Classes- Finished

OVERVIEW:

The first week of March (3-7) was all new classes and feeling horrible. Two of my classes were cancelled (Monday and Thursday) but I’d wished more were. That weekend I went to Vienna.

The second week (10-14) I was diagnosed with bronchitis, so I pretty much disappeared into my room and worked on the many projects I had to do. I had one presentation in Histoire de Paris that went well. That weekend I slept.

Week 3 (17-21) was brought much happiness with Derrick’s presence. I did a presentation in my French class. I also slept all this weekend.

This week, (24-28) I recuperated and got ready for Liz and Matt’s arrival. I had a presentation on Friday in my Economics class. And, again, Monday’s class was cancelled.

I did 3 presentations in March with only 3 more to go the rest of the semester which I spread out a bit more. But, I do have 5 papers to do. And 2 exams in June. :-(

CLASSES:

The World of Wine in France: Mondays 2:45-4:45pm. I’ve only been to class 2 times but we have only 3 grades in this class: presentation, paper, and participation. I was thinking about doing my paper on the significance of wine in culture- religious, formal, celebratory (mostly champagne)…but I don’t know, I may just do it on my presentation or how wine labels have changed…I think marketing is interesting. I’m doing my presentation with a student from Georgia Tech about Beaujolais Nouveau (we had to choose a wine region in France, like Champagne, Bourgogne, Burgundy, etc.) Our presentation is April 21^st. The weekend before then, we’re going to Lyon to a winery. The first week we went over the syllabus and chose our presentation topic and wrote an outline for our presentation. The second week we read an article on how to make Champagne. It took a long time because there were a lot of words and phrases we didn’t understand, and then she had to translate a lot into French for the “foreigners” (in quotes, because I’m really the foreigner at school, but they’re in the English-speaking class, ergo de facto…) The professor knows everything about wine. Seriously. She’s very smart. She was telling us about all these cool wine stores and I can’t wait to take my daddy there. She’s got lots of speakers lined up and wine tastings for us to go to. I’m excited about this class.

Histoire de Paris (History of Paris): Tuesdays 2:45-4:45pm We have 2 presentations and participation as our grades. We began choosing topics for presentations the first week and I chose to have one the next class. That wasn’t the best timing as I was going to Vienna that weekend. But, at least it would be done and I wouldn’t have to worry about it any more. The professor is nice- very knowledgeable about Paris and its history, very energetic about it, too. Sounds like a cool class, but not exactly the history. He’s fascinated with the “identity” of a place in Paris. For this reason, we have 2 presentations this semester: one exposé (oral presentation with debate afterwards- very formal) and one presentation orale (less formal but not less important). The expose is chosen by him about an aspect of Paris (Jews in Paris, the importance of religion, and mine, “bars/cafes/pubs/etc.”). Presentations are about a “quartier” of Paris. This can be translated to quarter, like in New York how there is Chinatown, or Little Italy, or even Times Square. There is no requirement of square footage that makes a quartier, it is just a section that is self-defined by something unique. Examples of this in Paris are the many parks, the Champs-Elysees, the Latin Quarter, and the island on which Notre Dame sits. I did my presentation already and it was on the Cite Universitaire. If you remember, that was where I lived in September! I thought that was a cool way to tie in that experience with class. Basically, class goes like this: Professor talks for an hour, and then we have 2-3 presentations. Sometimes we run out of time while someone is in the middle of their presentation. Depending on his mood, the professor will require the student(s) to re-present the topic the next week, or the short presentation they provided is sufficient. This is bothersome on both accounts. If you have to do it again, it’s just another week to detain it but maybe you work on it and make it better. If it’s sufficient, then you worked your butt off for a full presentation and only did half. And usually the good stuff you don’t present until the end.

Français/French: Wednesdays and Fridays 12:30-2:30pm This is like every language class. I’ve done a presentation on President Sarkozy and his policies on immigration. There are some really good political cartoons about his thoughts of “immigration choisie”- which basically just means “chosen immigration”. Sarko wants to have all immigrants fill out an application to come in and if they have nothing to offer France as a country, he doesn’t want to let them in. This includes students. No one likes this policy and they think it’s ridiculous, especially because his parents were immigrants! Anyway, we did well on that presentation. We do some grammar/reading and have discussions so we can talk with students and then one presentation per class. Pretty standard class.

Spain: Franco to Zapatero: Thursdays 5:00-7:00pm This class is actually really interesting. The professor is a Spanish woman who was THE FIRST international exchange student at SciencesPo. She met a French boy while here and never really left. She became a teacher and has taught in the US, Spain, France, to name a few. I can tell what kind of accent she has…if it is more Spanish or French. She’s been in France longer than I’ve been alive so her accent is kind of a mélange of non-American-ness. So, that’s her. I’ve got few grades in that class, too: presentation, paper, exam. I’m doing my presentation on Spaniards and Religion because I think it will be cool to have first-hand accounts with Liz and her friends who are basically missionaries over there. My paper is just a summary of my presentation. I can’t believe we have an exam because you’re not supposed to in elective classes at SP. This means I really have to pay attention because she could ask about anything. Class usually goes like this: Week in Review presentation, other presentation on some topic, professor doing one section of Spanish history, usually going over time. I like this class because I never knew anything about Spain. They’ve only recently become a democracy, and it’s not very well represented, I feel. They’re just kinda, out there. Hanging out. So this is good.

Here’s something I learned that happened this past week: President Zapatero just legalized gay marriage. So, keep that in mind. Okay, so the oldest Dukedom in Spain lost its Duke and Duchess this past week. The weird thing is that they were separated for the past 30 years. They each also got married to their secretaries 2 days before they died. The secretaries were BOTH women. Yeah. The Red Duchess (as she was known in Spain) was gay with her secretary. How did they meet you ask? Oh, well the son of the Duchess got married and the secretary was at the wedding. She and the Duchess met, became lovers, and to keep her close, the Duchess employed her as secretary. So…Duke gets married to secretary last week and 2 days later, dies. Then a few days after that, Duchess marries her secretary and dies 2 days later. Freaky?!?!? So now there’s this big hullabaloo about who gets the inheritance: the secretaries, or the 3 offspring of the Duke and Duchess. Someone call Hollywood! Haha.

Transatlantic Economic Debates: Fridays 10:15am-12:15pm “This class,” the professor began the semester saying, “is NOT an economics class.” I heard the hallelujah chorus after he said that. Not that I’m not interested in this topic. In fact, the effects of the growing European economy on the weakening (hegemonic) American economy is more interesting to me than most things I’ve studied this year. I’ll have written 3 papers on it by the time my sejour is complete. Yay, European integration! This class has more grades than any, but they’re for ridiculous thing.s We’ve got 3 papers (2 5-page book reviews and one 10-page final paper), a presentation, and participation. I did my presentation the 28^th with a French boy named Pierre-Elliot, whom I lovingly call Pete. He’s very funny and he’s one of the first French students at SP that’s given me more than the time of day! Our presentation was on the twin-deficits (current account and fiscal) in the US and its effect on Europe. We talked for a while and the professor said we did a very good job. :-) Anyway, Jordy (aka Professor Jordan Stancil) looks like a skinny, American Hugh Grant. Same wispy hair, sad eyes, and war-of-epic-proportion situation in the mouth area (aka crooked teeth). He knows one of the professors at Georgia Tech, though, so I gotta make a good impression. I think he likes me though- I’ve embarrassed myself enough that he remembers who I am. Haha. When I had bronchitis, I slept through the first hour of class. This meant, even if I left right away, I would only be there for the last 15-20 minutes of class. So, I took that time to wash the Death off my face and tried to muster up enough strength to go. I also had a class after that, so I really needed to get there. He didn’t seem to care that I missed the second class of the semester but I explained to him that I needed to save my absences (we get 2 and then a warning, another and it’s a stern warning, a 4^th absence and we FAIL) in case my parents came over and we wanted to go away for the weekend. He said we could figure something out. He could see in my eyes I was really upset about sleeping in. Not that I wanted to- my meds made me drowsy and I was sick! At least at Tech we get unexcused and excused absences. Here- it’s all the same.

Now, the next thing I have due is my Spanish presentation (and paper) the 17^th of April. Then my Wine presentation is on the 21^st and my first Econ paper is due the 25^th. Thankfully, Spring Break is after that, when I’m going back to the States!!!

