Hi,
Well, I'm finally back in Los Angeles. I had an amazing summer and it's strange to think that I'll be in one place for awhile! As for my last week in Cambridge...
I finished my papers early in the week and it was on to celebrations and goodbyes. Monday night, Elizabeth and I went to see A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Girton College gardens. The Shakespeare festival has been going on a Cambridge, and a bunch of the colleges put on different plays in their gardens. This setting was especially fitting for this play, since it is set mostly in a forest, after all. We sat on the grass right in front of the "stage," and it really felt like we were part of the scene! The actors spoke right to us! The production was hilarious, and the actors and actresses were really good. Luckily it stays light pretty late in England (in fact, Cambridge is at about the same latitude as the southernmost part of the Alaska [if you include the Aleutian Islands] - I lost the bet).
On Wednesday, I went to tea and the Fitzwilliam Museum with Kevin and Emilio, two friends from USC at Cambridge. The Fitzwilliam had a ton of different art: British, Italian, French, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, everything! My favorite was of course the French - you can't beat it! We met up with some more friends at The Cow for Happy Hour drinks in celebration of everyone finishing their papers before going back for dinner and then clubbing. Everybody (and I mean nearly all of the students in our Cambridge program) went out to The Fez club to celebrate that night. It was packed (on a Wednesday night? yup!) and so it was very hot and crowded, but we all still had fun dancing for hours.
Thursday was our last full day at Cambridge. We went to our last classes and began packing up our rooms (which was a bit strange, since being in one place for four weeks seemed so foreign to me!). We had a formal dinner that night in the Selwyn Dining Hall, where we all dressed up and they served us by candlelight. After, we all went to the Selwyn Pub for our last evening together, and eventually ended up at someone's room in Newnham College, where there was a big balcony where we enjoyed the pleasant Cambridge evening.
Everyone left the next morning, and it was sad to say goodbye. I made several really good friends from all over - the USC friends I made I know I will see again, but those from across the US and the world, who knows? Luckily, this will just give me more reasons to travel :)
I took a coach to London with Sean and his parents, and my Uncle Tom, who was visiting London, met me at the station. we went back to the flat of our family friend, Bobby, where we were both going to be staying. Bobby was a friend of my grandparents from Canada, and she is the sweetest lady! Tom and I went into the city for the afternoon and went on the London Eye, which was actually really neat and not at all scary, even for someone terribly afraid of heights, as well as the Courtauld Museum in the Somerset House. The museum was fairly small, but had the most beautiful Monets and Cezannes. We went back to Bobby's for dinner with her family (her son Jonathan, wife Lindsay and son Lawrence). I got to discuss some of the British politics I had learned in my class with some actual British people, which gave me a neat perspective in comparing their system and ours. After dinner, I met up with Sean and his parents again at a bar/restaurant and said my goodbyes before trying to sleep for a few hours before my early flight.
I got up at 4:30 on Saturday to get to the airport, where I met up with Kevin who was on my flight back to New York. It was nice to have someone to watch movies with. I think long international flights are actually the best kind - you get really good movies, your own entertainment system, and two meals on the 7 hour cross-Atlantic flight, as opposed to absolutely nothing on the 5-hour cross-country flight. After 24 hours of traveling (it was a never-ending day... I had to keep setting my watch backwards!) I got to Phoenix and went to my Mom's house for the next day. We drove out to LA yesterday and started moving into my new apartment (which is really nice!). My summer abroad has officially ended, and I went back to work today. What a difference - working in an office for eight hours, when three days ago I was on a whole different continent!
This means I am actually available by phone now, if you want to contact me, and I will put pictures up soon, and will post a link in this blog. Hopefully you've been somewhat entertained by my travels. I can't wait to hear all about all of your summer adventures as well!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Another trip to London and more Cambridge
I went to London again last weekend, this time with friends I met here. We didn't have classes on Friday, so we took the train that morning. There were eight of us total - Elizabeth, Sean, Sammy, Michael, Matt, and Peter from Michigan St University, and Nimra from Pakistan. When we arrived, we found our hostel in Piccadilly and then walked down to St. James Park, past the Horse Guards, and to the National Gallery. The National Gallery is huge (and free - yay!), and unfortunately we got there only an hour before close so I didn't get to see nearly as much as I would have liked. From there, we went to dinner at a pub near the hostel, where Elizabeth got her long-awaited first fish and chips (I seem to get to witness this moment for a lot of people...). We found a little bar/club up the road called The Warwick that we went to that evening, which we later learned from a Londoner back at Cambridge is known to have the worst music in all of England. Maybe that was just his opinion though, becuase it seemed fine to us!
