excited! After all this we stopped and got a sweet treat at this little cafe, it was basically a small waffle with chocolate topping with nuts and whipped cream - served hot! Delicious!

Saturday we had a lot that we wanted to accomplish so we started out the day at the Heineken Experience. Now, I'm not sure if you are aware but Heineken isn't actually brewed in Amsterdam anymore, they recently moved the brewery to some other town in Holland so they converted the brewery into a museum basically and called it "The Heineken Experience." With admission you get 1 free taste and 2 beers so basically you get 3 beers. For 15 Euro though, I'd better get a gold beer mug! lol It was expensive but it was a pretty cool place. I'm not a huge beer fan but after the tour, I definitely liked Heineken a little bit more. I'm trying to expand my horizons to drinking beer and I'd say that I've definitely pushed the boundaries and improved my tolerance on this trip. Beer is just such a big thing here in Europe that it's hard to not partake in drinking it! I took lots of pictures here!!

After the Heineken experience we headed to the Van Gogh Museum. It was a whopping 12.50 Euros to get inside. Now, I know your thinking oh, 15 Euro here 12 there isn't really that much, but let me spell it out for you.... E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E! Here is a nice calculation to go by 15 Euro is equal to 22.50 US Dollars! So, these admission fees add up and in Amsterdam not many places offered student discounts so I was kinda disappointed in this aspect. The Van Gogh Museum was really great. I got to see many of his famous pieces but the one that I really wanted to see Starry Nite wasn't there! Come to find out, it's in NEW YORK! UGH! I was really sad but, I got to see Iris's and some other really good works. I also got some cool pencils for my collection here! :D (The best ones are always found at the museums.) After the museum Kevin and I went our separate ways. I did some shopping and he did some seed shopping and frequented some more coffee shops. He likes to smoke in case you haven't gotten the hint! lol I met up with him later at the hostel and we went out for a quick bite and went to another coffee shop to hang out. Afterwards we took a nice stroll around the famous Red Light District! WOW! I've never seen so many prostitutes in one concentrated area in my entire life. There are seriously 100 on every corner. It's rude to take pictures so I didn't but it's just like in the post cards, half naked women in little rooms with a door with red lights framing the door. It's truly something to see before you die! It's a little outrageous. There were some pretty girls and then there were some really nasty girls! lol

Sunday - We slept in and after we woke up we went to the Cannabis College, Hemp Museum, and Hemp Gallery. All together cost 9 euros. Not too bad, I learned some interesting facts so I wasn't totally disappointed! I learned a lot about hemp and I had no idea that it could be used for so many different things. It's such a versatile product. I was really amazed. AND, I bet you didn't know this but, the USA is the only industrialized nation in the world that refuses to use hemp or allow it past it's borders!! I don't want to go into how stupid America is AGAIN so I'll spare you the misery of another rant and just go ahead and say it...we're pretty fucking stupid in America. Who's really in charge anyways. Also, did you know that the US jails more people per year than any other country in the world!? Again...I don't even need to say it..you already know what I'm thinking... Overall it was a pretty educational museum and I got to see some serious weed plants which was pretty cool. The Hemp gallery was equally as cool and did you know that they make hair and body products?? Hemp is supposed to restore dry and damaged hair and since I burnt some of my hair last week on my stupid roommates straightener that she melted, I decided that I was going to try it. So, after the museum we headed over to this shop that the lady at the museum recommended for Hemp products and I bought some conditioner to try it out! After that we stopped and had breakfast/lunch. I had a pancake which was really a crepe with bananas and chocolate! It was really good. After all this we decided that we were going to take a canal cruise since this is one of the "must do's" in Amsterdam. It was educational. I learned about all the different types of houses and the history of the canals. It was very picturesque. After the canal cruise we grabbed a quick bite to eat. A traditional dutch snack, French Fries with some type of sauce that is similar to mayonnaise. They were really good and then after this we split up again to do our own thing, I went to do some more shopping and he went to some more coffee shops. lol Afterwards we met up at the hostel. I got back around 8 and decided that I was going to go ahead and pass out because I had such an early flight this morning.

I got up around 4:30, checked out, and booked it to the train. I was trying to wait for Kevin but he was taking forever so I told the guy at the front desk just to let him know that I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't afford to miss the train because then I'd be cutting it a little too close for my flight! I'm glad I left when I did because the airport was busy when I got there, Amsterdam has a great airport as mentioned earlier. I find myself spending a lot of time there too. This is my 5th trip there in 2 months! lol Soo....I pretty much know my way around. They also have a casino which I plan on checking out on my way back through. Both of my flights were with KLM, which always exceeds my expectations usually, they always give out great sandwiches and little dutch cookies!!. The flight back was a little bumpy when we got to Barcelona. I've noticed that coming into Barcelona there is always so much turbulence, I'm going to attribute this to the wind coming off of the mountains and also the wind coming off of the sea. After landing I made my way to the train station, and eventually I was home around 10:30!! So, it was quite the morning of traveling! I unpacked, got ready for school, and then when we arrived to school today we found out that class had been cancelled! It was great!! So I had an entirely free day. I spent most of it just lounging around, cleaning up my room, getting ready for the week too come. I also had to go to Western Union today to get the money that Bank of Freaking America sent me. That was awfully nice of them and then, my debit card also came today!! They said it wasn't going to be here until friday but it arrived today! I activated it but I haven't used it yet, honestly I'm a little scared to put it into the machine!! lol I'm going to give it a few days! Tonight we had some friends over for dinner and stephanie made halibut and pasta and of course we had some wine! It was a great time and we also got into some great conversation about Jewish people, Catholic vs. Christian, USA values vs. European values, politics, more politics, and even more religion! It was a very heated conversation at points but it made for a good night!!

So, I have much more to tell you but I'm going to end it there because I'm exhausted. This week I really need to work on posting pictures of my trip to Rome and Amsterdam. This weekend I'm taking a break from traveling unless it ends up being somewhere in Spain and then next weekend it's off to Dublin!! :D

Hasta Luego Amigos!

Feeling a bit drained....

The past 3 days have been rather interesting. I've been very tired recently and the work load at school this week has really been putting a damper on my fun activities. lol I haven't seen the inside of a "discotec" or a club for about 2 weeks. (withdrawls) I think I need to go out dancing in order to rid myself of this constant "DRAINED" feeling. I can usually handle much more...at home I work a full time job AND go to school. I think that the environment here is just different, it's so much more relaxed so it's hard to get in the mindset 'I need to get things done today' because things seem to be put off until 'manana' here all the time!

After my weekend adventure it was sadly time to return to school. Honestly though, school is fun and I don't mind it so much, a lot of the work we have though is redundant so it tends to get annoying. I'm also not used to having such long semesters. We still have two months left and I feel like we should be having exams next week! Classes started slowly and they have given us all this time to do our so called "group project research and work" but it's hard to do this research when we don't really know what exactly we are researching! They don't provide you with a schedule or syllabus here or the written requirements and outline of how they want the papers and presentations so it's hard to just make this stuff up when that's the format that we are so accustomed too. So, now they want us to put the information together, that we don't really have, and put it in a presentation. I'm also not used to having 8 different classes. So, as you can tell.. I have a lot on my mind as far as school goes.....

Monday we gave some presentations in class and I noticed that my roommate Sam wasn't in class so I was curious as to where he could be...class was pretty boring, we went over some more traditional food and customs... On break I learned that Sam had gone to the hospital early in the morning and that's why he wasn't in class. I guess he thought he was having an allergic reaction because he was breaking out on his neck and his face. We didn't really know much so we had lunch and then we went to our second class. During break, Kevin, the other American guy, had seen Sam and found out that he had chickenpox! Of all things to get in Spain, he gets the chickenpox! What terrible luck right? And where on earth did he get this!? We were all a little shocked and some of the girls in our program have never had the chickenpox so they were a little shocked. It's not as prevalent in Europe although most people do get it when they are young and they also don't have a vaccine for it here as well. I immediately thought to myself "I've never had the chickenpox either!" I called my mom and my school to look at my health records to find out if I'd had the shot, both said yes HOWEVER, I've read and heard of cases were you can still get the chickenpox or shingles even if you have been vaccinated! I tried not to think about it and went on with class, after we got home from school we got all the details from Sam about his hospital visit and what not, turns out, Sam has also had the chickenpox vaccine and he has the chickenpox! What do ya know!?!? So, I've decided that I am going to stay as far away from Sam as possible! I really do feel bad for him though because he isn't going to be able to go to Amsterdam with us this weekend and now he has to cancel his flight and his hostel room! I really hope that they refund his money, he's looking into it as we speak..

Monday night was pretty uneventful, I did some grocery shopping and decided to try out a few new "Catalan" items this week like Cream Catalan, something similar to Creme Brulee but different, some pesto sauce, and a different kind of bread. I haven't had the Catalan Creme yet but the bread and the sauce were both good! I worked on some homework this evening and then went for a walk down by the port with some friends.

