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Fri, 24 May 2013 16:57:36 -0400

Finally Firenze

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:24:39 -0400

Okay my final post about spring break. Sorry it’s taken so long. Busy girl ova hurr! But anyways so we left Rome and took the train to Florence. When we got there we were all pretty tired but we walked around and saw a few things such as the Duomo. Then we ate dinner at a cute restaurant and went back to the hostel where we watched side effects.

The next day was our big sightseeing day. We saw the Duomo, ponte Vecchio, “the fake david” (the real david was closed due to some political meeting, or as I like to say, the mafia. There was a bunch of cops everywhere and about 8 black cars parked outside…) and we also walked around a bunch of leather shops and the leather market.

So this far into the trip Shaz and I were in desperate need to do laundry. So we did. While we waited we found a mexican place that was playing pitbull songs on repeat. It was literally like god placed it there for me. Three of my favorite things: Pitbull, Mexican food, and Margaritas. So a pitcher of margaritas later we were ready to go out!

So then we met up with the other girls and ended up going to a bar near by called Full Up. We considered YAB which is super famous and Jersey shore went there all the time but everyone we talked to (on tinder lol) told us to go to full up. We did and it ended up being chock full of Americans. Which was a nice change of pace. At the same time though, it made me realize that I’m happy I don’t go out in Paris trying to meet Americans. We hang out in a small group and genuinely try to go places where we won’t find any Americans and because of that, we’ve actually met a lot of French people. Now that I think about it, I think we’ve only met other American people one time when we went out and we just shot the shit and that was about it.

The next day was deadly. Probably that most hungover of all the nights we went out lol. But so we went to the pizza place that the Jersey Shore cast worked at which was funny to see all of their pictures and clothes all over the place and the pizza was actually surprisingly good!

Our final big thing of the trip was a wine, cheese and olive oil tasting. We tried three wines, three cheeses and two olive oils. What was really cool was that she had this box of scents like apricot, peach, tabacco, flowers, etc. She’d pass around a smell and we’d smell it and then smell the wine and you could really pull out the smells that were in the wine. Then we’d try to guess what the smell was. It was really informative. I’ve never had tuscan wine either and the third bottle we tried I loved so I bought one for my host mom and one for my parents. Also we tried this cheese that was a peccorino cheese with truffles in it. OMG talk about a gift from god. I’m a cheese whore as most people know and this was one of my absolute favorite cheeses I’ve every had (nothing beats my Camembert though. Definitely my all time fave).

Then after dinner some of the girls got dinner but me and Shazia wandered around the town. She was looking for gelato and I was looking for a wallet. My wallet had been broke for a month and everyone suggested I look for a leather one in Florence. I wanted a cool embossed one but no one was really selling them. Eventually we wandered in a few stores and I found one store that looked promising. So I showed him Shazia’s wallet which he said he didn’t have but showed me what he did have. I accepted defeat in that I wasn’t gonna find an embossed one but I really liked the one he showed me. Then he told me he could print my initials on it and I was sold. I’m not exactly proud of what I paid for it cuz it was kind of pricey, but it was a great souvenir. I also hate the way my full initials look, but it turned out nice and pretty subtle on the wallet.

The next day we woke up super early for our train to Bologna where we were flying out of. For some reason someone in our group thought it would be a good idea to go super early to see Bologna….other than being known oral sex (according to the secret life of the american teengager…) there isn’t much there. We walked around. Sat in two different parks. Went to a market and got cheese and bread and then decided to go to the airport super early because we were all just tired and ready to go home.

Overall, it was a successful trip. Extremely tiring, but well worth it. It’s something I will never be able to do again. I had an amazing time and I met so many people and did so many things that I would have never imagined. From jumping off a 20m cliff in Santorini, to seeing ruins destroyed by Vesuvius, the Colosseum, and eating countless amounts of pizza, pasta, and gelato. Italy really did surprise me and I ended up liking it way more than I thought I would. I was also pleasantly surprised by how nice everyone was. I feel like I have been missing out my whole life by not traveling more. Not only do I want to return to these places again and bring all my family and friends to show them how amazing it was, but now I want to experience even more of the world that awaits out there.

Alright on a less sappy note, all the Italian words I can remember that I learned:

Ciao-hi/bye
Bonjourno-hi
Arrivederci-bye
Prego-your welcome/ready/basically whatever you want it to mean
Piazza-plaza
Salute-cheers
vaffanculo-fuck off
grazie-thanks
bambino-baby
scusi-excuse me
due-two
bancomat-ATM
statzione-station
servizi-bathrooms
bounaserra-good evening
biglietteria-ticket office
and probably some more.

I just loved trying to pronounce all the words in an italian accent. It’s much easier to master than a french one. Which is super hard and no fun to imitate.