On Saturday, I had a ticket to see King Lear at The Globe theatre, courtesy of Cambridge and paid for by USC (well, I probably paid for it somewhere along the way actually) so I met up with the USC group and we went to lunch and the play, while my MSU friends did some sightseeing. The Globe was really neat. It looks just like you would imagine it to have - a round (duh) building with three levels of seat, plus the Groundlings who pay just a couple pounds to stand near the stage. Cheap, yes, but for a three hour play like King Lear? No thanks... The play was fantastic though, with great music and terrific actors and actresses. My MSU friends went back to Cambridge Saturday night, and I met up with Nimra and we went to her friend's flat in London for the night. I got to meet several of her other friends as well, as Pakistani and studying in London. Some of them are friends with people who run a very posh club at High Street Kensington, called Amika, so we went there that night (and didn't even have to pay the 20£ cover - ridiculous!) As soon as we walked into the club, I thought it would be a really good idea to step on some broken glass in my open-toed heels (does sarcasm come across in a blog? I hope so) and so we spent a while in the kitchen with the bartenders pouring gin on my gushing toe to stop the bleeding. Good way to start the night for sure. I got all bandaged up and we went back to our dancing only a little worse for the wear. We got back to Nimra's friend's place about 4:30, caught a couple hours sleep and then caught the train back to Cambridge so I could start some really exciting work on my papers. Sunday night, Sean and I went and saw Wall-E at the theatre in town (it had just come out in the UK) and if you haven't seen it, you definitely should.
The weather has been gorgeous all week - mid 70s - which has made walking around town fantastic, and writing papers agonizing. Tuesday night, Elizabeth and I went to dinner and then to see the ballet Sylvia by the Royal Ballet, which was being shown at one of the movie theatres in town. Not quite the real thing, but still really good. Elizabeth was a dancer growing up as well, so we both sat there with our legs twitching. It was actually really neat to see a ballet on a movie screen, since in a theatre you don't normally get to see the expressions on the dancers' faces, and you also really see just how muscular they are.
I spent a lot of time this week out in the gardens of our college enjoying the sunshine and trying to do some reading. It is definitely difficult to concentrate when it is so beautiful and there are so many things you want to do and people to have fun with!
Thursday night we went and saw The Dark Knight, as it came out that day here. The theatre was packed - I think everybody from our college was there, or at least everybody I knew or had ever seen! Again, really good movie that you should definitely see. Heath Ledger does such a good job as the Joker - thoroughly creeped me out at least!
I'm spending the weekend at Cambridge working on my papers. Hopefully I'll finish soon so I can enjoy my last week here! I can't believe my trip is almost done...
On Saturday, I had a ticket to see King Lear at The Globe theatre, courtesy of Cambridge and paid for by USC (well, I probably paid for it somewhere along the way actually) so I met up with the USC group and we went to lunch and the play, while my MSU friends did some sightseeing. The Globe was really neat. It looks just like you would imagine it to have - a round (duh) building with three levels of seat, plus the Groundlings who pay just a couple pounds to stand near the stage. Cheap, yes, but for a three hour play like King Lear? No thanks... The play was fantastic though, with great music and terrific actors and actresses. My MSU friends went back to Cambridge Saturday night, and I met up with Nimra and we went to her friend's flat in London for the night. I got to meet several of her other friends as well, as Pakistani and studying in London. Some of them are friends with people who run a very posh club at High Street Kensington, called Amika, so we went there that night (and didn't even have to pay the 20£ cover - ridiculous!) As soon as we walked into the club, I thought it would be a really good idea to step on some broken glass in my open-toed heels (does sarcasm come across in a blog? I hope so) and so we spent a while in the kitchen with the bartenders pouring gin on my gushing toe to stop the bleeding. Good way to start the night for sure. I got all bandaged up and we went back to our dancing only a little worse for the wear. We got back to Nimra's friend's place about 4:30, caught a couple hours sleep and then caught the train back to Cambridge so I could start some really exciting work on my papers. Sunday night, Sean and I went and saw Wall-E at the theatre in town (it had just come out in the UK) and if you haven't seen it, you definitely should.
