London, My Final European Adventure

Our flight to London was not scheduled to leave until 3:30pm. So in the morning I went to campus to print off my rough draft of a 12 page paper that was due on Monday. That way I could go over it on the plane and quickly edit it when I returned Sunday night.

When we made it to the airport, it was filled with Italian soldiers in the uniforms. They were all saying good-bye to their families. The entire waiting room was filled with camoflauge. It was a pretty amazing site. Yet it was really sad, and made me miss my soldier. :(  It was heartbreaking seeing little kids give their daddy a kiss good-bye.

Our flight got delayed. The flights to London before and after ours were both cancelled, due to weather conditions (snow!). Luckily ours did not get cancelled but it was delayed by about a half hour, which was not bad.

The flight was a lot of fun actually. The flight attendants did not speak any Italian. We took EasyJet which is based out of the UK. All of the flight attendants had volunteered for this flight, because of the weather conditions. When the Italian passangers would complain about something or do something rude, the flight attendant would role their eyes or curse under their breath. It was great. They said the weather in London was really cold and would only be normal to Canadians :)  Right before landing, the flight attendant informed us that they would be shutting down the lights. "So if you are scared of the dark, either scream now or push the button above your head."

I quickly came to realize that I should have studied in London. The people were extremely friendly and funny. When we were looking at the "tube" map (the subway), a man came right up to us and asked where we were trying to go. And he didn't work for the public transport or anything. He was a genuinely nice guy. And he wasn't the only one we came across.

Our hostel was a nice like place. There was snow all over London and I felt like I was in a winter wonderland. As we were laying in our beds, ready to sleep, we could hear people with British accents out in the "corridor." :)  I told everyone I felt like I was at Hogwarts!!

Saturday morning we decided to get on a hop-on hop-off tour bus to see the city. The first two tour guides were great and made lots of jokes. Our first guides name was Nobby (pronounced Naw-be). Ummm....Dobby from Harry Potter? Yes! The third guide was an old man who was a complete jerk. He called this one person stupid for standing on the bus while it was moving.

Anyways, we saw Belgrave Square. It is an area with very expensive apartments, all look identical. We were told that a small apartment in this area would cost 10-15 million pounds. I don't even want to know what that would be in U.S. dollars.

We drove past an area that has a nice restaurant for some tea. Nobby, the tour guide, said he was going to get some tea and a fag on his break. Fag being a cigarette. But he corrected himself and said that he wasn't allowed to say things like that because of culture differences. lol.

There was a protest going on for climate change in London. We drove pass a line of about 20 large coach buses. Our 2nd guide, Aden, said, "It's kinda ironic that they are protesting climate change but took these huge buses all the way here." Got to love the British!!

Some interesting facts I learned. There are so many tress in London, that it is actually considered a forest. The most popular tree in the Plain Tree. These were planted to absorb the pollution. We saw Baker's Street, which is where the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes lived. At 221 Baker's Street to be exact. People write letters to this address still. Even if Sherlock Holmes was a real person, he would be dead by now!

There is telecommunication tower jutting out of the middle of London. It used to be the tallest building in London. This tower was not put onto maps until the 1980s because it was considered a top secret loction. Aden, the tour guide, said "So...Don't tell anyone!"

There was a large group outside of a store called TopShop. This group was protesting. Aden said, "Perhaps they didn't like the winter collection."

The first place we got off of the bus at was Hamley's. This is a toy store. It is basically a Toys R' Us on steriods. There are seven floors of toys!! I bought my first candycane of the season here. :)

For lunch we had Pizza Hut. I had been looking forward to this for a long time. I realize pizza is all over Rome, but Italian pizza is all thin crust cardboard. At Pizza Hut, I got some yummy thick crust. I am embarassed to admit...but I literally at 1/2 of the pizza.

Next we say the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the Abbey. These are all amazing to see. We couldn't go inside the Abbey because we didn't make it early enough. Things were already closing, which was really unfortunate.

We headed to the London Eye. The line moved really fast and we were on the ferris wheel in no time. It was an amazing view. It takes 40 minutes to make one rotation around the ferris wheel. I just wish the weather was nicer, that way we could have gotten some better photographs. Our tour guide told us that people have been married on the London Eye. And apparently there were inquiries about having a wedding reception on it as well. This is not allowed. Why? Because drinking is involved at receptions. And there is no bathroom, and it takes 40 mins to get in and out of the ferris wheel.

Next we saw the London Bridge and London Tower. It was getting late already, so we never got off of the bus to explore. We still had much to see and very little time to do it. Our last stop was Buckingham Palace. I was heartbroken to find out that there were no gaurds outside. Apparently they don't protect the palace when it gets dark out. :( 

We really missed out on a lot of things and I definitely want the opportunity to go back sometime. We didn't make it to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross (Harry Potter). But we did play in a red phone booth. There was a down button, so we attempted to get down to the Ministry of Magic, but we had no luck.

Tynisha needed her Hard Rock Cafe pin, so we walked from Buckingham Palace all the way to Hard Rock. It took her about 20 minutes to get her pin. Then we had to back track and walk even further to get to Victoria Station (train station). From here we hoped the train to Tower Hill.

This was the place we were to meet for our Jack the Ripper Tour. We got there a little early so we went into a pub for a quick drink. The tour was okay. Definitely not what I tought it was going to be. It was very informational but it wasn't at all scary. There was a lot of walking and it was raining out.

Our tour ended in the middle of nowhere. We had no idea where we were. Tim lead the way to what we thought was going to be the pub we had our drinks at. We were planning on having dinner there. Tim kept looking at a map, too stubborn to ask someone for directions. So I turned around and found someone to ask, which made things much easier.

When we got to the pub, it was nearly 10pm and their kitchen was closed. The train station at Tower Hill was also closed, meaning we would have to walk a distance to find another train station. I said, "I don't care what ya'll do, but I am taking a taxis." So I waved down a taxis and hoped in. Apparently my statement meant, we are all taking a taxi and Casey is paying for it. So 15 pounds later....

We ended up at Victoria Station, hoped the train to West Kensington (where our hostel was). Tim and I stopped at a place for some kebabs and fries. Bliss and Tynisha got some fish and chips.

Our plane left at 12:20pm on Sunday. We left the hostel at 9:30pm. This was my first time going through security that I did not beep, therefore I did not get padded down. I felt really proud of myself.

All and all....London was great. I didn't get to experience half of the things that I would have liked to, but with about 24 hours in a huge city like that, I couldn't expect much. The people were very friendly  and I haven't laughed that much for a long time. Now I have a little over a week until my time abroad is over. And I am very ready to come home.

Things I Miss or Take for Granted in the United States

1. My little Honda Civic
• I am absolutely sick of public transportation. I want to be able to go where I want, when I want, without having to wait for long periods of time. And without having to be in a crowded location.
2. Fast-food restaurants
• Especially Taco Bell.
3. Hot showers
• Often times I have to take a cold shower or else I skip a shower because I don't want to be in the cold.
4. Wal-mart and other department "super" stores
• I want to be able to find everything in one spot. I hate going to one store for groceries, another for office supplies, etc
5. 24 hour stores
• It is impossible to get anything from a store after 8pm at the latest.
6. The United States Postal Service
• The postal service here is impossible. The post office doesn't have any boxes to ship items (I still haven't found a place that does.) And the postal service is extremely slow.
7. Ranch dressing, peanut butter, and ketchup
• Ranch dressing is non-existant. Peanut butter only comes in smooth (I like crunchy) and is extremely expensive. Ketchup is also very expensive and often times hard to find. McDonald's charges a price for Ketchup, it is not a free "convenience." I found it odd that Ketchup is not a bigger thing, considering tamatoes are.
8. Cheddar cheese
• Italy is known for its cheese. However, it is completely impossible to find any yellow cheese. Which makes me sad, becaue I live off of it back home.
9. Clean/fresh air
• Cities have never been my thing and this one is no exception. I hate the way it smells and how ditrty it is. I want the fresh air of northwest WI countryside.
10. Nicer people
• In general, I would take a crabby American over a normal Italian. Italians glare and talk about you behind their hands. They are pushy and put American's last on their lists.
11. Silence at night-time
• Another reason I don't like cities is the noise. There is constant noises, whether it be a siren or someone's music from the apartment above.
12. Good cell phone service/ Working phone
• My apartment is in the middle of Rome and I do not get any cell phone service. It is ridiculous. It makes me the most mad when I find out that I missed a phone call from Michael. And when his phone calls do come through, we constantly get disconnected.
13. Green grass
• I miss healthy looking plants. Everything in the city is dirty and dead.
14. Use of the English Language
• I miss talking to people who understand me. lol
15. Feeling of "Home"
• I do not feel at home here in Italy. I feel very much out of place. I want the feelings of home again.
16. My Friends
• I miss my sorority sisters and my rednecks back home
17. My Family
• I have never been away from my family for Thanksgiving. It is hard being away from family for this long, especially when it is over a holiday.
18. Traffic Laws
• There are no traffic lanes in Roma. People drive down the center. People drive on sidewalks. Mopeds are even more dangerous. I have almost been run down several times.
19. TV with English channels
• I don't remember the last time I got to watch an actual TV station
20. Personal Space/Manners
• Italians do not know the meaning to personal space. There can be a ton of room on the tram, but they will stand right next to you so they are touching you.
21. Microwave
• I miss being able to heat up my leftovers in less than a minute using a microwave. Without a microwave, it takes about 10 times longer to get cooking done.
22. Drying Machine
• I hate having to hang my clothing out to dry. It takes way to long and I never feel like it is clean afterwards. Instead of laundry taking a few hours, it takes several days.
23. Country (well) Water
• I love well water. It is the best water to drink and to shower in. I refuse to drink the disgusting city water here. The water has also had a very bad effect on my hair.
24. Being able to use several different appliances at once
• I am unable to use the washer and the oven at the same time in Rome. Which makes it even harder to get things done.

