j'adore paris

The next morning we were off to the Eiffel Tower, which to go to the top took an hour and a half of line waiting just for another hour to get to the top and see all the views. It was incredible. Once we finally made it back to the ground we took photos from the grassy side, which turned out looking surreal, as if it were fake, the blue sky was so rich and the green grass so vivid, it was incredible. Then we hiked all the way to the Arc de Triumph, and starvingly searched for a metropolitan to take us to the Louvre, where they would not let us in for free because we were not of the EU nationality, it didn't matter that we went to an EU uni. We were ticked, and there wasn't much time before they closed, like only an hour and a half, so we just decided not to go in, because it wouldn't have been worth it. Then we finally got a baguette for lunch and then made it back to our hotel for a quick nap. That night we went to a few pubs and I ate two nutella crepes, one with banana, because by that time I was starving. We then went to sleep then woke up early, ate breakfast again then headed to Versailles. We wanted to go in, but the line was ages long and we had to be at the train station in an hour to get to Grindelwald, Switzerland, so we thought. When we finally made it to the train station they informed us that there were no more seats to Switzerland that day unless we wanted to pay over 200 euro. Then we went to another man who after 30 minutes was finally able to find us a way to get there for only 11euro. He was really funny and nice, he had a great sense of humour which was the type of person we needed at that moment in time. Then we hurried off to another train station to catch it. We had a very long train ride 7pm til midnight, I believe, it may have been longer. While we were awake on the train, for most of it I slept, but I think on our second train, when we were all awake. These kid boys put their number on their ipod and had it scroll it saying call me and three hearts for these girls across the isle from us, but the entire train car thought it was hysterical. Also, a man was kicked off the train for being drunk, he had a beer that when he passed out in his seat flew off the table onto the hallway floor, luckily it was the handcap area outside of the regular car near the bathroom. He also dropped his phone in the beer, it was entertaining to witness to say the least. We were sitting next to this really kind family from Basel that was trying to help us see if there was a train to Grindelwald when we'd arrive, which there wasn't. So, when we finally walked out of the train station into this empty closed city a taxi driver finally drove past, he told us it would be 100 swiss francs to take us to our hostel, so we opted to see if the hotel across the street would be cheaper for the night, but they were already closed. Thankfully the other taxi driver that quoted us a price, a cheaper price stuck around until we decided we needed a taxi. He was really nice, and told us he would give us the 30-40 minute ride for only 64 euro, which was a great price for the distance. He told us that he was concerned because three girls shouldn't be out that late by ourselves, but that's when our train arrived. We finally made it to our hostel, to what seemed to be empty because everyone was asleep already and the place was locked, except for the side doors where the late check in was with our key in a box. It worked out great and thankfully there was free internet!

Paris holds the key to your heart...

When we arrived in Paris we took a taxi from the train station to our hotel. We stayed in the Hotel Andre Gill which is near the Moulin Rouge, thankfully just outside of all the crazyness. We went straight to our room to hopefully go to sleep, but when we opened our door we found it to be filled with this awful smoky smell. It literally made us sick, but they did not have any other rooms available and did not speak english well enough to understand the phrase 'reduced rate'. So, we sucked it up, and the next day asked for brand new sheets and everything. We ate breakfast quick, baguettes, croissants, orange juice, and tea, then headed off to take a free tour around Paris. We arrived just on time at St. Michel. Our tour guide, Justin, was an exchange student from Illonios and was brilliant, he knew everything that he was showing us. We made our way down to and around the Notre Dame. Then walked by the Seine River, and were even told stories about the rings and that they are good luck to touch. I climbed on the rings, and stood in between two of them. It was high, and I almost fell trying to reach the second ring, so someone ran over to help boost me up. Slightly awkward, but funny. Then we saw the 'new' bridge, which is actually very old and it is decorated with the drunken faces of the King's friends. We also walked through the Louvre, not in it. And saw the pyramids. Next it was through the gardens of Toulleries and to the Concord monument where we could see both the Eiffel tower and Arc de Triumph in the distant. The walk was exhausting, but when Justin mentioned one that went through Monmart at 6pm, we decided to do that one as well. Before that we went into the Notre Dame for Palm Sunday, and then rushed back to the hotel to change before it became too cold outside. We were starved when we arrived and the lady gave us a baguette to eat. Later for dinner we also ate another baguette and a piece of peanut baklava, disappointing I must say. Then we made our way to the Sacre Ceur and saw Picasso's studio and Van Gogh's apartment from his earliest works. Needless to say that was an exhausting day!

Cruisin in style

The cruise ship was the Aquamarine by Louis Cruises. It was fantastic for students on a budget, but I will assure you we got what we paid for, which means since it was not much that the boat was out dated in new things such as carpet and such. And the entertainment could be out done by a high school drama team easily. But none the less it was amazing for us. Often we were the entertainment, or at least I was. The food also was very good, which was a slight surprise to me.

First stop: Mykonos, Greece We arrived there and just walked around the main area. We saw two pink pelicans, and were even able to pet them. Then we saw the church that the city is known for and the little Venice strip and windmills. It was a really cute city. We also ate baklava there, it was delicious as always.

That same night we ate dinner on board and watched the entertainment group, which was cute and funny at times, especially because one of the male dancers zipper broke mid way and he was freaking out, but trying to hide his frustration. Then after that they played music and you could dance on stage which we did. Then when the male singer came out, as a dare (a little game we played for the trip) we ran up to him asking for an autograph on our arms, which he embarrassedly did.

Second stop: Kusadasi, Türkey This is the only port that I went on a tour. We went to the ancient Ephesus. It was amazing to see again. Afterwards I bought two pashminas of very high quality for €15 instead of €45, even the Turkish people at a few shops asked where I got them because they were so nice. I also bought a coffee (tea) cup and mini bowl.

