Here is what's new!

Today is going to be a busy week (as usual), but I am going to be proactive with my time. I have lots of little errands I need to run, and I want to get everything done before I leave for Dublin, Ireland (which the planned GU trip for our Spring break). I also have a huge Operations test right after my vacation to Malta, so I want to study ahead of time so I don't have to stress as much.

I ended up getting my philosophy of art test back today- and unfortunately I did not do as well as I had wanted, but what can you do?! I got a B- on the test, which isn't horrible but I would like a better overall grade. He said that he would read my drafts for my future essays so that I can improve my grade. I sure hope so!






I am a little bit more confident about how I did on my finance test, because I compared some answers with some friends after the test, and it looks like I made a couple errors, but nothing drastic. Oh man, why do I have to worry about school while I am abroad?

Soo... on a more positive note, I am currently planning a trip to San Francisco to visit my friend Georgina. The tentative dates are May 11-18 or 20th, and I just talked to my good friend Hayley and she said she was interested in going as well, so hopefully she can get the time off of work. I can't wait! I want to go in May because my two nannying jobs start the following month, so I don't want to take any more additional time off of work because I am incredibly low on cash at this point.

I am very glad to have my two jobs firmly established though. I am going to work for the girls again (Olivia, Stella, and Ava) on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays for the whole day and then Thursdays and Fridays I will work with Owen and Will for the whole day as well. I am so excited! I love working with kids. I was hoping to get an internship, which is still a possibility, but most internships are unpaid and I definitely need to make some money this summer. I can always do an internship in Spokane while I am in school. It will be stressful, but I want to make sure I get some experience with my major before I embark on a full time job out of college.



Well, that's pretty much it for me today. I have Italian Conversation class next, lunch, a little break, and then a 3 hour management and organization class. After class, Georgina and I are going to work out. We are trying to work out at least 3-4 days a week, and its great to have a buddy to work out with so we can keep each other accountable.

Ciao!

The rest of the Vienna trip

This past weekend in Vienna was definitely one to remember. Even though it was pouring down rain and super windy, we all managed to have an amazing time.

On Saturday, I woke up pretty early in the morning, had Breakfast, and we all took the Metro again to a stop which was close to an open market. It was called "Naschmarkt" which is a typical Viennese food market (see picture) and we were supposed to make it to the Flee Market but because of the rain, most of it was closed.

I decided not to go to the optional tour to the Castle at 2:00 pm because I was pretty exhausted, so Georgina and I split up from the group and went to a Starbucks at the Metro station and just talked for a bit. We went on the Metro again and hopped off at a stop that we went to yesterday and did some souvenir shopping (I got a cool boot shaped shot class, another shot glass for my friend Kate, a gift for Chris, and some chocolate that my mom requested). We also discovered this store that kind of looked like Walgreens and I had the spontaneous idea to want to dye my hair. Georgina said she was pretty good at doing it, so we got one of those boxes. I eventually want to go back to my natural hair color, so I am hoping after it fades in a few weeks it will be pretty close. I think I am going to take a break from dying my hair for awhile after this because its just so bad for your hair. Once we were done shopping, Georgina and I went back to our fab hostel and watched some Sex and the City, did my hair (its darker now!), took a shower, and just relaxed.

Later that evening, we all got ready to go out and the whole GU group met outside around 7:15 to leave for a group dinner at a typical Viennese restaurant. We had lots of things to eat- salads, potato dishes, Weiner Schnitzel of course, and some strudel for dinner. It was quite delicious! We also ordered some white wine which was tasty as well.

After dinner, I decided to go out because I never ended up going out the night before and I usually let myself go out once a week. My two wing ladies for the night were Meredith and Leanna. We had a great time! We first drank a bit at our hostel (they even have their own bar!) and then we took the Metro to a huge bar with a club inside it. We were there a couple hours, and then Leanne, Zach, and I took a cab ride home because the Metro closed at 12:30.

This morning I got up around 7:30, packed up the rest of my stuff, had a quick Breakfast and we were off by 8:30. We had another 11 hour bus ride back to Florence, and we stopped a few places on the way to go to the bathroom, get snacks/lunch etc. I was so uncomfortable the entire way back because there is like no room on those buses, but I managed to sleep for a bit and I watched an episode of Sex and the City and Gossip Girl.

I am currently uploading the rest of the pictures from the weekend on face book, so feel free to check them out later!

Until later!

