Friday, January 9thAs I start to gather my thoughts regarding the journey that I am about to set out on, I can't help but think back to this time last year when I was getting ready to go to France. It is really hard to believe it has only been a year since I packed up my stuff and set off to live in Paris for 5 months. I remember being so nervous about all the little things that could go wrong, like if my plane was delayed or if I didn't make friends in France. Its almost funny to look back now as some of the stuff I was really worried about did end up happening; I missed flights, got terribly lost, was a victim of theft, was injured and missed home a great deal. But here I am. I survived all that. In fact, I not only survived, but I also learned from it all. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me during my time abroad, but I think the main thing that I took away from it all was that I can overcome. No matter if the obstacle in front of me was a little mistake, such as taking the wrong metro line and being late for class, or a big mistake such as missing a flight back to Paris at the end of my Spring Break, or eve if it was something that wasn't my fault at all, I was able overcome it. I think it is that knowledge, and the empowerment that comes with it, that has had the greatest effect on me after returning from my travels. And hopefully, it is that knowledge that is keeping me so calm as I prepare for my next trip. Yes, I'll admit it. I have been extraordinarily calm about my upcoming journey to Africa. For one thing, I let this trip sneak up on me. I didn't realize how soon I would be leaving until I had a week left to go which kind of got me in a bit of trouble when it came to planning this trip. First, I waited until there was less than two weeks left to actually buy my plane ticket. Thankfully I got lucky and the price ended up dropping so I didn't pay too much for my ticket, but still I'm surprised that I waited that long to make the purchase. Secondly, I dragged my feet when it came to applying for my Gambian Visa. I was pretty scared yesterday that my visa (and passport!) wouldn't make their way back to me in time for my flight, but I am happy to say that after spending way too much money and time one the phone with FedEx, I have my passport and visa in hard, with 1 day to spare. Even now I am feeling pretty calm about my upcoming trip, although my body is telling me otherwise. I can tell that my heart rate has increased these past few days and I've been extremely hungry even though my stomach has been upset (all things that happen when I'm normally stressed). I guess the fact that my body is trying to tell me its nervous even though I don't feel scared is a good things as I probably should be nervous for this trip. This is a very big step for me, and I know that I'll be leaving my comfort zone behind as soon as I get on the plane after my layover in Brussels. This will be my first time being in a developing country without the protective barrier of a cruise ship and its also going to be my first big girl job where I'll be working full time. But, as this adorable graphic shows, going outside of your comfort zone is a good thing, and I promise to keep everyone updated on all the magic that happens. Saturday, 17 MaiI had to wake up somewhat early this morning to shove a few last-minute things in my suitcase before leaving to take the metro to the airport. Thankfully a good friend came with me to help me carry my luggage on the metro because I probably wouldn't have made it if I had to carry two backpacks and my suitcase on my own. I was surprised at how hard it was to get out of France. First I had to go through a exit interview before I could even check in for my flight. The questions ranged from "Have you left your luggage alone with anyone?" to "How long have you known your friends?" and "When did you buy your cellphone?" I thought it was strange. Then once I had finally checked in for my flight and dropped of my bags I had to go through security which is always a hassle. After that I started making my way to my gate, but as luck would have it, my gate was the farthest one from security and I had to take a few brakes because I was struggling to carry two backpacks. Once I got to my gate and sat down it hit me that I was about to leave Europe. I got really sad all of a sudden and I'm not afraid to admit that I was actually crying a bit. It was a very strange mix of emotions. I was relieved that I had made it to my gate, sad that I was leaving Paris and all of my study abroad friends, excited to go home and see my family, nervous about what lies ahead in my life now. I managed to pull it together long enough to board my flight, but I did have a couple of breakdowns once on the airplane. My flight wasn't that bad, although it was very very long. I felt like I was on that airplane forever. It didn't help that I sat next to a very friendly man from Pakistan who spent the first 4 hours of the flight showing me all the pictures on his iPhone. When we finally landed in JFK I had to go through even more customs interviews and security. Of all the countries I've been to on this trip, the U.S. was the hardest to get into, and I'm a citizen! Then when I finally got through all that I had to re-check my bag and go through normal security again, and once again my gate was at the furthest part of the airport. I was not a happy camper and was pretty tired at this point in my journey. My second flight wasn't too bad, it was only about an hour and a half which flew by compared to my earlier nine-hour flight. I was really excited to get off once we landed and I headed right off the plane to meet my family outside security. My sister's weren't able to make it, but my Mommy and Daddy were there to greet me and it was so nice to see them again. Also, they helped me carry my two backpacks so I was really grateful for that. I found the Cincinnati skyline weird on the way home, it just looked too square and modern. It was even weirder when we got near our subdivision as the houses felt too spread out to me. Right before we got home we stopped to make a very important purchase--Pizza! I had been craving greasy pizza for quite a while so I was super happy to pick it up before I even got to see my house or dog again. After we ate our pizza I started unpacking a bit because I was excited to give my family all the souvenirs I had bought them and I also wanted them to try all the food I brought back. It was a lot of fun to explain all the food and where the gifts came from and it was even more fun to see my family's expressions. I was really really tired afterwards and I was so excited to go to bed in my own bed. I had forgotten just how amazing memory foam is, and I was so happy to cuddle up with my puppy. I slept very well.