March 2- Salamanca/Madrid and Paris

I got up at 10:30 and finished packing. Liz walked me to the bus station and we tried to think about her coming to see me in a month. I got on the bus and fell fast asleep. The lady next to me seemed to be crying, so I was torn between asking her what was wrong and asking her to keep it down because I was sleeping. Thankfully, I didn’t know how to say either of those things in Spanish and just minded my own beeswax.

I got off the bus, on the metro, to the airport, and then to the gate without a hitch. I didn’t even have to check my bag! Score! Again, my flight was delayed. Here’s a tip: if you are going to fly a low-cost carrier, think twice about flying Vueling. It’s an awesome airline if you consider service, but I’ve never been to a destination on time. I’ve always been delayed 15-60 minutes. So, if you do decide to fly Vueling, give yourself plenty of time to make any connections or appointments. Not to say that every other airline is perfect, it’s just that Vueling has been consistent in its delays. Eh, I guess they’re consistent.

I landed over an hour late and was so happy to be home. I unpacked and climbed into bed. I was feeling horrible but thankfully my class was cancelled so I didn’t have to go.

It was an amazing trip filled with new friends, new food, and great memories. I’m sorry it took me forever to finish writing- I’d just written in my journal every single day what I did and it wouldn’t have been fair to me (or you) to just paraphrase my adventures.

I’ll put pictures up tonight and then work on the last couple of weeks tomorrow. I want to write about Vienna but I’ll try to keep school stuff down to a minimum.

March 1- Salamanca

I woke up really late, and got ready for the day. Liz and Laura had been up for a while and they were ready to go shopping! I wasn’t feeling great but the weather was so nice that I couldn’t wait to get outside. I wore jeans and a t-shirt because that was the only outfit I had for warm weather. Liz and Laura wore skirts and t-shirts because it was that warm out! It had to be in the high 60s, low 70s. It was awesome.

We got lunch at this chain sandwich shop called Pans & Company (Bread & Company) and took it out to the center of the Plaza and ate. What I wouldn’t have given to be back in Florida sitting on the beach soaking up the sun. *sigh* And I knew in just a few days I would be back in Paris with the rain. Not to mention that the month of March is notorious for its bad weather. In one hour there can be sunshine, rain, hail, then back to sunshine. It’s very strange, but then in April, the weather gets better.

After lunch, Laura, Liz, Joanna (another roommate), and I went shopping. I didn’t get anything, but I did lose my sweater. :-( It was an H&M sweater and ironically, we went to H&M where I put it down. I suppose a worker saw it, realized there was no tag on it, put one on it, and hung it up. I was so sad, but there was nothing I could do. Liz tried to explain that I wasn’t trying to steal it or anything, I’d just set it down to try on a jacket. No luck. Oh well. The worst part of it all was that I was going to leave it for Liz because she kept mentioning how cute it was! I was so mad at myself…so we left H&M and went to ZARA. I love ZARA. I have a few things from there and they are just so cute! Liz and I found an adorable spaghetti strap/cardigan shirt set in pink and purple and of course had to get them and switched under-shirts. We’re too cool for school. Then, it was getting evening time so we went to a cute bar/restaurant that overlooked the Plaza. We sat at a table that required us to get something to eat, so I suggested the croquetas (like what I had in Ireland with Ciara) and the girls loved them! Yay me! We watched the sun set and the people slowly change from t-shirts to their winter gear. Quite impressive, actually. They had to carry it around because they knew it would get really cold once the sun set. I have a hard time remembering my phone when I go out.

So, we left and Liz and I walked to the bus station to get my ticket for the next day. It was crazy to think that even though my flight wasn’t until 5pm, I had to leave Salamanca at noon just to make sure I got there on time. On the way home, because Liz was being SO good, we got a treat. I got an ice cream bar and she got a pink star. It was just sugary ice. But she’d given up chocolate for Lent, so that was all she could have. Plus, it was pink. I’m not sure she would have chosen anything with chocolate anyway after seeing it. Lol. Win-win-win.

We walked home, happy as little clams, and showered and got cute for dinner and then going out after. It was already late when we were walking to the restaurant Liz had been telling me about so there were no places available. Apparently, in the one week they’d been there it had gotten so popular that reservations were required! Must be pretty good. So we tried to go to another Italian restaurant, but everything was full. We ended up at a place called ERASMUS which actually wasn’t that bad. I got shrimp and mushrooms. Which is exactly what it was. 2 skewers of shrimp and a big pile of sautéed mushrooms. It looked kinda strange on the plate, but it was good. I don’t recommend that combination, though. Shrimp and mushrooms? I don’t know, they just don’t seem to go well.

After dinner, we had planned to meet up with a group of people but they were going to a bar that we didn’t want to go to so we skipped that one and went to the next stop on the list. As we walked we noticed how many bachelorette parties there were- and they were all themed! It was so funny! There would be one woman dressed as Little Red Riding Hood/an Inmate/etc and a group of women around her dressed as Wolves/Policewomen/etc respectively. Cute! So, the bar we went to was called LUUX- it was a very strange place. There were all different types of people there, there were some older men and women dancing with teenagers! Just…different. Of course, I managed to meet a group of guys that spoke a little French so we had a nice conversation and then we met up with the other group and left. We went to the Chupiteria but it was too crowded, so we went to the bar next door where they played everything from Amy Winehouse to Elvis to Black Eyed Peas to Grease. We were there for a good long while and then made our way to The Irish Rover for one last drink before closing time. Unfortunately, there was a bouncer and so we had to stand in line. Fortunately, he spoke French. I explained to him that it was my last night and my friends and I wanted to go in just for a bit and we talked about me being a student at SciencesPo and all that jazz, and we were let in. Sweet!! I found my calling! Lol. I think he was a little surprised at how many of us there were…I think I counted 12? I’m not sure. We went in and Liz found the same bartender as the other night and voila- free shot! The bar closed down and it was time to go. I wasn’t ready to be done, though. I don’t know why, but I decided to accompany 4 other Spaniards back to their apartment (don’t worry, there were 2 boys and 2 girls and they are all Liz’s friends from En Vivo). Because, you know, I speak Spanish (not), and had time to kill (not…still hadn’t packed), and wasn’t sick (not true again!). Haha. I had a good time, though. Met some more people, practiced my Spanish, and watched a Family Guy episode in Espanol. I was cracking up before they were because I knew the episode. Lol. When the sun started peeking out, I realized I needed to get home. One of the boys walked me and I crawled into bed for a few hours.

February 29th- Salamanca

I got up and Liz was already in class. I was exhausted from the night before but I didn’t want to just waste the day away sleeping. There were things to see and do! I got dressed and ready to go out sight-seeing when I noticed 2 things. 1) I was locked in the apartment and 2) I lost my camera. I wasn’t sure which was worse. I unpacked and repacked about 3 times and couldn’t find it and then it hit me- I’d left my camera on the bus. I thought I would do some sightseeing on the ride and instead I passed out and was so excited I forgot to check the seat pockets in front of me. So I was determined to go to the bus stop and find it. But, like I said before, I also discovered I was locked in the apartment. (This seems to be a very common security measure- when the door closes- it locks on the outside but not the inside, but if you want to feel even safer, you can use your key to lock it and it is impossible to open it from the in-or-out side without the key at this point.)

So, I had to wait until Liz or a roommate got home. I was frantic at this point. Every second they didn’t show was another I didn’t have my camera. And who knew where it was? It could be in Madrid, it could be in Salamanca, it could be on the bus still going God-knows-where. from the minute I realized my camera’s absence, I’d been trying to get in contact with Liz. I knew she got out of class at 11, but it was over an hour later before she came home. (She had been cleaning up at En Vivo for the night before and there was no service there.)