Thanksgiving in Venice with our Italian friends

I am gonna start be playing a little catch up. I saw Harry Potter last week. The new one of course. It was absolutely amazing. The first night we went, it was sold out. The second night we went two hours early to get tickets. We ended up going to the theater 3 nights in a row trying to figure out if they were playing the movie or not. They didn’t know until the day before it came out. Which is something I do not understand. But at least we got to see it. That is all that matters to me J

That same night, after the movie, I went out for the first time in over a month. I went with Tynisha, Sam, and Guilia. Guilia speaks fluent Italian, so it was great having her along with us. At the end of the night, Travis walked us part way home and then we met Tynisha’s friend Keith who walked us rest of the way. Keith is from Spain and he decided it would be good to fight with me about politics. He is very liberal. All was fine and dandy until he brought up the war in Afghanistan. Then I got mad. The last thing he said to me that night was “I hate you.” I think I got my viewpoints across.

Wednesday night I spent four hours in the library. I had to finish writing a paper for classical mythology before I left for Venice. I figured the best way to do that was to lock myself into the library. For the paper, I had to go to a museum and sketch a drawing of a sarcophagus. Then I had to write a four page paper on it. It didn’t help that Michael was on facebook. It was a big distraction, but totally worth it…of course J 

Then Wednesday night when I got home, I couldn’t get my laundry out of the washer. I was very angry because it meant I would have to leave my wet laundry in the washer for five days. Apparently I didn’t drain the water out of the washer, so it wouldn’t open. But I am 99% positive that I did. When I took my laundry out the next morning, it weighed about 20 pounds because there was so much water soaked up in it.

Let me start now with a little background on our Italian friends. For the 1993 Birkie, we had a group of Italians stay at our home. I was only 3 years old at the time. Despite an elapse of 17 years, mom located their email before we left for Italy. We decided early on that we were going to meet with them over our Thanksgiving break.

Now to the weekend. Our weekend with our Italian friends started Thursday morning. Although it was Thanksgiving, it sure didn’t feel like it. There was no snow and no bright orange for hunting season. I didn’t realize how much I would miss being with my family. This was the first time that I openly admitted that I missed mom and dad. I quickly came to realize that I really take advantage of certain things back home.

Our plane to Venice left at 10am. I had a ton of homework that I had to complete, so my bag was nice and full of books. I have several final papers to write by next week. I am not a fan of the end of the semester.

As we were going through security, the guy in front of us got stopped. The security people were going through his bag. And you wouldn’t believe what they took out of it. A butcher knife!!! It was a legitimate brand new 8 in long butcher knife! I turned to Bliss and said, “He better not be getting on my flight with that thing!” I am unsure of whether or not they took it away from him. I am hoping so, since they take nail clippers away from people. If they didn’t, there is a major problem in their security. I can’t believe this man thought he was going to be able to get on the plane with it!

We had printed our tickets off from the website online. Our tickets said our plane was leaving from B13. We sat here for awhile and were confused as to why no one else was at the terminal. We realized just in time that our terminal had been changed to B11. Thank goodness Bliss is smart enough to figure that out.

After the butcher knife incident, I felt much safe when an Italian soldier got on our plane. I told Bliss “I want him to sit right next to me if the guy with the butcher knife is on our flight.” Then a priest got on…”He will pray for our souls when the butcher guy starts killing people.”

When our plane landed, there were cops waiting. My theory was that they were waiting at the other end to pick up the butcher knife guy.

Federico met us at the airport to give us a ride to his home in Noale where we stayed for the weekend. On our way to Noale, we stopped at Torre di Tessera. It was a small church from the early 1300s. It was closed but the owner was there and ended up letting us in. The church is only open for religious holidays and is privately owned. We even got to see the base of the tower. Federico’s uncle was married there. It reminded me of the “Sengbusch” cemetery by Eddy Whipps.

Riding in the car was intense. I am not one to get car sick, but I was feeling very nauseas. There were a million roundabouts that made my tummy flip. I didn’t help that the vehicle was manual, so it was really jerky too. Despite the bumpy ride, I was so tired that I almost fell asleep in the car.

We finally reached the home of Federico and his family. They lived in a yellow apartment building. Bliss and I stayed in a room with a fold-out couch and large flat screen TV. After we got settled in our room, we went up one floor of the apartment building to Federico’s mothers apartment. Here we had our first real homemade Italian meal. We had a delicious pasta, some potatoes and an “Italian-style” turkey. I quickly noticed several things about a typical Italian kitchen (unlike our apartment). The refrigerator was hidden behind cupboard doors along with the dishwasher.

After our Thanksgiving lunch, we rested for a little while. We couldn’t get the wifi to work on my computer so I had to hook up to a plug-in. Then my computer toolbar disappeared and I couldn’t access anything on my computer. Luckily after restarting my computer, it all went back to normal.

I had to opportunity to talk to Michael on facebook for a few minutes. However, facebook stopped working. Luckily I told Michael before hand that my computer was having issues. So instead of being on facebook, I caught up on Fox News. I read Fox News daily.

We ended up going along with Federico to pick up Martina (his daughter) from her music lessons.  Then the four of us stopped in downtown Noale and walked around for awhile. We saw a fortress and some swans. Martina got both me and Bliss a swan feather.

Once we got back to the apartment, by this time it was late, we started to watch Avatar. I also talked to Michael for a little longer this time. J Before the movie ended, we had to eat some dinner. We had rice, turkey, potatoes, and some slices of pork and ham.

After dinner I took a quick shower. Then we all sat and skyped with mom and dad. It was great to see them. And for everyone to be able to chat with each other again, after 17 years. After skyping we went to bed. It has been a long day and I was exhausted.

I came to realize very quickly that Martina was very much like me. She would beg her mother and when mom said no, she would go to dad. Actually, I told her that I always go to dad after mom says no and she followed my instruction. Oops!

Friday morning we woke up at 7am. I do not believe I have been up that early in several months now. It was a bit of a struggle. I could barely get myself out of bed. We had some Italian apple pie for breakfast. However, it didn’t settle with me very well since it was so early. I rarely ever eat anything before noon.

We left for the mountains at 8am. Bliss got sick in the car. I kept checking with her to see if she was okay. I told her to not wait until last minute to say something. It is better to have Federico pull over than for her to puke in his car! Right after I said this, Bliss finally asked him to pull over and she puked in her hands before she even got the door open. Ick! It was raining outside while Bliss was hanging her body out the door to puke, so Federico went and got an umbrella to put over her head.

At 300 meters up the mountain, it started to snow! I just about peed my pants in excitement. I almost forgot watch it was like to see snow. And that is saying something, considering I live in northwest Wisconsin. By the top we reached our location, it was a blizzard outside.

Mr. Bruno

We met Mr. Bruno at the gate of what appeared to be a cave. We were driving to see the Vjoint Dam. Federico works as an engineer and had some really great connections. We got to go into this cave/tunnel. Mr. Bruno had the keys. There was absolutely no one else there. And this place was huge! We had to wear yellow hard hats as we walked.

We got to go on this bridge that has no public access. The dam was right in front of us, but we could barely see it because of the weather. It was amazing getting this opportunity that no one would ever have. It was kinda scary at the same time. I threw my first snowball of the season at Bliss.

Lunch was in the mountains as well. The restaurant reminded me off. It was a small, cozy wood building. As we looked out of the window, it looked like a snow globe. For a second, I almost forgot that I was in Italy. But my little fantasy world was interrupted when the waitress starting speaking to us in Italian. When I went to the bathroom, I found out that the men and women share. It is a typical bathroom with stalls, but there are male stales and female stales. Instead of all female or all male. I was very intimidated when I came out of the bathroom to find a ton of guys standing there.