The weather has been gorgeous all week - mid 70s - which has made walking around town fantastic, and writing papers agonizing. Tuesday night, Elizabeth and I went to dinner and then to see the ballet Sylvia by the Royal Ballet, which was being shown at one of the movie theatres in town. Not quite the real thing, but still really good. Elizabeth was a dancer growing up as well, so we both sat there with our legs twitching. It was actually really neat to see a ballet on a movie screen, since in a theatre you don't normally get to see the expressions on the dancers' faces, and you also really see just how muscular they are.
I spent a lot of time this week out in the gardens of our college enjoying the sunshine and trying to do some reading. It is definitely difficult to concentrate when it is so beautiful and there are so many things you want to do and people to have fun with!
Thursday night we went and saw The Dark Knight, as it came out that day here. The theatre was packed - I think everybody from our college was there, or at least everybody I knew or had ever seen! Again, really good movie that you should definitely see. Heath Ledger does such a good job as the Joker - thoroughly creeped me out at least!
I'm spending the weekend at Cambridge working on my papers. Hopefully I'll finish soon so I can enjoy my last week here! I can't believe my trip is almost done...
Monday, July 21, 2008
Cambridge, London and Sixth Floor Reunions abroad
I know it's been a long time since my last post... life at Cambridge is pretty busy! I'll start catching you all up:
On a typical day here at Cambridge, we get up and go to breakfast around 8:15, class at 9, optional plenary lecture at 10:30, class 11:45-1 and then go into town for lunch or shopping. Cambridge is full of little boutiques, restaurants and pubs. Dinner is a 3 course meal, usually consisting of at least one thing I don't eat. So far we have had at least 3 nights of pork and 2 nights of fish, which in case you didn't know I can't/don't eat either. Luckily the vegetarian options are usually pretty good, unless it's giant mushrooms in which case I'm completely out of luck.
Thursday (two Thursdays ago...) night Cambridge hosted a celidh, which is Irish dancing sort of like square dancing. The instructor had us running and jumping around for almost two hours! I danced with a French guy named Guillaume the whole time, and we had a blast! My legs we definitely killing me for a few days after that though... After, we went out to Club Revolution again, stopping at a nice bar called Ta Bouche first. I was with a huge group of people - there must have been at least 30 of us, mostly from USC, Florida and Michigan St.
Friday I went to class and then hopped on a bus to London to meet my good friends from USC Laura Klein and Jack Kovacs. Laura had just finished 7 weeks in Rome with the Viterbi School of Engineering and Jack had just done 2 weeks in London in a songwriting program with Thornton School of Music. Laura's parents put us up in a hotel (I didn't even have to stay in a hostel with 5 random people in my room... weird) and I met Jack there and we went to dinner while we waited for Laura to come from the airport. Once Laura arrived, we all went out to a bar/club near the hotel that Jack and I had seen on the way to dinner called The Moose. Of course it poured on our walk there so we were soaked, but warmed up quickly in the crowded bar. This was either the type of place or the type of people that are not big on the dancing thing because the three of us definitely became the center of attention. We showed the British how we do it over in the States ;) I was really glad Jack was there to sort of intimidate the guys that had circled up around us...