Tuesday we had Spanish early as usual. We are having our Spanish exam tomorrow morning and then next week we are going to start learning Catalan!! Soy nerviosa! I'm nervous! I feel pretty confident because most of what I have learned has been a review but I've also learned many new things so I'm going to spend the majority of my night studying!! We have a written and an oral part to the exam, I'm nervous about the oral! After Spanish ended our other class with Marta got moved up to 12:30 so we didn't have a long 3 hour break! Muy bien! We haven't had her class for 3 weeks so we finally got to give our presentation on America! lol We turned in our homework and then we found out that next week she can't be here for class again!! I honestly don't know how I keep getting so lucky! Hopefully this luck carries me through the chickepox scare! After school I went with Alex's group to the Chocolate Museum of Barcelona because they were assigned this specific location this week. I was so jealous, my group got some stupid Theatre! Overall it was a good museum, very short. When you think about a chocolate museum you think that you'll probably get to see them making the chocolate but actually they don't make any chocolate there, it's basically just the "history"of chocolate. The ticket that they give you is an actual chocolate bar and they had some pretty cool interactive exhibits. I got free chocolate and I learned something new! What could be better? After the museum I went with Alex to buy some stuff for her hair and then I came home for a little while before meeting with my group at 6. My group and I went to our streets and this week we brought my Spanish friend, Monsey, to do some interpreting for us! She was great and we talked to 5 or 6 different people. Turns out, there is a lot of prostitution and robbery on both of our streets! We had no idea, so today in our research class we had much to tell Katherine about our project! After I got home I didn't really do much, I worked on my map project with Alex, took a short nap, made some dinner and hit the hay!! I've been going to bed around my normal time 2 a.m.! lol I know that sounds crazy but that's life here!!

Today I had to get up a little earlier to get some of my traveler's checks cashed for rent today. Our landlord sent me a message yesterday asking if he could come by today and pick up the rent so I had to go to the bank early today because all the banks close here at 12 or 2! After I got that accomplished I went to school, mapped out a route for our motorbike project and went to class. Event management - at this point in my blog everyone should know how I feel about this stupid class - B-O-R-I-N-G! I dread this one every week. The teachers just go on and on and today they made us watch a video and then she directly asked us what we saw in the video, not like a normal teacher who would ask questions related to the video, no, no, she asked us what we saw and when we all just looked at her like, "is she seriously asking us this?" she began telling us what we saw in the video. Like, HELLO??? Anybody in there?? I just watched your boring video, I clearly saw what was in the video, I don't need you to tell me what I saw AGAIN in the video! It was boring enough the first time around. Gezz....

After class I housed my lunch and then surfed the internet in the CDT and then headed to Katherine's class. It was pretty uneventful, she finally told us, half way through the term how she wants us to put together the group project. Nice. After class I went home, relaxed, made dinner, hung out with some friends, and now I am up late doing some last minute studying for my Spanish exam tomorrow!! Wish me luck!! Hopefully I'll be able to make one more post tomorrow before I leave for Amsterdam early on Friday morning!! I'm excited but I definitely need to get some rest before my trip!

Hasta Manana Amigos!

Jet Setting Around the World!!!

So this past weekend has been so amazing and jam-packed full of stuff that last Thursday is just a blur now so I don't really have much to say about it. lol All that I can remember is that I didn't make it to bed until 1:30 in the morning and had to be up at 4:00 to catch the bus to get to the airport. So, this starts the story of my trip to the Ancient city of Rome and the Vatican....

I get up around 4, get ready and head out the door after syncing some new tunes to my iphone. I have to catch the night bus this time around because the metro doesn't open until 5am and I have to be at the airport at 5:30 for my flight so there just wasn't enough time. I looked up all the information, which was of course, in spanish. I arrive and the bus is there waiting, I think that i was catching the last bus to the airport actually. We all get on the bus and I meet some other people that are studying here in Barcelona from the US. They all looked my age and the two girls that were sitting beside me on the bus were those "obnoxious" American tourists that everyone here hates. Those "omg, nu huh, and she did what, omg nu huh, I can't wait till all my wake forest friends arrive, it's going to be crazy." (This isn't Miami ladies...You don't recreate the US here, that's not the point.) lol I was thoroughly annoyed while listening to their convo. So we are on the way to the airport and all of a sudden the bus stops in the middle of a turn and there is an ambulance in the lane and I guess he didn't think could get around the vehicle so he just sat there for like 15 minutes like the car was just "magically" going to move even though it was clearly turned off and no one was inside. lol So, we're all sitting on the bus wondering what's going on because we don't want to miss our flights. Someone finally asked and I'm not sure what he said but everyone started getting off the bus so I of course followed. (I've learned on this trip that when in doubt, follow the crowd or the people that look like tourists.) So we get off and those two girls ask me in spanish if I want to share a taxi with them and I replied with "I speak English, I'm also from the US and sure I'd like too. lol The whole way to the airport they told me about their program and such, they are here with 300 other American students so they don't feel like they get to hang out with any real Spanish people. (DUH! why did you come with 300 other Americas!?!) So, long story short I had to pay 10 Euros for a cab ride to the airport, (not in the budget for this trip, so I had to skip breakfast.)

So I finally arrive and this time I was flying out of Barcelona's newest addition to their airport (Terminal 1) which I just want to comment on, probably the nicest airport I've ever been in, granted it is brand spanking new, and I give it a year or two and it will probably be in the world's top 10. Kudos Barcelona. I was flying with Alitalia, obviously Italy's airline. It took me a minute to figure out how to get to the right check in desk but I managed and before I knew it, I was on the plane. It was definitely an older plane, everything looked like it was from the 80's, the plane smelled like 10 bottles of febreeze had been emptied into my seat, and it was very squeaky. Overall it was nice flight without too much panicking on my part and a nice snack and beverage service. KLM has really set the bar high as far as airline service and quality for me within Europe. Once we arrived I was really excited to start my adventure but I was also very tired so I took some Excedrine and made my way to the train. The train was expensive at a whopping 11 Euros for a one way ticket into the city. I located my hostel easily, which was very nice, dropped off my stuff, bought a metro ticket, and headed straight for the Roman Colosseum.

The eternal city has so much to offer from the Vatican city to the Roman Forum, to the Colosseum, and all this combined with great shopping, delectable food, and nice people, it's seriously a tourist paradise. So I initially started at the ancient city. I bought my ticket and began my exploration, It's amazing how much of the ancient city is still standing. The Colosseum itself is just unbelievable. Pictures can never do it justice, just standing in front of it is amazing and indescribable. It's such a rush to see it and think about how many people died here for entertainment. It's something that I think everyone should see once in their life! After the Colosseum I went over to Palatine hill where Julius Caesar's palace was along with the stadium and the Roman Forum. I entered the gate with my pass and was just following the crowd up the hill and then all of a sudden this lady started giving a tour in English so I just joined in!! haha It was pretty cool. I spent about 4 hours total doing all this exploring and then I made my way to the other sites after a bounty bar and a water. I saw the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, the Pantheon, Fontana de Trevi, (the one in Vegas is crap compared to the real thing!), Piazza Navona, The famous Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo, where Augustus placed the Obelisk of Pharaoh Rames II that he brought back from Egypt in AD 10! Pretty impressive. I also did some shopping down Via Del Corso, Rome's well known shopping area. It was a very busy day and I honestly can't imagine doing Rome with anyone else because I felt like I was practically running from monument to monument in order to see everything! So, I didn't want to be out after dark and the sun was about to go down so I headed back to my hostel for the night. I got in and I felt like passing out I was so tired! I pushed through it though with a hot shower and then I went downstairs for the "Pizza Party" that they have every-night at 8:30 in the bar area. It was pretty good pizza, not to bad, it was free ya know and I also met some cool people from Brussels and Australia. I didn't stay long because I was tired.

Saturday I got up around 8, got ready, and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. The hostel also had free breakfast, it was just cereal, some breads with butter and jam, juice, and coffee. Again, it was free so I indulged. After this I took the metro to the Vatican City. I decided to start with the museums first since I've read that the lines can get pretty long as the day progresses. The Vatican houses one of the best art collections in the world so I was pretty excited to explore it. They had some great pieces and at the end of the museums was the Sistine Chapel, Michealangelo's masterpiece. It was gorgeous. There were so many people bumping into me but I didn't even notice because I was too busy staring at the ceiling. It is truly a masterpiece. You aren't supposed to take any pictures but I definitely snapped a few! After the chapel I left the museums and headed for Basilica di San Pietro or St. Peter's Cathedral. Just standing in the square was really cool, all I could think about were the movies The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. After I took some photos I went into the church, which was amazing! I took so many pictures and then I went next door to see the tombs of all the popes, that was pretty boring and it was a little creepy. To those of you who are Catholic, I hope I don't offend you but: When I woke up I thought, I'm going the Vatican City today and for some reason I thought, "It's going to be a very spiritual day today." Because when I find myself visiting so many different Cathedrals and Churches I usually walk inside and immediately get a good feeling of just being in church ya know. Well it wasn't like that with the Vatican at all, in fact, I left the Vatican feeling a bit angry. Surprised? I know right? I respect everyone's beliefs and all the different religions in the world, I'm not saying that what I believe is the right thing to believe because everyone does feel differently BUT, there are just some things about the Catholic religion that I absolutely do not agree with, and I can honestly say this based on my personal experience at Notre Dame, not from just some idea that I have formed in my head of what "I think" the Catholic religion is about. The Vatican City is beautiful don't get me wrong but it made me think even less of the Catholic religion because sometimes I feel like it's all about wealth and power. Just my personal thoughts. But anyways, after that was over I was pretty tired and my camera battery was almost dead so I took a walk across the Fiume Tevere, the river, and proceed to do some more sightseeing. I went to Capitoline Hill and saw the Musei Capitolini. They also had some great art, I got to see Bellini's "Portrait of a Young Man" and Caravaggio's "St. John the Baptist" and "Gypsy Fortune Teller." I spent most of the evening here and then I headed by to my hostel.