That same day we all layed out in the wonderful sun, some people became cherry colored.

Third stop, same day: Patmos, Greece We took a taxi tour to see the cave where John wrote Revelations, and went to a monastry at the top of the Island, which had beautiful views. We tried pugies (sp?) which are desserts that only Patmos makes. I also went on a battery search, but sadly was only able to find mega alkaline instead of lithium.

That night the dinner was Greek night, so we all wore blue and white. And before dinner during the music the stage was open, and as a dare I went up and had to dance for one minute straight in front of the entire room. I did a few cha cha moves and mainly just had the room clap. When my minute was over and I left people cheered and called for an encore, but I did not do that. Then after dinner we went to Karaoke, where Kathleen and I did Summer nights from Grease, which was really funny. Then I was signed up without knowing to do Jackson 5 ABC, which I did not know the words to, and still did it to be funny, but the dare was to do it as badly as possible, to get a 29%, I did not do that poorly surprisingly I made a 35% trying as hard as possible to be awful. It was so funny though, everyone was busting out of their seats laughing.

Fourth stop: Rhodes, Greece We just went to the beach in Rhodes. It was full of rocks, but smooth ones, so they were actually very nice to lay on and were warm too. We also swam out to a three tiered platform, which is the farthest I have ever swam without being able to touch the bottom, it was actually slightly terrifying. It took me forever to jump off the 7 ft ledge into the water, because my two biggest fears are heights and drowning. I finally did and it was fun, so I decided to jump off the 12 ft ledge, but that too took a little more thinking once I was up there. Finally I did it, then it was to the 20 ft ledge, I was brave after about 30 minutes of standing in the cold air deciding if I could do it. I wish I had Kathleen and Hannahs bravery because the jumped off the 20 ft ledge the first time, Kathleen was the first to do it. She even did a flip off the 12 ft one. Then we swam back to the shore, it was so cold that I could not even tell if I was moving anymore by the time we made it back. But it was definitely worth it.

It was the dress up night that night. We had our picture taken with the captain, then went outside to take photos. Then we all hit the Disco for some dancing. Sadly there were young kids dancing too, ahhh. Anyways I convinced the singer guy that signed our arms to dance with me, oh man he did not have rhythm. I also did some latin dancing with this guy from Arizona.

Next day, stop five: Herklion, Crete, Greece We had to wake up early, so we woke up and watched the sun rise, sadly through cranes. Then we left to just shop, I bought this lush dessert, I have no idea what it is called and ate it for breakfast. Then I bought two table runners and then headed back to the ship to sleep because I was exhausted.

Later after my nap we were all out on deck in the sun and watched an ice carving show and fruits and veg carving, that was neat. Then we went to get ready for Santorini.

Sixth stop, later that day: Santorini, Greece We rode the tender boats to the Island because it is too small for docking the ship. Then we rode donkeys, yes donkeys, in a dress, to the top of the mountainous island. Then we took a taxi to the famous church in Oia. It was really awesome. Kathleen and I shared a lush dessert of cream and almonds. Then Hannah and Siusan took the cable car down, but Kathleen and I did not want to pay more money so we opted to walk down the donkey path, now only imagine what donkeys leave behind when they are walking, ahhhh gross, and there was danger of slipping on the marble rocks. But we made it safely with only a few stumbles and it was a breath taking view the whole way down, breath taking for more than just the smell... :D

Back to Athens. The Hostel we stayed at had a funny looking man in charge with a wig, ahhh crazy looking. He was very nice though. Hannah, Kathleen, Siusan, and I took naps while Maureen, Courtney, Leslie, Bethany, and Julie went to the Acropolis. Then Kathleen and I went exploring around Athens... did not do much. Just searched for four leaf clovers and failed, and used the free internet in Publics for around an hour and also started to watch Daredevil and also ate baklava, of course. Then the next morning Kathleen and I went to the highest point in Athens and took photos of the entire city, it is so much larger than I imagined, and beautiful too. Then went to the original Olympic stadium, Temple of Zeus where we saw a turtle, and the ancient Agora. Then we sped back to the hostel to meet up with everyone else to head to the airport.

That night Bethany, Julie and I left for Paris.

Baklava, Baklava, and more Baklava!

Thursday brought a flight from Charlotte to Philly to Frankfurt, Germany and finally to Athens, Greece. Greece was absolutely beautiful and the temperature was perfect! When I came out of the airport, Siusan was there waiting and then we were off to Hostel Aphrodite. We took a short nap and then wandered around Syntagma Square for, oh 5 hours, waiting to meet up with Hannah and Kathleen. We ate near the ancient Agora. This was when I was first introduced to the amazing grilled feta. Then we walked around the ritzy streets with all the fancy shops, where we found a flower stand. The man that ran it did not speak English, so he had an officer explain to us in English all of the beautiful flowers that I had not seen before. The freesia (sp?) were absolutely magnificent. And well the officer was very nice looking himself. Later we ate some baklava, twice, because lets face it, its amazing. We also ran into some elderly ladies from Tennessee, whom ended up being on our cruise ship as well. All in all the first night was a fun experience. Also, on the street that night the performers were out, and one girl was dancing with fire on rope like things, it was really cool. Well, another performer with pink cabbage patch like hair came over and was yelling at her in Greek, obviously because her music was too loud. Then she slightly touched his arm with her ashy hands and that was it, he was livid. He started to almost threaten her with his body movements as to say try and touch me again. It was not until later that I realized that the yelling had become English. So, it was a funny mix of things. The cops straightened it out, but not like Americans would. Just calmly made siren beeps until the man came to the car, yelled at and touched the cop and the cop simply told him to go somewhere else. Later that night we saw him still wiping the barely there ash off his sleeve.