On Saturday, we went over to the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewel snad all the towers and armories. I especially enjoyed the room with the statues of the horses of all the English Kings. After, we went to a pub for lunch called the Hung, Drawn and Quartered (all the pubs here have really cool/weird/random names...) where Laura got her first English fish and chips. Then we walked down to St. Paul's Cathedral and looked around for a while. Jack went to dinner with his uncle and Laura and I went off to find some good Indian food. We went up to Soho and found a nice little restaurant with excellent curry and naan. We went back and got Jack and then went to find a new club. We went back to the Soho area and wandered for a bit before we finally went into one. This one was very different from the night beofre - more people were actaully dancing and the crowd felt a little older than us. There were several bachelorette parties which was very interesting to watch, and we eventually ended up dancing with a group of British guys who had gone to baording school together - aka some major bros. It was fun though and afterwards we walked back to the hotel in the still-crazy streets of Soho/Mayfair.
On Sunday Laura and I went to Big Ben, Westminster, Parliament, the Horse Guards (where there was some sort of commemeration for the Belgian Army) and met Jack at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the Guard. While walking to Buckingham, Laura and I just happened to see Katie McKitterick, a fellow Helene! What a coincedence, especially because she was on her way to Kenya and only in London for a few hours! What a small world... After Buckingham we went to Kensington gardens, walked around and inquired about tea at the Orangery. While we waited for tea-time, we went over to Abbey Road to see the famous recording studio and interection - of course recreating our own Beatles album cover picture. We went back to Kensington for our traditional English tea, which consisted of cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and cake, along with tea of course. Laura and I went off to catch the bus back to Cambridge, and said goodbye to Jack, who was leaving London on Tuesday.
Monday after my classes, Laura, my friend Sean and I went into town to go punting on the River Cam. Punting is the quintessential Cambridge thing to do - you sit in little rectangular boats while someone stands on the back with a long pole which they use to push off the river bottom to propel the boat (think gondola-style). We all took turns punting, and I think I held my own. After punting we walked around the town a bit and then went back to the college. We went out that night to Revolution (again, I know) since Mondays are gay night.
Tuesday, Laura, my friend Elizabeth and I walked through Cambridge to see the Botanic Gardens. They were incredible! Designed by Henslow (Darwin's teacher), there are glasshouses with plants from different regions of the world, a rose garden, scented garden, systematic beds, and genetic garden. The flowers were so pretty and it was really neat seeing all the different varieties of plants. We hung around the college with some friends for Laura's last night at Cambridge, before she left back to London for the day on Wednesday morning. I loved having her here and I was so happy to see her and Jack, especially in England... amazing!
I know I'm not quite all caught up, but this is long enough for now and I should do some classwork, so I'll update again soon!
On a typical day here at Cambridge, we get up and go to breakfast around 8:15, class at 9, optional plenary lecture at 10:30, class 11:45-1 and then go into town for lunch or shopping. Cambridge is full of little boutiques, restaurants and pubs. Dinner is a 3 course meal, usually consisting of at least one thing I don't eat. So far we have had at least 3 nights of pork and 2 nights of fish, which in case you didn't know I can't/don't eat either. Luckily the vegetarian options are usually pretty good, unless it's giant mushrooms in which case I'm completely out of luck.
Thursday (two Thursdays ago...) night Cambridge hosted a celidh, which is Irish dancing sort of like square dancing. The instructor had us running and jumping around for almost two hours! I danced with a French guy named Guillaume the whole time, and we had a blast! My legs we definitely killing me for a few days after that though... After, we went out to Club Revolution again, stopping at a nice bar called Ta Bouche first. I was with a huge group of people - there must have been at least 30 of us, mostly from USC, Florida and Michigan St.
Friday I went to class and then hopped on a bus to London to meet my good friends from USC Laura Klein and Jack Kovacs. Laura had just finished 7 weeks in Rome with the Viterbi School of Engineering and Jack had just done 2 weeks in London in a songwriting program with Thornton School of Music. Laura's parents put us up in a hotel (I didn't even have to stay in a hostel with 5 random people in my room... weird) and I met Jack there and we went to dinner while we waited for Laura to come from the airport. Once Laura arrived, we all went out to a bar/club near the hotel that Jack and I had seen on the way to dinner called The Moose. Of course it poured on our walk there so we were soaked, but warmed up quickly in the crowded bar. This was either the type of place or the type of people that are not big on the dancing thing because the three of us definitely became the center of attention. We showed the British how we do it over in the States ;) I was really glad Jack was there to sort of intimidate the guys that had circled up around us...