We then drove to a power plant that Federico works at. There was a very long tunnel that we had to walk through. For some reason, it reminded me of a Harry Potter movie. We saw all kinds of stuff in the plant. There were four huge red things that generated the power, each producing 60,000 horsepower. Again, we had to wear our yellow hard hats.

We drove to yet another center where we met the supervisor. We had to head back to Noale by this time, but we stopped in Treviso along the way. Treviso is the city were Federico went to high school from 1971-1975. We went into a church were Stefania’s sister was married. Below the “new” church is where the old church “cripta” was located. The church used to be underground! It was creepy, but beautiful.

Once we finally made it back to the apartment, Bliss and I both took a much needed nap. We were completely exhausted from a very eventful day. At dinner we had some more turkey and then went right to bed.

Saturday we got to sleep in a little later. We didn’t wake up until 8:30am. We took at rain around 10 to Venice. It was about a 30 minute train ride into Venice. As we were crossing a large bridge, we saw a bunch of boats that resembled canoes. However, they were standing up. They had between 2 and 5 people, each with a paddle. Federico said they were almost flat bottomed because the water is so shallow.

We met Roberto (another of our Italian friends) and Sarah, his girlfriend right when we got off of the train. Roberto told me that I looked just like my mother. J We did a nice long walking tour all around Venice. Starting with a fish market. I can’t get over how the food just sits out in the open, with people touching it. It is so unsanitary. Not that I would eat any of it anyways.

At lunch, Roberto and I talked about the war.(Roberto is the best English speaker) It was very obvious that both of us had opposing viewpoints. But it got brought up because of Michael. Roberto asked what the general consensus  of the Americans was on the war. I told him that I really don’t think people care anymore. Everyone has forgotten about it. The only people who pay real attention are the ones who have loved ones there.

I asked them if a microwave was not a normal occurrence in Italy. Roberto said he considered it a part of everyday appliances. However, many people don’t have him. Roberto went as far as saying it should win the Noble Prize! After eating, Roberto was telling us which way was east, then he pointed west and said “That way is Wisconsin.” J

We then took a boat to a tiny little island with a church. We went up into the church tower by elevator and got to see an amazing view of Venice. Venice is a very small island. I could see both ends. We took a boat back to the mainland of Venice and walked some more around the city. We ended at Roberto’s apartment.

Fabio came in with his twin sons who were 7 years old. Along with Roberto’s and Fabio’s (they are brothers) mother. She came in holding the picture that was taken 17 years prior. She spoke no English, but she was very excited to meet with us. So was Fabio. He came in bouncing around like a kid. He guessed who was who and got it right. Fabio didn’t speak much English, but it was very good English when he did speak. His best English involved him telling us how bad he was at speaking English. lol.

We were enjoying our time so much, that we ended up having to run to the train from Roberto’s house. We almost missed it and it was the last one of the night (7pm). When we made it back to Federico’s house, he took us to a mall where we bought some Murano glass.

Saturday we woke up at 8am. Stefania, Neata (another daughter of Federico), and Federico took us to Castelfranco. We got to see the house of Giorgione, a famous painter. It was a nice little museum.

We had some lunch back at Federico’s home and then headed to the train station, since our time with our Italian friends was coming to an end. Our train left Padova at 3:55pm. The train ride was a crazy one. I never get motion sick, but trains are just not my thing. I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. It was a 3 ½ hour train ride and I struggled the whole way. I was nauseas even once we got off of the train.

When we arrived to Rome, it was a complete downpour. I walked through about 4 inches of water, dragging my suitcase behind me. I did this several times and by the time we made it to the bus stop, I was soaked. We had to wait over a half hour for our bus to come. And the bus only took us as far as the tram stop. So then we had to hop on a tram to get rest of the way to our apartment. I had a growing hatred for public transportation.

Now I am back in Rome, with 19 days until I reach home. The next three weeks are going to fly by. I have several papers to write which will make time go by faster. I will be home in no time and can’t wait to see my family and friends!

Pictures from Paris

showing love for my soldier :)

Bliss and I under the Eiffel Tower

Bliss and I with the Eiffel Tower

Me standing outside of Notre Dame

Beyond Annoyed

It is Wednesday...not even 2pm and I have already had a very eventful day. And when I say eventful...I don't mean a good eventful.

I was completely prepared for a full day of classes today. I had my bag filled with about 30 pounds of books and my laptop. My plan was to spend all day on campus, 12-8.

I got to campus to find out that the internet wasn't working on campus. The entire thing is shut down. I needed to study for my mythology quiz after my first class. I needed to get onto the John Cabot website to look at study images my professor had posted. Since I couldn't get on the internet, I decided I would come back to my apartment for the 2 hour break I have between classes. Turns out the trams weren't running because of some protest. Lovely. I waited for awhile hoping one would show up...nope.

My next thought was to take the H bus...which brings me pretty close to were I need to be. Of course that never came either. By this time I was already annoyed and impatient. To add to it....an Italian man came up to me. He said he was from Italia and asked where I was from. I told him I was from America and he grabbed my hand and started kissing it! Then he asked if I had a boyfriend and I said "Yes!"...while flipping him off with my ring finger, which has my cladaugh ring on it. I ripped my hand away and stormed away.

So I walked to the next tram stop and realized that I was not going to walk all the way back to my apartment with my 80 pounds of crap. SO I waited for the tram. Which when it finally came a half hour later, it was crammed packed. But I got on anyway.

Now I am back at the apartment...can't be in my room because Bliss is sick and skipping class. Bliss has also taken over the entire "living room." It is filled with all of her stuff and her snorkie rags. I consider it completely infected. Therefore, I am sitting in the kitchen...which is dirty. I can't even put my laptop on the table because it is filled with rotting crap.

I am trying to get onto the John Cabot website, which is apparently not working anymore. I guess if the internet on campus doesn't work...neither does their website. So now I can't study the images for my quiz in mythology.  I am guessing that the internet won't start working anytime soon...therefore I am likely to fail the quiz, since I have no idea what is going to be on it.

Now I am sitting in our dirty kitchen...annoyed...and not getting anything I needed to get done done. I have two exams this week and 4 papers to write within the next month. And they are not short little papers...shortest one is 5 pages. All requiring scholarly research using the databases on the John Cabot library website. Which of course...I can't access either because of the internet.

Hopefully my day starts to get better rather than worse.....

Paris....Bonjour....Au Revoir

I loved Paris. I got to see everything. :) 

The weekend started out Friday morning. I woke up Friday at 6:30am because of a nightmare. The nightmare consisted of me waking up and going to the bathroom. Our other 2 rommates were gone for the weekend. When I went to the bathroom...their bedroom light was on. I freaked out and went back into my room to wake up Bliss. Bliss and I went to the kitchen and grabbed some knives. We walked into their bedroom and a man was sitting in the corner and came running at us. I woke up right when that happened. I had a really hard time falling back to sleep after that nightmare.

The actual weekend started at 10:15am when we met Tynisha and Tim to go to the train. When we were going through security at the Rome airport, we witnessed a nun getting patted down!! :0 I was starving so I got a disgusting salami sandwhich from a little booth. I didn't even finish the thing because it was so gross. When we got on the plane, we had to check our luggage. We took a cheap airline and they could only have so much baggage as carry-on. So they wouldn't let us put our luggage in the overhead things. We ended up having to wait at the baggage claim to get our luggage.

We took the Orlybus to a metro once landing in Paris. I was the only one of the four of us who got on the bus. The bus driver decided there were enough people on the bus...so he started to shut the door. I freaked and told him I needed to get off. Which I did. Tim told me I should have stayed on. I was like...are you kidding me, I have no idea where we are going, I am not riding a bus by myself in Paris. Crazy!?!? Tim said I just had to get off on the last stop. Turns out that wasn't the case at all. If I would have stayed on this bus, which there is absolutely no way I would have, I wouldn't been lost.

After getting off the bus, we had to take the metro to another train. Then we had to walk up 192 steps (or marches as the sign said) while carrying our luggage. I was basically crawling by the end. After a little confusion, we found our hostel. We stayed at the Caulain Court hostel. Our room was a 4 person room with 1 bunk and 1 double.

We didn't get to our hostel until after 5pm. We decided we would end the night with dinner and a view of the Eiffel Tower at night time. After taking 20 different trains to get to the Eiffel Tower, we had dinner. Our dinner costed us 91 Euro for the four of us. It was the most expensive meal I have eaten since being abroad. I had a delicious burger and fries. After dinner, we walked to the Eiffel Tower. No picture will ever show a true picture of the Eiffel Tower at night. Especially when it lights up!