Tuesday, 13 MaiToday was a pretty fun day in school as I got to give a presentation to my French class about something that exists in my country, but doesn't exist in France and I chose the rodeo. It was really fun to show my professor and classmates videos of bull riding and all the barbecue and food eaten a rodeos. Then another one of my classmates did a presentation on Japanese tea ceremonies and that was also really fun and very interesting. The best part was how excited my professor was as he really loves Japanese culture and tea. After class I went on a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens and stopped for a bit to take a look at the mini Statue of Liberty housed there. It was a nice walk. I spent the rest of the day holed up in my room working on my finals and attempting to pack. I was realy overwhelmed by how much my stuff seemed to multiply when I tried to stuff it in a suitcase. Wednesday, 14 MaiAgain, I spent most of the day working on my papers and packing. I had three large papers due tomorrow, so I spent most of my time typing up opinions on the European Union. It wasn't difficult, just not very fun. I did get to have some fun in the evening though as I had tickets to the Ballet at the Opera with my program. I got to get all dolled up, meet my friends, listen to beautiful music and watch incredible dancers. It was amazing and one of those I'm living the dream moments. Thursday, 15 MaiToday was my last day of classes and it was very bittersweet. It felt good to finally turn in my papers and be done with class, but it was also sad because the fact that I was leaving in 2 days became very very clear. After class I worked on packing and cleaning my room. I think I bought too much chocolate. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all home. It was made even more frustrating because the water in my building got really weird. It came out of my faucet looking this color. For a moment there, I wasn't sure if I was in Sochi or Paris. Evenutally It just stopped running at all, which solved the problem of the weird colored water, but didn't help me much. I had to brush my teeth with bottled water. Friday, 16 MaiMy 105th day in Paris. My last day. I still had lots of packing and cleaning to do, but I wanted to spent some of the little bit of time I had left exploring the city one last time, so I headed out to see the Notre Dame. She was beautiful and amazing and I couldn't think of a better way to spent my last hours in Paris. I had one last crepe for brunch and sat on the street at a little cafe nearby and watched the other tourists go in and out of the grand church. Then, there was a bread festival nearby so I wandered through it on my way back to the catch the metro back to my room. I FINALLY managed to shove all my belongings in a suitcase and clean-up my room for the next tenant. In the evening I went out for a goodbye dinner that my program was throwing for everyone. It was good to see all my friends again and the food was yummy too. It was also sad as I knew this was going to be one of the last times I would see them. I had a very hard time trying to figure out what emotions I was feeling. I'm gonna apologize for the numerous mistakes and inaccuracies in my last post. My brain was consumed by finals and there might be some chemicals in my building killing off my brain cells (okay, that's just speculation, but at this point it wouldn't surprise me). Here are some things I forgot to mention Saturday, 10 MaiToday was my last trip outside of Paris with my program to visit the towns of two impressionist artists: Monet and Van Gogh. Our first stop was the town of Auvers-Sur-Oise where Van Gogh spent the last little bit of his life until he killed himself. As you might know, Van Gogh was my favorite impressionist because of that Dr. Who episode, so I was pretty excited to see the place where he lived and worked. Here is the building where Van Gogh rented a room for 3 Francs a day. It was pretty rainy, so we had to use our umbrellas, but we got to go inside and see his actual room. I was honestly surprised by how small it was, as I could probably fit 2 of his rooms inside my tiny room. Next we went to visit the church that Van Gogh painted. It was the same church that was featured in that Dr. Who episode that I love. Naturally I had to explore around and inside the church. Van Gogh is buried next to his brother in a cemetery close to the church so we stopped by to see his grave. Next we had a little bit of free time for lunch, so