The next day we went to the Acropolis. It was a really warm day, shorts weather, so it was great. I also saw the same cat I saw there 6 months previous. When we were leaving these young boys were asking me in broken English to take a picture, so I took their photo for them with their camera and then they were like no with us. It was so funny we took a photo with them and took one too to remember. They were 18 from Sicily on a school trip, so we think they just wanted to have a funny story about Americans. We ate some delicious gyros of course, but we also managed to find the worst place to eat in Athens, luckily it was cheap. They did not even have real chicken it was freezer burned patty stuff, eck. We did do a lot of shopping at only one shop because that old man gave us the best prices. I bought two vases, one with Aphrodite because of the magnificent hostel and one of Athena because of Athens. I also bought a charm. And when we were leaving he gave us all free evil eye charms.

The next day we went to Piraeus, where Siusan was almost pickpocketed. These gypsy women opened her purse and took her wallet, but luckilz Siusan noticed and smacked it out of her hand and was able to retrieve it. We just stayed in Piraeus for the day and walked to the beach, a very sharp rocked beach. We played on the seesaw though, it was really nice. We also were able to meet up with 3 of the other girls going on the cruise, Julie, Bethany, and Leslie for a little while.

The next morning was early, especially for Kathleen and I, we went on a mission to find some baklava for the receptionist, Andrea, who was especially helpful to us. We went in around 10 different bakeries before finally finding some, which is very ironic. Then we ran back brought our stuff downstairs, while we waited on the other girls I ran to Hondos Center to buy some hair dye. Then we walked with all of our bags for around 30 minutes to get to the cruise ship. We finally boarded and met up with everyone and then ate lunch after the life boat drill.

Raleigh March 23

While I was home in Charlotte for the first week of my break, I was able to not only see my family, but also catch up with a few friends. The second day I was back my friend, Nathan, came to visit me, it was fantastic to see him again. Then the next day (Saturday) I met up with my best friend, Kristin, for lunch. We had a great time talking and catching up on lost time. Then Sunday after church and going to see Ryan and Kristen, I flew to Raleigh, unannouced to most people. Only a select few knew. Jeff Jagoda picked me up and we were off to surprise the Atwater house! When I stumbled into Atwater Estate I silenced the room and was welcomed with a lot of confused, but yet pleased faces. It was really exciting to sit and tell stories with everyone again. Then Olivia came over and we dropped by Cookout so she could get dinner and then headed over to Okelly. Now no one in the Okelly house had a clue I was in town, well, except for Matt who had previously seen me at Atwater. So, Olivia walked into their kitchen first and they all cheered to welcome her, and once everything was settled I took a deep breath in as I looked into their hall mirror then crept around the corner. Aaron was talking, and was the first to see me, which when he stopped talking everyone turned (note all of this happened in seconds, but seemed longer to me). They knew I was in Charlotte, but I had told them I was not going to make it to Raleigh, but I decided to go up for Jeffords birthday and to sign my apartment lease for next year. It was fun sitting around the dinner table like old times and chatting, then we headed to Brickhouse because Matt insisted on celebrating my very belated birthday. It was really fun. Then I spent the night at Olivia and Laurens place. The next morning Lauren and I headed to campus then to see the apartment complex. After that I borrowed Bens car to go visit Allison Lee and the twins! It was great to see them again, I was afraid Shephard and Kiki would not remember me, but I have a sneaky feeling they did after a few minutes! After that I bought some Goodberrys ice cream, which I dearly missed then took a nap and reading break until Emma called. Emma and I met up at Atwater then walked to a nearby park to just catch up, it was so refreshing to speak finally in person rather than email. Then later that night we had a Southern themed birthday party for Jefford, it was a brilliant time, made me realize that I did miss home. The rest of the time home was really nice just hanging out with my mom, Olivia, dad, and Scott. It was especially nice to see my babies.... cats (Pebbles, Crisco, and Principessa) and King Louis. I also was blessed to have the opportunity the first Saturday to babysit for Joelle. It was lovely to be around kids again, I loved that. Made me glad to know that I will be coming home to babysit this summer!

what the future brings

Currently I am in Charlotte, NC for my first week of break. In total I have 5 weeks of break. Thursday I will be flying to Athens, Greece to arrive Friday around noon. Then on Monday, the 30th, a group of 11 of us leave on a Greek Island cruise. We arrive the same day in Mykonos, then its off to Kusadasi, Turkey and Patmos, Greece. The next day we are at Rhodes. Then Thursday in the morning we are in Crete and in the evening Santorini. Then its back to Athens, where we are staying an extra night before flying to Paris. We are in Paris for three days then are taking a train to a city, undecided as of yet, in Switzerland for two days. Then Munich for two days, Prague for two days, Vienna for one, Venice for one, Rome for three with a partial day trip to Napoli/Pompeii, then Florence for one. Finally to fly home to Swansea, Milan to Bristol on April 20. Then its back to school unitl May 8. I'll let you know how each city goes!

Daffodils bloom

Ok, so its been over a month. My apologies to everyone. I some how just let the blog posting slip my mind, but I'm going to try to be better about it!

So, where I left off. After Valentine's weekend. The following Monday I went to CU, Christian Union, and we set up our first Bible study for that week. The meeting went great and we were able to really establish a great group. That weekend I started to get sick, I had a terrible sore throat and a fever. I did go down to the Mumbles and explore with my two new friends from Bible study, Hannah and Kathleen.

Hannah and Kathleen both happen to be from North Carolina, and both of their dad's went to NC State. Both girls also happen to live with in 40 minutes from my Charlotte home. Hannah goes to Columbia College in South Carolina and Kathleen goes to UNC Wilmington. We have all become really close and are excited to also spend the summer together as well!