We walked from the Eiffel Tower to a military thing. None of us were quit sure what it was. Then we continued to walk to the St. louis Cathedral. Which was absolutely gorgeous, especially lit up at night.

On our walk back, we had the typical guys on the street selling items, most of which were Eiffel Towers. One man said to me, "Oh goodness, Sexy Girl!" While under the Eiffel Tower, Tynisha and I were harassed by three guys who kept yelling "Hello" at us. Oh, and I guy from another country came and took a picture with me and Tynisha. We weren't really sure why...but we went with it.

I had to use the bathroom really bad, so we found a public toilet. It was the most complicated thing I have ever used. I was right next to the Eiffel Tower. Only one person could use it at a time and it was huge. You had to wait outside for the green light to show. The the door would open and you would enter. After the door closes, you can push a button for instructions, which of course wasn't in English. Once you finished, the toilet wouldn't flush. But once you left, the door closed and the light turned blue. The bathroom was than completely sanitized (the floor, toilet, and sink). It was ridiculous.

We had to take 20 different trains to get back to our hostel. I about fell asleep on the train. My feet were in pain from all the walking we had done. I hadn't come across any rude people. From what I heard prior to coming to Paris, the French hate Americans. But I never had any problems. 

On Saturday, Bliss and Time went to Varailles (or however you spell it). They left at 7:30am and didn't bother being quiet while they got ready. Typical. Tynisha and I didn't wake up until 9:30am. We planned to spend the entire day in Rome. I paid to see Rome...and that is what I was going to do.

Tynisha and I started at the Eiffel Tower. We then walked all the way to The Louvre. We underestimated the distance, but we ended up finding a nice little path all the way there along the river. We had originally planned on taking a tour bus called the Batobus. However, we were unable to locate it while at the Eiffel Tower. As we walked to The Louvre, Tynisha pointed towards the river and said "there is the Batobus!" I was really confused...since I was looking for an actual bus. Turns out the Batobus was a boat on the river. Ha!

The Louvre was great. I am really not the museum type..but this was definitely worth it. The outside was gorgeous. The pyramid was amazing. The inside was huge. It was like a maze. And in the very center of the maze was the Mona Lisa. It took us quit some time to finally find the Mona Lisa, but it was definitely worth it. The artwork inside The Louvre ranges from Egyptian to Roman to whatever your else your heart desires.

After The Louvre, we took the Batobus (now that we knew what it was) to Notre Dame. Notre Dame was a jaw dropper. It was absolutely gorgeous, inside and out. I was obsessed with trying to get to the bell tower to locate Quasimoto from the Disney movie "Hunchback of Notre Dame." Unfortunately we were not allowed up. :'(

Tynisha and I had lunch at Subway. This Subway didn't have any ranch dressing...which I was thoroughly disappointed about.

After lunch we walked to the Latin Quarters on our way to Luxembourg Palace and Gardens. The Luxembourg Gardens were amazing. It was huge and green. I believe it was the most green grass/plants I have seen since arriving abroad. However, it was really open right in front of the palace. Which resulted in a lot of wind. Tynisha's umbrella ended up breaking or "dying" as I liked to call it. The wind was so strong that I thought I was gonna blow away. We kept saying one of us was going to take off into the air like Marry Poppins.

We then started to head back to the Eiffel Tower. We realized that it was a long walk and didn't want to go the whole way on foot. So we figured out the bus system. We took the bus to the abalisk. Then from there we walked to the Arc...which was a lot farther walk than we anticipated as well. That is one thing I hate about large monuments/buildings. They look like they are close, but you never seem to get any closer to it. By this time, my feet were burning.

The arc had some type of military ceremony going on right underneath it. So we weren't able to touch it or anything. But we got a couple pictures from across the street. And we used a bus to get back to the Eiffel Tower. At this point, it was a little after 7pm. We decided we needed to do some bargain shopping with the street guys. We got a couple of souvenirs at really good prices and headed back to the hostel. When we got to the hostel, Bliss was laying in bed and Tim had his comfy clothes on. We all ended up going out to eat. Then I went right back to the hostel to bed.

On Sunday, our plane left at 9:45 am. We had to leave our hostel at 7am. It was a very short weekend and I really wish we had more time. We basically had one day in Paris. It makes me really sad. Cause I feel like I was rushed through everything. Paris was the top place I wanted to visit, followed by London which is coming up in a few weeks.

Needless to say, I had an amazing time in Paris and would definitely like to go back someday. Next time I will definitely plan more time in the area so that I don't feel rushed. :)

Productive Weekend Alone

Tim and Bliss went to Florence and Venice this weekend, I decided to stay behind. The cost of the train alone was $142. And they weren't even spending 24 hours in each of the cities. The train ride from Venice to Rome is over 6 hours!! I felt like I needed to safe some money and get some school and personal stuff done. Although this didn't settle well with the others at first. I really hope they are having a great time, because I am enjoying my time alone.

The past two days I have been working on internship and job applications for this coming summer. I wanted to get a nice headstart on it. At least this way I won't have to worry about it when I return next semester. I have finished about 16 applications or internship inquiries. I feel very accomplished.

Now I have to work on my essay that is due on Monday. It is for mythology. I haven't even picked a top yet. Oopsies. Here I go procrastinating again. But that will be my job for tomorrow. Tonight I will finish up my statistic homework. And by tonight I mean...at midnight. Considering it is already 11:30pm.

I slept in really late today, so I am not tired. I was up all night working on my job/internship stuff. I am hoping it all pays off. I need to get back on a sleeping schedule though. So I am forcing myself to wake up early tomorrow. That way I will be tired on Sunday night and actually get some sleep. I think I am starting to get immune to my sleeping pills. They only work sometimes and when they do, they take a really long time to kick in.

I haven't talked to Michael since October 14th...its going on a month. :(  I know he has been really busy and all. He gets on facebook every once and awhile which is good. Cause atleast I know that he is alive and well. It is still nice to hear his voice though.

I am ending this procrastination. Time  to get back to my statistic homework.

A Weekend in My Homeland....GERMANY!!

Guten Tag!!

I just got back from one interesting weekend in Frankfurt, Germany.

We met up with everyone at the train station Friday morning at 6:40am. Our plane was supposed to leave at 9am...but they didn't even start boarding until 9am. Yet somehow we made it to Frankfurt 5 minutes earlier than our scheduled time. Not sure how that worked out. But our plane flew over the Alps. It was a gorgeous view...lots of snow.

After landing in Frankfurt, we had to find the train station to get to our hostel. Of course no one was willing to ask, so I went up and asked some guy at an information desk. While everyone stood about 30 feet away from me. I don't understand them sometimes. Once we finally found the station, we couldn't figure out how to get tickets from the machine. Everyone stood there for literally 10 minutes trying to figure it out. And I went up to a desk and asked a man...who gave me a ticket. :)  There is nothing wrong with asking directions! I didn't come to Germany to spend my time in an airport trying to get a ticket out of a machine.

Anyways, the train ride to the center of Frankfurt was short. We knew our hostel was going to be located in the Red Light District, but I guess I didn't realize what we were getting into. The Red Light District was several blocks long and several blocks wide. Every building was either a sex store or a stripper club. The streets were packed with men of all ages. People were doing drug deals on the street and one guy was even sniffing some sort of drug.

Eating lunch was the first thing on our "to-do" list. We had lunch at this lovely German restuarant. I got patatoe soup, a brat, and mashed patatoes. The food was amazing. It's so different then the type of food we get to eat in Rome.

Over lunch I was telling a story about something (I don't recall what it was). And I said "they are such Nazis about it." Tim looked at me like I was crazy. I was completely confused until Tim explained we were in Germany. And it is a sensitive subject for them. lol.

After lunch we headed back to the hostel to do some research on the area. The lady who worked at the hostel had no clue about anything in the area. She didn't even know where there was souvenir shopping. Tim asked her where he could get a pair of Birkenstocks....she was really confused. So she sent us in the direction of Frankfurts fifth avenue shopping. Which was definitely not what we were looking for. I didn't come to Frankfurt to go designer clothes shopping.

We ended up going to St. Bartholomew. It is the prettiest church in Frankfurt. :)

After we headed back to the hostel again to check into our room. Since we weren't allowed to until 4pm. When we got up to the room, there were already 4 beds taken. It was a 6 person room and there was for of us. We had to go back downstairs and explain that 8 people were booked in a 6 person room. They ended up upgrading us to an apartment for the night...otherwise they would have to had split us up. Which we weren't having, since we had booked the hostel 2 months ago!! The apartment had 2 double beds, a kitchen, private bathroom, and tv. We got lucky on that one.