Fortunately, one of her roommates got home before her so I was out the door with a message for her to relay to Liz. Coincidentally, she was walking up the stairs as I was sprinting down them. I didn’t have time to explain and I was kind of flustered, so I just kept on going and figured I would find her later. I ran off trying to retrace my steps back from the bus station the night before. It proved more difficult than I expected. I knew if I could find the Plaza Mayor, I could find the station. (For those of you that don’t know exactly what a Plaza Mayor is, I’ll do my best to explain: every city/town has one. It is the “city center” which is a large square building with a courtyard in the center. Generally, the courtyard is paved or has cobbles, but I’ve not seen many, so some could be landscaped. The courtyard is very very big and around the perimeter, there are restaurants, cafes, and shops that people can sit in the Plaza and people-watch. The Plaza Mayor is a typical meeting place and there is always some type of entertainment there- musicians, people dressed in costumes, etc. Also, there are markets held there. So, yeah.) Thankfully, I saw one of the girls I’d met in Spain and she saved my life. She had a map of Salamanca and showed me the way. I pretty much had it right, anyway. :-) I went over all the Spanish I’d learned when I was in elementary school and tried to create a game plan and not get my hopes up too much. I only made one wrong turn and finally ended up at the station. I went to the Help Desk and first asked if they spoke English or French- of course, no. So I said, “Perdido mi camera ‘on’ el autobus de Madrid a Salamanca ayer.” (I wasn’t sure if that was grammatically correct, but I knew if I got some form of the verb “lost” and “camera” in the same sentence, I’d get some help…basically what I tried to say was, “I lost my camera on the bus from Madrid to Salamanca yesterday.” She told me to check with the bus company that I rode on. So I went over and repeated my phrase as best I could. He looked at me, held up my camera and said, “Oh, esta?” (Oh, this? Well, at least I think that’s what he said.) The second I saw it I felt like a 3-year-old in a candy store jumping out of my shoes. I was so excited that I’d actually successfully found my camera all by myself I was saying “Si-esto! Yes-that’s it! Oui-c’est ça! He toyed with my emotions for a bit, asking me if that was what I was looking for and asking if I was sure if it was a camera and not a phone, etc. Haha, very funny. I was about to pee my pants. I didn’t, though. So, camera in hand and a smile on my face, I walked out of the bus station. I texted Liz and let her know of my victory and asked if she wanted to meet for lunch. She agreed and I had a lovely, enjoyable walk back to the Plaza Mayor.

I met Liz at the Plaza, and although we were supposed to meet some of her friends for lunch, I kinda just wanted some one-on-one time with her. She finally agreed, but I felt bad because she is in Spain to fraternize with people here, I’d just barely talked to her the night before and felt like we’d not even really spoken and I hadn’t seen her in so long! We went to Burger King (something they don’t have in France, so it was a treat!) and then went back to the Plaza to eat in the sun. Ahhh….the sun. Soooo nice. I never wanted to leave! it was hot enough out that we got some lemon sorbet and enjoyed it with the sun beating down on us. Yum!

Then it was, of course, time to go shopping. Souvenir shopping, that is. But don’t worry, I stopped at H&M and Claire’s, too. Then we went to Carrefour (a big grocery store) and grabbed chips and dip. Mmm…I sure do miss my Mexican food. When we got home we watched the movie “Wedding Crashers.” There were so many people in their tiny little room- 8!! There were 4 people on each twin bed, but it was fun. Then 3 more people came over after the movie and we had to move the party out to the living room. They don’t use it that much because they mostly hang out in Liz’s bedroom, so everyone was kinda creeped out. Lol. After a few episodes of The Office, we all went to bed. It was a pretty laid back night, but it was fun to be with Liz and all her friends!

February 28th- Paris and Madrid/Salamanca

I got up at 8:30am and got ready to go to the airport. I got there and wouldn’t you know it, they made me check my bag. *sigh* That was something I didn’t want to have to deal with, but oh well. I’m always so wary of it getting lost. I got on the flight and of course, fell asleep. When we landed I arrived to a hot, sunny, beautiful Spanish day. I never wanted to get into the shade, but I had a bus to catch. I retrieved my bag from the belt and thankfully I knew exactly had to get to the metro station that was also a bus station- Alvarez. The Madrid metro is not the most easy to navigate- it always seems to go the opposite direction of where you want to go. There are a lot of transfers you have to make because lines seem to end abruptly with out rhyme or reason. Thankfully, I found the place, ordered my bus ticket (in Espanol, thank you very much!) and sat and waited for its departure. I was sitting there by myself minding my own business when this man came up to me and started asking me questions about some kind of bus or something. And I kept responding, “No espanol senor. Lo siento. No espanol.” (No Spanish, sir. I’m sorry. No Spanish.) He kept on. It became humorous…almost like a game. He would mumble something in Spanish, I would tell him I didn’t speak Spanish. It was fun, but there was no clear winner so we parted ways. Haha. I knew that wouldn’t be last strange encounter I would have before this trip was over. The ride was gonna be a 2 ½ hours and I could hardly wait. I hadn’t seen Liz since January and it was just then that I realized how much I’d missed her. So, to speed up the trip, I of course, fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later with still over an hour to go. Great. I passed a lot of tiny villages that usually consisted of a small grocery store, maybe a bar, a hostel, and some living quarters. They looked nothing like what Liz’s pictures had seemed like so I hoped I wasn’t there yet. Not that there’s anything wrong with small towns, it was just that I’d heard of these great big cathedrals and everything and expected Salamanca to be an okay size. But the trip wasn’t over, so I was just being patient.

Then, I had arrived. I called Liz and she and I met about half-way down the street. I was so happy to be out of public transportation... and to see Liz!!! She was so excited to see me too, she said she’d told everyone that I was coming and had been calling me ‘Sissy’ for so long that that’s what everyone would be calling me. And by everyone…I mean the youth group we were going to. It’s called En Vivo and I’d heard great things about it. Anyway, I’d been warned. I was tired and cranky from traveling all day, but I was meeting a ton of people that I didn’t know that all knew me. That kinda threw me for a loop. For some reason, that kind of social situation really puts me in an anti-social mood. I met tons of people, but all I really wanted to do was sit and rest and watch everyone interact with each other. That wasn’t going to happen. I was thankful to see people I knew from my last trip to Madrid when I dropped Liz off for her study abroad. Finally, things settled down and it was time for prayer and the sermon. Even though it was in Spanish, I understood a good amount. After a few hours, it was over, and I was exhausted. But, in true Spanish fashion-it was early and there was still time to go out! When in Rome (or in this case, Salamanca), right…lol. I had a few cups of coffee and was ready to roll! We went to a few bars…including a “Chupeteria”- a shot bar where all they pour is shots. It was fun, but I’m not too big into shots. I saw a few people I’d met in Madrid that weren’t on the same program as Liz and again, it was so nice to see friendly faces! Everyone here had been together for months and were very close-knit, which is great! It made me sorta wish that I had that in Paris, but it’s a completely different atmosphere here. And I understand that. One thing I noticed was that in Spain, it was still legal to smoke in bars! It had been outlawed in London about the same time as in Paris. The smoke didn’t really help my sore throat and I was only feeling worse. (I suppose I should just say by now that I found out a week or so later that I had bronchitis…so, yeah, I only got sicker) After those bars, it was still “early” (read 3am) but I’d found my second wind and was ready to party, thankfully. We went to one last bar- the most American one of all, where Liz and I got a free shot- just for being twins! Imagine that! Haha.

After the bar closed we went home and went to bed. It was a long day, but I was so happy to be with Liz!! Tomorrow was gonna be another fun day!

February 27th- London and Paris

I woke up early because I still had a lot to see in London before I caught my train home. I finished packing, went downstairs, grabbed my last breakfast, and was able to check out early but keep my bags in the hostel.

It was still early, before 9am, but I took my chances and went to Westminster. I still hadn’t gone inside and there was so much history there, I just had to see it. Thankfully, it was open. I went inside (begrudgingly paid the 7£) and saw tons of cool historical things! I saw the coronation chair where every king (and queen) has been crowned since pretty much forever. I saw Mary, Elizabeth, and Cornwall’s tombs/where they were buried, as well as the Poet’s corner where people like Chaucer and Shakespeare are buried. I left at about 10:15am and decided to actually walk to Trafalgar sans interruptions. As I was leaving, there seemed to be some commotion at the Houses of Parliament. There was a security breach (surprise) and a group of people had broken in and climbed on the roof protesting the 3^rd runway at London Heathrow Airport and they’d hung posters down the outside walls. There were TV crews all over! I don’t think that happens all that often, so I thought it was cool to be there during that time. After watching a while, I continued on to Trafalgar Square. It was interesting, but I didn’t really see what the big deal was. Maybe I was there on the wrong day and time. After Trafalgar Square, I went to Piccadilly Circus (again, Piccadilly Circle). I took the Tube but it turned out to be a stone’s throw away. Again, I was wondering what the big deal was. It looked like a mini-Times Square. I enjoyed all the screens and lights and things, but it just wasn’t much. Again, maybe it was the wrong place and time. I did stop by the GAP and got a pretty gold colored shirt for Tech games! Woohoo! And then I stopped by a souvenir store because I hadn’t so much as a post-card from London before then. I walked back to Westminster and caught the Tube to Hammersmith where I picked up my bags and stopped at another cute shop where I did find a cute dress for 5 pounds, so of course I had to get it, and then went to St. Pancras International train station for my ride to Paris. I grabbed a delicious salad from M&S-to-go for the trip and went though security.