On Saturday, we went over to the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewel snad all the towers and armories. I especially enjoyed the room with the statues of the horses of all the English Kings. After, we went to a pub for lunch called the Hung, Drawn and Quartered (all the pubs here have really cool/weird/random names...) where Laura got her first English fish and chips. Then we walked down to St. Paul's Cathedral and looked around for a while. Jack went to dinner with his uncle and Laura and I went off to find some good Indian food. We went up to Soho and found a nice little restaurant with excellent curry and naan. We went back and got Jack and then went to find a new club. We went back to the Soho area and wandered for a bit before we finally went into one. This one was very different from the night beofre - more people were actaully dancing and the crowd felt a little older than us. There were several bachelorette parties which was very interesting to watch, and we eventually ended up dancing with a group of British guys who had gone to baording school together - aka some major bros. It was fun though and afterwards we walked back to the hotel in the still-crazy streets of Soho/Mayfair.
On Sunday Laura and I went to Big Ben, Westminster, Parliament, the Horse Guards (where there was some sort of commemeration for the Belgian Army) and met Jack at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the Guard. While walking to Buckingham, Laura and I just happened to see Katie McKitterick, a fellow Helene! What a coincedence, especially because she was on her way to Kenya and only in London for a few hours! What a small world... After Buckingham we went to Kensington gardens, walked around and inquired about tea at the Orangery. While we waited for tea-time, we went over to Abbey Road to see the famous recording studio and interection - of course recreating our own Beatles album cover picture. We went back to Kensington for our traditional English tea, which consisted of cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and cake, along with tea of course. Laura and I went off to catch the bus back to Cambridge, and said goodbye to Jack, who was leaving London on Tuesday.
Monday after my classes, Laura, my friend Sean and I went into town to go punting on the River Cam. Punting is the quintessential Cambridge thing to do - you sit in little rectangular boats while someone stands on the back with a long pole which they use to push off the river bottom to propel the boat (think gondola-style). We all took turns punting, and I think I held my own. After punting we walked around the town a bit and then went back to the college. We went out that night to Revolution (again, I know) since Mondays are gay night.
Tuesday, Laura, my friend Elizabeth and I walked through Cambridge to see the Botanic Gardens. They were incredible! Designed by Henslow (Darwin's teacher), there are glasshouses with plants from different regions of the world, a rose garden, scented garden, systematic beds, and genetic garden. The flowers were so pretty and it was really neat seeing all the different varieties of plants. We hung around the college with some friends for Laura's last night at Cambridge, before she left back to London for the day on Wednesday morning. I loved having her here and I was so happy to see her and Jack, especially in England... amazing!
I know I'm not quite all caught up, but this is long enough for now and I should do some classwork, so I'll update again soon!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Paris partie 2, Geneva, and the beginning of Cambridge (i.e. the weather gets worse as I go...)
The past week has found me in three different countries...phew! Here we go:
Last Wednesday, Jere and I went to Versailles. The place was just as beautiful as I remembered. It was so crowded though! I can only imagine how much more beautful it would be without hordes of people snapping pictures everywhere. It was interesting to see portraits and busts of people we had learned about in school - they seem a little more real in that setting than in the textbook. We also went in to the amazing gardens. It was a bit gray out but nice because it wasn't too hot. We walked down ot the water and by this point it had started to sprinkle. Luckily I had an umbrella! I sat under the trees by the water, which were big enough to keep me dry, at least until it really started raining!