Well I leave for Barcelona tomorrow! So I’ll be sure to update after that! Arrivederci ya’ll!

Spring Break Part II: Roma Roma Roma!

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:31:19 -0400

Okay so after our wonderful time in Sorrento, we trained up to Rome. It was actually so much pretty than I expected. A lot greener than bland grey/beige Paris. It was cool seeing how old everything actually was.

Our first day there we checked into the hostel and headed over to the colosseum. Took some pics, went in for like 12 euro wtf.

Then we wandered around and got dinner. I got baked pasta. It was delicious. We passed this thing full of cats and when looking up things to do in Rome later that night we found out it’s actually a cat sanctuary. Which to me is digusting. Hate cats. Dog lova for lyfe! lol.

Then we hit up Trevi which was beautiful at night. I threw my coins in. The first I literally forgot to make a wish. Then I did it about 10 more times to try and get a pic. So that’s where all of my money went on spring break. Of course I didn’t spend it on clothes and alcohol…..Then of course, none other than my best friend gelato. Never gets old.

The next day was somewhat rainy. We walked over to the Vatican and literally got stalked by this Irish man trying to sell us a tour. We weren’t having it. But once we found out the line was 5 hours long just to get in, we decided to throw down a few extra dollars for a guide and a line jump. I think it was only like 10 or 15 more so that’s not to bad. Our tour guide was hilarious and basically Joe from the Princess diaries. Plus nothing beats the feeling of cutting 5 hours worth of people waiting in line. However, the tour was a little too long for my liking. Still cool nontheless. We saw the sistine chapel and st. peter’s basilica so the Vatican visit was official and legit.

That night we met up with a few of the girls studying in Rome. Shout out to my girl Sandy Pants for showing us around town. We pregamed on the Spanish steps. It was a lot of fun. We went to some little square that I’m totally blanking on the name. Walked past the Pantheon. Ended up meeting some Chilean guys that invited us to the apartment they were staying at that night. They were super nice but Shaz and I weren’t having it. We were so tired from a long day at the Vatican so we bounced early. Ended up walking past Trevi again before we called a cab so we took an impromptu pic.

The next day we were all hanging pretty hard so we went to this famous Piazza called Piazza nuovo and guess what we did…..GOT GELATO! Hahaha. When in Rome I guess.

After some major nappage, we headed off to a Roma soccer game, or should I say futbal. It was actually probably one of my favorite parts of the trip. Everyone was so pumped up. I’m not really into soccer but this was definitely an awesome experience! Unfortunately we didn’t see anyone score any goals because we left early to avoid crowds on the metro just before the Verona team scored. Booo. But I must say Todi was pretty nice to look at! :)

Our last day in Rome we visited the Borghese gardens. Which were really pretty. Personally though, I must say I prefer the gardens in Paris. Luxembourg is mah shit. But it was still cool because it was owned by the Medicis family. Then we got none other than pizza and headed back to the hostel to get ready for our train to Firenze!

Spring Break Pt. 2 "Bonjourno Italia" (Sorrento Edition)

Tue, 14 May 2013 15:33:00 -0400

Okay so I most definitely shouldn’t be writing this now. And I most definitely should be writing my 20 page paper (in French). But it’s due in 3 weeks so I guess that can wait. Plus I just had a massively long dinner with my host mom and the other exchange student where we drank two glasses each of the wine I brought back from Italy so I’m no slightly tipsy and tired….Yes I know my tolerance has gone down. Yours would too if you were living in Paris where drinks are 10euro a pop. But hopefully that will make this post slightly more entertaining.

Anyways so after our interesting experience in Athens, we took a flight to Naples to begin our esperienza Italia (yes I googled how to say experience in Italian. Unfortunately it’s not one of the many italian words I learned). Speaking of which I’ll post a list at the end of this.

So we decided we wanted to get Neopolitan Pizza. Or basically I made everyone stop in Naples so we could get pizza there. A restaurant just opened in DTNaperville that makes Naples style pizza and I’m obsessed. So we had to try. Let’s just say the Naperville pizza was better. But let’s also say that it was 4:30 so the fancy restaurants weren’t open yet. We probably still waited but I’m not complaining with how the pizza tasted it was pretty good!

Then we took another train to our apartment. It was amazing! It was the priciest place we’ve stayed thus far (about 75euro per person for 3 nights). But it wasn’t horrible and we had our own kitchen and washer. So it was good. The place was big enough for us all to spread out comfortably.

First stop: wine. We wandered the streets in search of a grocery store to get detergent to wash clothes. But more importantly to get wine. So we find this weird ass looking place with like ferns and hidden half way underground…needless to say it was sketch. But we went in anyway because it was all we could find. So we’re looking at wine and it’s not too bad. About 8 euro a bottle. But that is pricey compared to what we can get in France (try 3 euro a bottle). Then out of no where your stereotypical Italian grocery store owner comes out and is like HEY here try this I made it! It’s 1euro50 per litre. He was hilarious and basically became our new bff for the week.

https://vine.co/v/bQ5VrrOiQqZ

So the first night we just played card games and chilled at the apartment drinking wine. It was fun but we had a pretty early wake up call the next morning for our boat tour.