First day in Vienna

After a long and exhausting eleven hour bus ride from Florence to Vienna, we finally made it into our hostel called Meininger City Hostel around 3:00 A.M. At least the hostel is not too ghetto- there is actually a personal bathroom and SPACE! A lot better than the hostels in Paris and Innsbruck. And the best part is there is free, FAST internet! Woo hoo!

After a very short sleep, I got up around 9:30 and then got ready quickly and ventured down to Breakfast. It actually turned out to be pretty good- I had some delicious tea, some granola and cornflakes with regular yogurt, and a roll with cream cheese. Georgina originally screamed out, "Laura! Look! Its bagels with cream cheese!" I gasped and said, "REALLY!?" (bagels and cream cheese are hard to come by in Europe)and then someone bursted my bubble when they said, "no, its actually just a roll..." oh well. It was still good; I barely made it out though because one of the workers said that I had to pay an extra 1 euro to take things out of the eating area. I just simply explained that I was in a rush and I was taking this to go... she ended up letting me off the hook but said I should come to Breakfast earlier next time haha.

We all met outside the hotel around 10 A.M and then got a one day pass for the metro. Peter (one of our student life guides) took us all around on a walking tour even though it was cold, windy, and rainy. He is really incredible- he knows English, German, and Italian fluently. He grew up in Austria so he knows all the nooks and crannies (haha Chris :-p ) of the area. The architecture in Vienna is absolutely breathtaking. I love it! We walked around the "Ring" (New Gothic Town Hall, Parliament, Theatre, Heldenplatz, Imperial Palace, Spanish Riding School, Judenplatz with the
Memorial to the Jews of Vienna, and St. Stephen's Cathedral). The tour was definitely long, but everything was worth seeing in my opinion. We took a pit stop at a Starbucks, which I was very excited about. I got a
grande nonfat raspberry latte. It was delicious! It was a nice taste from home. Is it sad that I really miss Starbucks? OH man... I am such an American haha.

After walking around a few more hours and taking pictures and stopping at various locations, a group of us went with Peter to a local restaurant and sat down for a lovely lunch. Georgina and I split the famous German/Austrian dish called Weiner Schnitzel. This is like the 3rd or 4th time I have had this dish- I absolutely love it! I don't normally like pork that much, but pretty much anything fried is good (that's probably why the only seafood I'll eat is fried calamari- go figure). We also had a yummy class of wine that Peter recommended.

Once lunch was finished, Georgina and I got directions on how to take the subway back to our hostel because we were tired from the night before and needed a break. The other group went to the amusement park and went on the huge Ferris Wheel. I think this would've been fun to go to- but at that point I just needed some time to relax and take a load off. The normal me 6 months ago would want to be go, go, go but now I have learned the beauty and value of a few hours of pure relaxation.

Once we took the metro back to our stop, Georgina and I walked around our area and peeped into a few shops. They were pretty fun- we went into a mall type place with the most random assortment of department stores. I ended up getting some Loreal hairspray that was much needed, and a cute black/white purse that is big enough to hold all my stuff. I am kind of sick of carrying the same black H & M purse that I have had since the beginning of this study abroad trip. You guys should see my huge collection of purses at home! Its insane... really... After our little shopping adventure we went into a grocery store and got some snacks to have for later. I hate being without snacks; I hate the feeling of hunger and I am more of a snacker than a huge meal eater.

And for the past few hours I have been relaxing, uploading pictures (check them out on face book), talked to Chris on skype, and now I think I am going to take a brief nap before dinner/going out. I think Georgina and I are going to go to a hot dog stand near our hotel and grab a bratwurst or something; something easy to save some money. Food eats up all my money over here! It's ridiculous!

Anyways, that's the main highlights of my day with randomness spilled in. Hope all is well with everyone!

bye bye

What's new in my life

Today I am going to Vienna with the Gonzaga in Florence group. We are meeting near school around 3:45, and our bus is scheduled to leave at 4:00. The bus is supposed to take eleven hours to get to Vienna- I think I am going to occupy my time by watching movies and T.V shows (O.C and Sex and the City!).

I am very excited for this weekend; the weather should be pretty cold- in the 40's, and rain is predicted. I will bring my big, puffy jacket!






There are a couple optional tours in the morning that I am going to take advantage of; I am not sick this week (thank goodness!) so I am sure I will have enough energy to walk around and look at sights.