Sunday after I woke up, got ready, packed my bags, and checked out of the hostel I decided that since I only had about 4 hours left that I would try to go and see the Galleria Borghese. Well, after I had taken the metro all the way there tickets were sold out until Monday at 5 p.m.!! I was pretty upset because I really wanted to see the staute of David but instead I got a postcard at the gift shop. I only had 20 Euro on me and the guy at the cash register couldn't make change and so he just said, take it! So I got a free postcard so then I wasn't as put out about not getting to see the museum. lol So, I took a walk around the nice park that the museum was built in, did some shopping and then took a brisk job across the city of Rome in order to make sure that I was going to make it to the airport in time! lol (It was more like a sprint!) I made it to the airport just fine, got checked in, went through security and was on the plane shortly after. The flight wasn't bad, it was a little bumpy and I was wide awake so I was a little more panicky on this flight that the last one. At this point in my day I was definitely a little frustrated with people and things in general. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone stands in the middle of the pathway, I find this to be so annoying and it happens a lot, I ran a guy over with my suitcase on accident but really it was his own damn fault because he was standing in the middle of the walkway. How can you be so stupid ya know? lol So, I finally made it back to Barcelona and once again, it felt good to be home. I had a little trouble at the train station with my ticket on the way back, the machine ate my 4 month pass and it was really busy so I had a hard time finding someone to help me. I spent about 20 or 30 minutes at the train station trying to get everything sorted out. The language thing was an issue and I spent most of this time trying to communicate what had happened. UGH, I was very frustrated at this point and I nearly had a break down but, it resolved itself and I was on my way. I stopped at the bakery on the way home to grab a chocolate croissant and suddenly everything was better! :D

I had so much fun in Rome and I saw so many great things but I was ready to sleep in my own bed and use my own shower and eat my own food. lol This is what I like about weekend travel, it's nice to go somewhere for the weekend and then it's nice to come home feeling refreshed. Overall my trip was great, I was pleased with Aitalia and my Hostel. If I could pick one thing to change it would have been the knowledge of the staff at the hostel on how to do different things in the area. They didn't seem to be very good at giving directions or tour information, but other than that, it was great. I met some really cool people my age and one of the girls that I met had been traveling for 2 months and we talked for hours about all sorts of different places and things to do. I told her about my upcoming trip to Amsterdam and she gave me this really cool map/pocket guide booklet. I thought that was really nice of her! Some people always talk about how terrible hostels are and stuff but honestly you just have to find the good ones. I love hostels because the people staying at them are almost always students or young people who are traveling just like you so it's really nice to meet people and also they are just as clean as hotels, and it's nice not to have to sit in a hotel room by myself in the evenings. It's nice to have a social environment.

My Let's Go Europe travel book has seriously become my best friend on this trip. I've taken pretty much all of their recommendations and they've all turned out really great so far. I think that I would like to be a travel writer. I enjoy writing leisurely and I love to travel. This job would be perfect for me!! If anyone is thinking about a trip to Europe, definitely pick up a good travel book with great recommendations like mine. It really does make all the difference!

Alright, that's all about my trip to Rome, I'm off to Amsterdam this weekend and I will update you on Monday and Tuesday's events tomorrow! I've done some good brainstorming this weekend and my next post should be pretty insightful so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!

CHOW!

Looong days and longer nights...

It’s currently 3 in the morning and I am just now getting home from a bar. It’s been a long day to say the least. Last night I ended up going out with everyone to the Mojito Club. They were having a Halloween party and Alex got her face painted like a skeleton. I also had the most disgusting mojito of my life at this place. The bartender put bitters in my mojito and it tasted so gross that I could barely drink it. Why she did this, I’m not really sure, maybe that’s the way they make mojitos?? I didn’t stay long and left early around 1:30 to come back home. I was tired.

This morning I was a little disorganized and I kept forgetting things. I was supposed to take my laptop to class today and I had forgotten to charge it up last night. So, I took the charger to school with me today but there wasn’t anywhere for me to plug my computer in so it was useless. There was one outlet in the entire classroom and I couldn’t use it. It was frustrating. We didn’t really have class today. We had to go to class and work in our groups but we didn’t really accomplish anything and after class I met with my other group to go to our streets to do research. We had a cheap lunch at a nice café and did some exploring. I didn’t make it home until about 6 and I was exhausted so I took a quick nap around 7 and when I woke up around 8:30 I went to the Vodafone store to put more credits on my phone and then I went to the grocery store to pick up dinner. My roommate Sam and I have a deal that one of us buys whatever we need for dinner and he does the cooking. Lol It works out pretty well. I had Salmon with sautéed spinach and rice. It was really good. After dinner we went over and meet some of our classmates at the Black Sheep and from there we went to a club that was playing 80’s 90’s, and Pop/Rock music. I wasn’t really planning on going out so I didn’t stay long but it was a fun place and I wouldn’t mind going back.

Tomorrow I have school pretty early and then as far as the rest of the day goes I really need to get some stuff accomplished like homework, group projects, and packing for Rome!!

Buenos Noches, Hasta Mannna

To Milan, back to Barcelona, and now off to Rome!!

I’m definitely feeling better this week! In fact, I’ve had an awesome day today! I have much to tell you about my trip to Milan and my first week back in Barcelona. Once again, it feels good to be home! So let’s start with the rest of last Thursday…..

My second class drug on and on Thursday. My Spanish friend Isabella was really worried about me being sick. She offered to let me come home with her to have her dad take a look at me since he’s a doctor or to go to a doctor with me to translate. She is so sweet and I sincerely appreciate her trying to help me. I was feeling pretty bad. After school was over I came home and took a nap to try to regain some of my energy and rest before my long weekend ahead. I woke up late around 10 and started packing. After I was packed we tried out best to get some sleep before having to get up early to catch our flight.

So Friday morning came early and we got up, got ready and decided that we would try to take the train to the airport since it’s free because we all have a pass. Well, next time we need to look up a train schedule because we missed the train by 1 minute and had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the next train. Our flight was at 8:55 and we were still waiting for a train from the center of Barca at 8:10. We finally got on a train and then it took forever to get to the airport. My roommates were freaking out that we weren’t going to make it on the plane. I was surprisingly very calm. I’ve been later than this before for a flight and still made it on and this was in the US! European airports seem to flow much smoother so I wasn’t panicking. We got off the train at 8:30ish. We took a brisk jog to the gate and went seamlessly through security and got right on the plane. I was also pretty calm on the flight surprisingly. We had a great take off, flight, and landing. I had a pastry and an orange juice on the plane. I flew with EasyJet, a European budget airline, so they offer cheap fairs but you have to pay for things like checked baggage, snacks on the plane, etc. So basically, I guess its like flying on the airlines in America!! WHO KNEW! Except, you board the plane in groups and can choose your seats like Southwest flights. After we landed in Milan we proceeded to get tickets for the bus to take us into the center. We bought 3 roundtrip tickets and ended up saving like 30 Euros! We went out to catch the bus and this short little Italian man let a group of 34 people get on this one bus that we had stood and waited for. We were really mad because we had to wait another 20 minutes on another bus. Another bus came, no room, so then again, we had to wait another 20 minutes. It was crazy. We ended up standing there for about an hour before we could actually get on a bus! By the time that we made it to the central station I was pretty frustrated to say the least. Then, my roommates wanted to walk to find the hostel instead of taking the metro. I was pretty tired and I didin’t really want to wander around lost. We eventually made it to the hostel. Thank goodness. It was run by an Asian family and they’re English was not great. I was just happy that we were finally there. After we filled out some paperwork she showed us to our room. There was a double bed and a single bed. Alex and I shared the bigger bed since she sleeps in my bed at home most of the time! Lol We have girl time in our room and she usually just sleeps in there. The fact that we had to pay separately for a bed though and then had to share one didn’t go over well but when your in a foreign place where no one really speaks English is hard to argue with someone about it. Lol Other than that, the hostel was really nice. After we got settled in we made our way to the metro and went to the center of Milan to see the Duomo Cathedral, the main attraction. We first grabbed a bite to eat at a little café. I had Milan style risotto, it was so good! After lunch we also had some Gelato at the same place and the owner kept telling me that he loved me and he kept starting at me. It was a little weird but it was cute so I got a picture with him. Lol After lunch we headed to the cathedral. We could have paid 8 Euro to take the elevator to the top but instead we decided to pay 5 Euro to take the stairs! So, we climbed 300 stairs to the top! The views were amazing. We could see all of Milan from the top and the architecture on the cathedral was so intricate. The pictures that I took were amazing. After we descended from the top we went in and checked out the inside. It was nice too. While we were trying to take pictures of the front of the Cathedral from the outside these crazy men, who always want you to give them money, were putting pigeons on Stephanie! Haha, I looked over and she had like literally 10 pigeons on her arms, her head, everywhere!! Lol It was really disgusting but at the same time Alex and I thought it was hilarious!! She was pretty upset but she was letting this guy put the pigeons on her arm so she must not have been too disgusted! After all that excitement we went and checked out the “Mall” where all the expensive stores are like Louis, Prada, Burberry. You know, the good stuff. This is also where the “Bull with no balls” is located. It’s tradition to spin on the bull for good luck. After this we did some shopping on Via Torino where the more affordable shops are located! After shopping we took the metro back and ate some Italian pizza at a restaurant across the street from our hotel. Mine had ricotta and mozzarella. Mmmmmm, very yummy. We went to bed pretty early because we were exhausted.

