“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain
NOTHING will get in the way of me enjoying the next weekend in London and week in Ireland. Sleep when you're dead, excuses are for the incompetent, I will have complete and utter crazy life changing fun and life experience the next week. I don't care if I don't sleep I will get the most out of life.
So come tomorrow I will be on a plane off to London starting off my fall break, 2 days there visiting my friend Matt. Followed by (sidenote just remembered I'll be in English speaking countries for the next week WHATTUP) a flight to Dublin and a bus to Galway starting off my week of being in the homeland! Day trip date with Melaugh at Connemara, Day trip to the Aran Islands, day trip to Cork, day trip to the Cliffs of Moher, and going out making my Irish ancestors proud in Galway errnight.
So my goal before I ever went abroad was to go a full week without the book (aka Facebook), I'm on it more than a normal human should be, I just function being in touch with friends so accessibly, but alas further stepping outside my comfort zone I am going m.i.a. in the UK/IRELAND for a week.
BE BACK OCTOBER 29TH
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
SKYPING WITH HAL, HILARITY ENSUES
"I wish you could be here with me to smell Julie Mills with me"
"What can you wear with green pants?"
"Do you remember that youtube video GIVE ME THE BOY?"
"That had the potential to be funny but I couldn't remember the word nudist"
"Don't make that a verb..."
I might be in love with this girl...
"What can you wear with green pants?"
"Do you remember that youtube video GIVE ME THE BOY?"
"That had the potential to be funny but I couldn't remember the word nudist"
"Don't make that a verb..."
I might be in love with this girl...
PREGAMING LAST MIDTERM?
So it's 4 finals down
creative process in visual communication: literally did my midterm in 3 hours pre class, graphic design job done not so bad, just didnt have time to care enough on it. CHECK
business psychology: so.. much.. studying.. I love the class but damn, glad I over prepared for that one, killed it. CHECK
pastel techiniques: literally did nothing. it was a critique of all the work we have done so far, so no worries thank you very much good grade moving on. CHECK
lost symbolism: so happy this will be my last art history class ever, art history is SO much memorizing and then being able to interpret and extrapolate on top of it? Not fun. My professor let us use our book for reference for an article we had to summarize, she legit clothes-pinned our books so we could use it for other question. Needless to say, I think I owned the other 6 questions except the one that actually needed that article... but after being the second to last still in the room taking the test I really couldn't care. CHECK
now finally starting to study for my italian midterm I have in... 5 hours, haven't been able to at all until just now, oh but I have a group meeting for business psych at 4. Good thing I already have at least an A- in Italian otherwise I'd give a fuck.
also, I seem to always get in weird angry feminist music tangents during times of stressful studying. Adele pandora usually does the trick for graphic design, but damn was I in an Alanis you oughtta know, Miranda Lambert sin for a sin, Fiona Apple get gone, Sheryl Crow if it makes you happy, Kelly Clarkson walk away, Florence + The Machine kinda mood lately.
creative process in visual communication: literally did my midterm in 3 hours pre class, graphic design job done not so bad, just didnt have time to care enough on it. CHECK
business psychology: so.. much.. studying.. I love the class but damn, glad I over prepared for that one, killed it. CHECK
pastel techiniques: literally did nothing. it was a critique of all the work we have done so far, so no worries thank you very much good grade moving on. CHECK
lost symbolism: so happy this will be my last art history class ever, art history is SO much memorizing and then being able to interpret and extrapolate on top of it? Not fun. My professor let us use our book for reference for an article we had to summarize, she legit clothes-pinned our books so we could use it for other question. Needless to say, I think I owned the other 6 questions except the one that actually needed that article... but after being the second to last still in the room taking the test I really couldn't care. CHECK
now finally starting to study for my italian midterm I have in... 5 hours, haven't been able to at all until just now, oh but I have a group meeting for business psych at 4. Good thing I already have at least an A- in Italian otherwise I'd give a fuck.
also, I seem to always get in weird angry feminist music tangents during times of stressful studying. Adele pandora usually does the trick for graphic design, but damn was I in an Alanis you oughtta know, Miranda Lambert sin for a sin, Fiona Apple get gone, Sheryl Crow if it makes you happy, Kelly Clarkson walk away, Florence + The Machine kinda mood lately.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
ABROAD SONG OF THE WEEKEND
I really am struggling with studying for my business psych midterm... I love that class but literally anything could be on my midterm thats common sense that I will most likely screw up. Kind of hard to manage stress/worry when I'm busy studying it for an exam. At least relearning emotional intelligence is reassuring to knowing how self-aware I am with myself abroad.
Anyways..