I ate a picnic lunch I had packed earlier with a friend and then we explored the gardens of the Chateau du Auvers. Next we got on the bus and drove to the place where Claude Monet lived and built his famous gardens. It was beautiful and I fell in love with the gardens. I did like the house, but I wasn't allowed to take picture of it. It was painted in very pretty colors on the inside that was pretty daring for the time. Here's me on the famous bridge! During a break in the rain we walked to the nearby town to grab some food before getting on the bus to go back home again and I found a bubble machine, which I had to play in. Sunday, 4 MaiAfter a nice morning of sleeping in, eating breakfast and packing up my things I set out to the barn one more time to say goodbye to all the horses. Then I got a ride to the train station from my first guide, Anna and then took the train back to Paris. After staying in such a luxurious house for a few days it was hard to transition back to my little room. The Week of Monday, 5 Mai to Monday, 11 MaiGoing to school today was rough just like last week, but at least I didn't have a surprise exam. Instead, I found out that I passed last week's surprise exam with flying colors! After class I spent the day studying as I only have two weeks left until I return to the states and in that time I have to finish all my finals, deep clean my room and manage to pack all my souvenirs into a suitcase. To be honest that's pretty much all I've done this entire week. I've spent a embarrassingly large amount of time in my room preparing for finals and going back to the states. I had another 5 day weekend as Thursday was Victory Day and Friday was Europe day, so I've had a lot of time that I've been working. I, surprisingly, have a lot of final papers and projects for what was otherwise an extremely easy semester. When the countdown until I return to the states hit one week on Saturday I started to panic a bit. I'm excised to go home because I want to see everyone and be American again, but I'm going to miss a lot about Europe too. I made a list, because I feel like that's the easiest way to express how I'm feeling about leaving Paris. Things I'm looking forward to (in no particular order)
Things I will miss about living in Paris (once again in no particular order)
Saturday, 3 MaiI hope you appreciate my slightly-clever title. As lame as it is, I'm pretty proud of myself. Anyway, today was another long day of riding so I headed down to breakfast at 9am to eat as much as I could. I headed out to the barn early to catch Trö and get him looking pretty. After he was all ready to go, I met my new guides for the day Emilia and Lurra. Emilia was the human and Lurra was the canine guide today. Unlike yesterday it was just me and my guide today as everyone else went on a short ride because their week of riding was coming to an end. We rode through a few little towns, lots of woods and even a farm that grows trees for paper making. Then we stopped for lunch in one of the little towns after tying the horses up to a tree. I tried to put Trö under a tree to keep him from the shade but he kept eating the leaves that were supposed to be shading him. For lunch we had some very traditional Catalonian food which included bread with olive oil and tomato,fried potatos with a regional sauce,pizza and a chocolate croissant. Sausages came with my meal, so I fed them to Lurra under the table (with permission of course). The ride back was amazing and I spent most of it lost in my own thoughts between exhilarating canters. We actually cantered a lot as it was just me and my guide and she trusted me to stay on my horse. A few times we even raced which was super fun, but Trö just wasn't as fast as my guide's horse. After the ride I spent some time playing with Trö. My favorite part was when I tried to give him a sugar cube, but since he had never eaten a sugar cube before he didn't know what to do with it. Instead of just eating it he tried to lick it while I held it. I kept trying to get him to eat it, but he just wanted to lick it while I held the cube for him, and since his tongue is as big as my hand I was quickly covered in sticky horse spit. Then I went back to the house and had a shower and a small nap before dinner. I was the only one left in the house for the night so I had dinner by myself, but i really enjoyed it and the food was amazing again. After dinner I wasn't feeling the greatest, so I went to bed a bit early after watching some Spanish soap operas on the TV.
