..Back in London (for a few hours at least)

I'm back from Istanbul! I thankfully survived a hellish week...I wrote 8,000 words with in five days! AMAZING. But, I never ever want to do it again. I promise to write about it later, but don't get TOO antsy...I didn't do anything too exciting. And I'm going to try and do a picture post. I know I keep writing that, but I think that I've figured out how to without losing the post multiple times! I'm going to Brussels tomorrow for a class trip! I plan on eating lots of waffles and chocolate...and learning lots about NATO and the European Union :)!!! AND most importantly, NOT GOING TO CLASS!!!!

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
-Ayn Rand

“I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.”
-Mother Teresa

I have officially written about 8,000 words since Sunday. I can't tell you the last time that I slept in my actual bed. BUT, the good news is that the hell week is over and I'm going to be on a plane to Istanbul tomorrow!!! :)

I still have to do laundry and pack....but I can't believe that I'm going back. I know that I haven't slept for a while, but I think I might be too excited to sleep.

AND the mysterious Model UN paper that I have been working on since May is now finally finished!!! YAAAAY.

AH. The fire alarm has been going off for the past hour and a half, and it shows no signs of stopping. I just want to write my paper in peace!

In other news, nothing has really happened lately, especially sleep...that definitely hasn't been happening lately. Just paper writing and presentation-giving (I had two presentations last week an I have three papers this week), but the good news is that its all over on Thursday! And then I get to go to Istanbul :)! Trying to keep looking for that silver lining....

A glimpse of Paris and the past week

Nothing really has happened this week, I really have been in the computer lab or some other study haven before and after class. bleh. Yesterday, I did get out for a bit though. I met up with an Assistant Director from the Model UN conference I do. Her name is Viven, and she is a student at LSE (soooo jealous!). We had a LONG lunch; she was really interesting...and a lot different than I expected. Afterwards, Aaron, Charla, and I went to Hyde Park to study. After an hour or so, we all agreed that we were starving, but didn't want to go back to the study center to eat (because we had been cooped up for a week!). We decided the best plan would be to get on the Tube and just get off at a random stop....and we all jumped on the subway and got off at Camden Town. It was different than the parts of London we were used to. It was definitely a younger, less touristy part of town. It was filled with tiny market stalls with shop keeps selling cheap food, clothes, home goods, etc. It was pretty neat to see another facet of London.

In a few minutes, I'm going to go see Hamlet! I'm really excited...to take a break...and because the show is done in a peculiar way: The audience chooses which actor plays which part, and an actor can be chosen to play multiple parts. I'm pretty interested to see how it turns out!

Other than that...OH. I forgot to tell y'all about Paris (Par-eeee)!

Um, well...I'm not really sure what to really say because those four days basically involved a lot of getting lost, riding the metro, attempting to speak bad French to find the RIGHT place to be, and then finally settling on some place completely different.

I did go to Louvre...which was unimpressive to me. I do like to look and admire art, but it was just like any other art museum in the world. But, I went to another museum called: Musee d'Orsay...which was AWESOME. It was a mix of modern art and classical art (because it was the museum that got all of the stuff that didn't belong in the modern art museum OR the Louvre). I also got to see the café were the film, Amélie was shot....pretty cool! And while we were walking around the city, we met a group of young French students. We spoke to them for a while; they were really excited to practice their English and test their knowledge of American pop culture. I also got to see Oscar Wilde's grave (I DID give him a kiss) and Jim Morrison's grave, too! OH, my favorite part of the trip was when a group of us had a picnic of wine, cheese, and crackers below the Eiffel Tower at night. We got watch the beautiful tower "sparkle" while eating REALLY good, cheap cheese. :)

The internet is still AWFUL and deleted my post a few times...so I promise to be patient and post an entry full of pictures SOON.

Countdown to Turkey: 12 days.

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, GRACIE!!!

"I don’t know how many years on this earth I got left. I’m gonna get real weird with it."

Frank Reynolds, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Back from a fantastic voyage to Paris!

I will write about it later, but I just want to say that it amazed me that I longed for the comfort of London while I was there. I'm hoping that's a good sign and not an indication of my lack of the French language (I learned quite a bit there though).