Saturday we woke up early, got ready, and headed out to do some more sight seeing. We started at the Sant Ambrogio (not sure of the spelling) It is the oldest and most important medieval building in Milan. It was a beautiful church. The mosaics were amazing and in the back there were two dead bodies, which you can see in my album on facebook, it was a little creepy to say the least but kinda interesting to see something that old. I read that while they were digging around the crypt they uncovered the bodies and they are really old or something along those lines. After 80 pictures and an hour we headed over to see if we could get into the Last Supper. One of the reasons that I wanted to go to Milan was to see the Last Supper but when I tried to make reservations they were completely booked through November. They of course told us the same thing at the ticket office. We had run into a couple from America the night before while eating pizza and they said that if we didn’t have a reservation that we should at least try to go because sometimes people will sell their tickets, especially Asian groups. However, we were unsuccessful and decided to move onto the Castello Sforzeso. It was built in the 14^th Century and was first used as a defense against Venice, later as Leonardo’s studio, and nowadays as a historical monument that houses many different museums and collections. Leonardo has many famous pieces and ceilings located here such as Madonna and Child and Michealangelo’s famous Pieta Rondanini, his last uncompleted sculpture, is also located here. He was working on it when he died. After visiting all of the museums we went over to a market and got a pastry…none of them were very good. After that we made to Buenos Aires to do some more shopping. We shopped pretty much the whole evening, and then we sat down at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat. The food was really good, very authentic. After that we started walking back to our hotel. We got in around 9ish and we met the guys staying next to us. I think there were three guys one of them was from Texas originally but now lives in Amsterdam with his girlfriend. They offered to grab some drinks with us or something but I was tired so just Alex and Stephanie went. The thing about staying in hostels, is that you always meet other students that are traveling too, so it’s nice!

Sunday morning we woke up and headed downtown to see the famous theatre. We could have taken a tour but it would have been in the dark because they were setting up for a performance. So, we skipped that and took some pictures and did some souvenir shopping instead. We tried to see the Arc of Peace but after we had walked a mile to see it, it ended up being under construction like everything else in Europe…lol Soo…we did some more shopping, took an afternoon nap, woke up, ate dinner, and did some more sleeping because we were tired and it was Sunday.

Monday - I knew two weeks ago that this was going to be a very busy day for me. We got up at 4 am to catch the bus that takes you to the airport from Milan. We arrived on time for our flight and grabbed a quick croissant and OJ at the airport. Our flight back was pretty good, I got to see the sun rising over the Alps, it was beautiful! The descent into Barcelona was not ideal, I got a little panicky but I made it through and pretty soon we were on the ground. After landing we tried to hurry to the train so that we could get home and get ready for the day ahead. We missed the train by literally 1 minute and had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the next one. It was cold, and I was tired. After we finally made it back home, I got ready for school and went early to meet with my group members to discuss our presenation for class. My first class went well. In the second class we gave the monument tour and it wasn’t very warm outside so I wasn’t really enjoying it. Plus, the Spanish students tend to be a little rude when measured by American classroom standards. They are always talking and whispering and laughing during class when the teacher is talking and stuff, I find it to be rude and annoying especially when I can’t hear. I guess it’s normal though. The teachers don’t really seem to have very much control over their classrooms here in that sense. After school I met with one of my many groups to discuss the workload and then I went home and did some laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I was passed out by 11 o’clock, which is rare for me over here! Usually I’m up until at least 2! I was really exhausted.

Tuesday started out good. Spanish class was good, and we were having a tour for our second class so we didn’t have to stay at school. I came home, made lunch and then got ready for the tour. Alex and I left a little early in order to allow time to get lost and such. We found it easily though. We went to La Pedreda which is a house that was designed by Gaudi. It was pretty cool, nothing extremely special. The roof was the best part and even then I wasn’t extremely impressed. We also walked to the Sagrada Familia and we saw another important house. Our tour guide was a senior from school so it was a little dis-organized. I decided that I’m going to go back to all these sites later on to get good pictures. From this point on I can’t really remember the rest of the night.

Wednesday we only had our morning class, which just so happens to be the class that I despise the most. It was really boring and I was so happy when it was over. After school we had the rest of the day off to do research for our other class that we usually have on Wednesdays. That evening I hung out with some friends and I also booked a ticket to go to Rome next weekend!! I’m really excited!! My flight was a little higher than what I initially wanted to pay but it’s Rome, and I don’t have many weekends left to go and I would like to see Rome when it’s not freezing outside.

Thursday – In Spanish class we finally got our class schedule. Lol We are having our Spanish exam on November 5^th and then we will start learning Catalan until the end of the term. So, that’s exciting. Our second class was entertaining. I really enjoy Spanish Culture and Tourism. It was raining cats and dogs outside so we didn’t really do anything this night. When we got home from school though we had a sticker on our mailbox saying that I had gotten a package so I immediately took the bus down to the post office. I got in the wrong line the first time, took a number, and then stood around for like 20 more minutes before I figured out how to get my package! Lol Turns out, my church sent me a package all the way over here in Spain! I couldn’t believe it! I was very excited to get something in the mail from them. It was basically a bunch of small snacks and Halloween candy so I shared the majority of it with the European kids that came over that night to hang out. They enjoyed most of it. Lol

Friday – I slept in because I was tired and when I woke up Alex and I went shopping. We shopped pretty much all day and I finally bought a pair of boots!! I think I’ve seriously tried on every single pair in this city!! Lol They are nice and I really like them although I haven’t worn them yet. When we got home Kevin was here so we worked on booking a hostel for Amsterdam. We were successful and I have hostels and flights for everywhere that I am going so far except for Madrid. Friday night must not have been too exciting because I can’t remember if we did anything.

Saturday –We slept in again and went to the beach around 1 or 2. It was a nice day for the beach. It wasn’t too cold or windy and the sun was out. The temperature was 76 degrees Fahrenheit. That will probably be one of the last times that we are able to go to the beach because it’s definitely starting to cool down and we’ve only had a few nice days like this recently. While we were at the beach my purse almost got stolen because I wasn’t paying attention. (I was distracted) BUT, Alex was looking out for our bags so they stayed safely in our possession. I also finally went swimming in the Mediterranean here in Barcelona! I figured that it might be one of the last times that would be at the beach and I wanted to get fully in the water at least one time. It was ice cold, like Titanic water ice cold, but it was refreshing and I’m glad that I did it! After the beach we went to get my hair cut! Friday when we were shopping we ran across this really cool looking salon and we went in to check the prices. It wasn’t too expensive actually only 30 Euros for a shampoo, cut, and style. This is about average here so I made an appointment because my hair has been in desperate need of being evened up. My stylist was actually a guy from Holland. He was really nice and his English was really good so I felt comfortable having him cut my hair! We talked about all sorts of different things like the languages spoken here in Barcelona, the culture of this area, and other cities in Europe. He gave me some good advice on Madrid and I think that I’m really going to like it there. My hair turned out really great. I’m trying to grow it back out so he didn’t really take off any length instead he evened it up and angled it a little bit by making it shorter in the back. It actually looks pretty good. I’m really happy with it and I rarely say that about haircuts. Lol After my haircut I did some grocery shopping and we went out to the other Black Sheep across town to check it out. We have one literally on our door step, it’s the original one but they also have a mega taverna across town so we decided to check it out. Turns out that Saturday was also daylights savings time here so we got an extra hour at the bar!! How lucky are we?!? Haha. So currently I am only 5 hours ahead of East Coast time until you have daylights savings time there this weekend.