Thursday was my last full day in Paris. I started by going to Musee Rodin, which Alex had recommended to me. It was a gorgeous place, full of Rodin's best sculptures, including The Kiss and The Thinker. I'm tempted to say that I prefer sculpture museums to les peintures, but when I really think about it, they are impossible to compare. Sculptures are so tangible and have real texture and body (no pun intended) to them, yet if you really look at a painting, it too is so complex with subtleties unapparent at first glance. Anyway, after wandering through the museum and gardens (have you noticed there are beaucoup de jardins en Paris?) I went to Invalides to meet Ning, who is studying at Cambridge with me. He has been travelling quite a bit as well, and had come to Paris before going to London and Cambridge. We went to see Napolean's tomb - very large for such a small person haha. I continued on to the Champs d'Elysee to do some (window) shopping and eat a final crepe, and then to Parc des Buttes Chaumont. This was a park that Laura V recommended - not a touristy park (finally!) and very cool. The park had a natural river an dif you walked to the top (which I did, bien sur) you got to a little greek gazebo with a beautiful view of the Sacre Coeur. As I was walking around the park, I was joined by un garcon Parisien, qui a pas plus de 16 ou 17 ans. He walked around the whole park with me and we had a conversation that I about two-thirds understood (although I think he thought my French was much better than it actually is.) He was an interesting person though (wearing an Iron Maiden shirt which he had got at their concert the previous night I think haha). I was supposed to meet Ning for dinner that eveing up at Sacre Coeur, but unfortunately we missed each other. I wandered up there anyway and ate and was pretty aggressively hit on by a Nigerian Professional Tennis player (or so he said...) and then by a 30-something French man. This was the first time the whole trip that I had really had any sort of issue with people buggin me. I never felt like I was really in danger at all, but it was definitely annoying.
I woke up at 5 the next morning to catch my 7am train to Geneva. I got the train just fine, although I was a little suprised that there was no security at all. I was planning to watch the French countryside go by, but fell asleep instead (not surprising - put me in most any moving vehicle and I'm out like a light). Gavin very kindly picked me up from the train station, but had to go to work so I wandered around downtown Geneva. I found a really neat park (Park La Grange and the adjoining Park des Eaux-Vives) with two rose gardens, a playground and Roman Ruins! It was a beautiful day, which was nice after leaving rainy Paris, and I sat on the grass with my Geneva Tribune and fell asleep. I walked around the lake, and then met up with Gavin's friend Max. He took me to the UN, where we took a tour and we briefly looked in a porcelain museum. We went into Old town for a drink (Old town looked a lot like Paris - actually a lot of Geneva looks like a smaller Paris) and then went to meet Gavin at his house. Gavin's parents are so nice and hospitable, and it was awesome of them to let me stay with them! Gavin, Max and I went out to dinner with a few more of his friends and then out a bar.
We spent Saturday swimming in Max's pool and then went to a couple pool/house parties. It was very interesting meeting Gavin's friends since he went to the International School in Geneva, so they are all from different places and many are the kids of diplomats. Saturday night we went out to a club called Bypass. As it seems to be in everywhere except the states, we didn't go out until about 1:30am and stayed out dancing until 6am! Max even put on a Russian accent and got us the best table in the whole place.
Sunday it rained nearly all day so we just hung around and watched Wimbledon, of course cheering for Federer since we were in Switzerland. Gavin's parents took us to a late dinner at a very quaint little restaurant and we had some excellent steak-frites.
Yesterday morning I flew to London and then waited for an hour in the rain to get a bus to Cambridge, which was then an hour and a half ride. I took a taxi from the bus station (since it was still raining) with a guy from Finland and two Russian girls - it really is an international program! I finally got to my college within Cambridge (Selwyn) and even in the rain it looked amazing. It is exactly how you would picture an old English university, with grand brick buildings and grass you aren't allowed to walk on. I have my own little two-room bedroom, with a bed, chairs, sink, desk, closet and drawers. It was so nice to finally unpack! I went into the city centre with Ning and made friends with one of the King's College guards as we walked through. He was so nice and gave us a little tour of the centre and told us the best places to go. The town itself is super cute, with shops, a market and even a mall. It definitely has more than I expected, but it has still kept its charm. When I got back, I ran into several USC students in the hallway along with several students from Florida. We went to dinner in a very Hogwarts-like dining hall, with huge long wooden tables and fairly good food that they actually serve to you - no EVK buffet-style dinners here! After dinner we hung out at the pub in our college and then walked to another pub in town.