Friday, 2 MaiI got to sleep on today as breakfast wasn't served until 9am. So when I woke up, I got ready and the headed down to eat. For breakfast, there was a delicious and generous buffet of pastries, cheeses, meats, cereal and fruit. While I was stuffing my face I met the stable manager who told me to be ready at the barn at 10. After I finished my breakfast, I grabbed a few things for riding and headed down to the barn a little early. When I got there the manager told me I could start getting ready for the ride early as she handed me a halter and pointed to a big brown horse out in the pasture. "that one is yours, good luck" Thankfully it wasn't that hard to catch my horse and I got started on grooming him as he was covered on mud. I was really excited that I had to groom and tack my horse as I wasn't allowed to on Greece and I actually really enjoy it as it allows you to get to know your horse better. While I was brushing my horse, the manager came over to tell me a bit about him. Tall, dark and handsome, I had already fallen in love with this horse, named Trö (pronounced tronne). He's a mix between a Spanish horse and a German warm blood. Once I finished grooming him, tacking him was a breeze as he was very well mannered. I did have a bit of trouble getting his bridal on however, because he was just so tall. His height also made mounting quite difficult as he is one of the biggest horses I've ever ridden and I had gotten used to the short ponies in Greece. I made a solid attempt to get in his back, but I only made it about halfway up and was just hanging from the saddle as I didn't have enough arm strength to pull myself up, but I was afraid to let go and fall back to earth. Thankfully the stable manager saw my struggle and, after having a good laugh, helped me up. Next, I was introduced to my guides Anna and Pet. I couldn't get a picture of Anna, but here is one of Pet. I was a bit surprised that I was about to have a dog as a trail guide, but Anna said that he knows the paths better than her, and well I fell in love with that sweet face. We started our ride with a brisk warm up ride through the woods surrounding the house and barn, with Pet leading the way with a wagging tail. Still at a walk we made our way through a cute little town. Trö was a blast to ride and was extremely responsive. To be honest, I was thinking up a plan to steal him and take him back to Ohio with me. Once we made it out of the town we sped things up a little bit and started making our way towards the sea at a trot with a few long canters on the way. It was amazing and I've never felt so alive although I did have to fight with Trö a little bit to slow down. His stride was just so long that we quickly ran ahead of the other horses. And yes, in case you are wondering Pet was running right along with it, although he did stop to take little breaks every once and while and then caught up when we'd slow down to walk. After about two hours of riding we finally made it to the beach. About mid-way though our canter in the surf my big horse decided he was afraid of waves and wind which presented a bit of a challenge. I stayed on of course, but I probably could have charged the folks at the nearby restaurant a fee for the bucking bronco show they got to watch. In all seriousness though, cantering along the beach in Spain is probably one of the highlights of my vacation. It was amazing and I would give anything to be able to do it again. Next we rode though a little sea-side town and found a place to park our horses as it was finally lunch time after three hours on horseback. As I was told I would be receiving a picnic lunch I was expecting my guide to pull cold sandwiches out of her saddle bag, so I was a little confused when she told the group to leave the horses and follow her back into town to a restaurant. It was actually quite a fancy restaurant and I was a little embarrassed to be eating in such a fine establishment when in my sweaty, dirty riding clothes. When I asked my guide why we weren't having a picnic lunch all she said was "that was so last year." But a nice lunch in a restaurant instead of a picnic lunch was fine with me. I had a delicious salad, mushroom pasta and ice cream and coffee for dessert. It was yummy. I also got to learn a bit more about the people I was riding with. I was surprised to learn that my guide, Anna, was actually from France but moved to Spain just to work at this riding program. Also in our group was a German woman who teaches English, French and German to students in Australia and a retired French couple who brought their own horses with them. They all spoke French fluently, so most of our conversation was in French which was quite a challenge for me. After lunch we got back on our horses to begin the three hour ride back to the barn. It was just as much fun as the ride out, except that I started feeling tired and sore around the 5th hour of my ride, plus I really had to go to the bathroom. Finally, I couldn't hold it any longer so I hopped down off my horse and found a nice spot in some bushes. I was having a nice moment thinking about how