Next week is our Spring break. I believe we only have two days of school (Monday and Tuesday) and then I am heading off to Ireland with the Gonzaga group again. We are going to Dublin and we are leaving to go back to Florence before St. Patrick's Day. It would be so crazy to be in Ireland for St. Patty's but I am sure we will have a great time. Soon after that, Georgina, Jessie and I are venturing to Malta. I am so busy!

My mom scheduled my flight to go home on April 26th so that means I will have to pay an extra night to stay in my pensione because we are supposed to leave by noon on April 25th. EVERYONE is going home that day though, so it's just easier to go home a day later, that way I can fly out of Florence and get into Seattle instead of going out of Rome and then to Portland (the fees were ridiculous for the previous day). I originally flew out of Portland with my friends Ashley, David, and Sarah so that's why I was scheduled to fly into Portland.

Anyways, right now I am sitting in Philosophy of Art class awaiting to get my test back. I don't think I did too poorly, but he said no one did really well, and no one did really bad. I am pretty nervous to be honest; I hate the feeling of anticipation before getting a test back. It is so nerve-racking! I just got to keep telling myself that it's just one test and it's not the end of the world. Why do I put so much emphasis on my school work? (especially while abroad?!) This semester is definitely more challenging than last... it's my business classes that are particularly hard.

Well I will stop my rambling but I will try and write a blog post about my Vienna experience when I come back to Florence. I probably won't get internet while in Vienna because we are staying at a hostel and unlike America, free WI-fi is basically non-existent.

CIAO CIAO!

Note: The pictures above are from Athens, Greece. Georgina and I had such a good time! (read my last blog post if you want more information :) ).

Greece

Georgina and I went to Athens, Greece last weekend. We had such an amazing time. We stayed at this hotel called the Alassia, was said to be a four star hotel, but I think the standards in Europe are different than in America. It was nice not staying in a hostel though.

We left on Thursday afternoon and took a train to Bologna, and then a short bus ride to the airport. We had to transfer in Frankfurt, and we ended up arriving around 1:00 or so in the morning. Because all the public transportation was closed by that time, we ended up having to take a very expensive taxi to our hotel. Apparently they double the price at night (how ridiculous!) so we had to pay twice the amount for our ride. The taxi driver was kind of sketch too- he was hauling some serious butt on the freeway... we were actually a bit freaked out.

Once we got to the hotel, we pretty much passed out from exhaustion. The next day, we had a leisurely Breakfast at the hotel. I had fried eggs (I miss those on a regular basis!) and some toast with cheese and cereal. I really enjoyed the Breakfast buffet over the weekend. It is a nice change from what I am used to at the pensione. After Breakfast, we got ready and then took the metro into town. I got this really cool souvenir- a necklace with my name in Greek! I also picked up a couple fake designer sunglasses from the African guys on the street (gotta love bargaining!) We saw a view of the Acropolis from the distance, and had a lovely lunch outside in the sun. I must say... the Greek food in Greece was everything I hoped for and more. I love the Tzasiki (sp?) sauce, feta, and the fresh grilled gyro meat. We also had this delicious Greek salad (see picture). Georgina and I were talking about how the gyro meat in the states is way different because it comes in long strips and it is way more greasy. I definitely prefer the meat in Greece.

After lunch, we walked around some shops and around the town some more and ran into this very friendly local named Yannis. He ended up talking to him for awhile and he showed us some sites nearby.
Here is a picture of a park he took us to- it was beautiful! His English was a bit hard to understand, but he was very nice.

Once it started getting dark, Georgina and I took the metro back to our hotel and hung out there for awhile and got ready to go out to dinner. We got a great recommendation from someone who worked at the hotel. We took a taxi there (the first guy didn't know where it was- strange) and once we got there, all the workers greeted us with smiles. We split some wine, feta and a grilled chicken dish with rice. Again, another delicious meal. There were singers at this restaurant too- couldn't have asked for a more "Greek" experience!

After dinner, Yannis met up with us and took us to a fun bar where we tried Oozo. It is the typical liquor in Greece. I actually wasn't too fond of it because it tasted like black licorice. I am not a fan, but I was thinking "oh I bet my dad would love this!" he LOVES black licorice. After the bar, we went to a really fun club with his friend (I forget his Greek name, but his "American" name was George). He was very nice too but he didn't speak any English. Yannis acted as the translator... hehe

We ended up staying out pretty late and didn't get much sleep because we had to get up early for what we thought would be our cruise tour to three different islands. The guy that was working at the hotel said that we originally had to go another hotel in the morning to meet up with other people on the tour, but then he told us that they would call our hotel when they wanted us to head over... well half an hour or more went by, and no call. Then the worker said that the tour already left. We were pretty bummed at first, but were excited to go back to sleep for a bit. We ended up signing up for a mid afternoon tour leaving on a bus at 2:30.