We went to dinner in the pub area of Frankfurt. It was about a 25 minute walk across the river. I got porkloin, fried patatoes, and a mixed salad which had patatoes in it. I also got my first taste of German beer...Apple Wine. We ended up taking a taxi back to the hostel, because it was cheap and we didn't want to walk through the Red Light District when it was so active. I think the taxi cab driver was confused why 3 girls and 1 guy wanted to be dropped off in the center of the Red Light District!! lol

We were all in bed by about 10 pm. We are always really tired after the first day. Tim ended up talking in his sleep. It scared the crap out of me. I was waiting for him to smother me in my sleep or something.

Saturday we left the hostel at 10am for the flea market. We were hoping we would be able to get some souvenir shopping done here. I assumed it was going to be like the Porta Portese in Rome, but it wasn't. The Frankfurt flea market was basically a junk sale. So we decided to go to Old Town where we finally found a total of 5 souvenir shops. Let's just say that Frankfurt isn't much of a tourist location.

As we were walking, we came across a Subway. I about peed my pants in excitement and went running inside. Of course I was followed, and we ended up having lunch at Subway. I got to have ranch dressing and cheddar cheese for the first time since being abroad. It was absolutely amazing.

Then we went to play in a park. Tim and I played in the leaves, while Bliss took pictures of us. We went up Main Tower to see the gorgeous view of Frankfurt. Then headed to a box office to buy tickets for a play.

The play was at 6pm. We saw Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolf. It was interesting, funny, and really confusing. Not sure if I really cared for it or not. But it was at the English Theater.

After the play we had dinner. I got one beef sausage, one pork sausage, and one Frankfurter sausage with mashed patatoes.

When we were walking back to the hostel, Tim made a comment about having a nice butt. I laughed hysterically and he said I was jealous of him. And then he asked if I thought he had a nice butt. I told him I have never looked at it, so he did a little model walk down the sidewalk. I inform him that I can't look at it because my eyeballs will burn out of my head. :)

As we walked through the Red Light District, I was apparently the main attraction. I didn't even notice until Tim told me to keep walking blonda. That is his signal that I am being creeped on. Apparently he had to glare at every guy that we walked passed. Including a taxi driver who was talking on his cell phone and went, "OOOOO." I told Tim it didn't bother me...because at least the Germans just look and don't touch, unlike the Italians who are overly friendly.

Saturday night we got moved back into the hostel room we were supposed to originally stay in. It was for 6 people, so 2 others that we did not know stayed there as well. We got to the hostel around 11pm and one of our roommates was already sleeping. She ended up getting up at 7am and was extremely noisy on her way out. Our 2nd roommate didn't come home until 4:30am and was still sleeping when we left at noon.

After we checked out of our hostel Sunday, we walked to get some breakfast. There ended up being a huge Frankfurt running marathon. So we had to run with the runners to cross the street. Which was definitely a site to see with me in my heels. I think Tim, Tynisha, and Bliss almost died laughing as they watched me run across the street.

We to take a 100 minute boat tour after grabbing some breakfast. We had lunch on the boat as well, which was yummy. Then we headed to pick up our baggage so we could go to the airport. That's when we realized that it was daylight savings, so we had an extra hour. But everyone wanted to go to the airport anyways.

We ended up having to wait over 30 minutes for the ticket line to open up. Then once we finally made it to security, things starting getting interesting. I set off the beeper when I went through. So a security lady made me come over into this little booth, where she padded me down. I was wearing jeggings (jean colored tights), but she felt up and down my legs numerous times. Even though there was obviously no room for me to hide anything. After I felt completely violated, she made me take off my boots and she sent them through the xray thing, and finally gave them back. I thought I was all clear...but I wasn't. The security guy was holding onto my carry-on. I went over there and asked what was wrong. He made me open it and he grabbed a box that was in there. He asked what was in it, but I couldn't remember, since everything I bought was put in some kind of wrapping. So he made me open it. It ended up being a musical ballerina I had boughten in Old Town. He handed it to me and told me to open it. I tried to tell him that it didn't open, that it played music. So I turned it so that it would play music. He flinched, maybe because he tought it was going to blow up? Well he took it from me and put it to his ear...then went to consult with a fellow security person. I thought they were going to take it away, but he finally gave it back. Apparently they thought my musical ballerina was a homemade explosive device.

To add to everything, my eye starting hurting on Saturday. I think there was a rip in my contact, but silly me didn't bring an extra pair nor did I bring my glasses. So I suffered through it until we were on the boat tour. I finally decided I rather be blind then go through the pain, so I took it out. And my eye felt 10 times worse. It would not stop watering and was turning more red by the minute. My only thought is that I scratched my eyeball.

As I thought about things, I came to the conclusion that the security person probably thought I looked like a psycho since my one eye was swollen, red, and watery. That's why they were so suspicious.

Our flight didn't leave Germany until 6:45pm. I am happy to be back in my bed here in Rome, but I definitely miss the weather in Germany. It reminded me so much of home.

Insomnia and Mean Old Ladies

It is nearly 3am in Rome. And I can't fall asleep. I took sleeping pills around midnight...they seem to be having no effect. I have an exam tomorrow that I am supposed to get up early and study for!! Really wishing sleep would come.

Not sure if I mentioned this before...but I joined a website for military personnel's significant others. Dad suggested I find some other people who are going through the same situation I am with Michael. So that is what I did. Some of the people on there are amazing and really helpful. Others are inconsiderate, rude, and immature (and most of these women are married with children).

Let me take for example a lady who refers herself to "Queen of the Entire Universe." The name right away screams crazy. This lady informed me that I was just another military men's fling who sees dog tags as a trophy. :o  Who the hell does she think she is?  I told her she was being rude and she said she didn't care about my opinion. Who does that? It is one thing to have an opinion and disagree with someone...it is another to make those people feel bad/degraded in the process. Which is what many of these women on this site do. They sure as hell don't act their age. Another women (I think it may have even been the same one) said that when women wear their significant others dog tags....it is just to show that they "nailed a military man." Is that not going to far? Yes you can have an opinion, but there is a point where it crosses the line. And that was definitely crossing the line, which I told her. Then I had all these ladies telling me I needed to grow a "thicker skin" because I get offended to easily. Who wouldn't be offended by a statement like that!?

They women saying these things are married!!! And many of them have children! They are acting like middle schoolers. It is absolutely ridiculous. And even one of the moderators on the site was calling this one girl "crazy" because she put her bfs dog tags on her review mirror when she was driving. That started a whole identify theft fight. Which I can understand, but this girl said she only did while she was driving. Another girl (whom I have come to like) said that, if a person can get the SSN off of the dog tags that are hanging in a moving vehicles rearview mirror...they deserve it!! Ahaha. Amen sister!!

Instead of being nice and saying...I really wouldn't suggest putting the dog tags in your rearview mirror. These women are like "are you fucking nuts!" Which again...I see this as crossing the line. Being a psychology major, I know that that form of communication will not result in the girl taking the dog tags off her rearview mirror. Nothing comes out of lecturing her about it. I'm 20 years old and even I know that!

I was also lectured in another forum that I shouldn't tell anyone the my bf is deployed in Afghanistan. Apparently that will make me a target cause I am home alone and someone will break in my house and rape me. How ridiculous! I am a 20 year old college student who lives on campus. I love showing my patriotism and support for the troops. And I will do so publicly. But the ladies tell me I should never let anyone know "the man of the house" is away. (??)

In yet another forum, I discussed the idea of getting a dog. I recieved responses about the fact that I didn't understand what went into caring for a dog. I explained that I raised 48 huskies and still they didn't think I was responsible enough. Apparently raising one dog is totally different than raising 48...and it is apparently harder? I was also told by someone who resided in Alaska...that she knows how "sled dog" kennels operate. I informed her that we raised all 48 huskies on our own...we didn't hire people to care for them for us. That shut her up real fast.

I swear that these woman have no lives. They are probably jobless and thrive off of the fights they can start on the internet. They feel that they are better than everyone else on the site because they have "lived the lifestyle" longer. Just because you have been in the situation longer, doens't make your opinion any better than the next persons. I don't care who you are. And there is absolutely no reason for them to make people feel the way they do. Especially considering the fact that it is supposed to be a support site....people are supposed to feel better after they get done with viewing the page. They are supposed to feel worse about themselves! It is absolutely appalling the way some "adults" act.

Now that I am done ranting about all that. I have a mid-term in psychology tomorrow. I have to do good in it, since my last test in that class wasn't as good as I would like it to be.

I emailed my advisor back home about what classes to take next semester. She informed me that I had yet to fill the GS5 requirement. Back in high school, I had taken two college English courses. I have a signed sheet, which I have shown the registrar several times, approving these courses to transfer as a GS5. I have sent them a copy of this form several times, and yet they won't accept it! So I have to now have my mom photocopy yet another copy and email it to them. Ughhh.