amazing it was to be out alone in such a pretty place when I was suddenly reminded that I was not alone when Pet announced his presence by licking my butt. It made me laugh though, which was what I needed to get through the final hour of my ride. I was exhausted after my ride, so I stripped Trö of his tack and quickly groomed him so I could head back to my room and take a quick shower before dinner. It was already 8pm so I was pretty hungry and ready to eat. Dinner was served at the house again and was delicious again. We had some assorted vegetables for an appetizer and then I had an amazing vegetarian patty with eggs and a salad for dinner. Dessert was an amazing cake sort of thing and some very sweet liqueur that I actually liked although everyone else at the tabled hated the taste. It made me really tired though so I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, even though I was still fully dressed. Thursday, 1 MaiToday was another early morning to catch another early flight, but this time I was flying solo to Barcelona, Spain! Once I landed in Barcelona I took off to explore right away as I only had a few hours. I made a quick stop at the train station to lock up my luggage for a bit and then I made my way to the Arc de Triomf. It was a sunny day, which made the Arc seem even cooler and everyone was out in the park having fun. I was really enjoying soaking up the sun (with my sunscreen on, of course). Next I wandered around making my way to the port. Here are some of the cool things I saw along the way. Once at the port I wandered around a tiny bit and stopped for a quick waffle. It wasn't as good as a Belgian waffle, but it was a close second. This one was banana flavored. Next, I got on one of these cute little boats which took me around the port. It wasn't the most interesting of all tours, but it was nice to sit down and feel the breeze. On my way off the boat I ran into this guy, who is apparently a seagull trainer. He had the birds trained to fly around, land on his head, then he would pick them up with his hand and the birds would stand on his hand while he fed them fish. It was pretty crazy. I did a wee bit of shopping at the port and then headed back to the train station. I picked my luggage back up and got an a train bound for a tiny town about two hours north of Barcelona. It was dark when I got off the train, so I took a taxi to the bed and breakfast I would be staying at for the next couple of days. I couldn't see too well, but I think it may be a castle. After I settled into my room they asked if I would liked my dinner. This surprised me as it was 10pm, so I figured it was too late for dinner and I had technically already eaten. They insisted since I had already prepaid for all my meals. I was expecting something they could heat up really quick, but instead I was pleasantly surprised with this delicious bowl of soup. I thought that was the whole meal until the waiter told me that was just the appetizer. Next he brought out a plate of deep fried vegetables and a salad (which I forgot to take a picture of, sorry) and then pudding/flan thing for dessert. It was all very yummy, but now I was extremely full after eating two dinners. Wednesday, 30 AvrilI woke up this morning at 3 am to grab a taxi at 4am to catch a 6am flight. It was an early day but I had a feeling it was going to be worth it as my friends and I were on our way to Lisbon, Portugal! We got to Lisbon around 9am with plenty of time to explore the beautiful city. I was in awe right away not only because of the beautiful architecture but also because it was nice and warm, about 80 degree which was much better than the 65 I was used to in Paris. After dropping our stuff off at the hostel my friends and I made our way to Belem to see the Belem tower. It was right on the sea and even though we had to wait in line to get it, the weather was so pleasant that we didn't mind. I was surprised at how many stairs I had to climb to get to the top, and at how tiny most of the doorways were. Despite the stairs, the tower was really beautiful and there were amazing views at the top. We made a quick stop for lunch and I had pizza and chocolate milk. We passed by the Monument to the Discoveries, which was pretty neat. Next we stopped by the Jerónimos Monastery which was very pretty, but I personally found some of the life-like models to be a bit creepy. I did get to see the tomb of Vasco de Gama, however, so that was pretty cool. Next we headed back to downtown Lisbon and explored a little bit. We saw an American ship and briefly talked to some of the U.S. Marines who were living on it. I asked them if they had any pancake mix, but sadly they didn't. Next, I went and explored Castle of São Jorge. It was big and there were lots of steps but it was so pretty and there was so much history. I was also pretty surprised to find that the castle keeps peacocks, and I also found out that peacockscan climb trees. Then I caught a quick ride on one of Lisbon's famous trolleys back to the hotel and we grabbed some food before bed. It was a long day.
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