Catching up

Oh my goodness. I'm so frustrated with this internet. I have been trying and trying to type this stupid blog for about about two hours now and every time I click publish, it gets deleted!!!

I'm going to try and post pictures in a separate post because I think that's what slowing this process down.

Ok, let's glance at the past few weeks of my journey here in London:

Three weekends ago: My class took a trip to Canterbury and Dover. Nothing too interesting to really tell you about it, most of it was history that I can't remember :( (But, I thought it was super cool at the time!!!) I got to see churches, castles, the English countryside, and the infamous white cliffs of Dover:) It was pretty excellent...mostly a picture-taking opportunity. We woke up pretty early and took a coach out to Canterbury. Our tour guide, Sean, told us awesome stories that obviously didn't stick...but I was pretty tired. Like I said, the sites were BEAUTIFUL.

Two Wednesdays ago: My class took a trip to Parliament!!! YAAAY. I felt giddy once I stepped inside the building. My heart started pumping quickly and my pulse sped up. It was a nerd-overload. The building has so much history (it has been around since Queen Victoria's reign) and is STILL functioning. WAY cool!!! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I will relish the photographic images I took with my brain....haha. Seriously, it was worth every pound I spent. And there is an awesome park outside Parliament with statues of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, and one of the only statue of a standing Abe Lincoln. Way to go, Brits!

Last weekend: Nothing but work really. Aaron and I went to Notting Hill to the Portobello Road Market on Saturday morning....it was chaos. But, tremendous. I bought a camera! One just like the one that my mom uses for her photography! (A Canon AE1)....its really awesome. I have already taken a whole roll of film. Later that day, Aaron and I met Natalie for tea at a cupcakery!! It was so filling...but delicious. Come to think of it, Saturday was a GREAT day for food...and my stomach. The cupcakery, Bea's, gave us a brownie, scone, crumpet, blondies, jam, clotted cream, a cupcake, and tea (of course!)....so so so mouth-watering...and a serious sugar overload. On Sunday, more homework...but Aaron, Natalie and I rewarded ourselves for our productiveness with fish and chips from a local place called Rock N' Sole Plaice. We walked in and immediately heard Turkish. It was the best combination of my two favorite cultures! (It turns out a Turkish family runs the place). The fish and chips were well-worth every penny. They were salty, hot, and crispy. Yummmmm.

Thursday/Friday: Workworkwork and too much coffee...

This weekend: I took a trip to Wales!!!! Part of my program went to an Ecolodge called Perseli near the coast in Wales. After two long train rides, we were picked up in a small Welsh town by a staff member (from Perseli) named Libby. She greeted up so warmly, I knew it was a good predictor of the rest of the weekend. My suspicions were confirmed when we actually arrived at the lodge and we were given the absolutely BEST vegetarian lasagne.

In the early morning, after a full breakfast, we went kayaking! I got to wear a wetsuit (I've never done that before!) and enjoy the coastline...we even saw seal pups! After lunch, my group went on a seven mile hike along a trail that followed the coastline. We walked through fields with sheep, cows, and plenty of wildflowers (I made a flower crown!) It was so relaxing....even though it was seven miles. That night the staff made a bonfire for us, and we got to eat dinner enjoy hot chocolate outside :)

The next morning, my group went "coasteering", which is a combination of swimming, rock climbing, and cliff jumping. IT WAS AWESOME. Very cold, but awesome. I was climbing on cliffs, swimming in the freezing Atlantic, watching seals play in the water, and jumping off rocks. It was a little bit outside of my comfort zone, but definitely worth it. Sadly, then I had to ride THREE trains back to London...only to have to confront more homework.

Anyway, that catches me up. I promise to do better! I'm going to Paris on Wednesday for five days and four nights, so I should have plenty to write about when I get back. I promise to try and post pictures before I leave. This internet is driving me CRAZY.

Sidenote: I got an assistant director for my Model UN committee that I have been working so diligently working on. She seems really awesome and I can't wait to meet her. YAAAAY. And check out my committees: http://www.imuna.org/committees.asp?cID=2&p=nhsmun

Work, work, work

I found this quote today that captures my life currently (being spent in the FSU 24/7 computer lab):

"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis- a good hot cup of coffee."
-Alexander Key