So we woke up and got picked up by Catello (remember this name). He brought us down to the pier about 20 three point turns later. We got on the boat where we met Mario and Luigi. Yup Mario and Luigi. Who were our tour guides. Catello and Luigi are brothers and Mario is their friend and they run a boat service around the island of Capri. We had some beers and experienced some of the best views! They were so nice and informative about all the different tourist spots in the area!

Then we wandered around the island of Capri. Which is super chic. Saw tons of pics of Bey and Jay-Z. And of course ate Gelato number one of the Italy leg of the trip.

Then we got back on the boat and recieved our “free gift” from Mario and Luigi of some Champagne. And we got to be models for Mario’s dad because we christened their brand new boat and they wanted to put it on the website. Hahaha. Lucky us..Still waiting to see this new boat pics Mamma Mia.

So Catello (as mentioned above) invited the girls to his other investment, his bar. He must be really good at investing or something…how did he know that’s exactly what we were trying to find? haha but anyways so we went to dinner. I got some delcious gnocci. And between the few glasses (or five) of wine we had before dinner and the bottle we split at dinner we were feeling pretty good so we decided to try out Catello’s bar. Met some of his friends who happened to work there two which basically meant bottomless tequila shots for the entire night…for free. Word of the wise: the words tequila and free should never be combined in a sentence. It’s deadly and never ends well. Hahah. We randomly met this Italian dude that lived in Skokie until he was six and then moved to Italy with his mom. His dad was 100% italian so he was fluent in Italian and English so that was nice for us…he also had this tattoo:

So this was certainly a conversation starter. Hahaha. Anyway we spent the night drinking for free with these Italian dudes. Let me just say: do not compliment any Italian man because then they will turn into a complete creepshow. But after a long night it made waking up the next morning horrific. And I really do mean horrific.

We woke up early to go to Pompeii but decided to go to Ercolanos instead. It’s a little bit further than Pompeii but the natives recommended it to us because it was destroyed in the same volcanic eruption as Pompeii but apparently there are preserved bodies and bread. We didn’t see any of those. But it was still really cool and I remember all the stuff I learned in elementary school about Pompeii. I wish I wasn’t so hungover and feeling like garbage. But I’m still glad we went!

That night we went back to our favorite grocery store and got supplies to cook a home made italian meal. Obviously only as authentic Italian as we are (and for me that’s 0% Italian) but it was still delish and only 4 euro a person so that’s great! Dinner was accompanied by wine and the soundtrack to the Godfather so it was pretty fucking awesome.

The next day we said goodbye to beautiful Sorrento and trained it up to Italy. Which I will attempt to post about tomorrow because I need to do homework.

Also disclaimer: I know my life seems a little unreal right now with the beaches and the binge drinking, but I promise it gets more touristy and historical in the next posts. Anyways CAIO.

Left our mark at our Athens hostel

Sun, 05 May 2013 19:21:42 -0400

Left our mark at our Athens hostel

Efxaristo Greece!

Sun, 05 May 2013 19:18:00 -0400

So as I’m currently sitting at my hostel in Rome, I’ve decided to break my spring break up into two parts: A Greece post and an Italy post. Because we’ve already done so much and we’ve still got a week left.

Here’s our route for the 2 week spring break:

So we left on Thursday night. I conveniently have my internship in a Paris suburb on Thursdays so I had to lug my suitcase all around the metro which was absolutely horrible. But we made it to the airport without any major problems and then began our flight to Greece. We had a layover for 10 hours in Athens which was pretty horrible because it was at night so we didn’t even leave the airport. We ended up sleeping on some couches at Mcdonalds (ghetto I know) and then watching the sunrise from the airport. Hahaha.

Next we took a short 45 min flight to the island of Santorini. Which is amazing! We got picked up by Stelio’s from the airport. He was so nice! We settled into our hotel for the next 5 days which was super nice considering it only cost 10 euro a night/person (compared to the shitty hostel I’m staying in at Rome which is 27.00/night and not worth it). Then we went to the black sand (or rock) beach of Perissa.

The first night we grabbed dinner on the beach with some complimentary ice cream for dessert and then wandered down to a bar that was also on the beach. It was literally dead. There was maybe 5 ppl besides us in the bar because it’s off season but we ended up getting a ton of free drinks because of it. The bartender was hooking us up with Raki and Ouzo shots all night haha. We also ran into two guys that were staying at the same hotel as us. They were canadian and we ended up befriending them for the trip hahaha.