The train ride wasn’t that bad. I sat across from a cute father and son who spoke both French and English. The poor little guy’s nose never stopped running. Anyway, I got to see rural England and France along the way. I’d fallen asleep about halfway through the trip so the only way I knew how to tell which country we were in was to look at the cars alongside the road (as the part I’d fallen asleep through was the actual Chunnel) and see which side they were driving on. Then, a little after 6:30pm the train stopped and we were at Gare du Nord in Paris! It was amazing! And what an easy transition! I was only about 5 RER stops from my apartment! I went home, caught up with John over Thai food, and then was informed about a leak in the apartment. I’ve already written about this, I know, so I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, to this day, the fireman still texts me wanting to know when we’re going out. Haha.

The night ended kinda late, but I was able to do one load of laundry and get a few hours of sleep. I was SO excited to see Liz the next day I could hardly stand it!

February 26th- London

I woke up at 10am to the sound of Shealagh coming in. She had a late night, too, I guess. ;-) She was leaving that morning so we said our good-byes and I fell back asleep.

I got back up at noon, showered, and got ready for my rendez-vous with Tibo. I wasn’t sure if he remembered that we set a time to meet, but I wanted to go to the Natural History Museum anyway, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to wait a while. I grabbed a chicken Caesar wrap and sat outside on the bench basking in the sun. It was wonderful! About 20 minutes later he showed up. Cute as a bug’s ear he was. We went inside and explored for hours and hours. There were no information guides in English or French, but it didn’t matter- he speaks Spanish, too. So he grabbed on of those guides and would translate it for me. (I’m like, come on! I think he was just a figment of my imagination.) Anyway, he’d never seen dinosaurs before and so when we went in to the exhibit, he freaked out just like the group of 8 year olds next to us. It was pretty adorable. The museum was actually really cool. There were different sections- the dinosaur one, an Antarctica exhibit, a bird one, and even a monkey one! Their most famous one is their big room of life size animals. They‘ve got a blue whale up next to a dolphin and other sea creatures. It was, of course, a huge room to fit it. I really enjoyed it. They’ve got a kid’s area with mind games. It was really interesting. And free! Loves it. We closed the museum down and had to leave so we went back to Hammersmith and went to our respective hostels. We had plans to meet later for dinner so I had a few hours to kill. I checked my e-mail and got my bags ready and packed because I was leaving the next day. As I was just getting off the computer a guy came up to me and said, “Miss, I don’t know you, but I just have to tell you you’re spending WAY too much money on this computer. There is a CyberCafe just down the street that is half as much as this. I just can’t stand seeing you here using these computers. I just needed you to know that.” As surprised as I was at this outburst, I felt compelled to tell him it was my last night in the hostel, but that I appreciated his help. How very odd.

I texted Shealagh to meet for a coffee, but she was busy moving into her apartment, so I went to Starbucks alone. It was actually really nice. I’d barely had a minute to myself since the first day and I barely had had time to write in my journal, so I took that opportunity to catch up. I closed down Starbucks (it seems that that’s all I do around here- close places down...lol) and texted Tibo to come over. We decided to meet in the bar but I got there before him. So, I grabbed a beer and sat down. Then a British man started talking to me…well he said, “It’s silly for us to be sitting alone and not talk to one another…hello, my name is Paul.” I was like, well, well, well…if I can’t grab a beer by myself what is this world coming to?! Not that I minded terribly, lol. So I got to know Paul a bit. He graduated from Liverpool in Economics and is now a British Television agent. About the time I was telling Paul about all my travels around London and my escapades with Shealagh and Tibo, he showed up. Strangely enough, Paul left shortly afterward. Lol. Oh, boys. So, Tibo grabbed a beer and we talked about what we wanted to do that night. We decided to grab a frozen pizza and some wine (that he swore was some of the best in London- I trusted him since he was French and all) and take it back to his hostel and cook it. He had a guitar and after dinner sang some of my favorite Ben Harper songs and then I went home. I had to get up early tomorrow and explore the last of London before my train home.

I couldn’t wait to get back in my own bed in Paris- even if it was just for a few hours before I went to see Liz in Spain!

February 25th- London

Shealagh and I woke up around 10am…I was really not feeling well. We’d missed breakfast but grabbed a cup of tea at the bar anyway. There were already men drinking beer there! I couldn’t believe it!

Shealagh had some work to do at her school but she said we could walk along the Thames for a while before she had to go. I thought that was sweet of her to do. I got a text from Thibault wanting to hang out before he went to work, so I told him maybe, but that I was out with a friend and may not be back in time. We caught the tube to the London Bridge and started walking. Something I didn’t know: the London Bridge is NOT the one with the towers, which is called Tower Bridge! Another thing I learned is that the London Tower is NOT one of the towers on that bridge! London Tower is a fort (yeah- a fortress) next to Tower Bridge. Okay, I know that’s confusing. Suffice it to say, everything you thought about London architecture and its geography is probably wrong. Probably. Anyway, after all that newly-acquired knowledge settled it was time to take pictures! Shealagh took a bunch of me and then I got some of the H.M.S. Belfast for my Daddy. We walked towards the bridge where I got to see the Globe Theatre, and then over Tower Bridge and then around London Tower. And then we were in the City of London. I know…it’s not that we weren’t in London, but this is the City of London- the financial area, which is called the City. So we walked through there and then grabbed something to eat- McDonald’s of course! It was the NICEST McD’s I’d ever been in. They had comfy chairs- like, couches! It was really neat. We had a relaxing lunch and then moved on.

There is a movie called “Closer” with Julia Roberts, Clive Own, Natalie Portman, and Jude Law and it was filmed in London. There is a particular scene in the movie where they NP and JW visit a wall in a park and look at a plaque with the name “Alice Ayers” on it. NP chooses to take on the name Alice through the movie because of this plaque. Well, Shealagh knew where this garden was and of course I had to go!! It was smaller than I thought it would be and I never would have found it without her. Quite a cool concept, though. A man wanted to dedicate a park for those who have sacrificed their life to save another’s. Alice Ayers was one of them. On the plaques it had their name, birth/death date, and how they died. Many people saved someone from a fire, or jumped in front of moving machines and things. It was a cool concept, but some were really sad, because you realized that a lot of them were relatives. Then, we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral, but in finding that it cost a lot of money to get in, just got to the lobby and walked out.

By that time, Shealagh had to get some work done, so we went to Oxford Circus (this just means Oxford circle…like big intersection) where she goes to school. It was lucky because there was some good shopping to be done there, so while she worked, I shopped. I went to H&M but nothing tripped my trigger. Then I went to a very hip London shop called Top Shop. It’s quite popular, and while a tad more expensive than H&M, it makes up for it in quality. I headed straight back to the sale section and found THE CUTEST top for going out. Only thing was, there was no size and no price. I tried it on anyway and it looks like it was made just for me! I gave myself a limit I would pay for said shirt (but who are we kidding, I would have probably cut off an appendage for it) and luckily enough- it was under! Not to mention, students get 10% with their student card. :-) So I was happy. Then I remembered to text Thibault and tell him I wasn’t going to make it and he was none too pleased. I felt bad, but I was having fun, and I still had a few days in London. Plus, he was a boy, so he probably had cooties. So we planned to meet up later that night after he got off work.

Shealagh and I met up a bar called Ron Crouch and had a pitcher of a drink called Lust. The bar was decorated like “The Addams Family” and had all these scary things all over. Even the bathroom had a cackling witch noise. It probably was the coolest place over Halloween. It’s pretty famous for its Test Tube Shots which are, yeah, shots in test tubes. But they’re all named after characters from the movie! Anyway, we looked at the menu and saw these really fruity pretty drinks called “The Seven Deadly Sins” and were hooked. It was yummy. Of course, it was only about 5pm so the place was getting busier by the second. After the drinks we were pretty hungry so we went to a place where I had a burrito. Man, I miss American Mexican food. I’m going to destroy Moe’s Southwest Grill when I get back! Lol.