Since that weekend, every Sunday I have been going to church at Parklands with those two girls and some other American girls as well. After church we attend the student lunch where I have met and made lots of new Welsh Christian friends, which has been great. After lunch the 5 of us girls head over to a lady of the church's house named Ms. Faye. (her first name is Faye, but to be polite we call her Ms. Faye). One of the American girls is living with her for the semester. Then we hang out and she makes us dinner. Following that we all watch together Dancing on Ice and Wild at Heart. Brilliant shows, its loads of fun.

I went to London just two weeks ago for a few days with Hannah. We went and saw all the sights in less than 48 hours, it was a tight squeeze of events. We made friends with some guys from Philadephia at the Buckingham Palace and all went out to eat together, for some pizza. Oh, how American. :D They were really cool and of course we are now all friends on facebook. We stayed in a nice little hostel in Bayswater where we met some guys from South Africa that were really cool too. Hostels are really neat experiences. Of course, however, the high light of the trip was stumbling upon the end of a movie premiere and watching Reese Witherspoon and Keifer Sutherland walk to their cars. Now that was neat. Then we had some amazing ice cream and made friends with some paps, and their going to keep us informed of all the cool celebs coming in April so we can go see them too!

The weekend immediately following our adventure to London, Hannah and I joined our church for a weekend away. We went up to Pembrokeshire (I think...) and stayed at Long Barn, which is an old barn turned place for youth groups and such to stay. We had a great time! Saturday was a grand photo scavenger hunt, and of course, Hannah and I proved the competitiveness of Americans and our team won! It was so fun! Then Sunday morning before we left we were able to see a baby lamb be born, that was awesome! And she had two babies just before that and the farmer needed help to move them to another pen, so we each got to carry one, and yes they were slimey and gross, but still so cute!

Then we have caught up to St. Patrick's Day. Which I spent in London with my friend, Nonie, who is studying there. She and I were roommates at dance camp two years ago. That was a long day though, I in the morning had to turn in an essay and then take a 3 hour train to London only to get on an hour tube ride! So, needless to say all we did was get dinner then just relax. I left then at 6am to go to the Gatwick airport. I then flew back home, to Charlotte, NC. I arrived Wednesday around 4pm. And I have been here since. Home has been a really nice place to be. Nice and relaxing and great to see everyone and my pets!

Okay so... Daffodils. Just in case you were wondering about the title. The flower of Wales is the daffodil and people literally wear pins of them on their shirts all the time. Right now in Wales they are in full bloom and are beautiful. They are everywhere, everytime you see green you pretty much see yellow with it! It's so lovely.

Get back to you soon!

City of... Bicycles

So, last weekend I went to Amsterdam with about 80 other Americans. It was absolutely incredible. We left Thursday evening around 5:30 via coach and ferry, and we didn't arrive until 9:30 am Friday morning (8:30 am British time). We watched Under Siege, which is actually a very entertaining movie. We weren't able to move into our rooms until after 2pm, so we were able to store all of our stuff into a room the hostel has. So, a bunch of us decided to go ahead and change in the restroom before going out. The people that I was planning on hanging out with ended up being in the second hostel, so I just joined another group where I really only knew these two guys. So, we all went to breakfast at this place called the Pancake Corner. It was lush, I had the Dutch specialty of Pofferjes, they are like tiny pancakes with powdered sugar. It started to snow at that point. And, we had to decide what we wanted to do for the next 3 hours that didn't include being outside. Most of the people wanted to go to the Anne Frank House, but for the price it didn't really peak my interest, so these two girls and I decided to go to the Van Gough museum. It was awesome, sadly though they had the Starry Night and blue phase in a special section that was not very obviously advertized, so we missed that. However, it will be flown back to New York soon, so it will be on my to see list. Then after the museum we explored briefly and then headed back to the hostel to move our stuff back in. After that it was right back out to walk around and see the city. We just walked the streets. The funny thing about Amsterdam is that each street pretty much is all one type of shop, for instance, we found antique shops and the whole street was full of it with all different focuses, like clocks versus tiles. It was really cool, I bought a swan figurine for ,50 euro. Which most of the places were around 700 euro for a tiny tea pot, granted it was from the 18th century. Then we went into the best priced souvenir shop, and the lady was talking to us and her son is currently a student teacher in Indiana. Which was cool because the girl I was with is from Illinois. And, this lady made all her own chocolates, but at this point we had to pass, but promised to come back Saturday. Then we found the largest floating flower shop, oh my, the flowers were gorgeous. We also, decided to go into a Cathedral. She had never been in one, and I wish it allowed photos, because it was exquisite. It was full of color and had 3 story high ceilings. It had beautiful stain glass windows and paintings on the walls. We each bought and lit a candle for someone we knew that had died. I lit mine for Grandma Daisy. Then we were going to meet up with some other people for dinner, but they didn't know where it was that we were telling them to meet. So, we just ended up going to this Italian Ristorante and had mushroom pizza, it was super tasty. Then after that we met up with two guys that came on the trip that are German, but also attend uni with us. And, we pub hopped our way to the middle of the town where the red light district was. We just briefly walked through it, just to see what it was. The funniest thing was that the canal in the middle of it there were swans just swimming around, they were absolutely beautiful. Then we made our way back to the hostel. I originally didn't want to go to Amsterdam because I was afraid of all the drugs since they were legal. And, well, people can't legally do them on the street they have to do them in a 'coffee shop', so it was extremely easy to avoid. The pubs/bars are not allowed to serve or let people do drugs in them and the coffee shops don't allow alcohol. So, I suppose since they regulate it its safer, I'm not sure. But, I was able to avoid people trying to sell stuff to me. There were plenty of people who did decide to try stuff. This girl and guy friend of mine tried for the first time a hash brownie, and since the marijuana is so much more pure there, it really ruined their night. They were in bed by 7:30, and it caused them to be ultra paranoid and the girl had an anxiety attack. Well, the girl they were with was staying in my room and she didn't do any of it and decided to babysit them in our 7 people room, which then meant 9 people in the room. So, turns out see felt like it was only fair to ask to share my bed with me, so needless to say I didn't get any sleep that night, and people decided to wake up at 7:30 am. But, Saturday was great and made up for it. First thing we did was rent bicycles and go to breakfast. Where I had a banana pancake with cinnamon. YUM! Then we biked from the west to the east, we were going to go to the zoo, but when we arrived we realized it was wayyy to expensive. So, we just rode around, which it was so nice rather than snowy like the day before. I had to, however, by a hat and gloves because it was a bit too nippy for anything but that. We also had the best hot chocolate at one place, and the night before I also had a chocolate mousse cake and before that a chocolate non-american style doughnut. They had the best desserts! Then that night I met up with all the other girls that I planned a secret Valentine's dinner with. There were 19 of us. We all met up and switched our gifts for our Valentine then went to another Italian ristorante. I had wanted to get Greek, but some of the girls had never had it and were afraid. So, currently remembering this I am now craving some Greek food. Anyways, then afterwards we all just sat in this Irish pub for pretty much the rest of the night. Later around 2am, a group of us decided to get pancakes from the Pancake Corner. Which then I banged my knee into a cement post, what happened is there was a huge group of people we were avoiding running into and had to move over, but in order to not walk on the streets had to weave in and out of these posts, well the two people I was behind quickly at the last second moved to avoid it and I didn't even see it at that point and BANG! So, that was discomforting. Then the next morning we ate breakfast at the hostel and made our way one last time on our bikes, we went and saw the windmill and came back, we only had an hour and a half. It was a lovely time. So, bicycles are the main way of transportation in Amsterdam, they have special bike lanes and lights. Also, it is so safe that no one wears helmets. And bikers have the right away even to pedestrians. They also have trams that run like buses, reminded me slightly of San Francisco. The canals are what separate every block and it is just beautifully set up. And, the architecture was so neat, between all the different houses and such. Oh, and they had public urinals, so weird. But, I guess to keep it clean. Also, bikes are locked without a rack, I mean they have them, but what they do is lock the back tire and the front, so then no one will be able to ride off with it. And, since no one really has cars they can't steal them that way. It was really cool. Anyways all in all it was an amazing city. And I recommend it to anyone. The bus ride home seemed to take forever, I was in and out of sleep. And, knit most of the time I was awake, I'm almost finished with my scarf. We also watched a whole season of Montarage (spelling?). It was interesting. Anyways I was put in charge of convincing the bus driver of dropping us off at the place where we all live, the guy in charge tried and the driver wouldn't listen to him, so he told me to try. I'm not really sure how it worked, but I luckily was able to convince him, the other bus wasn't so lucky they all had to get taxis or walk 2 miles back. So, school came back fast, I had most of my lectures on Monday, and then went to the CU (Christian Union) that night. Then today I woke up and ran with my friend Molly. And, tonight we are going to have a Bible study in Woody's, the local pub, I know the managers and they are going to let us in before hours, so we have a quiet, clean place to meet. Then after that I might go to this speed dating event which is entirely for charity. My friend and I were going to make up fake names and tell funny stories the whole time. Should be a blast. Anyways that's about it for now!