The next morning we all woke up feeling like a million bucks…or the opposite of that. We knocked on the Canadians’ door and then walked across the street to rent ATV’s. We ATV’d the whole length of the island. First we stopped in Fira and got gyros (which I’m obsessed with). Pork gyros is literally amazing. So much better than the American imitations.

Then we kept riding until we got near Oia. There we found our way to Amoudi bay. For those of you who have seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, that’s where Lena meets Kostas. hahahah. <3 We had heard you could cliff jump there so we found this cool platform and decided to try it. We didn’t really know how it was gonna turn out so we made the boys go first. Thank god they were the test dummies because otherwise we probably would have never done it. It was so cool and definitely worth the risk since I’m still alive hahaha.

Then we hung out at the beach near there for a bit and then went to Oia to watch the famous sunset and eat dinner where we got free sweet wine from Santorini!

After dinner we made the trek back to Perissa which was super dark and somewhat scary on the winding roads. We actually ended up getting split up which was a little nerve racking but everyone made it home safe and sound.

Sunday morning we spent the day on red beach which was really relaxing.

A few drinks in we all decided that we would go out even though it was a Sunday. We went to a bar on the main road and ended up having a blast. The Canadians met us there and we made friends with all the employees haha. We paid 3 euro for one drink but had our fair share of free shots. The bartender studied english so it was really cool talking to him.

Monday we visited the Volcano and hot springs. It was kind of a trek on a hangover but the view was amazing and made up for it. It was one of those things I’m never going to forget. I was literally blown away by how beautiful it looked. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I have never really gotten to travel outside of the country until now. We drove over the border of California to Mexico for a day with my cousins and then I visited parts of France when I studied in Arles for the month, but nothing like this trip. I am seriously so blessed to be able to experience all these different parts of the world.

We spent the last day at the pool then sadly had to leave in the afternoon for Athens.

Athens however was another story….Definitely not as beautiful. And a little bit grimy. It was cool to see all the greek stuff though. I’m a huge greek mythology fan so I was interesting to see all the things I’ve learned about in real life. For some weird reason I was getting this Game of Thrones vibe the whole time.

Sadly almost everything was closed the day we were there because there was a strike and/or a protest. But we still got some good pictures. We climbed the top of this mountain, which was pretty painful in the 85 degree weather. But the view was worth it. We also saw the olympic stadium and Zeus’ tomb. As well as the acropolis from the outside.

Overall it was a great start to our break. All the greek people were extremely nice. So welcoming and very helpful. Any time you needed directions they were happy to help you out on the streets. We also got a ton of free stuff. I’m not sure if it’s cuz it was off season, because the economy in Greece sucks right now, or just because they really are that nice. I’m not complaining though cuz we got a lot of bang for our buck. It was seriously 15 euro to rent an ATV for an entire day. We had them from 11am to 11pm. Plus Italy has been more expensive so far so hopefully the cheapness of Greece evens it out. I absolutely loved Greece and I definitely want to go back some day. Maybe Mykonos.

Stay tuned on Spring Break pt. 2. lol. Including Naples, Sorrento, Rome and Florence!

Finally done with Midterms!

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:34:57 -0400

I’ve been busy studying and working on projects (well kind of not really. I like to think I’ve been busy doing that). Most of them went well except my history midterm. I will literally jump for joy if I get a 13/20 which translates as a B on a U.S grading scale. Don’t know if I’ll even get that though because I left two answers completely blank.

Erin was in Paris this weekend. We got fondue. It was delicious and sinful. I shouldn’t have eaten any of that since spring break is in 10 days! I can hardly contain my excitement. We’re planning all of our excursions later today. Like a boat trip to Capri. Wine tasting in Florence. It’s literally going to be two weeks of pure heaven. :)

Sorry this is a short post. But nothing too exciting has been happening. I’m so into a routine now that I forget what things I should write about!

things i take for granted back home

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:46:03 -0400

consistently working wifi
eggs
water
being able to stand up in the shower
being able to take a shower with out holding the shower head above you
social media
having a car
the gym
tv
a printer

okay so I know most of those are technology related, but you have no idea how frustrating it is not to have a printer in your house!

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” -Helen Keller

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:43:40 -0400

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”

-Helen Keller

Back At It

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 07:41:25 -0400

Sorry I haven’t written in here forever. I probably wouldn’t have written in here anyway but I’m putting off homework and a much needed run. My body feels like it’s been run over by a bus from going out on Friday night. It’s sunday, so I should be feeling better by now but I guess not.

My family just left. They were here for two weeks. It was awesome having them here but it gets a little tiring having to play tourist for that long. They probably feel worse than I do visited Nice, Monco and Avingnon over eater weekend. So that was fun. All the coastal cities are beautiful I just wish it was warm enough to lay at the beach. Basically we walked around all the cities and ate. Like literally non stop. That’s all we did. Hence why I need to go running. We also did some gambling in Nice and in the Monte Carlo casino which was pretty cool.