Everybody's Got Somebody But Me - Hunter Hayes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSYtC5W-m28
I just love the lyric, "I'd love to take a pin to a heart shaped balloon"
It's looking like I'm gonna be falling back in love with country music real soon after this one, I've been on a house/dance mood the past few weeks, probably going to transition in a country mood (not that Italy has country music, but country music is universal to actual emotions).
Though Closing Time by Semisonic was a close second as it's been stuck in my head all week.... can't wait to watch Friends With Benefits with Hal when we're reunited.
Anyways..
Everybody's Got Somebody But Me - Hunter Hayes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSYtC5W-m28
I just love the lyric, "I'd love to take a pin to a heart shaped balloon"
It's looking like I'm gonna be falling back in love with country music real soon after this one, I've been on a house/dance mood the past few weeks, probably going to transition in a country mood (not that Italy has country music, but country music is universal to actual emotions).
Though Closing Time by Semisonic was a close second as it's been stuck in my head all week.... can't wait to watch Friends With Benefits with Hal when we're reunited.
TOO SOON FOR AMANDA KNOX JOKES?
This weekend I got to finally go to Perugia and see some great Stonehill friends (Melaugh, Briana & Cait) and then go to the EuroChocolate festival!
Now I'm not the biggest chocolate fan, I don't dislike it but im far from the character on Spongebob that screams CHOCOOOLATEEEEE all the time, just grew up being indifferent about it (aside from Reese's but thats only because peanut butter cannot be denied!). All things considered its still the euro chocolate festival, Imma get buckwild over the chocolate. The second I saw the workers putting up a giant chocolate bar shaped rock wall... my week was made, I knew I was going on that.
So when Courtney and I got to Perugia Briana and Melaugh flat out would not let us take in the view from the mini metro, they started yelling DONT EVEN LOOK AT IT THATS NOT EVEN GOOD JUST WAIT, and boy were they right. The views in Italy are just so not real life constantly.
So after a 2 hour train ride and not having any breakfast/lunch.. the first thing I see when getting off the train is a sign for a McDonalds, judge away, it was damn freaking needed. Then we hope on a mini metro which is frigging adorable and taking us up Perugia like Disney monorail style. Then we get off walk outside and boom, not real life. Casual crazy views of Italy.
So we walk around see all of Perugia, see the Perugia abroader's school. Court, Melaugh and I casually get an aperitivo overlooking the mountains (Mojito, CHECK). Then we eat pizza... so.. frigging good. I got peppers on mine (though the waitress assumed I was an idiot American who didn't know peperoni meant peppers in Italian, FALSE I wanted the pepper pizza). Then we got ready for the night, casual wine sipping (learning not to hate it as much anymore, Italia has it growing on me) and went bar hopping all around Perugia. B and Shme wanted to take us to all of the hotspots. Managed to take a 2 euro shot and then Briana promised it's usually always 1 euro and then the next place we went to had a 3 euro shot, when in Perugia! My new goal is to try new things I never had (in regards pretty much to different gelato flavors and different drinks I never have) so I got a long island ice tea... then got another later in the night. Overall fantastic night, even more so when I found a receipt for a croissant that I vaguely remembered getting in the AM.
Next day, EuroChoco Festival. So. Much. Chocolate. Streets were bumping, music all involving food/chocolate/candy would play randomly, we rocked out to Lady Marmalade a good 3 or 4 times. We got the EuroChoco pass which we could go around to different booths and get free stuff, and if you know anything about me I LOVE free stuff, got a free chocolate picture frame among other things.
Now I'm not the biggest chocolate fan, I don't dislike it but im far from the character on Spongebob that screams CHOCOOOLATEEEEE all the time, just grew up being indifferent about it (aside from Reese's but thats only because peanut butter cannot be denied!). All things considered its still the euro chocolate festival, Imma get buckwild over the chocolate. The second I saw the workers putting up a giant chocolate bar shaped rock wall... my week was made, I knew I was going on that.
So when Courtney and I got to Perugia Briana and Melaugh flat out would not let us take in the view from the mini metro, they started yelling DONT EVEN LOOK AT IT THATS NOT EVEN GOOD JUST WAIT, and boy were they right. The views in Italy are just so not real life constantly.
So after a 2 hour train ride and not having any breakfast/lunch.. the first thing I see when getting off the train is a sign for a McDonalds, judge away, it was damn freaking needed. Then we hope on a mini metro which is frigging adorable and taking us up Perugia like Disney monorail style. Then we get off walk outside and boom, not real life. Casual crazy views of Italy.