On the bright side of things...I will be going to Germany this weekend. Gives me something to look forward to. :) Oh and I dropped Intro to Italian today as well. I feel so much better about my course load now. I had a mythology exam that I think I did pretty good on. My Stats exam score was okay...not great. But it was about what I expected. I have never been good at math.

I am in the process of finding a new place to live next semester. Since my roommates now hate me. For whatever reason, I do not know. But I am not willing to put up with all that drama for an entire semester. I think I would rather sleep in a cardboard box. Which I might end up having to do. =/  But Laura said she would take me in and care for me. lol. I am hoping that I will be able to get a single room. So I don't have to deal with a new roommate or anything. But frankly...anything would be better than living where I am supposed to be next semester. No joke.

Okay there I went ranting again. :o  I suppose I should force myself to sleep. Maybe I can try counting sheep or something. But everytime I try to sleep...I have too much on my mind and it won't shut off. Ughh. Well I guess I will try for the hundreth time. Good Night!!

Photoshoot and some more procrastination

This past week I had two mid-terms. I think I did fairly well on them. They weren't as bad as I thought they were going to be...which is a plus.

Friday I had my Little Black Dress photoshoot. :) It was a lot of fun. Let me explain it first.
Last semester (spring 2010) I did a "photoshoot" for the Tea Party. I basically walked around and handed out fliers and a photographer followed me around a took pictures for a book that Capitol Models was producing. It was an unpaid shoot, but they promised other opportunities in the future. So I got an email a while back inviting me to make a submission into a new book they are producing. The Little Black Book. Submissions are done by invitation only, so I felt pretty lucky to be asked!!

Anyways, I started doing research right away on photographers in Italy. I found one. Not only did a find a photographer, but I also found a clothing designer, hair dresser, and make-up stylist. And I got them all to contribute their time for free. Yay!!

So on Friday I met up with everyone. We met at 9:30 am. It took nearly 3 hours to have my hair and make-up done. I was really happy with how it turned out. The clothing designer made a dress especially for me. I even picked out the design!! :):) It turned out lovely.

The photoshoot lasted less than an hour. All the time spent to get ready and the actual shooting was real short. But I am fine with that. I think we got some really great pictures and I cannot wait to see how they turn out!! :)

Saturday I spent the entire day in bed. Only to get up and go to dinner with Tim and his dad!

Today Bliss and I went to the flea market. I got two pairs of boots. :) Very happy with my purchases. OOOhHHH and I got a pair of booties :) That I haven't taken off since I got them. hehe.

Now I should be studying for my exams tomorrow...but again I am procrastinating. I have decided that I am going to drop my Intro to Italian course. I need to focus on my other classes. I can't afford to fail those classes, because I need them to graduate. And this language course is stressing me out way too much. It will be better this way. :)

This is a really fast blog...sorry for not giving much detail into the life of Casey, but I am ready for bed!!

Mid-Term Week...Procrastination

This week and next week I have mid-terms. I am completely worn out and I am lacking the ability to study. I am having a really hard time concentrating in classes because I have too much on my mind. And the stuff on my mind has very little to do with school.

I just took one of my mid-terms and it wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. Which is a relief. It was the one that I was most intimidated by. Later today I have my statistics exam. I am freaking out about it and am currently taking a break from studying. I hate math and I am dreading this exam. I have a bounding migraine and just want this day to be over.

Next week I have 3 mid-terms. So it wont be any better than this week. But at least I have Germany to look forward to next week. This Friday, I have a photoshoot. I am doing this Little Black Dress project. I get to submit my photos into a book. Which is really great. I have a clothing designer who is making me a dress, a photographer, a make-up stylist, and a hair stylist all set up. I am meeting them at the studio Friday at 9:30am. I am hoping that it doesnt last too long, since I have a ton of study to do yet. But I am excited and it should be a great time.

I am glad I didnt make plans to go anywhere this coming weekend, because I would never get any studying done. I am going to force myself to go to the library and study. I have also been working on internship stuff this week. I have a list of all the places that I want to inquire about internships. Currently I am looking in Kentucky. I am sure you know why.

This week is homecoming week back at St. Norberts and I am really sad that I am missing out on all the events. But it sounds like the Kappas are doing a great job. Just wishing I could be there for it.

The weather in Rome is finally starting to cool down. I am actual cold at night time. Our apartment has become an ice box. It is warmer outside than in the apartment. Which I thought would be a good thing, but I freeze. I am glad it is now sweatshirt weather. I am no longer drenched in sweat by the time I reach school.

I guess I should stop procrastinating and get back to studying. I am waiting for Bliss to assist me with some Stats problems. Ughhh. Wish me luck!!

Weekend in Athens, "OPA!"

I just spent the most amazing weekend in Athens. To say the least, I did not want to leave. I am really wishing I had the opportunity to study in Greece rather than Italy, but St. Norbert didn't have a program. There are so many reasons why I love Athens, and I will explain them all below!!

The weekend started Friday morning. We hoped on a train at 9am to the Fumincio Airport. When checking into the airport, I had this young Italian lady shoving me out of her way to get in the front of the line. I wasn't having it. She ended up checking in another faster line. I watched as she ran to security. The security lady wouldn't let her go through security because her suitcase was too big. The pushy lady was freaking out and practically on her knees begging to be let through. But the security lady made her go back in line and check her baggage. Hehe. Karma is a bitch.

We boarded our plane at 10:30am. We got to our boarding area just in time. We took Easy Jet, which is a discount airline. So there was free seating. The whole flight consisted of them trying to sell refreshments for a very expensive price. Followed by them trying to sell all kinds of other products. It was really annoying.

We arrived in Athens at 2:15pm. We searched for a place to get our passports stamped, but couldn't find it. Apparently they don't care about the passport unless you are leaving or coming into Europe. We took awhile to figure out the metro system. And the ride to our hostel was really long. A young couple was sitting next to us and the man said that we had to be from the United States. Apparently we screamed American because we were smiling. I thought this was weird at first, but after thinking about it, he is right. No one in Italy ever smiles. Everyone looks like they are pissed off all the time. I guess that was common in Athens too.

We made it to our hostel after 3pm. We stayed at the AthenStyle Hostel which was rate #1 hostel in Greece. The front desk lady was extremely nice and spoke very good English. She said my last name perfectly and I felt this urge to hug her. Our room was just for the four of us. It had two bunk beds and a private bath. Tynisha and I called dibs on bottom bunks. So Bliss and Tim had to be on the top.

Just an interesting fact about Athens, and probably all of Greece. You are not aloud to flush toilet paper down the toilet. Apparently they have a huge problem with clogged toilets. So whenever using the bathroom, toilet paper had to be thrown in the garbage. Gross!

Our first mission in Athens was to find food. We ended up eating at an authentic Greek restaurant. The staff was extremely friendly and not in a creepy, perverted way like in Rome. I ordred pork chops and a caesar salad. It was absolutely amazing. Tynisha ordered a greek salad and introduced me to feta cheese, which I fell in love with. When we were leaving the restaurant, the owner taught me how to carry my purse while in Athens. And explained that pickpockets work together (one shoves you and the other takes your purse).

After lunch/dinner we did some shopping. I quickly discovered Kombolói or worry beads. They are part of the modern Greek culture to relieve stress. They resemble prayer beads, but have no religious significance. I would say it is similar to a worry stone back in the states. They come in every color and design you could think of. There are even shops where you can make your own. I am carrying my worry beads with me right now. They are my new obsession.

Some of the worry beads had the "evil eye" on them. And much of the jewelry just consisted of a blue evil eye. The evil eye is believed to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike. I would like to believe that it actually worked that way...but unfortunately it probably doesn't.

We were told that the roof of our hostel had a very good view of the Acropolis at night. And boy were they right. There are absolutely no words to descirbe the view. And no picture will ever do it justice.

We decided to get gyros for a night time snack. It was probably the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life. I could have sat there and ate them until I exploded...which wouldn't be very lady-like, so I decided against it. While we finished eating our gyros, some loud music started in the middle of the square. We wandered over and witnessed some amazing Greek break dancing. I was immediately in love and would have watched for hours. Nothing like that happens in Rome.

The night ended early. None of us felt like going out, so we were all laying in bed by 8:52pm Rome time and 9:52 Athens time. We were being lazy bums. I didn't sleep well at all. I read until about midnight and didn't fall asleep until awhile after that. I didn't bring my sleeping pills because I figured I would be exhausted from traveling. So by the morning, I was tired and crabby.