Today we had our first day of classes. My 9am class is "Power and Politics in Britain Today" with Richard Yates, and my 11:30 is "Being British: Social Anthropology of Britain" with Nicholas James. Both classes seem pretty interesting, with no more than 20 students. Yates is pretty funny and is definitely a politics buff. James has the stereotypical very deep British voice and is so knowledgeable that you can't help but be interested in what he has to say. After class we went into town and got lunch (the college only feeds us breakfast and dinner) and found a grocery store so we could buy some snacks (since with the exchange rate, going out for lunch everyday would be really expensive). There is a lecture tonight about the University that I may go to, or we may explore the town a bit more. So far though, Cambridge is amazing, and I can't believe I am here everytime I walk outside and see the rich history around me!
Last Wednesday, Jere and I went to Versailles. The place was just as beautiful as I remembered. It was so crowded though! I can only imagine how much more beautful it would be without hordes of people snapping pictures everywhere. It was interesting to see portraits and busts of people we had learned about in school - they seem a little more real in that setting than in the textbook. We also went in to the amazing gardens. It was a bit gray out but nice because it wasn't too hot. We walked down ot the water and by this point it had started to sprinkle. Luckily I had an umbrella! I sat under the trees by the water, which were big enough to keep me dry, at least until it really started raining!
Thursday was my last full day in Paris. I started by going to Musee Rodin, which Alex had recommended to me. It was a gorgeous place, full of Rodin's best sculptures, including The Kiss and The Thinker. I'm tempted to say that I prefer sculpture museums to les peintures, but when I really think about it, they are impossible to compare. Sculptures are so tangible and have real texture and body (no pun intended) to them, yet if you really look at a painting, it too is so complex with subtleties unapparent at first glance. Anyway, after wandering through the museum and gardens (have you noticed there are beaucoup de jardins en Paris?) I went to Invalides to meet Ning, who is studying at Cambridge with me. He has been travelling quite a bit as well, and had come to Paris before going to London and Cambridge. We went to see Napolean's tomb - very large for such a small person haha. I continued on to the Champs d'Elysee to do some (window) shopping and eat a final crepe, and then to Parc des Buttes Chaumont. This was a park that Laura V recommended - not a touristy park (finally!) and very cool. The park had a natural river an dif you walked to the top (which I did, bien sur) you got to a little greek gazebo with a beautiful view of the Sacre Coeur. As I was walking around the park, I was joined by un garcon Parisien, qui a pas plus de 16 ou 17 ans. He walked around the whole park with me and we had a conversation that I about two-thirds understood (although I think he thought my French was much better than it actually is.) He was an interesting person though (wearing an Iron Maiden shirt which he had got at their concert the previous night I think haha). I was supposed to meet Ning for dinner that eveing up at Sacre Coeur, but unfortunately we missed each other. I wandered up there anyway and ate and was pretty aggressively hit on by a Nigerian Professional Tennis player (or so he said...) and then by a 30-something French man. This was the first time the whole trip that I had really had any sort of issue with people buggin me. I never felt like I was really in danger at all, but it was definitely annoying.
I woke up at 5 the next morning to catch my 7am train to Geneva. I got the train just fine, although I was a little suprised that there was no security at all. I was planning to watch the French countryside go by, but fell asleep instead (not surprising - put me in most any moving vehicle and I'm out like a light). Gavin very kindly picked me up from the train station, but had to go to work so I wandered around downtown Geneva. I found a really neat park (Park La Grange and the adjoining Park des Eaux-Vives) with two rose gardens, a playground and Roman Ruins! It was a beautiful day, which was nice after leaving rainy Paris, and I sat on the grass with my Geneva Tribune and fell asleep. I walked around the lake, and then met up with Gavin's friend Max. He took me to the UN, where we took a tour and we briefly looked in a porcelain museum. We went into Old town for a drink (Old town looked a lot like Paris - actually a lot of Geneva looks like a smaller Paris) and then went to meet Gavin at his house. Gavin's parents are so nice and hospitable, and it was awesome of them to let me stay with them! Gavin, Max and I went out to dinner with a few more of his friends and then out a bar.