So we walk around see all of Perugia, see the Perugia abroader's school. Court, Melaugh and I casually get an aperitivo overlooking the mountains (Mojito, CHECK). Then we eat pizza... so.. frigging good. I got peppers on mine (though the waitress assumed I was an idiot American who didn't know peperoni meant peppers in Italian, FALSE I wanted the pepper pizza). Then we got ready for the night, casual wine sipping (learning not to hate it as much anymore, Italia has it growing on me) and went bar hopping all around Perugia. B and Shme wanted to take us to all of the hotspots. Managed to take a 2 euro shot and then Briana promised it's usually always 1 euro and then the next place we went to had a 3 euro shot, when in Perugia! My new goal is to try new things I never had (in regards pretty much to different gelato flavors and different drinks I never have) so I got a long island ice tea... then got another later in the night. Overall fantastic night, even more so when I found a receipt for a croissant that I vaguely remembered getting in the AM.
Next day, EuroChoco Festival. So. Much. Chocolate. Streets were bumping, music all involving food/chocolate/candy would play randomly, we rocked out to Lady Marmalade a good 3 or 4 times. We got the EuroChoco pass which we could go around to different booths and get free stuff, and if you know anything about me I LOVE free stuff, got a free chocolate picture frame among other things.
Where Amanda Knox's trial was, minus the chocolate festival tents... though I'm pretty sure the festival would have made BANK if that was the case.
Melaugh giving us a formal tour of Perugia "so some person was stealing water and then some girl fell in so that's why the aqueduct is now a walkway", Briana giving us an informal "some bitches put holes in the aqueduct to get free water and then some dumb biddie had to fall in a hole and drown"
yes, this is real.
literally saw priests doing a flashmob on the streets of Perugia... only in Italia
Finally arrived at Dempsey's, I discover Long Island Iced Teas..
StonehItaly
Giant frigging Chocolate bear.
First rock climbing experience was on a giant chocolate bar in Perugia? Okay okay
Take a second look, that's a chocolate lamp.
new BEST friends? yessss
Cait was so kind buying us some chocolate, for me to bite into it and realize there was nuts and I couldn't even eat it... whoops, the thought counts though.
That was rigged. Screw you Lindt I wanted a chocolate bear.
Ciao Ciao Perugia, hopefully see you again.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
MIDTERMS SHMIDTERMS
Avoiding studying for my midterms that I have in a day and a half... whoops the whole studying part of the studying abroad hasn't become a main priority. My work ethic is shot, it's become a problem, but nothing new I'm procrastinating and work well under pressure. Life goes on.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE DEAD
So my new motto is sleep when you're dead. Pretty much sums up how I want to act for the remainder of my time abroad, I don't care I'm going to do as much as physically possible and sleep when I'm back in America, sleep when I'm dead.
So after talking to my friend Hal about thinking about the time we have left abroad and how much we want to accomplish, she came up with the challenge to do at least one thing where you step outside your comfort zone (big or small) a day. So can't exactly promise every single day I can do it, but I accepted the challenge will be actively putting myself out here in Florence more. Granted a few hours before Hal and I talked about this I had spent 2 hours cutting my hair; whenever I am in the need for change my hair is the first thing to go. It just feels like a fresh start, sucks girls can feel liberated and buzz their hair off (I have this theory that if you cut off all her hair she'd look like a British man). However, I decided to just buzz off the sides and back and then spent forever and a day to fix the top to not make it look like a had a muffintop, and the result is surprisingly acceptable for me and strangely very European looking (I can pull off an Italian faux hawk without looking like a tool..)
ANYWAYS, so my new haircut yesterday was a symbolic transition of my abroad experience (I'm soooo deep like that) [That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell.... really wish there was a sarcastic font, it'd be the most helpful]. So then today after my art history class I had my first group meeting for my Business Psych class group project/paper (I think I lucked out hardcore cause the 3 girls I'm working with are super nice and seem like they won't want to procrastinate on this) at Astor. So Astor is this cafe/hangout very cool place during the day that transitions into a club at night, but I have avoided it like the plague the whole time I have been here because I know that's the one place that serves iced coffee similar to America. I told myself I would give up coffee completely while abroad because it's expensive and I need to save money anyway I can, but today I said fuck it and spent the damn 3 euro for an equivalent of a small Dunkin iced... but oh was it worth every useless dollar euro coin. So they picked Astor to meet to do work and needless to say I will most definitely be going back (but trying my hardest to avoid the ice coffee).