Sunday was a lazy day as usual. Alex and I worked on some homework, tested out the Laundromat, and were lazy. That night we went out for Sushi at this cool Japanese restaurant. They had a conveyer belt with a variety of small dishes or tapas and it was really good. I tried some new things and the majority of it was good. After eating out we went to Hogan’s, an Irish Pub, to watch the FC Barcelona game. They won of course and while we were all hanging out some really drunk Danish guys came up and started chatting us up. They were a little weird but it made for an interesting night nonetheless.

Monday – Back into school mode again. We got homework in both of our classes Monday. It’s nothing to hard though. In one class we have to research the meaning of the name of a street and in the other we have to research a traditional Catalan dish and explain it’s ingredients, how its made, etc. For lunch we went to my favorite place for Patatas Braves, which btw is my favorite Catalan dish. We went to Bar Tomas again and it was soooooo good. I’m seriously in love with this place and would eat there everyday if I could. After school we decided that we would have people over for an “American” dinner. My roommates did the majority of the cooking and I of course did the majority of the dishes before, during, and after. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a spinach salad with raspberry vinegarette. It was ok, it wasn’t KFC and to my standards if the food isn’t better than fast food then I might as well just eat the cheaper, tastier fast food! Lol After dinner we drank a bottle of Moscatel, a Portuguese sweet after dinner wine. It was really good and it’s my new favorite drink. We were up pretty late and didn’t get to bed until about 2. We had a good time though.

Tuesday – Today we got up early, got ready, went to school and then class was cancelled. BOTH of our classes were cancelled today because both of our professors have the same flu bug that we all had last week! Kathrine, our coordinator had informed me that my package had come from my dad and that it was as big as me! I went up to her office to get it and she wasn’t lying! Lol My roommate offered to help me carry it home. I was pretty excited to open it when I got home. It had all sorts of goodies inside one of them being some velveta shells and cheddar which I immediately consumed. After I opened that up I decided that since we had the whole day off from school that I was going to go out exploring in Barcelona. I have realized recently that we don’t have much time left here in Barcleona and since I’m traveling almost every weekend I had to try to visit as many sites, museums, and parks that I can during the week. So, I decided to start by exploring the rest of the Gothic area today. I walked around lost for a while and saw the church of La Merce, the patron saint of Barcelona, the church of Sant Just, Plaza George Orwell, and did some shopping. I bought a really cool scarf, had some churros with hot melted chocolate for dipping, and then met up with my roommate Sam to go to the Picasso Museum. We had to wait in a pretty long line to get our tickets but it was well worth it. Picasso was an amazing artist in many aspects and this is the largest collection of his art in his home country. It was outstanding. It was packed but I still enjoyed it and afterwards I bought a bookmark and postcard of my favorite painting since you aren’t allowed to take any pictures inside. I also got a cool new pencil for my collection. Which, BTW, my roommates made fun of me for having a pencil collection but, if you ask me, I think it’s pretty cool. It’s very unique, inexpensive, and within the past year it has become an International pencil collection, not just any pencil collection! After the museum we went over and visited the Santa Maria del Mar, another famous Gothic cathedral here in Barcelona. It was beautiful. Fisherman and sailors built it back in the 13^th or 14^th century. After the church we had some tapas at a little café and headed home. It’s been a very busy day today so I’m pretty tired but we might be going out tonight, I’m not sure yet, you’ll have to wait till the next blog post to find out!

As for other things, I’m sorry it took so long to get this post out, I’ve tried to sit down and finish it a couple of times this week but it’s been hard to find the time and motivation with so many other things going on. However, now that I’ve gotten this long post out of the way I plan to post more or less everyday that way they are shorter and easier to read! Lol Also, there has been some tension recently between my roommates and I to say the least but that’s a whole other story for another day. Oh and by the way I’M GOING TO ROME THIS WEEKEND!!! AHHHHHH!!! I’m so excited. Rome is the one place I have always wanted to go!!! I’ll let you know all about it!! :D I’ll be traveling by myself this weekend also, I’m excited about this but also keep me in your prayers!!!

Writer's Block...

BLAH!!! I can't write at all today about my trip. Let's just say I've seen better days....maybe tomorrow I'll be able to brighten up your lives....

Not homesick- I just need a change, I'm kinda lonely and I'm sick of being around the same people.....

I´m going to Dublin to visit Guiness and Jameson!

I finally got a full 8 hours of sleep yesterday! It was amazing. Yay for late classes! Went to school around 12:30 for event management aka - the most boring class ever! Our teachers here don´t dress up in professional clothes, they wear jeans and shirts to class but our teacher looked like she just rolled out of bed in her pajama´s! I guess it´s a cultural thing! She basically could have summed up in 5 minutes what she talked about for 2 hours. Everyone was pretty much sleeping. After class we went down to a little cafe and I had a bocadilla de queso for lunch. It was good as usual. After lunch we went to our next class which is our research class. I always look forward to this class because it´s fun. We didn´t really do much, Kathrine came around and talked to each of our groups about our street projects and we have the next two weeks off from class to do research and stuff with our groups. Also, I´m not the only one who is sick, everyone seems to have a cough/fever/cold. I´m not sure what it is but I still do not feel good.
After school I met with my group for research and we went to our streets and then I met with another group member for another project and THEN I met with my other group to eat at our restaurant!! It was a very busy day yesterday!! Our restaurant that we ate at was very good!! We had a variety of different tapas. I´m not sure what any of them were, but they were all very good! By the time I was finished with everything it was already 9:30!! We had all talked earlier about going to this bar called El Bosc de las Fades which translates to ¨The fairytale bar,¨it was very cool. Some of the norway girls, finland girls, our portugual friends, and all of us went. The setting reminded me of something like a rainforest cafe but more like being in a cave. They had trees all over the place, tea light candles, waterfalls, etc. It seems like a very romantic spot!! Very unique. We got home around 2.
It´s finally starting to get cold in Barcelona. Today it is 64 degrees!! I´m bundled up! Last week it was in the high 80´s and this week it has been in the 70´s. However, this weekend the temperature is supposed to stay in the mid 60´s. Luckily, I´m going to Milan where it is going to be in the 70´s!! lol I just want one more week of summer clothes! PLEASE!!
I also booked a flight to go to Dublin in November from the 20th to the 23rd. Beyonce is having a concert there on the 22nd and if Alex can go with me, we are going to try to get tickets!! If not, well then, I´ll have a great time visiting with Guiness and Jameson´s Irish Whiskey all weekend!

This morning at school we attended their ¨Cross Cultural Toast.¨It was a little presentaion showcasing all the different nations and culturals that are represented here at Sant Ignasi. It was pretty cool and I love being an international exchange student. Althought it comes with a lot of stress and worries, it´s totally worth every minute. I´m glad that I came and I´m already looking into options for international law programs!! Very exciting! As for the rest of the day, I have one more class and then I have to finish some last minute homework and then I have to pack!!

So, here is my schedule in case you´ve lost track of everything!

This weekend 16th-19th - Milan, Italy - Maybe venice or verona
Nov. 6th-9th - Amsterdam, Holland
Nov. 20th-23rd - Dublin, Ireland
December 4th-8th - Madrid, Spain - for the LSAT

That´s it so far but I´m also in the process of planning some other stuff like Paris, Rome, London, Berlin and maybe Lisbon at the end of December!!

My flight is leaving early tomorrow morning so I´ll blog about Milan when I get back!!

Hasta Lunes!

Roman Ruins, Crazy Parties, and Lazy Beach Days - Yes, this is school in full swing!

Alright alright, enough already, I know that everyone has been sitting around their houses ready to read about what’s happening next in the “Fabulous Life of Annie”…. Lol

School has been keeping me very busy with all my group projects....sooo I am sincerely sorry that it has been so long since my last post, this past week was hectic and then I was sick for a few days so I apologize but here is a “quick” recap and Julie do not skim, you better read the whole thing!!! Every detail!

Let’s start with Monday – Monday I was very tired, I was up until about 3 am after getting home around midnight talking to Alex about my weekend plus I was very tired from my trip. 5 hours in the Amsterdam airport took it out of me! At school we got assigned lots of homework because we had the next Monday off from school because October 12^th is a national holiday here in Spain – I’m sure your just baffled aren’t you!? I have the same professor Carmen for both classes on Monday and in both classes she gave us things to see and do around Barcelona. In the first class we were assigned to a group so that we weren’t with the same people from our countries. Our assignment – each group had to visit a different museum, park, and restaurant and do a presentation on our findings. Second class was pretty much the same except we got to pick our groups this time so all of the Americans are together. Assignment – a monument in the Gothic Quarter that we have to give a presentation on. This class is a class about tour guiding so next Monday we will be going for a tour and each group will present their monument or area and give a quick description. So, needless to say, this has kept me pretty busy the past week. I had lunch with the girls from Norway. We went to a local bakery and I had a vegetarian quiche. It was really good and then I followed that with a chocolate pastry BUT, I was walking up a hill as I ate it, so I don’t count those calories because they kina cross cancelled each other out!