We were going to go back to the hostel bar and hang out there but Shealagh had a few bars she went to that we decided to see first. We went to one called the Cock Tavern where the drinks were pretty cheap- even with the area they were in! One of the ex-bartenders is a friend and so he came over to hang out and then ended up joining us for the rest of the night. We decided to check out Covent Garden as there is a bar/club there, Longheads that they like. I later found out it was really American, lol. So we got in for the last bit of happy hour where drinks were BOGO (buy one, get one…also known as 2-for-1, or half-price…why do we have so many names for this?) and I got a drink called “Georgia Peach” because that’s what I am. It was REALLY good. Maybe a little too good? Lol. There was a cover band and then a dj that played a lot of fun dancing songs. I danced a lot. And then we had to leave cuz the place closed. Shealagh and Julian (South African (which they pronounce Safrika- like one word) ex-bartender) decided to go out with some people they met at the bar, but I was exhausted and took a (London) taxi home. It about broke the bank, but it was worth it. I got a text from Tibo telling me he was out of work and I told him I was on my way home. We got to Hammersmith at the same time. It started raining so we went into the hostel and upstairs where there were computers and just hung out and talked. Before we knew it, it was 7:30am!! I couldn’t believe it! We made plans to meet up late in the afternoon and then I went upstairs and went to bed.

February 24th- London

Today I was on my own! Travelling by myself! Last night I set my alarm for 7:30am, thinking that would give me plenty of rest and still allow me to grab breakfast before I went out. Well, I forgot about the time change…it’s the same time zone in London and Dublin. I thought it was that much farther over from Dublin, around the same as Paris, but I guess not. So, I really woke up at 6:30am, practically ran downstairs…only to discover my faux pas. I was so excited I wasn’t even tired anymore! I walked upstairs and checked my e-mail and things and then after an hour or so, grabbed breakfast. It wasn’t much- toast, cereal, and coffee/tea, but it was better than having to go out and grab something. After seeing that the sun was still coming up, I took my time plotting my route for the day, drinking tea, and trying to get rid of the sore throat that had been bothering me the past couple of days.

After about an hour, I could take it no longer. I had to go see London. Hammersmith is on the West End of the city, so I decided to start on the left and work my way right. First stop: Notting Hill. I don’t know what I was expecting to find, I guess I thought there would be signs saying “This is where Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts did such and such in the movie” or “This is the house that they passed when they were walking during this scene,” some nonsense like that. Of course, it was like any normal city. There were no shrines to Hugh Grant, or Colin Firth for that matter, and I was deeply disappointed.

Anyway, I got on the Underground and got off at Notting Hill Gate. Because I was on my own, I realized I could do what ever I wanted! So, instead of heading directly towards the “gate” of Notting Hill, I saw signs for “Portobello Market” and decided to follow them. But because it was barely 9am, NOTHING was open and no one was up. I couldn’t believe it! But it was lovely just walking around seeing the quiet streets and thinking about everything. I passed a lot of old architecture (which, out of habit I spell architechture and must correct myself everytime…oh Georgia Tech). A lot of it reminded me of San Francisco. Really cute little townhouses and such- I think I put up pictures. Since it was Sunday, I realized that probably that was another reason things were slow. I found an old church and said a little prayer for my aunt and family and then kept walking. It was then that I realized I should probably be a little more careful about walking around. Here I was, walking around, not knowing if where I was going was actually not the best area and such, so I went back onto the main road where there were a few people out, which was safer than where my curiosity was taking me (down all the little alleyways and peering into the scary holes just to see what was in there…gives me the chill bumps just thinking about it). But I was really enjoying my freedom. I finally found the flea market of Portobello Market and examined it. It was cute and reminded me of home a bit, because, strangely enough, all markets are kinda the same. A one-man’s-trash-is-another-man’s-treasure sort of thing. There were antiques, jewelry, clothes, cds/records, souvenirs, and even US and Great Britain military uniforms! That was weird. I kept walking but then realized it was getting to be a bit on the “dodgy” side and so turned around and started walking back. I noticed the next street over was quite busy so I went to it. (I later found out that the street that Portobello Market is on WAS in fact in the movie “Notting Hill”- it is in the scene where the seasons change…one of my FAVORITE! So I did see something!)

I never did find the gate of Notting Hill (if such a thing even exists) but instead quite a posh area with gated gardens and such. I passed the Notting Hill Church, but that was about as close as I got…since then I realized Portobello Market is pretty much the exact opposite direction, so, awesome. I guess I’ll have to go back!

Somehow or another I ended up in Kensington Gardens a while later and absolutely couldn’t take my eyes off all the green!! I walked around for the longest time, taking pictures, watching kids play (not in a creepy way), and just breathing in the freshest air I’ve breathed in a while. I knew there was a Princess Di exhibit going on at the Palace, so I went there and checked it out. It was really neat to see some of her clothes and realize what an affect she had on the entire world! I heard so many languages while I was there! It was a lovely day, so I didn’t spend too long lingering, but I was very interested to see where royalty had lived (of course). I got hungry so I started foraging for food. I wasn’t too keen on a restaurant, but couldn’t find a grocery store! Finally, I just asked someone where one was…it’s called M&S (I can’t remember what that stands for- like Martin and Spencer, or Marks and Spencer or Marks and Smith? One of those.) and had a great selection of on-the-go type foods and even a little area where you could sit and eat what you purchased. The English love those kinds of foods. Even more than the French! There are sandwich shops all over. I was quite surprised. So, I was sitting down, resting my feet, eating my pasta salad, when all of a sudden I realized no one around me was speaking English. No one! There were some people from South America, some French (they infiltrate everywhere I’ve figured), even some East Europeans- but NO English! I thought I was in England!!! *sigh*

I had planned my afternoon by starting with Westminster Abbey. I wanted to catch Evensong (something the Westminster choir performs every Sunday around 3) if I could. I got on the Tube and when I exited- there he was. Big Ben himself. In 30 seconds I saw Big Ben, The London Eye, the London Aquarium, London City Hall, and Westminster Abbey all at once. It was quite the picture-taking area, so I decided to follow suit. Strangely enough, I ran into a few people travelling by themselves too, so we each took pictures of each other. You can always tell who’s alone. They’re the ones struggling to look suave while pointing a camera as far out in front of them and still get whatever is behind them in a way that looks like they didn’t take it. Rather than be that girl, I went around offering to take their pictures if they took mine. It worked well and I got some good ones. I walked to Westminster Abbey (behind the Houses of Parliament/Big Ben) and tried to get in, but it was too late. Instead there was this parade of Irish and Scots playing music. Very strange, but a cool experience. I was falling asleep standing by that time so I grabbed a coffee at the Abbey Café and walked around its garden and down by the Thames. I was so amazed at how HUGE the buildings were! They’re enormous! It’s hard to describe how many blocks they spanned…just so many and such intricate exterior architecture.

The plan was to walk to Trafalgar Square, but of course, I got distracted by the Calvary Museum and walked around and saw a little show (like 3 minutes long of the riders walking around sans horse) and then walked into St. James’s Park. There were so many pretty flowers there. I just sat and watched people and took pictures of nature. And then I ran out of memory on my camera card. So I had to sit back down and start deleting things from Ireland. L So sad! I had taken a lot of pictures of the same things, so it wasn’t that bad, but still! I’ve got a 512MB card…lol. Buckingham Palace is at the end of the Park. It was not as big as I thought it would be. Poor Queen. I’d heard she didn’t like it there and no wonder. It was square shaped…but it had a nice view, I guess. It overlooked 2 parks- St. James’s and Green Park…named because there are no flowers- just grass. I walked through Green Park, and then realized how tired I was. It may not seem like I walked a lot to you, but you may need to look at a map of London. I pretty much took the longest route possible…good exercise, but really wore me out. I decided to call it a day and go home. I realized that I actually wasn’t far from Hyde Park and even though it started raining, I knew it would let up soon, so I walked through it and down the Serpentine- the lake in the Park that winds and turns…like a snake. So, I did pretty much all the parks of London in the first day! But I had blisters to show for it. I couldn’t believe that after all my time in Paris and all that walking, it was my first day in London that resulted in blisters! I got to Lancaster Gate tube stop and took it to Hammersmith. On the way home I was going over my day and realized how much time I spent outside and in parks. There are only 2 “park” parks in Paris, but there are a lot of gardens. I just missed nature a lot, I guess. Tech is nice in that it has a lot of green around. I missed the smell of dirt, even!