Bitter Sweet

It's been a while since I've updated, I'm going to try to update more often. The weekend after my birthday I came down with an awful cold, running a fever and everything. Every American seemed to get sick, some are still starting to get sick. I suppose we just aren't familiar with the germs over here. I'm finally getting over the toll of the sickness, just still have the sniffles. Then on Monday last week it started our week of snow. Classes were cancelled Tuesday through Thursday due to around 3-4 inches of snow. On Tuesday we had a massive snow fight in the student village, there were 100s of people running around throwing snow. But, once that was over we were all over the snow. Yesterday was the first day it didn't snow, but it rained. Which we were very thankful for. Last weekend was a very relaxing one, more of just rest and hanging out. On Saturday 7 of us ventured to town to Indian food and the cinema. We saw He's Just Not That Into You, which I must say is one of the best movies I've seen in a while. It was fantastic. Next on our list is Bride Wars and Seven Pounds. Sunday my friend Leslie came over and we had pancakes and just hung out talking, then later I made shortbread cookie cake (cuz there's no where sanitary to roll out cookie dough) and it was lush. I made that with Courtney. Monday I had lectures, 1 one hour World History - we learned about the Reformation of the churches; then an hour break, then one time only seminar class for World History where we read a part of Luther's Appeal to the Princes. Then off to my favorite class, Intro to Dante's World. Which is two hours long. So, that was a very long day. Not to mention the fact that I ran to lectures that morning at 8:20, it's 2.25 miles. Then a bunch of us met to discuss the cruise that we are planning on going to for spring break. It leaves out of Athens on March 30, and is only 4 nights, and has two stops in one day sometimes, its just of the Greek Islands and Ephesis, so it should be amazing! The rest of the trip hasn't been planned out quite yet, but it is 4 weeks long and the cruise is the second week. I also made chicken pot pie (which Tam loved) which is going to last me until Thursday when we leave to go to Amsterdam for the weekend! A bunch of us girls, 19 to be exact, are going to have a dinner on Saturday (Valentine's day) and we drew names and are having secret Valentine's just to make things a bit more fun! We also plan to see the Van Gough museam and Ann Frank's house. It should be a great trip! Today I'm going to do my pilates work out and then head to town with Julie and Bethany and we're going to find some bleach and highlight my hair because the roots are awful, and we're going to create our own scattegories so that way we don't have to buy one! Should be tons of fun!

Wow, Sorry I'm behind!