Saturday we started the day off at 9:30am. We first went to Ancient Agora. The other three were walking in front of me, but decided that none of them wanted to be the first to go in. Frustrated, I pushed past them and told the guy at the counter that I needed a ticket. He was probably the rudest guy I have met since being abroad. He wasn't much older then me. When I was reading the price list, he started snapping his fingers at me and saying "Look at me. Look at me." I didn't hide my digust and looked at him with a not so nice face. I finally was able to get a student priced ticket.

I came to realize that no one is ever going to take me serious because I am a little blond American girl. Which started to make me really mad as I was realizing this. I am probably ten times more educated than the rude guy at the ticket counter, but I will never be treated that way. It makes me wonder whether or not getting my Ph.D. will matter in life.

Well back to Athens. Tim, Tynisha, and Bliss are not ones to take intiative. They stand around looking at one another until the other makes a move. For example, when searching for the place to get our passport stamped, Tim came up with the idea that we should go ask someone. He said that all there was to it was to show them your passport and ask "where can I get a stamp." It is as easy as that. I looked at him and said, "Well if you have it all figured out, why don't you go ask." Which of course he wouldn't. They all like to stand around saying lets do this or that and wait for me to finally do something about it. It has become a pet-peeve of mine. I am always the one who has to step up and lead the way.

As we were walking through Ancient Agora, I started to wonder how the Romans (in particular) and the Greeks went from believing in hundreds if not thousands of different gods to believing in one god. It just doesn't make sense to me.

We were starving so we ended up back at the gyro place from the night before. As I sat eating my gyro, I noticed the both the men and women in Greece are much more attractive then those in Rome. I have not found one attractive guy in Rome. Not that I am looking or anything, but it is something that isn't hard to notice.

Now for the trek up to the Acropolis. It was one hell of a hike. By the time I reached the top, I was drenched in sweat and dying for some water. Unfortunately we couldn't find any place that sold any up there. The entrance to the Acropolis was free on Saturday. I am guessing it was because of the recent strike. There was a coach bus filled with police officers on top of the Acropolis. I am guessing it was due to the strike that apparently happened, that I didn't see.

The Acroplis was amazing. Not as gorgeous as it looks at night time, but it was still spectacular. However, it was extremely hot way up on the hill. So we headed back down to get some water before we all passed out. We also had lunch too. We couldn't decide where to eat, and as we were passing a restaurant, one of the waiters said that "Here is the best." I looked at him and said, "well if here is the best, then I want to eat here!" Soooo that is where we ate. And it was to die for. I got some feta cheese and a traditional Souvlaki shish kebap. The food was mouth watering.

I was beginning to wish that I studied abroad in Athens instead of Rome. I wish I had more time to do some island hoping throughout Greece. I can't even tell you how much I loved Athens.

To end our day on Saturday, we went to the 2004 Olympic stadium. I was really disappointed. Yes it was a beatutiful set up, but it wasn't taken care of. It was completely deserted and rundown. There was graffiti all over everything. We weren't able to go inside anything. It was not worth the three different metros we had to take to get there. I couldn't believe how much money they put into it and now it was just sitting there.

We ended up having dinner at the gyro place. I had donner pork with feta cheese. We initially had a Greek waiter, but an English speaking waitress took over for him. Since he was really confused.

Sunday morning we had to check out of the hostel at 10am. We were able to leave our suitcases at the hostel. Which was great because I really wasn't looking forward to dragging them around. We did a little bit of shopping and got some food. Ohhh and the break dancers performed again right before we had to leave. I got a lot of it on video :)

We made it home around 4pm. I took a three hour nap, at dinner, and went right back to sleep. I was really tired since I couldn't fall asleep in the hostel.

I am sad to be back in Rome. Back to all the rude people. I am looking forward to our next weekend trip to Germany!!

Best Day EVER!

This may sound crazy, but today was my best day in Rome so far. I have been really down in the dumps lately. After the nightmare involving Michael, and not talking to him in over two weeks. Nothing really seemed to be cheering me up. All I wanted to do was be locked away in my room in the dark and be alone. I would go as far as saying I was just plane depressed.

Today however, Michael finally called!! We got disconnected four times, but I still got to hear his voice. But to make things better...he finally got skype!! He doesn't have a computer over there, so he had to borrow a friends and download skype on it. It took as about an hour to finally get connected and stay connected. The interent over in Afghanistan kinda sucks. But I finally got to see him for the first time since he left. It was the greatest feeling ever.

It put me in an immediately wonderful mood. :):):):):):):)  No more depressed Casey. I am hopefully going to skype with him tomorrow too. I told him that I was sure the Marines didn't have problems with their internet. Haha. I always poke fun at him since my daddy is a Marine. I am partial between Marines and the Army.

Michael and Me the day he left :)

A Week With An Egyptian

Things have been crazy and I haven't had the opportunity to make a blog entry. This past week Laura was in Rome. Laura is one of my sorority sisters who is studying abroad in Cairo, Egypt. It was a great week!!

It all started on Mon, Oct 4th. Laura showed up in my apartment with Tim at 8:45 in the morning. I was still sleep but Laura woke me up with a huge hug. :)  It was the best wake up present ever. Tim and Laura dragged me out of bed to grab some breakfast. which consisted of a sugar donut. After I had to go back to the apartment to get ready for classes. I had class from noon till 8pm. I came home to a nice supper of pasta and sausage with Laura.

At 9am Tuesday morning, I met Laura at the bus stop to go to Vatican City. We did some shopping around the area. Collected a few religious items to be blessed by the pope. We tried to get our tickets to meet the pope, but we weren't able to until 3pm. And I had class at 2:15, so Laura had to get them on her own. But first we had lunch at the T-Bone Station. We each got a yummy burger (YAY American food!). I had to meet with my group for a project at 1:15. So Laura headed back to the Vatican to get the tickets. They people who gave her the tickets informed her that the viewing with the pope didn't start until 10:30am, but suggested that we begin lining up at 8am.

So Wednesday morning we woke up at 6:30am. We left the apartment at 7 to meet Laura at the bus station to head back to the Vatican. When the gates opened, it was crazy. All these old people started running across the square. It was absolute chaos. I have never seen so many old people running before. Hehe. We ended up getting in the front row. Yay!! There were hundreds, no thousands of people that showed up. The only people who sat in front of us were a group from NATO. The pope came out on his popemobile. He was wearing a red hat. They drove around the entire square. The pope would wave to everyone. Then he went and sat in a chair right in front of St. Peter's. I would describe it as a lovely throne. Everything that the pope said, he repeated in 7 different languages. It was a long process.

It was hot and the pope talked very slowly. I thought I was going to pass out. Tim told me I was going to be struck by lightning in the middle of the square. :)  I had to leave in the middle of one of the pope's speeches. I felt really rude. Everyone was glaring at me. But I had a huge presentation in my class that I couldn't miss. My professor made it very clear that it was unacceptable to miss class to see the pope. So I had to speed walk all the way to campus. When I got there, we couldn't get our presentation to load, soooo we didn't end up doing it. Lovely. I was quit angry that I had to walk out on the pope for that.

We decided to go out that night. We wanted to show Laura the nightlife in Rome. Luckily she was there to protect me because a bartender got a little carried away that night. I was in the ladies bathroom right before bar closing. Laura was about to go to the bathroom too when the bartender walked in. She must have known something was going to happen, and she said she didn't have to go to the bathroom anymore. Right after, the bartender came up and ran his hands down my face like he was going to kiss me. Laura pointed at him and yelled "NO!" She grabbed me and pulled me out of that bar. Thank god for sorority sisters!! Got to love those Italian men. NOT!

Thursday I had class from 2:15-3:30. After class, Laura and I went to the Colosseum. I absolutely love the Colosseum, so I didn't mind going with her again. We had a great time, did a lot of sister bonding. We were going to do the Roman Forum as well, but it was closed by the time we got out of the Colosseum.

On our way back to the apartment, we ended up taking the right bus the wrong way. This happened last time I went to the Colosseum. Just my luck. So we spent over an hour on the bus. When we got back to the Colosseum, it was night time. I hoping that the Colosseum would be lit up. Which it was, but it wasn't anything amazing. I was kinda dissappointed.

We had dinner at Tatas that night. Tata gave us all kisses when we left. She is amazing. When we got back to the apartment, Laura and I cuddled in my bed and watched Glee together. Neither of us were feeling very good. We think it was from what we ate at the Colosseum.

Friday was a make-up day. So I had classes from noon till 8. It sucked since Laura was in town. I was late to class too because of a protest outside of the education building. There were probably a good thousand teenagers there protesting. They had to shut down the public transportation because these teens were standing in the way of the tram tracks. SO I had to walk to school. These teens were also smoking weed in the middle of the street. Hmmmm.

After classes we had dinner and then took Laura to Scholars the Irish Pub. They played Build Me Up, Buttercup at the bar. :) That is our sorority song. It was amazing. Laura and I sang and danced in the corner together. Tim videotaped it!