After our nap, we went down the street to a little hole in the wall with amazing Greek food. I have a wrap with grilled chicken and tzasiki sauce. We then looked around the town for a bit and then stood on the corner where the tour was supposedly supposed to pick us up. Well, we waited around 15-20 minutes, and NO tour bus. We went back inside the hotel and called the company, and they said that they were looking for us for two hours (yeah right!) and that the tour ended up being canceled because all 15 people on the tour canceled (again ya right!). We basically think the lady on the phone was a complete idiot and liar and she probably just canceled the tour because it wasn't filled. LAME! Anyways, the only tour that was left to do was the night tour (and unfortunately it had to be with the same company). The night tour ended up being really fun. We had a tour of the city at night, and even got to go to the port area where the water is. The tour ended at a restaurant with live Greek dancers and singers. Again, the food was amazing! We had fried meatballs with falafel, tzasiki with pita bread, a grilled chicken dish, Oozo (which we didn't drink) and fruit for desert.

Yannis and his buddy met us at the restaurant because he wanted to say goodbye. Once we said goodbye, Georgina and I left for the hotel, watched some Sex and the City, and called it a night. On Sunday, we got up for Breakfast, and took the metro to the Acropolis and Parthenon. We didn't think we would be able to go close to it, because the workers at the hotel said it was on strike. It was very easy to get to the top though- so not sure why they said that. None the less, it was great to see it up and close!

We ended up having lunch at the same place we went to on Friday, because it was just so darn good! Instead of chicken gyros though, we had meat gyros. I think it was beef and lamb. After our lunch, we got some souvenirs like postcards and other various things, and then we packed up and left for the airport on a bus at 2:30. We had such a long day ahead of us though- our two flights didn't get in until 11:00 into Bologna, and the last train to Florence was at 10:20, so we had to wait in the airport until 5:00 or so in the morning, and we took a taxi to the train station to take the 5:30 train into Florence. It was so exhausting, and the seats in the airport were made of metal so they were super uncomfortable. Needless to say, I skipped my morning classes on Monday and slept until lunch time.

Whew! Well there is the recap of the weekend. It is raining so hard in Florence today. Reminds me of Seattle... this weekend I am going to Vienna!

Venice

This past weekend I went to Venice with the school. I had a great time despite still battling from a bad cold. There was a huge number of us that went on the trip this weekend- 90! That is pretty much everyone in the program...

We were off to a bit of a late start on Friday because the bus drivers thought we wanted to be picked up at 4:00 P.M even though Peter clearly said 8:30 in the morning... oh well. After we left the drive was only about 3.5 hours... not bad! I slept, caught up on some studying, and read part of my new book and a Cosmo that my mom sent over with Chris when he visited in Florence.

We stayed about 25 minutes by ferry in a small town called Fusina. We stayed at a campground in small cabins, which actually ended up being pretty nice. However, it was pretty annoying that the power kept going on and off during the weekend. Once we arrived in Fusina on Friday, Georgina, Angie and I decided to stray away from the group because we wanted to take a shower and rest up a bit before exploring the city. Around 2:00 we caught the ferry to Venice. We walked all around the small city and peeped into various shops. Georgina and I were craving a Crepe (random huh?) and I embarked on a place called "Le Cafe" that was surely French. We ended up splitting a nutella crepe with banana and a bottle of Pino Grigio- yum! I think my mind was still a bit on France from the week before because how random is it that I was craving a crepe?! The rest of the evening I just relaxed and act some snacks that I got at a local grocery store.

Some of my favorite memories include looking at all the shops, seeing everyone dressed up (it was Carnevale weekend), and just exploring the small city. I got a gorgeous dark blue and turquoise Murano-style necklace while in Venice, and I am wearing it right now as we speak! I also purchased some post cards and a souviner for Chris (but I am not going to mention what it is on here).

I really liked the outside of St. Mark's Basilica- I didn't get a chance to go inside, but the outside was beautiful!

This weekend was so packed with tourists and natives of Venice because of the Carnevale. I wanted to buy a mask and "fit in" so to speak, but I knew that my pretty mask wouldn't last on the way home... it was much too fragile! They were pretty though (look at the picture on the left :0) ).