The weekend before, our program did a overnight trip to the Loire Valley. I was expecting it to be super lame and historical but it actually ended up being really fun and I had a great time. We saw three different châteaux. One in Blois, one in Aboise, and Château Clemenceau.

Pretty much lately we’ve been going out a lot and trying our best to hang out with french people. It’s been an interesting experience. Some days are good some days are bad. Some times you realize how dumb, ignorant, and naive Americans are and it is frustrating how we do things. And other times there are things you really miss about home. I’ve learned that people are not as different as you think. Yes, there are definitely cultural differences that are really apparent. But at the same time, we have a lot more in common than you think. Boys are definitely the same. haha. Everyone acts like french man are so romantic but they’re really no different then Americans. And if they are being romantic usually it’s just to try to get in your pants. At least that’s the general consensus our group has come up with. Some of them are actually pretty creepy too. haha.

I definitely miss hanging out with guys that’s for sure. Most people know that I basically act like a dude so it’s hard when you only have 4 guys in your program. haha. (Shout out to them though cuz they’re awesome). But I’m used to hanging out with guys friends all the time at home so that’s a weird adjustment.

Today’s just one of those days that I really miss home. Mostly my friends. Everyone’s been posting pictures, statuses, vines, tweets about formals and sorority events so that kind of sucks. Major FOMO over here. Hahah. But I’m sure next time I post on here something else will have happened to make me feel bad for everyone who didn’t get to study abroad haha.

New Discoveries

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:12:50 -0400

Thursday Shazia and I went to the Saint Germain de Près area which is so cute. It’s very chic. We went to Ladurée and got the new flavor of macaroon and I bought perfume at the Fragonard shop. Then we got coffees at a café and people watched for a while which is always so much fun.

Thursday night we went out to a bar called The Mazet. It was like an anglophone bar so it was really fun. There was live music. We met a few people and decided to go with them to this other bar called Prescription. SUPER expensive, but really cool either way.

Friday night we went for tapas and drinks at a place called aux 3 escales. It was french tapas which was interesting but it didn’t really hit my craving for mexican haha so I’m going to be on a hunt for that this week.

Saturday Shazia and I went to le marais area. It’s the jewish quarter and we got famous french falafel. It was my first time having and I really enjoyed it! Then we walked around and found some cool vintage shops and then sat in a starbucks for the afternoon.

Saturday night Danielle convinced us to go out. Her friend was visiting who actually ended up having a french cousin, so we hung out with them. It was cool to meet some new people that are actually french. You learn a lot more about culture that way rather than just talking with english people in french. We ended up staying out til 7am again which is always a killer. I haven’t done much today which seems to be the case every time we go out for a big night haha.

It was definitely a fun weekend and I feel like it was really Parisien haha. It wasn’t your normal touristy stuff that we’ve been doing for the past month or so. I’m excited to find more stuff like that to do!

Photo

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 17:56:00 -0400

First Free Weekend in Paris

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:50:11 -0400

Sorry I haven’t had a chance to blog. Since I know my many followers have been patiently waiting for an update *cricketz*….anyways. My wifi is pretty shotty so it’s always a struggle to get on tumblr (or really I’m being distracted by made in chelsea). But this weekend I had my first free wekend in Paris. No group activities or visitors so I was definitely excited to hit the town.

So Friday we had a meeting with a psychologist to discuss our adaptations to life in Paris. Let me tell you…what a waste of time and money. Don’t worry, I gave the graduate assistant a piece of my mind. She agreed so hopefully I can spare all the future IPP students two hours of their lives. Then we met up and discussed spring break plans.

Friday night we decided to try Chupitos which is a shot bar on rue Oberkampf. It was super fun. There were hundreds of shots to try. For some reason I always picked one that had chocolate or sweets in it (they just give the names, no ingredients) which I don’t really like and got sick of quickly, but I have to say they were good. We roasted marshmallows on one and lit our thumbs on fire in another one. It was fun. The concept is stolen from Spain but I must say I wish they had more of them around. It’s super cheap compared to everywhere else we’ve been in Paris.

So everyone decided to take the metro home at 1:30 before it closed while me, danielle, and emily thought taking all those shots to go to bed would be a waste. So we wandered down to a club called Memphis and waited in line for what seemed like forever, but it was pretty fun. We ended up getting home at 7am.

Saturday I was a worthless piece of shit due to Friday nights activities. I wasn’t even hungover. It was just the lack of sleep. I woke up at 1:30pm. I’m so mad too because it was a beautiful day outside. 60 degrees! Danielle and I got lunch and walked around a bit. We stumbled across a bar that definitely made me miss Dublin even more. I’ve been in a depression since I’ve left I swear. haha.