Saturday was Laura's last day. :(  We went to Piazza Del Popolo to see a nice view of Rome. I wasn't feeling the best and I complained the entire way. I have gotten pretty good at complaining lately. I have been so irriatated with life. After getting back, we just relaxed in the room until Laura had to leave at 6:15pm. We brought her to the train station. I was almost in tears when she left. I felt like a part of me was leaving. :( I will be seeing her soon in Cairo thought over Thanksgiving. :)

Sunday I slept till 1pm. I was feeling really sick. I think my sickness was more emotionally ill, then physically ill. I ran with Bliss to the market to get a new suitcase for weekend travels. When we got back, I went straight back to bed. I was starting to get chest pains again, like before I had left for Rome.

I was woken up by Tim skyping. I got really crabby because I was tired and wanted my silence. I thought it was over when he finished skyping, but then Peter showed up and skyped too. The internet in their apartment hasn't been working, so they used ours. I was very close to going to a hotel. I was so annoyed that I was almost in tears. I was sick and depressed and wanted to be in the dark in my room in complete silence. I didn't even eat supper that night and I slept straight through the night. I had a terrifying dream too.

My dream was about Michael. It was extremely graphic and felt so real. I woke up sobbing. The entire day I had the images from the dream replaying in my head. It was making me physically sick. I hadn't talked to Michael in over two weeks, which made it even harder.

Monday night at dinner, my dream got brought up. I told Bliss I didn't want anyone else to know about it. I had written it all down in a letter that I sent to Michael. But I let Bliss read it first, and she almost started crying. One of my guy friends commented, "why do you worry so much anyways." I wanted to bunch him in the face for saying that.

I feel like no one hear understands what I am going through. I guess I can't expect them to understand, but I do expect them to respect my feelings. Not make me feel worse. When I talked to dad, I finally brokedown. It was the first time I had cried since being in Rome. And it was not just a tear hear and a tear there, I was sobbing.

Sicily

This past weekend Bliss and I flew to Sicily. :)  It was an amazing trip and definitely made up for last weekend at the Amalfi Coast. Our adventure started off at 11am on Friday when we arrived to the SAI office. This program was offered by SAI for an extra $635, which mom and dad paid for as a Christmas gift. Only 10 people from SAI Rome attended. Other groups meet us in Sicily, including 2 people from Milan and 22 from Florence (for a total of 34 of us).

SAI provided us the transportation to the airport. Lisa (an SAI director) made sure we all got checked in and saw us through security. Then all of us headed to our terminal. We had a little over an hour before our plane took off, so we just relaxed on the very uncomfortable benches. To board our plane, we had to take a bus to the plane which was located away from the airport. Everyone was seated on the plane and ready for take off when the captain announced that we all had to get off and go back to the airport. The captain was speaking in Italian, so we were all clueless as to what was going on. But we jumped on the bus and went back to the airport.

Turns out that a rock had hit the side of the planes door and they felt that the plane was not flyable. They were unsure of when another plane would be available and offered flight changes to those who wanted them. A large portion of the people went up to change there flight, but we decided it was best to wait it out. The front desk of the airline called out every single persons name and we had to go get the part of the boarding pass that they collected before we got on the plane. It was chaotic.

We found out that the next plane wouldn't be available for another 2 hours. So Bliss and I decided to try and find something to eat. At this point, I was thinking that we were just bad luck and that this weekend would turn out like last weekend. I resulted to getting some McDonalds. We got it to go and were planning on sitting at the terminal and eating. As we were walking back to our terminal, the speaker came on and said that out flight was boarding immediately.

You know when you are sitting in the airport and people watch. Typically you poke jokes at those who are running down the hallway to their terminal. Well....that was Bliss and I. We were on the wrong floor on the airport and on the opposite side. Fumincio airport is huge!

Luckily we made it on time. The sitting on the flight was "free." Meaning we could sit anywhere we wanted. I guess that was their way of saying sorry. The flight was really short. It took us less than 50 minutes to get to Sicily. We literally went up in the air, the flight attendants handed out drinks, and then we were descending for our landing.

Once at the Catania airport, we meet up with the rest of the groups. Then hoped on a coach bus for our hour ride to Siracusa, where our hotel was located. I slept on the entire ride to the hotel!

Bliss and I roomed together at the hotel. We were in a tiny little room and our beds were about 4 inches apart. Which was unfortunate for me, because Bliss was coughing on me all night. Right after getting our stuff situated in our rooms, we went on a walking tour of the Ortigia Historical Center. We saw the temple of Apollo and some other interesting sites from back in WWII. Siracusa is a well known city from  WWII.

After our tour we walked to our restaurant for dinner, Osteria Bacco. Here we had an amazing 5 course meal. It was endless amounts of food that just kept coming. After supper, Bliss and I headed right back to the hotel for bed.

Saturday morning started off with a 10am market tour and tasting with a culnery chef from Siracusa. For the most part, the market was filled with fish. Lots of fish and different seafoods. The smell was nauseating. There were swordfish, snails (that were still alive), squid and little octopus. In Italy, there are no health/sanitary codes like in the U.S. All of this food was sitting out in the open. Flies were all over it, costumers were touching it with their dirty hands. The butchers would wipe the sweat off their faces and then use their bare hands to cut the fish.

At the end of the market, we went into a little store to do some taste testing. We tried three different kinds of wines. One was very sweet, more of a dessert wine. We also tried a traditional Italian pizza. I would describe it as a calzone with patatoes in it. We tried some chocolate, which was disgusting. I was very dark chocolate with little sugary pieces in it.

After our market tour, we took the coach bus up the mountains to the Pantalica Ranch. The roads in Italy are very narrow, I would consider them a one way street back home. So as our bus would round the sharp corners going up the mountain, he would have to honk his horn to warn people coming from the other direction. The honking got really annoying after the hunderth time.

We ate at the ranch. It was another 5 course meal. I didn't think I would be able to eat after the previous nights dinner. But it was delicious.

After lunch, we visited the mini zoo located on the ranch. Here we came across a pen of all kinds of birds (chickens, peacocks, peasants). As well as a goose. Which hissed at us and kept skwaking. I was about ready to kill the thing. There were also some goats. Then we came to the horses and the donkey.

I fell in love with the donkey, whom I named Jack (the ranch calls him Splinter). Jack was an extremely dirty donkey. Most people wouldn't even touch him, but Jack and I became good friends. He wouldn't let just anyone touch him, but he loved me. At one point he tried eating my hair...which I believe was a sign of affection. :)  I really wanted to take Jack home with me, because he seemed so lonely. He will forever be in my heart.

We got the opportunity to go horseback riding. I was extremely excited to have this chance. I got to ride on a beautiful brown horse named Stella. The girl who rode her before me warned me that all she does is eat and won't take any direction. I had no problems with Stella. Stella and I would gallop around without a care in the world.

We went horseback riding up into the mountains. It was very rocky and the rocks were like slate, so they were really slippery for the horses. At one point, Stella and CC (another horse) got into a little fight. Stella took off running down a rock hill and I saw my life flash before my eyes. Luckily I have experience riding and I could handle the situation.

On the ride before mine, a girl had fallen off her horse when the horse started fast down a hill. She panicked and let go, instead of holding on tighter. Another girl ripped the crotch of her jeans while trying to get on a horse. It was quite interesting seeing all these city girls trying to ride horses for the first time.

The ranch wasn't strict at all about riding. Back in the U.S. we are required to fill out waiver forms. In Italy, you just hop on the horse and go. I liked it this way because we were given more freedom. The man who lead us through the trails let us do what we wanted. He didn't make the horses walk in a straight line. When Stella and I would take off, he got excited about it. He was an Italian man who spoke no English. He enjoyed riding his horse backwards so that he could watch the beautiful women behind him. :)

After riding, we went back to the hotel and had free time for 3 hours. This gave us the opportunity to do a little shopping. It was a challenge finding any tourist areas for shopping. There main shopping street was all designer clothing, which I wasn't interested in purchasing (since I am poor).

At 9pm we had another 5 course meal  at Spizzica. This was probably the best meal of the weekend. However, after eating it, I was in a food coma from eating so much. After supper, we went right back to the hotel and hit the hay.

Sunday morning started at 10am at the Archaeological Park where we had a guided tour. Here we saw an ancient Greek theater. We also saw Dioynsis' ear, which is a huge cave. While in the cave, our tour guide sang a Sicilian love song. Her singing echoed throughout the entire cave. We also saw the altar where public sacrifices took place and an ancient ampitheater.

At 12:30pm we headed to the Cantania airport. We had over 3 hours before our plane took off, so we sat and stared out a window the entire time. It was wonderful. The flight back went great and now I am ready to pass out!