Mmmm this past week has been busy!!!! We finished up the last week of lectures for the American students only, and today started our courses. Here's a quick run through up til now. Last Monday was mainly just classes and going out to town. I make American pancakes and the girls I live with thought they were just lush, they had never had them before, their version of pancakes is the rest of the world's version of crepes. Which I also made this week. Tuesday was just a day of exhaustion, I could have attended an inaguration party and been on the news here, but I was absolutely knackered. So, I just took a really long nap instead then played some pool. Then Wednesday I was supposed to go to the boys' rugby game, but it was rained out, so a bunch of us, Americans, went to town, Jori and I went clothes shopping and then to Tesco. Then I made some brownies, which I'm going to make a different kind in just a bit. Then we went out to town again that night, but this time I left a little early with some friends and we signed up at this casino which gives you 5 pounds free for signing up, so we just gambled that and then left when it was gone, it was fun. Thursday was yet another day of relaxation, there was supposed to be karaoke at the pub, but it was cancelled since people were still in exams. So, next week. Anyways so my roommate and I decided to just watch a movie, then the other two girls joined us. We watched She's the Man. Friday night I couldn't be asked to want to stay out late, so I got ready to go out, but everything was so crowded that I didnt even stay to go in, I just came back with another friend who didn't want to wait either. I also decided to wash my clothes that day, quite the fun time, I washed them in the bath tub after cleaning the bath tub, cuz the machines are worthless and expensive, then I went to bring them down to the dryer just to pay for the heat not even to turn off, so just an hour of rolling my clothes, so I had to put them up in the boiler room, which is now going to be my standard way of washing clothes, hand wash and hang dry. Saturday we went on a field trip to the lovely city of bath. Oh, it was so fun. We were able to see these natural hot spring baths that are ages old. Then we walked around town, had a Sally Lunn bun, which is a famous place apparently. Then we went to this area where there are really nice homes called the Circus and Royal Crescent. Also, every building there matched, a white stone look, its so pretty. Then we played putt putt, it was so cold yet sooooo fun. There was one point when we were waiting for the green and I was standing on the number post, then when it was our turn I jumped down, not thinking oh wet grass it'll make me slip, and I did slip and land right on my bum in the mud. It was soo funny, great times. Then right before we left we stopped at this lovely, lush fudge place, named what? San Francisco Fudge. Oh they love American food here. Then that night I watched the Shining and part of Forgetting Sarah Marshall with my roommates before deciding to go to bed. Sunday, next week I am going to church with this new girl from Colorado that I met on Wednesday, she's really sweet. But this week we still didn't know of anywhere to go, so its our mission to find somewhere before this Sunday, which is superbowl Sunday! Anyways yesterday I went running, which I haven't been on a run in what a year and a half maybe? A long time. I ran to the beach with my friend Nathan who runs 15 miles often. It was a slow more like jog though, which was better on my ankle. It was 2.5 miles to the beach and then a 2.5 mile walk back. It felt so good though, even though I'm in so much pain right now from it. Then the rest of the day I just sort of lounged around with my roommates. Then at midnight the pub in our Village gave me on the house (its nice to know all the employees) my first drink ever. I had a slushie with a shot of cherry vodka and a shot of smirnoff. I didn't drink all of it by myself mainly cuz I hate slushies, but it sounded the best at the time. I told everyone to take a sip, so really I hardly had any at all, but it still counts. All in all its been a great week. Tonight we are going to TGI Friday's and then out to town again, and I started classes today, World History 1500-1800 and Intro to Dante's World (which seems really awesome). Oh yea, and Happy Chinese New Year, and its my birthday, 21! :D

rainy days of fun

So, yesterday we went to Cardiff for a few hours. It was really fun, except we were all shattered (really tired). There was an hour ride to this Welsh museum which was really cool because it was really just this old little village that you could walk through. And ceiling and door heights signaled status, so some of the door frames were less than a half inch taller than me. It was a lovely little play and it also had a "castle", which really was just a mansion house and beautiful gardens. Some of the girls and I just took our time mosing around this lovely place, it would be even more beautiful come spring when everything is blooming, but just imagining helped as well. Then we went to City Centre of Cardiff and walked around in all the shops looking for clothing deals, I didn't really find any that suited my budget and size and taste but a lot of others did, so it was fun to get on the bus and see what everyone chose! We were shattered because Friday night we went to the club on campus, can you believe it ON CAMPUS! It'd be like a club in Talley. There were a ton of people there but we mostly all knew each other. That's the best thing about a smaller school! Anyways so we came back from Cardiff around half past 5 and everyone split to go home, but almost all my flat mates went home for the weekend, so my neighbor mates and I decided to go play a little pool at the lounge area bar which is located in the student village where I live, best comparison would be Wolf Village but with a bar. Only students are allowed in this bar so its a very chill place just to hang out with some friends, watch rugby or music videos, play pool or fuseball. And then last night after heading down to Woody's (the bar) I met this girl from UNCW, UNCW sent around 15 students over here. Anyways the wild thing about meeting here is, well I didn't know this until just now, but... I left UFCA in the 8th grade, and I remember hearing about the new girl that came in 9th grade, well what do you know I meet that girl in another country! How wild? I'm actually excited to tell her I too attended UFCA. For those of you who don't know UFCA is a small private school, less than 30 to a class, so to have attended the same school is pretty rare! She's coming out with us for my birthday! Which is in a week, I'm so excited, everyone every day reminds me of the countdown. I made an event today and already almost 30 people are going to attend, its so awesome to have met so many amazing people, they are all just so fun loving and a great joy to be around! I also finally unpacked and organized my room, well most of it still a few more clothes to put away, but at least they aren't in suitcases. And already I have a load of laundry, that's what happens when it rains all the time and your trousers get muddy quickly. Oh, and another fun detail, one of my flat mates, Matt reminds me of my cousin, Kenny. It is uncanny, they make the same facial expressions and everything its great! Miss everyone talk to you all soon again!