Tuesday we had Spanish class and another class called Destination Barcelona. We had to prepare a power point on American culture. Every country had to give a presentation. Luckily, we ran out of time and didn’t have to present. We are taking a tour of La Pedrera on the 20^th and class got cancelled for the 13^th so we don’t have to give our presentation until the 27^th! Sweet! In-between classes I went with Alex’s group for Monday’s class and ate at their restaurant with them. It was called Bar Thomas and they are said to have the best Patatas Braves in Barcelona – they even got a write up in New York Times! And I can honestly tell you – they are probably the best that I’ve had so far! In case your wondering what they are – it’s like home fries from Bob Evan’s or cubed potatoes like that, fried and then topped with a spicy sauce and aioli (A sauce similar to mayonnaise) Tuesday afternoon I roamed around the Gothic Quarter for a while and I tried to go to a museum but it was closed so instead I explored my streets for Wednesday’s class and did some shopping! I got a cute outfit and new scarf!

Wednesday my group made some progress in event management. We are starting to brainstorm ideas and stuff and then our second class was also good. It is a research class with Katharine (our program coordinator). Instead of making us do boring research our project is a group effort and each group is assigned two popular streets within Barcelona to explore and do research on. We actually have to go to these streets at crazy hours and eat at the cafes, check out the shops, meet some of the locals, and just generally observe!! It’s one of the coolest projects even though it’s hard to coordinate between everyone’s crazy schedules! In the afternoon I went to the Museu d’Historia de la Ciutat or the City History Museum. It’s the most popular museum here in Barcelona and it is one of the coolest museums that I have ever been too. It is actually underground! It exposes the foundations of Barcino – the original Roman city. It’s amazing how well it’s preserved! I went by myself and ordered my ticket in Spanish!! However, they have an audio tour on a remote and she was going to give me Spanish but I had to blow my cover and settle for one in English. No one ever told me that I wasn’t allowed to take photos so for the first 20 minutes I was snapping pictures until a guy came up to me and told me that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures!! I don’t really understand why either. I know that you aren’t allowed to use a flash when your taking pictures of stuff like that but even in Greece we were allowed to take pictures of stuff that was much older!! I find this ridiculous! So, I didn’t get many pictures but I will post them shortly. I spent probably 2 ½ hours wondering around. I couldn’t believe how much of the roman city still existed! The remains are remarkable. If I was starting school all over again I would definitely go into archeology and writing. After the museum I also saw the Roman columns of the Temple of Augustus. Also very cool. I grabbed some Patatas Braves – which I also ordered in Spanish – and returned home. I almost booked a ticket to Milan for the next day but changed my mind and decided to go this weekend instead! So, BTW I’m going to Milan this weekend!!

Thursday started out slow but progressively got better. We had Spanish in the morning and then our second class got cancelled so we went to the beach instead! That night our school was throwing a party at this place so we bought tickets and decided to go. I had an awesome time. When we first got there they had a pretty famous Spanish band playing so we got some drinks and then they started playing dance music around 1 a.m. It was packed. I danced all night until about 5 am when we left! I didn’t get to bed until 7:30 in the morning!! What an awesome night though! I had so much fun.

Friday Alex woke me up around 10:30 to go to the beach! We spent pretty much the whole day there even though we didn’t really get there till about 1 p.m. We practiced our Spanish and got a tan! I lost my voice on Thursday night so Friday we all stayed home and did our own thing. This is sort of when my sickness began. The next morning I woke up coughing my head off and have had this cough for about 4 days now. At first I just thought that I lost my voice because I was practically screaming on Thursday night or that maybe it was from all the cigarette smoke but Saturday it was confirmed that I was indeed sick. BLAH!! I hate being sick in general but being sick with no one to take care of me sucks even more! LUCKILY, Alex is the best roommate in the world and has pretty much catered to my every need! She made me hot tea and toast for breakfast! So after we made it to the beach we hung out there all day and then that night we went to our favorite bar “The Black Sheep” and had some sangria. Almost everyone from our program was there that night. We were having a great time until these idiots from Germany called us “bitches.” They were really rude and basically wanted to fight a bunch of girls…it was retarded and they left shortly after they realized what an ass they had made of themselves! We got home around 3:30 and passed out.

Sunday was a lazy day. As I have stated many times before – everything is closed here on Sundays. This still baffles me! I just can’t believe that the grocery store isn’t open on Sundays! We all got together to go to the beach but as soon as we got there it started getting cold and windy like it was about to rain. We didn’t stay long. We had some drinks and some snacks and then we left. We went for a stroll up Passeig de Gracia – the best street for shopping in Barcelona. Even though everything was closed, it was still cool to check it out. We grabbed a baguette at a little shop and then proceeded to the Black Sheep. We didn’t stay very long and were in bed by 3.

Monday/ Today – Christopher Columbus day in America – Spain’s National Holiday in Spain. Again, most things were closed. I met with my group early around 10:30 to go to our museum, our park, and our restaurant. The museum was closed, the park was under construction, and our restaurant was closed so it was a failed attempt! We had lunch at a cute little café though and we hit the beach. We went out to the beach clubs last night – Opium and Shoko. We had a good time but we didn’t stay to long because we had Spanish this morning at 10:30. It was definitely hard to pull myself out of bed this morning after the crazy weekend that I’ve had and especially since I still feel sick. I think my throat is worse now!! My cold has moved from a sore throat to a chest cold. I don’t physically feel sick and I still have energy but I have a nasty cough. I’ve been trying to eat better since I’ve gotten sick but it’s hard! Also, FYI – I went to the Pharmacia to get some medicine on Sunday. In Spain you can buy birth control, prescription painkillers, and other strong medicines over the counter! You don’t have to have a prescription for these things. This is how it works – You go in and describe your symptoms and they just hand you a box of medicine! It’s very easy and it’s not really that expensive. Whatever they gave me though I don’t think is working. I think it was more for sinus congestion.

Also, I’m very excited to be going to Milan this weekend. I’m hoping to be able to take the train over to Venice and/or Verona while I’m there also. Leonardo’s famous “Last Supper” is in Milan and I can’t wait to see it!! I love art and history! I was originally going by myself but then Alex’s mom said that she could go and now Stephanie is also going. So, we’ll see how this weekend works out! I don’t think that I’m taking my laptop with me because we will be staying at a hostel and I don’t want to worry about my most valuable item being stolen!! I don’t know what I would do if my precious baby disappeared into the hands of an Italian stranger! <3>

Other things: My Aunt Jo Ellen sent me a wonderful package in the mail with two different books that I’ve been wanting to read that deal with law – one is called The Firm by John Grisham and the other is called Pinstripes and Pearls and is about the women of the Harvard Law Class of 64’ – I’ve already started it and I already like it! It’s very empowering! They also sent me a bunch of American candy! YAY! :D THANK YOU!!

Learning Spanish – I’m getting really good, or well, at least I think so. I make it a point to use my Spanish everyday and I try to read different things in Spanish everyday. In class we have learned the basics and now we are starting to learn the verbs and how to conjugate them and everything. So, it’s getting harder but I’m learning. I used to think that Spanish wasn’t a pretty language but I’m slowly starting to realize that it’s nice. I’ve never really enjoyed Spanish mostly because the Spanish that we speak in America is informal Mexican Spanish and working in a restaurant, I hear all different sorts of words in Spanish – most of which are not appropriate to post on here! However, I have a new respect for the language and it’s simplicity. Spanish culture and Mexican culture in general are very different. One of my main concerns when choosing Spain, as my next destination to study in was “I hope its nothing like Mexico.” My views of Mexico are not the greatest and I attribute this to a variety of different experiences. However, I’m happy to say that I’m falling in love with Barcelona and I might not come back home!! I know it sounds crazy but if I had my choice I’d stay here forever. (I’d miss my family & friends though!!) Life is so different. People enjoy their lives here, daily life isn’t about how much money you make, and how nice the car is that you drive or the job you have, it’s about what really matters, family, friends, flowing wine, and food!! Last week when I got off the plane from Helsinki my first thought was “I’m home,” and I haven’t been able to say that about any other place except for West Virginia. Yes it’s hot, and stinky, but there’s just something about this place, it’s like an infection and I love it! It’s also nice to be able to just go to the beach whenever!

I’m having the time of my life and I couldn’t be happier. This trip is very different compared to my last one. Both have had their challenging moments to say the least! My last trip was a tour around the entire country of Greece and was definitely the most important learning and growing experience of my life. This trip though, this one is different because I’m actually LIVING in Spain; I’m not quite a tourist and not quite a resident. I’m somewhere in between. I must tend to blend in pretty well though because people come up to me all the time and ask me questions in Spanish when their lost! Lol

I’m 20 ya know, and I’m all about having a great time and seeing the world. This is my goal in life, I have this passion for experiencing different cultures and people and if there were a job for it I would just travel to a new country each year! I’m really glad that I changed my focus to International Tourism Operations because I feel like that one little change might make a huge difference when I go to find a job doing something that I love. But who knows…!