So I went home and stopped at a cute store in the station, but no luck. I wondered what to do for dinner, but since it was Sunday night around 7pm (yeah, it was a looooong day) one of the only places that was open was the Kebab place. They had fish’n’chips and I figured I had to get that once in England. The man at the restaurant was so sweet and because the food took so long to make (he wanted to make it fresh for “his darling”- that’d be me) he let me sit down and eat- it costs more. But he let me pay the price as if it were take out! So nice.

After dinner I went up to the hostel and started looking for someone to hang out with for the night. I hadn’t heard from Tibo, but there was a real sweet girl who was there alone and agreed. Her name is Shealagh and she’s a grad student in London- she studied abroad in Paris during undergrad, too! AAAAAND- she’s back in Paris this summer working at a bike rental place. To top it off- it’s at the same place Christy (my aunt) and I rented our bikes when she was here!!!! Crazy! I couldn’t believe my luck. God must have known how lonely I was.

We went downstairs and watched the live band that was playing. They were very good, but Shealagh and I were talking about Paris when all of a sudden we hear, “And this one goes out to the girl in the pink shirt!” Well, guess what- yep, I was the girl in the pink shirt! Haha! They played the song “Valerie” which became famous because of Amy Winehouse’s cover of it. Sadly, I didn’t really know the words…but I was still thrilled to have a song dedicated to me. I went up to them afterwards to thank them and they said they would pop by our table after their set finished. Then we met this Aussie and South African and began talking about politics and things. They were very sweet, but their presence dissuaded the band from coming over. Lol. Oh well…I can only pay attention to so many boys at once. ;-) We closed the bar down, the boys left, and then Shealagh and I showered and went to bed.

England’s a pretty cool place. :-)

February 23rd- Ireland and England

Ciara and I woke up late and checked out of the hotel but left our bags so we could walk around for a few hours before my flight left. Ciara knew about a food market on Sundays in Temple Bar so we went around there. I believe I put pictures up but there were so many different things. They were all fresh or organic products: Chinese, burgers/hot dogs, Irish cheeses, antipasta (that was the most amazing thing I’d seen- BARRELS full of olives), vegetables still with the dirt on it, cakes, smoothies, and even an oyster bar where you could just taste one (for a small price)! We got a smoothie made with organic oranges and strawberries and things and kept walking around. I thought the vitamin C would be good for me because I was still feeling poorly! L

We walked to Dublin Castle (across from Queen of Tarts- you HAVE to go there!) and went to the Chester Beatty Library which contains some of the old Korans and even pages from a Bible dating back to 250AD! Chester Beatty was a man who began collecting old documents before it became popular. The Library/Museum won an award for the “Best European Museum in 2002.” This was a huge deal because it’s quite a small library and goes up against all the others.

We walked along the River Leffey where I learned about certain different bridges. there was one bridge intricately decorated…it is called the Ha’Penny Bridge. It’s called that because it cost a half-penny to cross it. It was a toll bridge! A half penny now, estimated by Ciara, is about 1 euro. I thought that was a cool piece of info, though. There are other bridges that you don’t dare cross at night, though. And even some you don’t linger on during the day! It seemed kinda dangerous.

We walked back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and walked to the big spire where I caught the bus. One of Ciara’s friend met her there so I got to see him once more, too. His name was Desmond-Dez for short. Seems to be a very Irish name. Anyway, Ciara invited me back to Dublin when school ends and I could maybe stay with her! J I’m so glad we got to hang out. She’s so sweet.

The train to the Dublin airport wasn’t very long but I got to see some more of the countryside which was nice. I got to the airport and got McDonald’s for lunch. I just had to! Just so you know, they’re mayonnaise is pretty sweet there. When I went through security I put in a few euros to check my e-mail and that’s when I found out about the money I got that I wrote about earlier. Now that I think about it- that money paid for this vacation! Awesome! I had to switch some euro into pounds because I didn’t want to have to fool with that when I arrived as it would be kinda late. I got 17 pounds for 25 euros. It was soo weird to see coins from the 1990s because I’m so used to seeing the brand new Euro coins! Haha! Only problem is…I know that 15 pounds is $30, but I wanted to know what 15 pounds in Euros was! I had a hard time with the exchange rate because I kept wanting to know what it was in euros- that’s how I think now! *sigh*

The plane to England was, of course, delayed, but I got to hear a Frenchman’s conversation while I waited. That was interesting. He was very happy to go to England. Then the plane arrived and we got on. I fell fast asleep.

When I arrived in England, I got what is called an Oyster card. Read carefully- because if you go to London, you should do this. It will save you TONS of money. An Oyster card costs 3£ and then you just add money to it as you go along. Each trip costs roughly 2£ with the card. Without it, you’d be paying 4£ each time you ride the Underground!! I was so thankful Ciara told me about this. To get the card you have to go to the ticket desk and request one, but then you just go to a self-service kiosk and tap it, add money, then tap again and you’re good to go! It was so nice. I got to my hostel on the Hammersmith stop. It is a great area! I recommend it a lot. There is a great bar downstairs and the rooms are upstairs. I checked in and then went back out to walk around. Inside the station there is a strip mall with restaurants (including a McDonalds) and a grocery store, Tesco. I grabbed a sandwich and continued my exploration. I passed 2 Subway restaurants, a Coca-Cola building, a Claire’s jewelry store, and pubs galore. All in the same block. I got SO lucky with this hostel- thanks Erica!

My room was an all girl’s 8-bed dorm. I got a bottom bunk and set up my stuff. Not all of the beds were full so I got a pretty good one. We shared 3 showers and 2 toilets with another room of 8. There were a lot of Orientals and Auzzies I noticed. But there were 2 girls from Michigan that I met. If this was hostel life- sign me up!

There was a rugby game on in the bar- France versus England. I grabbed a beer (got 10% off because I was a guest at the hostel) and watched a bit of it. At first I was the odd one out rooting for the French, but then when I listened a bit harder I realized I was only the odd one out because I was the single Anglophone cheering for the French. After half-time I found an empty area and sat own. A few minutes later a CUTE French boy asked if I was waiting for anyone, and when I said no, we struck up a conversation. (Of course, I leave France, not wanting to hear a lick of French and the FIRST person I meet is not only French, but the best-looking one I’d seen in months. No wonder there aren’t any in Paris! They ALL left! Wish I knew that earlier…lol) We spoke in Franglais the rest of the night, each of us trying to speak the foreign language until we couldn’t exactly wrap our minds around what we wanted to say. Turns out, Thibault Gautier (pretty much the most French sounding name I’ve ever heard) is a chef at a restaurant called Nando’s which specializes in spicy chicken dishes. I asked him why he was here and he said he just wanted to learn English. I was determined to teach him a few things before I left London. “The handwriting’s on the wall” was that night’s phrase as in the last 20 minutes of the game, England scored a bunch of points and people started leaving because they knew it was over. The game ended (the French lost, but they put up a good fight) but we stayed and talked until the bar closed up for the night. Tibo (phonetically spelled) and I exchanged numbers and planned to meet up again before I left. I thought it was so strange that I came to London alone, but already I had plans to meet a new friend! Too cool!

My last day in Dublin and first night in London were pretty freakin’ good if you ask me.

February 22nd- Ireland

I woke up to a fresh cup of tea and a couple aspirin. It couldn’t get much better. My throat hurt something awful though and my nose was all gross. We had Chinese for breakfast and I just couldn’t believe how much I’d missed Tech!!! It was so sad! I just wanted to be back home with my friends relieving the previous nights festivities nursing our hangovers. Of course, I was doing that, but they weren’t as good of friends as they would be at Tech or Georgia State. Haha. We watched Oprah while we were eating, Denzel (Washington) was on. It was so weird being the only American there because they had so many things to say about the show…and it was an American show- but I felt like the foreigner! I don’t know. I guess since the US doesn’t have many foreign shows I’ll never understand. However, we also found out J.Lo had twins! So, congratulations to her.