living in a dream world

Class is quite neat, we are learning about British history, politics, music, cinema and culture. Last night most of us Americans we went out to the town, it was quite fun. A few of my welsh flat mates attended along with us. Tonight is going to be more of a quiet night, and hopefully going to sleep early. I have a feeling that it may turn into a girl night since one of my flat mates just broke up with her boyfriend today. Last night the girls straightened my hair, I forgot what I looked like with straight hair, and wow my hair is so long now! It's very exciting. There are a bunch of birthdays coming up in the next few weeks including mine, so its going to be very exciting! I love the language here, they say things like lush and call snobs posh and just all these fun words. I'm friends with practically the whole rugby team, so next Wednesday we're going to the rugby match, I'm excited to see my first match! Right now everyone is revising for their term finals, a lot of people are going home this weekend for a day or so. Their grading system if funny, the highest grade is a 70, so you have to get a 40 to pass. The phones are nice here, you don't have to pay for an incoming call nor incoming texts, only when you call or text someone yourself. And text is cheaper than calls, so text is the number one form of getting in touch with someone here, which is way different from how I'm use to. I also find myself saying darling and love all the time now, its funny how things just start to catch on. They comment all the time how when I'm not even trying to sound British (which I do on occassion) that some words I say are now always British. So, its a fun experience. If you have any specific questions shoot me an email and I'll be sure to answer them! xxx (the British thing to do at the end of a message, it means kisses aka much love!)

3 in the morning

Okay so, where did i leave off? It is so different here that everyone can drink at the age 18. All my flat mates are 18, 19, and one 21 and so they all drink. So, there's a ton of night life. Oh, and they stay up forever. So, every night I've been up just talking and hanging out til 3 amish. I've made cookies twice and they are absolutely amazed. One of them calls me Mary Poppins. All of the Americans are awesome. And every person is excited for me to be 21, in 13 days! I told them that I will only try one drink then, and that I won't be spending money on alcohol, and they assured me they'd be more than willing to pay. I've started orientation and the classes they have for us. Its going well. I'm about to be starting lecture now. I'm rather tired, so I can't really remember what all I thought I would say. They say really awesome things too, and I've convinced several Americans and one Welsh student I'm from here with my accent its so fun!
Anyways I'll try to update again soon!

Here to stay, for a while

So, I arrived in Swansea on Thursday night, and first thing Friday morning went to move in my bags to my room. I'm up the hill and to the right. (hills, so fun for pulling luggage!) anyways I met my first flat mate when I brought in my luggage. Then it was off to Tesco (their super walmart, but much much better!), unfortunately they didn't have a phone for me to buy, so we took a bus to another part of town and on the bus my mom said I wonder if they have a Barnes & Nobles or something of the sort around here. Olivia said that she remembered seeing a Borders in London, and as soon as we stepped off the bus to go to Tesco Extra (it was even bigger, hard to imagine) there was a Borders right there. It was such a relief. I was in need of a Bible because mine from the States was too large, anyways we seriously thought we wouldn't find one, finally we did and there was only around 7 to choose from. Shows how religiously dead this area really is. That night I went on a taxi with some freshers back to the student village when we realized that the bob (bright orange bus - student bus to the city quadrant centre) wasn't running anymore that night. It was hard to say goodbye to my mom and sister, but also exciting at the same time to start a new adventure. That night I met two of my flat mates, Ceri-ann and Danielle, they are such sweet girls. I live with all freshers, so everyone is 18 or 19 except one of them is 21, he took some time off before coming to school. I also met some really neat people that live in the houses near me, also all freshers. They had so many questions it was crazy. They wanted to know all about me, and right away they said you're a Christian aren't you? and I was shocked, so they also wanted to know all about my faith and beliefs and the Bible too. It was a really cool experience, very scary at the same time. One of the guys was gay and told me that he thinks that I'm going to make him straight by the time I leave, I'm not really sure how to take that. But they all repeatedly tell me how much they love me already, its so awesome how they have taken to me, they have so much respect for me because of my beliefs and are interested to learn more. And I'm excited to share. We stayed up late that night just talking, and crazy thing is all their favorite show is Charmed, same as mine, and they love Friends too. And to top that they love my favorite movie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, I couldn't believe they've seen it, because very few people back home have. I woke up early the next morning, barely on time because my phone was set in pm rather than am so my alarm didn't go off. Anyways at that time I didn't know there was a shower downstairs and had to take a bath. Then I ran to the bus stop for our fieldtrip around Swansea for all the US students. I met alot of nice people, mainly from Iowa (reminded me of you, Jeff). And saw some beautiful landscapes of the coast, then we had time in town where I had a tour of the town to get a feel for everything. Then I went back to the flat around 4 and made cookies (the house desperately needed to smell like them rather than the smell it had) and some soup for dinner. My flat mates were absolutely amazed they said they had never had homemade cookies. This is when I met a few more of my flat mates. They are all really cool people, I like them a lot already. They are afraid I might want to leave because they've had several girls move in and out of my room since they've been there (which has only been a semester). But I like them. We stayed up really late, o my dear, I was so tired. Anyways they are very excited for me to turn 21. Also, there are a few Americans that live near me. Nick from Iowa and some guy I never want to see again from Oklahoma, he is so annoying and was absolutely wasted and gross. Anyways everyone is really great. I met up with some girls from University of Iowa today in town, my flat mate gave me a ride because she works here. We are at a local cafe using the internet until ours is set up at our flat. I'm very excited to continue to meet people. I'd love to hear from any of you!