Anyways, most of Saturday I spent just exploring the city and wandering around and doing my own thing. There were optional tours to go on this weekend, but I wasn't feeling too well because of my cold, so I didn't want to be tied down in case I wanted to go back earlier than everyone else.

On Sunday we had to check out by 10 AM and then we had the option to go back into Venice one last time before we left at 3 PM. Georgina and I went into Venice for a few hours and just walked around the outskirts of the water and took pictures. We also got another lovely Crepe (I got a nutella and coconut- yum!) but this time it was from a little hut outside the main bridge in Venice. It was a pretty relaxing day! After we came back from Venice into Fusina, we decided to chill at the local restaurant/bar and study for our Management and Organization test that I took today. And in case you are wondering, I think I did a pretty good job! :-D

Well that is my recap of the weekend. I am going to Athens, Greece this weekend with Georgina.

Ciao!

The bittersweet life of Lemonade

I love the phrase, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

What exactly is it that makes lemonade so delicious? Is it the tartness and tang of the lemons, the sugar component, or perhaps the memories that go a long with it? To me, the perfect lemonade is one that has an equal amount of tartness and sweetness. Without the equilibrium, either the tartness is overwhelming or the sugar is overpowering. To me, this adds additional meaning to the quote; perhaps in life, in order to make delicious and fruitful lemonade, one must have an equal amount of tribulations and sweet memories to mix in. Although the tribulations might be immediately sour, once mixed with life lessons and growth, they produce something that tastes amazing.

Speaking of the sour aspect in life, sometimes its hard for me to back up big life decisions. There are so many pros and cons, and its so difficult to weigh them and figure out which choice is the best one right now. I have always been an indecisive person, because I can always see the rationality in doing things one way or another. I have a lot of trouble in making that "jump" in concluding which choice is the right one for me at the time.

I am not going to go into details, but this past week I had to make a very big decision regarding a friendship and believe me, it wasn't easy. I consulted my mom, boyfriend, and a few close friends. They all gave me relatively good advice, but ultimately they all said the same thing; "you do what you feel is right." How am I really supposed to know?

I know we all have the innate intuition to figure out what we are supposed to do in life, yet for some reason, I feel like my "consciousness" is often clouded over by doubt and instability. Although I may know the right choice for myself, I always strive to be the better person and put others before my well-being. This can be a blessing, and a torture. I almost felt like I made my decision a few days ago based on pure anger, frustration, and stress. Perhaps if I only waited a few more days before my head "cleared," but this was a decision that needed to be made promptly, which is often the case...

One thing that I hate is the feeling of guilt. Knowing you hurt someone, and the task to reconcile is daunting. With me being stubborn, I feel like this person is mostly in the wrong for how she treated me. I have sat here and tried to justify my actions of hurtful words and actions based on how she has treated me throughout our friendship, but when it comes down to it, we were both selfish and mean to each other. No one deserves to be treated unkindly, even when it originates by one person being rude or inconsiderate. The golden rule, "treat others how you would like to be treated," has been constantly ringing in my ear as I am left feeling empty after making my decision.

One thing I pride myself on is the ability to see other people's perspectives in many situations. I am a great listener, and over the years I have improved one of my negative qualities of being overly defensive. However, if I find that the person I am trying to meet half way is being unreasonable and unaccommodating to my feelings, it becomes harder and harder to be nice and understanding. I felt that I tried to do everything I could with this person, but with our lack of patience and stubbornness collectively, things quickly began to spiral out of control, and suddenly we are no longer speaking again. How do I stop attracting so much drama into my life?

Consequently, because I have improved on becoming less defensive, lately people have often told me that I do not stick up for myself enough, and that I tend to let my friends and others walk all over me. This is not who I want to be, yet it is hard to set a fine line between sharing my viewpoint, and getting the friend or other person from becoming upset with me. I like to share how I feel, but a lot of times people take it the wrong way. For this reason, lately I have hid my true feelings and emotions to prevent arguments or disagreements. This sometimes works for me until it slowly bottles up inside and I burst...

I felt so empowered immediately after I ended the friendship with this one individual, but now I just feel lonely, empty, and guilty . We are all human beings with feelings and sometimes it's hard to see past our own. Perhaps friendship is not meant to be on our agenda, but kindness and sincerity should always prevail.

My task from here is going to be dealing with finding a balance between mending the tension and learning from the choices I have made... essentially making Lemonade. Although friendship may not be in our horizon, I hope at least a friendly attitude will.