We left Aine’s shortly after and had a plan to walk around campus for a bit and then go back to Dublin center. Ciara took me to the building where she has most of her classes- the Arts Building and got coffee. The smell of coffee and sound of students talking just screamed Einstein Bros. to me because we have one at Tech. *sigh* They even had Splenda at the coffee place!!!

After, we walked around a bit more and of course I took pictures. We walked to the bus stop and went into the center of Dublin. Ciara had a tapas bar she wanted to show me for lunch so we went there. It was really good. I had white bean salad with onions and peppers. Then I had a popular dish called “croquetas”. Basically is just a fried cheese ball with add-ins like Serrano ham. They didn’t have “normal” drinks, but like, organic drinks. so I got something called Curiosity Cola. It tasted exactly like those coke gummies! It was all really good and I’m glad we went. After, we walked around for a bit longer and found our hotel for the night. We were staying at the Paramount hotel (on Parliament Street in Temple Bar) because we thought we would be able to stay at UCD but it turned out that Aine was going home that night so we couldn’t. Ciara was checking out hostels two nights earlier and realized that because of the Ireland v. Scotland rugby game, the hostels were booked full. She did find one, however, while looking for hotels, but it was even more expensive than the hotel! So, for 50 euro a night, we stayed in a four-star hotel in famous Temple Bar instead of some ratty hostel where we would need a taxi to get there anyway. Cool! I missed hotels. We checked in and then decided to go to the Guinness Factory.

The Guinness Storehouse was SO neat! It was in a bit of the dodgy end but we were okay because it was during the day. Before we even saw it, we smelled the hops. It was incredible! What a stench! We ended up being a few blocks away so you know it was potent. We got there and there were so many kilts! Haha. It was fun. I learned a lot about making beer and then we got to try Guinness…I didn’t like it, but we still had to go up to the 360˚ view bar where we would either get a free pint or a soft drink. I got Guinness, but just to take pictures. The taste was just too intense for my young tongue. Lol. I grabbed a couple of pictures and then we went to the hotel. My favorite part was the section on advertising. I got to see all the Irish adverts and slogans. I don’t know if they have “Genius” in the States, but I saw it there. Apparently, the way the creators of such a slogan were told to stay in a hotel room until they could think of something worth presenting to the boss. One of the men wrote G-U-I-N-N-E-S-S and crossed out one “N” and one “S”, did a little word scramble and what did he get? GENUIS. On the way out I got a t-shirt and serving tray as souvenirs.

On the way home we ran into some jovial Scotsmen who I think had a few too many Guinness. Ah…the Scots. Now I don’t have to go to Scotland because I experienced the culture! What with the bagpipes and all…it was just a cool weekend to be there. And all the Irish girls were SO excited to have them here. I don’t know what kind of reputation Scots have in Ireland, but for the women, it’s not bad. ;-)

We were kinda hungry after all that walking, and it was getting late so we decided to grab something to eat at the grocery store and take it back to the room. Of course, that was before we realized that ordering room service was cheaper than going to a grocery store. Who’da thunkit? Ugh. But my dinner was good. I had a ciabatta sandwich with ham, turkey, cheddar cheese (again!), and salad (that’s just lettuce and tomatoes, but they call it salad on sandwiches). Then we splurged and got Cooler Ranch Doritos (something not in France) and Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Yum-o! To top it off, we had a bottle of rose wine. Cuz, why not?

Ciara and I showered and got ready for a fun night out with the Scots and Irish. I straightened my hair for the first time since Christmas. I decided then and there that it would be one of my purchases when I returned to Paris. It was just too pretty. Lol. We watched the Club International (amateurs) Ireland v. Scotland as we got ready, too.

Then, we were gone. We headed over to a place called the Purty Kitchen where they had a live band, aka one man playing the guitar in front of a mike with a pint next to him. Haha. It was kind of slow so we went to another pub (The Porterhouse) and got a beer. They only had specialty brews so I asked for their lightest and the bartender goes, “Ok, I’ll give you the most American one we’ve got.” Gee, thanks. Whatevs, it was good. By that time we were ready to go back to the PK and it was a little livelier. The guitarist played songs I knew, like “Sweet Home Alabama” and a song that’s really famous “off-the-continent” (that’s to say the UK and Ireland)…it’s called “Wonderwall” by Oasis. It was done in the 90s but they still love it. They opened up the dance floor a little bit later, so you know I was on it busting all kinds of embarrassing moves. Poor Ciara said she didn’t like that kind of music (rave music I think she called it) but she was sweet enough to stay and dance my little heart out with a troupe of, yep, Scotsmen. Well, first I danced with this Polish man, but apparently there is some animosity between the Irish and Poles as he was escorted out soon after his presence was made aware.

After I was too pooped to pop, we left. We went home and snuggled into our comfy hotel room beds and I started getting really excited about England!

Ireland Notes

Some things I noticed about Ireland that I’m gonna list just so I don’t forget:

- All the clocks in Dublin told a different time. I don’t know what it was, maybe a time change recently or something, but every time there was a public clock, it said something different than the one next to it! You know like the phrase “Where the hell am I?” I kept asking when the hell I was!

- Because the drinking age is so low here (18), that means everyone begins drinking at 15 and 16. which means they’re making the mistakes we make at 18 or 19. Just something I realized here…even though in France the drinking age (for beer and wine) is 16….meaning kids start drinking at 13/14-ish.

- There is no underground railway in Dublin. Only buses. So there are TONS of buses all over the city!! It was such a strange sight, because there are buses in Paris, but these are just everywhere!

- There is an advert right now for Motorola phones- one is pink and one is purple. And the slogan is “Are you purple or pink?” It was so cute because those are mine and my sister’s favorite colors, respectively.

- UCD (University College of Dublin) students LOVED Abercrombie&Fitch clothing. It was what all the cool kids wore. It reminded me of middle school! haha!

- The accents in Ireland are different in (roughly) each county…but everyone knows which one is which! It’s crazy! One of the main words they pronounce differently is “much.” Some say like muh-tch, some say it like mooch. I guess it’s sort of like knowing if someone is from Minnesota or the Northeast or South, but they can name all areas! Sometimes people in the States don’t have accents but could be from anywhere. Just kinda cool. It’s the same in England, too.

- The Irish say a few words differently than in the States. For example, they call the jetway (that connects an airport gate to an airplane) an airbridge. They say “yous” like in the Midwest for pluraled people, and they also plural “math” like the subject in school. Odd.

February 21st- Ireland

When I woke up I was really confused because I thought I was in Florida, but definitely wasn’t. My throat was sore again, but I was smart enough to bring cough drops! Yesss! We got dressed and went down to the bus stop and got on the bus. It was a 2 hour bus ride into Dublin and so Ciara and I just slept. We passed a lot of fields that reminded me of Iowa, but a little more hill-y. We would go through these little towns and they are so cute! The architecture for each “section” of the building is different, whereas in Paris, it’s pretty similar. But there were purple and blue and red exteriors and different windows and everything! Adorable!

When we got to Dublin, I noticed all the construction going on. There was tons! It was like they were building a whole new city right next to it! So…if you go to Dublin in about 10 years it’s gonna be completely different than what it is now! Also, we passed Colin Farrell’s apartment. Like it was no big deal. Lol. I almost turned into an expert paparazzo, but we were on the bus that was moving too fast. When we arrived in the South side of Dublin the first thing I noticed was this huge tall spire. Ciara couldn’t really tell me much about it, but I got a few pictures. It was just odd. We walked through that area and then by the River Leffey. Cute architecture lined the river. There are pics up.