So for my project/paper we have to choose 2 workplaces in Florence, observe, take note of, etc etc and write about the organizational culture of the two places. After talking we decided on one of the leather markets and a gelato store. The leather market is super condensed and sort of claustrophobic, really perfect to talk about for our paper, but we also have to present on it with pics/videos so we walk around pretending to buy things and go to 4 carts and literally no one interacts with us, then we stop at a scarf cart and this Italian makes small talk with us and then we befriend Eduardo. He was hilarious talking to us in what English he did know, tried to get us to talk more in Italian, asking us about our stay here and studying in Firenze, but was also helpful for our paper answering all our questions. Eduardo made our day. Then we went to Festival del Gelato as our second place... dammit now I have a third favorite Gelato place. This place has to have at least 50 different gelato flavors, I'm screwed. Already ate there twice today... Mela Verde/Green Apple (so good), Limone/Lemon (can't ever go wrong with that), 5 Cereale/Five Cereal? (I have no clue which 5 cereals they were aside from cocoa pebbles but it was GOOD), Tiramisu.... need I say more? Italia is doing some SERIOUS damage to my palette for when I get back and nothing will ever compare to it.
But just the act of walking around, talking to random Italian strangers, awkwardly taking half staged photos, it was jude nice. Good afternoon, my iced coffee might have been a factor, but i'll take it.
Then for dinner a group of us went to Gusta Pizza (om nom nom) and then went out for gelato (hence why I went back in the same day).
Tomorrow Courtney and I are off to Perugia to visit some Stonehill friends, party it up in Perugia, and then get chocolate shwasted at the EuroChoco festival there. Trying to enjoy the time I have left before I slave over studying for midterms next week... which will suck. BUT then I'll be in London/Ireland for a week and a half. Boom. Roasted.
So after talking to my friend Hal about thinking about the time we have left abroad and how much we want to accomplish, she came up with the challenge to do at least one thing where you step outside your comfort zone (big or small) a day. So can't exactly promise every single day I can do it, but I accepted the challenge will be actively putting myself out here in Florence more. Granted a few hours before Hal and I talked about this I had spent 2 hours cutting my hair; whenever I am in the need for change my hair is the first thing to go. It just feels like a fresh start, sucks girls can feel liberated and buzz their hair off (I have this theory that if you cut off all her hair she'd look like a British man). However, I decided to just buzz off the sides and back and then spent forever and a day to fix the top to not make it look like a had a muffintop, and the result is surprisingly acceptable for me and strangely very European looking (I can pull off an Italian faux hawk without looking like a tool..)
ANYWAYS, so my new haircut yesterday was a symbolic transition of my abroad experience (I'm soooo deep like that) [That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell.... really wish there was a sarcastic font, it'd be the most helpful]. So then today after my art history class I had my first group meeting for my Business Psych class group project/paper (I think I lucked out hardcore cause the 3 girls I'm working with are super nice and seem like they won't want to procrastinate on this) at Astor. So Astor is this cafe/hangout very cool place during the day that transitions into a club at night, but I have avoided it like the plague the whole time I have been here because I know that's the one place that serves iced coffee similar to America. I told myself I would give up coffee completely while abroad because it's expensive and I need to save money anyway I can, but today I said fuck it and spent the damn 3 euro for an equivalent of a small Dunkin iced... but oh was it worth every useless dollar euro coin. So they picked Astor to meet to do work and needless to say I will most definitely be going back (but trying my hardest to avoid the ice coffee).
So for my project/paper we have to choose 2 workplaces in Florence, observe, take note of, etc etc and write about the organizational culture of the two places. After talking we decided on one of the leather markets and a gelato store. The leather market is super condensed and sort of claustrophobic, really perfect to talk about for our paper, but we also have to present on it with pics/videos so we walk around pretending to buy things and go to 4 carts and literally no one interacts with us, then we stop at a scarf cart and this Italian makes small talk with us and then we befriend Eduardo. He was hilarious talking to us in what English he did know, tried to get us to talk more in Italian, asking us about our stay here and studying in Firenze, but was also helpful for our paper answering all our questions. Eduardo made our day. Then we went to Festival del Gelato as our second place... dammit now I have a third favorite Gelato place. This place has to have at least 50 different gelato flavors, I'm screwed. Already ate there twice today... Mela Verde/Green Apple (so good), Limone/Lemon (can't ever go wrong with that), 5 Cereale/Five Cereal? (I have no clue which 5 cereals they were aside from cocoa pebbles but it was GOOD), Tiramisu.... need I say more? Italia is doing some SERIOUS damage to my palette for when I get back and nothing will ever compare to it.
But just the act of walking around, talking to random Italian strangers, awkwardly taking half staged photos, it was jude nice. Good afternoon, my iced coffee might have been a factor, but i'll take it.
Then for dinner a group of us went to Gusta Pizza (om nom nom) and then went out for gelato (hence why I went back in the same day).
Tomorrow Courtney and I are off to Perugia to visit some Stonehill friends, party it up in Perugia, and then get chocolate shwasted at the EuroChoco festival there. Trying to enjoy the time I have left before I slave over studying for midterms next week... which will suck. BUT then I'll be in London/Ireland for a week and a half. Boom. Roasted.
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