**Here’s what I’ve discovered this past week or my most important thought for the week:

It’s impossible to be happy everyday but it’s important to try to be happy everyday. Like they say, we have to have bad days to appreciate the good ones.

I will blog more this week as long as you promise to read!!! And leave some comments please! I think my mom left directions on another blog post. I’d like to get one from someone that I don’t know who’s reading!! Hi NAN!!

Helsinki, Finland

I did not have access to the internet through my computer this weekend so I typed up my blog every night and here are the posts from my trip to Helsinki, Finland. Pictures are coming soon.

Thursday October 1, 2009

So today has been a day of traveling to new places and meeting new faces. It is currently 12:03 Finland time! I woke up late this morning and ended up missing our 10:45 welcoming invitation. My iphone, really my alarm clock, has been going back and forth between time zones and doesn't always stay on Barcelona time. I think I fixed that this morning though, everytime it restarts I think I need to reset the time. I set my alarm for 9:00 and when i woke up my phone said 4:14 and it looked like it was afternoon already! lol So, needless to say, none of us made it to the presentation today. I got up around noon and started getting ready to leave. I've never flown out of Barcelona so I wanted to make sure to allow enough time to figure out where I was going. I researched some transport options to the airport and decided I would take the Aerobus which I also took when I first arrived. It worked out pretty well, I left around 1:00 p.m. for my 3:00 p.m. flight. I got to the airport around 1:45 and my check in was seamless as usual with European airlines. I'm telling you, American airlines need to take a hint or two from these European airlines. There was no line and a guy approached me and said Amsterdam? It was like he knew me! He said, "all i need is your passport." I was allowed to check 2 bags for free (hint hint). I only had a small duffle but I checked it anyways. He spoke great english I was shocked! He gave me my boarding passes and told me what to do and I was on my way! I shopped around for a little bit at the airport and I scoped out a scarf that I think I might buy on my way back through! On the flight to Amsterdam I sat by a very nice guy that was from Barcelona, he talked to about all sorts of things in order to distract me from the flight because we all know how I feel about flying. My seat on the plane was 11B, I always like to sit in the front, I feel safer. He was very helpful and gave me some good advice on places to go. BTW, let me also mention, the flight attendants were wonderful, KLM is a Dutch airline (also a delta/northwest partner) and on their flights they give you a specialty Dutch sandwich (yummy), a Dutch cookie, AND if you want beer, Heineken, or wine, it is FREE OF CHARGE!!! ( you can have other drinks though like soda and such). After they come around and give you a sandwich they give you a drink, then they come around with cookies, then they come around with hot tea or coffee. It is absolutely wonderful. I have taken 3 KLM flights, each about 2 hours and it has been like this on every flight. GET WITH THE PROGRAM AMERICA!!! In America, your lucky to get half a can of coke (that you usually have to pay for) on flights that are 2 hours in the US and you have to pay for luggage, etc. etc. and the tickets are never cheap. On my flight from Pittsburgh to Detroit the flight attendant came over the speaker and said, "On flights less than one hour no beverage service will be offered." My thoughts on this - STUPID and they shouldn't be paying her to just fly around on a plane all day. Dear Northwest - maybe you should cut back on useless jobs so your not bankrupt all the time! Gezzz, there's an idea! (Again, I attribute this lack of commonsense to the level of education in America but that's another story.) So I have decided that I love flying with KLM and if I have my choice I'll probably book with them PLUS they are a delta/northwest parter (which is where most of my frequent flyer miles are) so I can also earn miles when I fly with them. My second fight to Helsinki was pretty much the same, only difference was I had to sit in seat 24D. I got onto the plane and my thoughts were, "there is no way that there are 24 rows on this plane." Low and behold though...there was my seat, very last row in the aisle. It looked like they saw some extra space and thought, "hey would could probably cram another row of people back here even though there is no leg room and they won't be able to tilt their seats back." Cool, real cool. So I was freaking out the entire flight because there was so much turbulence and I was scared plus I was sitting next to 2 screaming kids and the only bathroom on the plane so it was a little hectic to say the least.

As I was getting off the plane in Helsinki I noticed how cold it was!! Alex told me when she was helping me pack that I didn't need to take my winter coat and sweaters that I just needed my tan trench coat and some jeans. Well 50 degrees was the high and not the low! It's freezing here! The first thing I did when I got my bag was find my jacket! Maija was at the airport waiting for me with a cute little sign! She couldn't believe that I was wearing flip-flops! We made it to the car and immediately turned on the heat seaters! We talked the whole way as she pointed out things to me. Her english is very good. She told me about her two daughters whom I met this evening when we arrived. One speaks Finnish, Swedish, English, French, and Russian! WOW! I was impressed she's about my age, 18. Their house is so cute! It's on an island and it's a condo. I walked in and I felt like I was walking through IKEA!! It looks just like it, I love it! It's adorable! Very European. So, we talked for a while and now I'm getting ready to sleep because we have a very busy day tomorrow. She is going to take me to downtown Helsinki tomorrow to walk around and then we are going to meet up with her sister Lisa for lunch and then as for the evening, we aren't sure yet! It's going to be a good day though, I can just feel it!

Friday October 2, 2009

Wow! What a day it has been! I woke up around 10:30 and Maija already had breakfast ready for me! It was similar to a traditional European breakfast. We had rye bread, oat bread, sliced chicken, this wonderful orange marmalade, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, juice, and hot tea. Rye breads or dark bread are very popular here in Finland, everyone eats them. After breakfast we got ready to brave the cold! Maija let me borrow a scarf and gloves for the day! We hurried to the bus stop and got on. They live on a island and it takes about 10-15 minutes to get to the center of Helsinki. The streets in downtown are all cobblestone so the bus ride was very bumpy! We passed many beautiful buildings. I also saw NOKIA headquarters. They also have many American companies here such as Price Water House Coopers and Ernst and Young and Maija works for Tekla and she told me that they also have an office in Atlanta, GA.When we got off of the bus we made our way to the tourist building. We picked up some interesting information on the city and made our way to a famous market. As soon as I opened the door this wonderful smell filled my nose! I got to see a traditional Finnish market with all different types of foods. Most importantly I saw reindeer fur and reindeer meat which is considered a delicacy here. It's very expensive. After the market we went to this beautiful Cathedral. It was gorgeous and I got some pictures. After the cathedral we walked over to the boarding area to catch a ferry to take us over to Suomelina, an old military fortress built in 1748. It has survived the Russian invasion and currently 850 residents live on the island. It's huge! We walked around and I took some excellent pictures, the views were great and combined with the autumn leaves it made them spectacular. We didn't see the entire island because it is very large and we wanted to try to meet up with my cousins for lunch at this soup kitchen that we saw in the market. We arrived and waited for them. Maija ordered me the seafood soup and it was probably the best soup I have ever had, it even topped my favorite, lobster bisque. I couldn't even really tell you what was in it, just that it was delicious. So, we had soup with Wilhelm and Sofia, 19, and 21. They are Lisa's children which is Maija's sister. I really loved them, their english was great and we talked about many different things such as what it is like to live here, how they stand the cold, music, t.v., fashion, etc. We talked about everything and it was great conversation. They are my age so it is very intriguing to hear about what their lives are like. Wilhelm said that he had been to New York when he was 15. Sofia said that she was waiting until she turned 21 to go so that she could go to all the bars.