Patience pays off

January 6, 2009 and January 7, 2009

So, the morning started early on Tuesday with my mom waking us up convinced we needed to go back to Charlotte to catch that flight to Gatwick. Little did we know that when we'd get there, we'd go to check in in the domestic section of the USAirways check point to be told that our best bet was to stay in Philadephia because they were cancelling arriving flights due to potential bad weather. So, between me and Olivia all 150+ lbs of just my luggage not to mention hers too down past (outside too) all of the other ticket counters to make it to the international check points for USAirways. Half way there I realized that I'd need to have muscles like Popeye to make it the rest of the way and decided I had to somehow figure out an easier way. So, I went into the American Airlines area and asked to borrow a large luggage cart, but the TSA man told me to just use one of those luggage carts that are usually paid for, but he had a few that people didn't return, so I piled all of my bags on and finally pushed to check them in. Then we spent all day in the airport, shopped at the GAP, ate lunch and dinner and even enjoyed a few movies. Well, ironically during one of the movies my mom told me that my other sister called and she dropped and broke her lap top (also a dell). Which is awful, but ironically comes in handy. Well, so somehow we aren't really sure how my charger to my dell fell out of my bag, there was a point when these two gentlemen who were both going in opposite directions and didn't even know each other both ran into me at the exact same time, well that's when it may have fallen, who knows. All I know is I asked every security and information person there was and no one had been handed one. I didn't have time to look for that long since we did(!) make it on the flight to Gatwick. You know that you've been in the airport too long when people start to know who you are. All of the gate agents from the day before kept telling me when they saw me that they'd keep an eye out for me and make sure that I got to England. It was a cool feeling. And they'd all ask me how my search was coming for my charger, and half of them I don't even remember asking. Anyways very nice people, and we made it!
The flight was around 7 hours with taxing and de-icing. I sat in between a 16 year old boy from the city that I'm going to be studying in, which was really cool. And on the other side was a gentleman from Asheville, so since I was just there we were able to talk about Asheville. Granted I slept and read most of the time, all and all it was a good flight except for the time change which meant I was up at 4am and ready to get to my hotel. We made it to the hotel, and around 3pm London time headed straight for downtown London. It was a long hour to get there by train, but much shorter to get back. We saw Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, the Buckingham Palace, and went into Harrod's. We got this delicious Pastys for dinner, which I was skeptical about at first, but my oh my were they good. Maybe even better because it was practically all we ate all day. Waking up so early we forgot to eat! Anyways tomorrow we head to Wales. I'm excited!
I'm very thankful that God made it possible for us to get here, because we were starting to wonder if only I'd be able to go, which would have been frightening.

Much Love, Andrea

Rash, sit, Philly, overbooked

January 5, 2009
Our (me, my mom, and Olivia) first day of attempt at travel. I was a long, long day full of airports, not to mention the discomfort I felt from a newly formed rash on my face, maybe poison ivy from vine swinging? but who knows, I've never gotten poison ivy before. Anyways, the original plan was changed around five times. The night before the idea was to go to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport around 5:30 pm to try to catch a flight to London, however, around midnigh plans changed to go to the airport at 11am to head to Philadephia, due to the flights filling up. Philadephia was a much better option because they have three flights a day going to the UK rather than just one like Charlotte. However, once again flights even to Philly were becoming oversold, so in a frantic bolt we all piled into the car only to turn around upon reaching Wachovia and my mother realizing she forgot her debit card. Then the plan changed to catch the next flight which gave us an extra hour to finish up some last minute things, like eating, random packing, and cleaning. We left for good finally and arrived at the airport at 11:30am. We missed two flights to Philly and quickly came to realize that the flights were going to be full all day. So, it was time to call the employee line for help, and also to figure out where my checked bags were. The man that answered the call was a God-sent, he was very kind and looked up every possibility until he found out that a staggered route would get us there. We now were going to be off to Richmond, VA. We immediately went to the gate to check in just to stumble upon the fact that no one would be there for us for around an hour. So, we headed to get some lunch. We ended up at Chili's too and quickly retreated back to the D concourse after eating. At 4:15pm we were off to Richmond without any problems, so we thought... once we were in the air though, I realized that I forgot my brand new coat some where in the Charlotte airport. I couldn't believe it and felt it was lost forever. But God used this incident to remind me that He was taking care of things. As soon as we landed I got in touch with Chili's and they found my coat. Next I called my dad who happened to be leaving shortly for his own flight, fortunately the plane will wait for him, since he's flying it. So, he picked up my coat and delivered it, as he said "to the other side of the world", which is really just the other side of the airport to a currently boarding flight to Philadephia. Thank goodness the flight attendants took my coat without any questions. At the same time in Richmond when we reached the ticket counter the gate agents were talking about [us] "these people that had to come from Charlotte in order to get to Philadephia." And when they saw us approaching they surprised us by asking, "Are you the Urbans?" We made it to Philadephia and picked up my coat. Fortunately God interveined again. He also blessed us with the fact that my coat was going to be delivered 7 gates away from our departure gate. Which is a huge blessing because the Philadephia International airport is HUGE, we could have had a to walk over a mile just to get my coat, and I'm not exaggerating. But thankfully God proved once again that He is faithful. We did disappointedly not make a flight to the UK that night, and not from a lack of trying, we sat trying to get on 3 flights, and I even begged British Airways to check all their availability, sadly they were all full too. So, we had to get my bags from baggage claim and check into a hotel. Once again we come to find out God had better plans, had I or all of us gotten onto the plane my bags would have stayed in Philadephia, and I would have been out of clothes. Next it was time to find the shuttle to Quality Inn, well we were missed by the van, so I in my ankle brace and high heels with 90+lbs of luggage, ran down the street to where he did stop to get him to wait for all of us to get there. I'm sure everyone was quite entertained, especially when my bags slid, and the man almost left, except this lady yelled really loud to get the man's attention to tell him to wait for me. So, we made it to the hotel except apparently Quality Inn and Quality Hotel are not the same place. Due to the mix up they gave us a reduced rate lower than the AAA rate! So, there we are after a long day finally getting a shower and a bed, back to square one, where do we go from here to get where we want to go?