St. Sulpice right by my house.

For dinner, Shazia, Reigan and I went to a place called Breakfast in America. The line was out the door and we waited almost an hour. But it’s basically an American diner. Naturally I got a burger. Just what I needed. A little reminder of home. The food was great and the staff all spoke english. Then we sat at a cafe for awhile talking over coffee/tea.

Sunday the three of us went to the Market on rue de raspail. It was awesome. I wish there were markets every day. We just grabbed a few things that we wanted and ate that as our lunch. I love the market. It’s just an amazing atmosphere. There are samples everywhere and the food is so fresh and cheap. I need to start going every week!

Monday and Tuesday it snowed quite a bit. It’s horrible to get around in. Parisiens are so funny because they just give up on anything and everything when it snows. Lots of stuff was closed. My host mom was nearly having a coronary about leaving the house. I guess they’re just not equipped with it. I have to agree though it does suck. Especially because I walk almost everywhere. The metros were overcrowded and delayed due to ice too. It does make the city look beautiful though.

I must say I’ve learned a lot of interesting things about french guys this weekend. Between a combination of meeting some and some research I’ve done. They’re so different then American guys and I’m totally not sure how I feel about it quite yet. Haha. Gonna take some getting used to.

Also I’ve realized time is flying by. I already feel rushed and that I’m not going to be able to do everything I want to do. I just feel like there are so many cities I want to visit but I don’t want to be gone from Paris every weekend. It’s tough. I wish I was going to be here for longer and I’m totally regretting not doing the year long program. Definitely need to try my best to manage my time usefully!

Can’t get enough of this show. I should be outside because it’s a beautiful day in...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:49:35 -0500

Can’t get enough of this show. I should be outside because it’s a beautiful day in Paris but this is nursing my hangover instead.

first craving for american food

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:47:03 -0500

Dublin!

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:50:39 -0500

Okay, so in no way shape or form is this entry going to explain my trip to Dublin this weekend. It was absolutely amazing but I’ll try to explain what went down.

So we had a 9:20 flight Friday morning from Paris Beauvais. It’s about an hour ride to the airport and the bus shuttle suggested we take the 620am bus so I woke up at 4:45am on Friday which was rough to say the least. We flew ryan air which may possibly be the most ghetto airline ever (for my fellow study abroaders, I’m sure you can attest to this) but either way we made it to Dublin around 11.

We got to our hostel and put our bags in a room then headed out to explore the city. We walked down temple bar and stopped at Quay’s for lunch, my parents Irish friend recommended it to us. Literally everyone at the table ordered fish and chips so I decided to be different and got the bangers and mash with a Guinness. It was surprisingly good even though it didn’t look the part. I’m not a huge fan of Guinness, but I’m not opposed to it either. It’s good but it’s so heavy I can barely finish a pint. I know…but I prefer Jameson haha.

After lunch half of the group walked around and the other half stopped and picked up a bottle of whiskey. I’m sure you can guess which half I was a part of. But hey, it was unofficial back home, it’s only natural we wanted to celebrate. So we went up to our hostel and climbed out of a 2 by 3 window that was about six feet up and drank on the roof. Hahah. It was no easy feat getting out there. We got a bunch of great pictures because our hostel is right on the river. However, then we got yelled at because two neighbors called the hostel. After we climbed back into the window, which was nearly impossible, the lady said “You girls can drink all you want, just stay inside. It’s a liability to have you on the roof.” I feel like only in Dublin would someone say drink all you want. So we finished drinking and headed to temple bar.

We were all over the map. We were attempting to find the other U of I kids but didn’t have much luck. We went to Temple Bar, Buskers for some live music (that was awesome), Auld Dubliner and back to Buskers which had transformed from the live music earlier to a younger club. We met a bunch of people. Irish, British, Americans, Germans, French. Most of the people were tourists since temple bar area is so touristy.

After getting home around 2am, the next morning was kind of rough. Some people went on a 7 hour tour of the Wickelow mountains. I really wanted to see the cliffs of Moher which a lot of U of I students did, but I just felt like we didn’t have that much time. You have to take a bus to the other side of Ireland. I would have loved if we had gotten there one day earlier but I guess it’s just a reason for me to go back. So we got a ticket for the hop on hop off bus and toured the city monuments. Then we went to Trinity college and the famous library there. Finally we ended up doing a tour at the Jameson Distillery which I obviously loved. We learned a lot of cool stuff about the history and even did a tasting at the end.

Next I ate dinner with Erin at Fitzsimmons and got my traditional fish and chips along with a Kopparberg Strawberry lime cider. Which was awesome! Erin got the club sandwich…surprise surprise. It was good to catch up. We planned on meeting up later but it never happened.