After the soup we left and walked over to another part of town to meet their mother Lisa who works at the Parliament in International Affairs. Maija said that they had a surprise for me so I was excited to say the least because if you know me you know I love surprises. Sofia showed me examples of Finnish fashion along the way. There is a place called Marimekko that is very famous and internationally known. We went into the store and they showed me around. It's very modern and reminded me of prints that can be found in IKEA but better! After this we met up with Lisa and we went to a small bar/cafe called Memphis and here they ordered a bottle of champagne to "welcome me to Finland." I couldn't believe it! Anyone who knows me knows that my drink of choice is always champagne! lol It was perfect. Here Lisa gave me a gift bag that had lots of information on the parliament of Finland as well as some general information, maps AND a Marimekko laptop bag!! I was very excited! It fits my Mac perfectly! I am still astounded by how warm and welcoming they have been to me, it's just unreal! After champagne we went to a hotel in Finland known for their view of Helsinki, we went to the top and I got some nice photos and then Sofia showed me the bathroom which was made famous from a sex scene in a Finnish movie. After this we went to another modern cafe for a coffee and hot tea, it was very hip and trendy. I got to taste a Finnish chocolate that was chocolate with mint in the center; it was very good. Next we went to a lovely park and here I took some pictures with Sofia and Wilhelm because they might not be able to make it to Grandma's and Grandpa's tomorrow. We said our goodbyes and decided that I must come back in the summer to go to the excellent festival's that they have told me about. BTW, my Sperry's were my best friends today and they were well worth the $70 dollars, so thank you MOM, your wonderful!! lol

We caught the bus home and Maija said that I could get a hot bath and check my email if I wanted. I got oniline and checked my emails and such. I didn't stay on long because I didn't want to be rude and then I took a very relaxing hot bath! It was wonderful! Let me just say, on this trip I have finally discovered where I get my love for hot bubble baths and my need for solitude! Two things that nobody quite understands about me! The Fins enjoy these things and so do I, who knew!? Maija's boyfriend came over and they made dinner. We had this fabulous pasta with chicken and some type of sauce, salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, feta, and pine nuts, red wine, and of course my favorite, bread! They introduced me to a wonderful sauce that I now believe can make any food taste great, it's called Sweet Chile Sauce and reminds me a little big of the Mango Chutney at Firebirds where I work. It's excellent! I was stuffed by the time it was over so we watched some television, a Finnish version of America's Funniest Home Videos, Law and Order, the Sopranos, and then Maija showed me a film that Sofia and Wilhelm's father was in! He's an actor! How cool is that? I was very impressed. We had some interesting chocolates for dessert. One was dark chocolate with chile, it was sweet and spicy kinda like the sauce at dinner and the other was dark chocolate with mint. Both were good. All I know at this point is that it has been a very long and fun-filled yet exhausting day and that I must get some sleep because we are continuing the sight seeing and meeting more family tomorrow!

Saturday October 3, 2009

Saturday was a busy day. It was my last full day here in Finland and we still had many people to meet and many things to see. We started the day with another wonderful breakfast, we had pretty much the same stuff as the day before. Lipton makes these tea bags that are fruit flavored and they are great, I'm going to get some when I get back. So after breakfast we got ready to brave the cold again. The temperate actually got up to 10 degrees Celsius today and it wasn't nearly as windy as Friday so it was nice to walk around. We started the day with a walk around Lautasarri, the island where they live. We walked down by the sea where the views were great for taking pictures. After our walk we had to go to a "kiosk" so that Maija could load more Euros onto her bus pass. We caught the bus and headed downtown again. We visited the Templiokko church. The church walls are actually made out of rock dating back to the ice age and it's roof and other features are very modern. The acoustics in the church are supposed to be excellent. There were many tourists so it was hard to get really good pictures without people in them. Maija told me that they get many Russian tourists here in Finland. After the church we went to find postcards, we first looked in a mall and I found some there and then we went to a bookstore where I got a couple more. We grabbed a cappuccino at Robert's Coffee inside of Stockhamm, Finland's largest department store. After coffee we went to a few different shops around the downtown area and she took me to a shoe store because I had mentioned that I wanted a pair of boots. I tried on a couple pairs and I found some that I really liked but they only had size 37 and 38 and of course I needed a 39. Next we met up with Lisa downtown and she took the bus back with us to Maija's house and we got ready to go to their parents house. We drove to Espoo which is about 20 minutes from the center of Helsinki to meet Jaakko and Raili Nuoramo. On the way we stopped to pick up the fish that we were cooking for dinner. Of course I went inside when we got there, I love to see what other grocery stores look like. It was huge, and they had everything there, it was basically like a WalMart in Finland! Jaakko and Raili's house was a great experience and they were so excited to meet me! She made reindeer pie, a shrimp dish, and a rhubarb cake for me! I took a picture of the table and then we sat down to eat. I have never eaten reindeer before so it was a new experience for me! It was surprisingly very good! I was so honored that she cooked all this food for me! After we had eaten we sat down to talk about our family history. In 1991 my great uncle Eddie and Elsie came to Finland and they traveled all around the country over a 2 week period and they had made a video about their trip. Jaakko put the trip onto 2 DVD's for me to have as well as the map that they used during their trip outlining their journey. The video's were 4 hours long altogether but we watched a few bits and pieces. After that they asked about different family members and showed me the invitations that they had received from Jack and Marion, two of my relatives, as well as pictures and emails from other family members. I'm not going to lie I was a little emotional to see these things and it was great to hear about their lives here in Finland and why my great grandpa came to America. It was an entire history that I never knew existed! They gave me a collage of their family and a picture of themselves to take back with me. I also got pictures with them and everyone else. They were very thrilled that I had come this far to see them! As I was leaving they handed me a bag with something in it and said that it was for me to take back to Barcelona with me. I thought that maybe it was food or something but I didn't realize until I was packing to go home what was in the bag. It was a beautiful silver reindeer with a candle, carefully wrapped! It's absolutely gorgeous and probably the nicest thing that they could have given me! In the airport I saw this same collection of reindeer in a finnish store called Pentik, so they must be made here in Finland. I was sad to leave but I promised to try my best to come back next summer.

Next we went to Leena's house, Maija and Lisa's other sister. She has a very nice flat with a sauna! After we got settled in we had some white wine and juice and then Maija and I used the sauna. It was definitely a new experience and it was very hot! We sat in the sauna for a while and then sat outdoors to cool off and then we did it again!! It was cool and afterwards I felt very relaxed and refreshed like I had been to the spa. Lena has two daughters and one of them came over to eat last night but had to leave to go to work so I only met her briefly. For dinner we had smoked salmon and baked salmon in some type of sauce, salad, a different kind of dark bread from one of the islands between Finland and Sweden, and some special pastries that we picked up at the store. The best way to describe it is thin pie crust with rice in the middle. It was very filling. Dinner was very good and then afterwards we had moot cake which is basically the same thing as American brownies! Everyone was pretty tired so we didn't stay long. I said goodbye to Lena and Lisa and then we all went home. It was very windy as if it was about to storm. We got home just in time and ended up missing the downpour. After getting inside I got onto the computer to check to see if my flight had been confirmed, the weather for Sunday was not going to be good so we wanted to make sure that my flight hadn't been delayed yet. Paula came into the computer room and we started talking about all sorts of different things, we planned her trip to America to come see me and I told her what it was like there, she showed me her license and her passport and I showed her mine. She asked me if I had any American money but I only had a quarter and a dime, I gave them to her and promised to mail her a dollar and some other change. We had a great conversation and before we knew it, it was past midnight! We decided to go to bed!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Today I woke up around 10. Maija and I had breakfast together. I checked online and my flight was still confirmed for 2:50 p.m. Laura had a basketball scrimmage at noon and we decided to go to that before going to the airport. It was very interesting to watch a basketball game in a different language! lol I also got to try this freshly baked raspberry/blueberry pie/cake from the concession stand! It was really good. We stayed for the first half and on our way to the airport Maija took me a different way to drive me past the Olympic stadium and the opera house. Once we got to the airport we parked, it was still raining but the sun was out so there was a rainbow in the sky!! I took this as a sign of good luck for my flight! She helped me get checked in and it was really sad when we said our goodbyes. I didn't know how to thank her for everything (even though I said "thank you" 200 times) and I promised to come back as soon as I could, next time in the summer preferably! I told her that she could also come stay with us in America anytime that she wanted and she said that I could consider her my 3rd mom that lives in Finland!! lol I'm sad to leave Finland because I had an excellent time but I'm also excited to get back to the warm weather! It's been a great weekend, one that i'll definitely remember.

As for my thoughts on my flights today, the flight from Helsinki to Amsterdam was ok, it was raining and I was nervous so when I first boarded the plane I said, "so is it safe to fly in a storm like this?" The first guy said, "why don't you ask the captain," the captain said, "it's actually best to fly when it is raining because the plane is very clean." Now, I'm not sure if he made this up to make me feel better or what but it brought some relief to me during take-off. I had a almost a 5 hour layover in Amsterdam, which I have decided is a very nice airport. The passport control office employs strapping young men that are just plain sexy. They also have a casino, a small art display, tons of shopping, and great places to eat. My only complaint is the internet access, there is no free wifi, it actually costs 3 Euro to use the internet for 15 minutes! I tried my best to entertain myself during the layover. When I arrived at my gate for boarding I was shocked by the amount of Asian people flying to Barcelona. Now, I know that Barca is a very diverse city but not all of these Asians really live there. The Asians are always on the move, traveling everywhere. Can someone please explain to me how they afford this? I know that China is a powerhouse and I know that they have millions of people but come on!! And the guy sitting next to me at the gate was hacking up who knows what from his throat. It was really disgusting and he did it at least 6 times. Everytime he did it people looked over at him, you'd think he'd get the idea but obviously not, I'm surprised he didn't hack up an entire lung. On my flight to Barcelona I had to sit behind 3 large African women that spelled like shit, and I mean literally shit, poop, whatever you want to call it. Nasty. I also took it upon myself to order some complimentary white wine on this flight!! I haven't drank it yet though because I've had a pretty bad headache all day so I'm saving it for another day this week. Who knows, maybe I'll take it to school in my lunch tomorrow!! lol