Then we went to one of her favorite restaurants for lunch. It’s called “The Queen of Tarts”. I guess it’s more like a bistro, but it was so cute. Reminded me of a little place that would be where I live in Florida. Menu was written in chalk, barely fits more than 10 people in it, what you see in the glass case is what they’ve got, with a small kitchen to prepare the sandwiches. It was located right across from the entrance to the Dublin Castle and what I believe is City Hall. Really cute place. I had a great ham sandwich with cheddar (!!!!) cheese on foccacia bread and a slice of Bailey’s Irish Cream cheesecake for dessert. I just had to. It looked sooo good. And it tasted better. We’d rested for long enough and decided to walk around the city. It is a relatively small city so I saw most of the things TripAdvisor suggested on the first day. We walked to Christ Church which is just up the street from the restaurant and looked around. It was the first time I had to pay to get into a church! I couldn’t believe it! It’s an Anglican/Episcopalian church but has some Gothic architecture. I really enjoyed it. They had just redone the pipes for the organ which cost a lot of money so I think that’s why the price was up a lot. After we went next door to Dublinia- a museum about Viking history and stuff. The cool part about this place was that you could touch everything! And they had really realistic artifacts and stuff. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

After that, we went to the University of College Dublin (UCD) where we were to stay that night. I passed Trinity College- the more famous of the 2 universities in Dublin, but Ciara goes to UCD. It’s just a little out of the city center so we took a bus. When we got there I started missing Tech. Seeing residence halls, classroom buildings, student centers and just the feeling of community made me miss it. Sciences-Po doesn’t have a campus or sense of community, and it’s something I know I’ve been craving. We met some of Ciara’s friends in her dorm- Aine (Ahn-yah) and Sean (Shawn) and hung out for a bit. the crazy thing is that the dorm smelled the same as a dorm at Tech! Just the halls and stuff. It was crazy! Then we decided to go for a drink at the student bar. That was on campus. How neat is that?! Of course, in the States that wouldn’t exist because the drinking age is so high. But everyone just goes to the student bar for a pint after class or whatever. What a different culture! That’s what I really enjoyed. Seeing how those students lived. We had a couple pints at the bar and then decided to order Chinese delivery for dinner. Order! Delivery! Chinese! Wonderful to hear those words. We stopped at the grocery store on campus and grabbed some wine and then went home and ordered. I got something safe- broccoli and beef. It was really quite good. We were supposed to go to this bar/club called Copper’s but we decided to stay in and watch stuff on YouTube and Anchorman. I tried to introduce rap into their culture but they HATED it! Absolutely couldn’t stand it. I was so sad! I wanted them to like it, but I think it is just my Atlanta influence. *sigh* I tried. They didn’t know Panic! At the Disco, either. Sean did, because he works in Wales, but I thought that was odd that the UK knew them but not Ireland. It’s not like they’re far away. The whole time people were in and out so I met some nice girls: Bevin (kind of reminded me of a girl from my high school…but a much more intense version, and Collette was a girl I didn’t get to know well but she apparently is a lot of fun and loves the States.

Anyway, the night wound done and I slept in the common room by pulling the couch cushions out and making a bed. It was actually really comfy! Ciara, poor thing, had usually slept on the floor if there were no rooms empty she could use. She never thought to do that. Oh well. We slept soundly…but I was still feeling poorly and knew my head was gonna hurt in the morning. Lol. Ah, college.

February 20th- Ireland

I pulled an all nighter last night so I could get on the plane in time to get to Dublin. I got there in plenty of time, which is good, because I tend to stress about flights. I had some breakfast and relaxed before the flight. I went to the terminal, but the cheap airlines aren’t given gates until the last minute, so we just had to hope that we were in the right terminal before it was too late. Of course the flight was delayed, and I almost fell asleep waiting for it. But it eventually did arrive and we got on and I fell asleep before we took off.

When we landed I was tired but so excited to be somewhere I’d never been before. It was weird speaking English and I was surprisingly timid at first. I was in Dublin, but going to visit a friend, Ciara, in her home in Castleblayney, in County Monaghan, near the border of Ireland and North Ireland. She had told me to get on the bus to get to Castleblayney, but for some reason it didn’t click that there was a time change when I got there, so I missed a few buses. L So, instead of waste my time outside, I went inside and explored the Food Court- surprise, right? I noticed that McDonald’s in Ireland served curly fries- like at Arby’s!! Oh man, that was cool. I didn’t try any, though. I also noticed that in front of all the counters of little shops are rows and rows of chocolate bars. They love Cadbury, and it made me think of my mom a lot because she LOVES the Cadbury Crème Eggs. After I got a coffee, I finally got on the right bus and almost fell asleep immediately. I would wake up intermittently and notice how GREEN and lush everything was! I saw hills!!

I eventually got to her town and she and her uncle picked me up in his car. The first thing I noticed was that I was on the “wrong” side of the road. I don’t know how I didn’t notice this in the bus, but I think I was so tired I didn’t even care. Now I was alert because my brain was working hastily on translating the accent! Haha. It wasn’t that bad, but it took some getting used to. We went to her grandma’s house where I had a traditional dish- stew. It was quite good! Like, chowder-y. And then, of course, a cup of tea. That felt good on my throat because some how I’d developed a sore throat and wasn’t feeling great. Boo. I then proceeded to meet Ciara’s aunt and cousin. Already, that was a lot of family, but it was so nice being in a household. After we were done eating, we walked to Ciara’s house- which was 2 away from her gmas. That was nice. Her family lives really close…most of them within blocks of each other. It reminded me of my mom’s family.

When we got into her house I got the grand tour and was amazed! It was a huge house! Lots of rooms, I think that’s because there was no central heating when it was built so usually the family chills in one room and closes the doors so at least they’re warm there. The weather was muggy, but not raining, thankfully. So Ciara and I sat in a room and caught up, talked about school, differences between the States and Ireland. Mostly she wanted to hear about sororities, fraternities, and American college life. I thought that was cute, but it made me miss home some. She was so curious about things like how I met people if we couldn’t go to bars (frat parties) and what driving was like (she doesn’t have her license), and an explanation about Prom versus Homecoming. I also told her about college dances like semiformal and formal! It was all really fun to explain- especially since I could do it in English, but I’m not sure how she took it. I think she was just in awe. It was cool.

Her brother came home after a while, and poor thing, I couldn’t understand a word he said. He’s got the thickest accent! He seemed real sweet, though.

Finally, Ciara’s mom came home and we talked about what we were gonna do for dinner. Ciara’s mom was so sweet and they look so much alike. She’s a Home Ec teacher at school, so she cooks most everything from scratch. So, not only was I in a real household for the first time in a while, but I wasn’t going to have a microwave dinner, either! Wow- I got lucky! The sun had set, so we had to skedaddle to the store and get the fixins for our dinner- a tart- and walk around a bit. She took me to the Hope Castle and I took a bunch of pictures. Probably if you’ve checked out the pictures you’ve seen it and the rolling hills that surround it. The Hope Castle was named after the same family that the Hope Diamond was named after- cool, huh?!

We came home and made the dinner and dessert. First, the dessert, of course. Ciara asked what I’d been missing at home and for some reason, I just missed cake! So we made chocolate cupcakes with the best homemade chocolate icing I’ve had in a long time. Then came the tart. I felt like such a bump on a log because Ciara just let me sit back and watch her cook because she insisted I relax as I was the guest. After a while I had NO problem with that. I just sat back with my glass of Cab-Merlot and watched her cook the most amazing thing! Y’all have to try it. Ok, she took all these vegetables- all kinds of peppers (because I love them now), an onion, minced garlic, and fresh tomatoes and cut and roasted them in a pan in the oven. I think they were covered in olive oil, too. Then she took a puff pastry (it was in the frozen food aisle…I’m not exactly sure where in the States you could find it, but maybe they sell them there…) and spread a mixture of Philadelphia cream cheese, garlic, and tomato pesto (I don’t like basil so she was sweet enough to use tomato pesto, but she says its real good with the basil one) on top. Then, when the veggies were done she put them on the pastry, covered it with mozzarella, cheddar (pretty much any kind of) cheese and put it back in the oven for a bit. Then, we ate it. SOOO good!! Oh man, it was amazing. Also, to top it off, her parents had all this beer in the Frigidaire and asked me to drink as much as I could, because, you know, they don’t drink beer. (They’re Irish!!) I did my best, but sadly, there was too much and I didn’t succeed in finishing it all.

Afterwards, we retired to the sitting room where we watched Sex and the City. I’ve never seen all the episodes, so we did our best to get through them. Her daddy, another aunt, and both grandmas came over during the rest of the night and I got to meet them all. It was a family reunion!! It was neat. Her daddy is obsessed with the States- completely. He was so cute about it. They’re going to Fort Meyers in Florida for over 2 weeks this summer and they can’t wait.

We went to bed kinda early because we had to get up early and take the bus into Dublin. I had a great first day on my break!!