I got back and we all went to Isaacs hostel to pregame. You would have though the place was a pub itself everyone was singing to a guy playing guitar and drinking. It was so crowded. Then we took a cab to Flannery’s pub. It was so fun and it was totally infested with Illinois kids. Also it was Abigail’s 21st birthday so we were in need of some celebrating. We stayed there until 3am when the bar closed and then walked next door to Copper Faced Jack’s (took me an entire 3 days to figure out this place’s name) which some British kids had told us to go to the night before. We stayed there til it closed, talked to some plenty of Irish people after on the streets and then walked back to our hostel at about 5:30am. Rough.

The next morning we woke up and checked out of our hostel then had a traditional Irish breakfast. It was totally random and I didn’t know what half the things were but it was really good! Then we did some shopping on Grafton St. and Henry St. Finally we headed to the out for a nice 3 hungover hours in the Dublin airport.

Obviously leaving out some of the details on this entry for a combination of protecting some of our group’s dignity as well as the fact that I may not exactly remember. But I have to say it was one of the best weekends of my life and I definitely will be returning to Ireland. The people are so welcoming and friendly and it’s just a great overall atmosphere. You don’t always find that everywhere and it’s pretty scarce in France. We obviously didn’t have a language barrier so that helped but I don’t think that was the only factor. I really do think it was the people there. Talking to other students, I think they all agree.

Julia visits Paris!

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:04:00 -0500

This weekend Julia came to Paris. It was so good to see a familiar face! Kind of like a little bit of home which is always nice when you’re feeling a little homesick.

So basically I got to play tourist all over again. Now I’ve seen most of Paris for a second time (not many people can say that). I totally surprised myself by how well I navigated the city and the metro. I knew I could do it when it came to day to day stuff but this was the true test. If she wanted to go somewhere I had to literally figure it out on the spot so I’d like to think I did a pretty good job! :) I even got us to Versailles and back in one piece which isn’t necessarily easy.

Julia arrived on Thursday night but I had to be up at 6am for my internship (which I absolutely love by the way) so I didn’t end up seeing her until Friday afternoon. I met her at her hostel and we grabbed some lunch and then we took off for the sights. We saw Notre Dame, The Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe all in one day. Completely wiped out we went back to my host home and got ready for the night. After I was ready to go out, we stopped at monoprix and picked up a bottle of wine. 5 euro Sauvingon Blanc and I have to say it was pretty darn good! Then found a little sandwich shop by Julia’s hostel and grabbed a bite to eat. We ate and drank wine in her teeny tiny hostel and then headed out to Batofar which is currently my favorite place ever. It’s a bar on a boat. What more could anyone ask for? Haha it was seriously so cool though. We met a bunch of people from all over the world, including Scotland. I talked to some people in french and we made friends with the bartender. He told us he works every friday so we’ll have to go back.

After getting home at 5am I was up the next morning to go to Versailles. I’d seen most of it already so I just kind of explained some of the history to Julia and tagged along. However, I did get to see the Dauphine side of the castle which we didn’t see last time. After Versailles I took a nap and then met up with Julia and we had a nice dinner with wine, sauteed squid, salads, and a chocolate crepe to share. It was really good! However, I’m not sure it was worth the 33 euro we each paid. Yikes! Then we went over to the Eiffel Tower just in time to see it sparkle. It was my first time seeing it so it was super cool for the both of us!

Sunday we went to Sacre Coeur which I had never been to before. I’m so glad we went because it was really cool. Kind of different from the other monuments and definitely one of my new favorites. The view of Paris from the Monmatre area is just amazing. Plus there are so many cute shops and restaurants. Julia and I both tried macaroons for the first time. I’d never tried them even though I see them every day because I just didn’t think I’d like them. However, they were totally not what I expected and I actually liked some of the flavors…others not so much. But I’m glad I tried them! Then we grabbed a late lunch and said goodbye.

It was so awesome to see Julia but it made me realize how happy I am to be in Paris for four months. I felt like she had to see so much in so little time and that we were so rushed to cram everything in. Hopefully she enjoyed it though.

I really surprised myself this weekend by how well I’ve gotten to know the city. I remember thinking my first week, Living in a big city is such a pain. It made me not want to live in Chicago after graduation which is always something I’ve wanted to do. I was so frustrated because I got lost 3 times my first week. But now that I’ve gotten used to it I love it. So Chicago is back in the plan. That is if I ever come back from Paris…I keep thinking how cool it would be to teach here for a year or two so who knows. I overheard some kids from another school in my class talking about how they’ve already been here for six months and that they don’t want to leave and they are looking for summer jobs to stay past their program date. Maybe I’ll end up just like them…

I have to say, one thing I’m missing about America right now is my clothing. For those of you that know me, I’m all about my sweats and in particular my oversized basketball shorts (don’t worry I still brought them to sleep in). I miss going to class in sweats with my hair a mess in a bun with a huge elastic headband. Can’t say I’ve left the house without make up on or any sort of clothing that casual since I’ve gotten here. I literally never wear make up at home because I’m so lazy. I guess here I just feel obligated to or something. Everyone is so fashionable. I do have to say though me dressing the part has helped a little bit. Today a little bit of nutella fell onto my pants while I was eating my nutella crepe after class (literally SO amazing) and one of the guards in the park told me I could go wash it off in a nearby building. When I responded he was like, oh you’re not french. Okay so maybe I didn’t sound french, but at least I looked like it! He was extremely nice though and that’s not always a common courtesy in Paris.

Well I better get to bed, I’m leaving for Dublin tomorrow at 5:30am to celebrate unofficial! I’ll be sure to post after the weekend!

Pictures below include:
Notre Dame
Le Sacre Coeur- an amazing spot even if you don’t want to go inside the church. You can see all of Paris and the neighborhood is adorable. And of course, the church is pretty breath taking as well!
Wall of I love you: all in different languages near the Sacre Coeur
Eiffel Tower: sparkling at night!
The Louvre
Teeny tiny coffee
The Centre Pompidou: Great view of Paris
Batofar: A dance club on a docked boat on the Seine. Julia and I on my first night out in Paris
Centre Pompidou: Elizabeth Taylor by Andy Warhol

Photo

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:44:00 -0500

First week in Paris

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:26:00 -0500

Okay, so let me start off by saying in no means to I consider myself a “blogger”. Especially since I haven’t even written in here once since I’ve arrived. haha. So by all means if you’re expecting something great, just stop here. I pretty much just started this as something to pass the time and remember my trip by, plus I already had the blog from my first trip to France.

Anyway, week one in reader’s digest fashion.

So we arrived about four hours late after our plane had to make an emergency stop in New York due to a problem with the air conditioning and cabin pressure…off to a great start. The first day we kind of just walked around and ate at a little boulangerie because in France nearly EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays. Then Monday and Tuesday was a lot of pointless meetings on assimilating into the culture and such.

Tuesday we got to see the arc de triomphe. It was the first Parisien monument I got to see, which was awesome. Climbed the stairs. It was soooo tiring. But it’s a great view of Paris. (pictures to follow).

Wednesday was Shazia’s 21st birthday and let me say that was an interesting night. We lived in a foyer (somewhat between a hostel and a dorm) for the first week. So we totally flashbacked to freshman year and pregamed in the rooms. Then we made the trek on the metro to Le Queen a big club on the champ d’elysees. Only to get turned down by the bouncer for being american and “on a trop bu”. It was so frustrating and by then the metro shut down so we had to cab it back.

We saw Versailles on Saturday. It is the most beautiful place ever. I love it. All these french people were chilling in the gardens because they’re open to the public. One guy was singing Ed Sheeran on repeat. It was really awesome.

I’m pretty sure I developed a stress fracture from walking around so much. Even if you take the metro you walk so much between lines. I was hobbling around so much towards the end of the week. But I’ve finally got some rest so I think it’s getting better. It was miserable because I literally had no choice but to keep walking everywhere on it. Haha.

I moved into my host family on Sunday. Thank god. I’m finally getting a routine down and feeling like I’m actually staying. My host mom suggested I take a walk cuz it was sunny. So I found my two schools and then kept walking and got completely lost for about two hours. I got lost again the next day after class. This city is huge! And I wasn’t even taking the metro. haha.

My host mom is cool. She was a little intimidating at first but she’s really good at helping me with my french and conversing. We eat together and watch tv and then she lets me be when I want to. She’s elderly but definitely a stubborn old lady, which is probably good for me cuz I can be stubborn too. haha.

I’ve learned that the French definitely are more eco friendly. Just by my showering habits and electricity.

I’ve also learned that when people tell you europeans don’t excersity, THAT IS A MYTH! I see so many people running around. I need to get back at it!

And finally, if you want to see a french monument, GO DURING THE WEEK! We had no line at the Arc de Triomphe. We went to the Louvre on a Friday night and it was a madhouse. People crowding around the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Crowds are not my thing!

Pont Neuf. Lovers write their name on a lock, lock it on the fence and then throw the key into the water.

View from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

Le Louvre

6 days. I’m getting so excited and nervous. I started packing this week and my suitcase is...

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:41:29 -0500

6 days. I’m getting so excited and nervous. I started packing this week and my suitcase is already overflowing. I guarantee I forget something so this should be interesting. At least my departure is rapidly approaching. I have become an expert at the couch potato life this past month. It’s really sad seeing everyone back at school having fun and seeing pictures from the people who are already abroad. but thank god it’s going to be my turn soon! I can’t wait!