We spent Saturday swimming in Max's pool and then went to a couple pool/house parties. It was very interesting meeting Gavin's friends since he went to the International School in Geneva, so they are all from different places and many are the kids of diplomats. Saturday night we went out to a club called Bypass. As it seems to be in everywhere except the states, we didn't go out until about 1:30am and stayed out dancing until 6am! Max even put on a Russian accent and got us the best table in the whole place.
Sunday it rained nearly all day so we just hung around and watched Wimbledon, of course cheering for Federer since we were in Switzerland. Gavin's parents took us to a late dinner at a very quaint little restaurant and we had some excellent steak-frites.
Yesterday morning I flew to London and then waited for an hour in the rain to get a bus to Cambridge, which was then an hour and a half ride. I took a taxi from the bus station (since it was still raining) with a guy from Finland and two Russian girls - it really is an international program! I finally got to my college within Cambridge (Selwyn) and even in the rain it looked amazing. It is exactly how you would picture an old English university, with grand brick buildings and grass you aren't allowed to walk on. I have my own little two-room bedroom, with a bed, chairs, sink, desk, closet and drawers. It was so nice to finally unpack! I went into the city centre with Ning and made friends with one of the King's College guards as we walked through. He was so nice and gave us a little tour of the centre and told us the best places to go. The town itself is super cute, with shops, a market and even a mall. It definitely has more than I expected, but it has still kept its charm. When I got back, I ran into several USC students in the hallway along with several students from Florida. We went to dinner in a very Hogwarts-like dining hall, with huge long wooden tables and fairly good food that they actually serve to you - no EVK buffet-style dinners here! After dinner we hung out at the pub in our college and then walked to another pub in town.
Today we had our first day of classes. My 9am class is "Power and Politics in Britain Today" with Richard Yates, and my 11:30 is "Being British: Social Anthropology of Britain" with Nicholas James. Both classes seem pretty interesting, with no more than 20 students. Yates is pretty funny and is definitely a politics buff. James has the stereotypical very deep British voice and is so knowledgeable that you can't help but be interested in what he has to say. After class we went into town and got lunch (the college only feeds us breakfast and dinner) and found a grocery store so we could buy some snacks (since with the exchange rate, going out for lunch everyday would be really expensive). There is a lecture tonight about the University that I may go to, or we may explore the town a bit more. So far though, Cambridge is amazing, and I can't believe I am here everytime I walk outside and see the rich history around me!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Intro to Paris
Bonjour encore!
I have now been in Paris for 5 days and there is still so much more I want to do! Anyway here are my last few days:
I arrived in Paris last Thursday, found my bags, found the metro and found my hostel. I walked around the neighborhood and hung out at the hostel for a while, since I had left my bags in the sketchy, unlocked luggage room until I could get my room at 5. I was staying in the 15th arrondisement (neighborhood) which is a little ouside the center of the city, so it was nice and quiet. I found a fruit and vegetable market and got some stuff to make a sala, along with a croissant from the boulangerie - the nice thing about hostels is that they have kitchens you can use, which is generally much cheaper than trying to eat out anywhere! That evening I met up with the Hermans and a friend who are doing a Study Abroad tour of Europe on Rue Mouffetard. We went to a Morrocan restaurant and got gelato (yumm). It was awesome seeing them in Paris, especially since being all alone for 24 hours after being with 50 other people for 10 days straight was quite a shock to the system. Back at the hostel, my first set of roommates were a group of Columbians who were going to school in the Czech Republic - a bit of a language barrier haha.
I forgot to mention this in my last post, but halfway throuhg my Israel trip, my camera decided to die. Disaster. Luckily, I was with 50 other people so I can easily get pictures. Now that I'm on my own though, this would be a huuuuge problem! So, Friday I undertook the task of getting it fixed (Euro/dollar conversion make buying a new camera way out of the question). Another backpacker told me of a camera store colseby on Rue Suffren. It took me about an hour to find the Rue itself, after asking beacoup des gens where it was, and then when I finally found the street, no one had even heard of the store... fantastique. Alors, I took the metro (my new bff) across Paris to find Canon France. They wern't sure if they could fiz it, but said they'd have a look. So while I waited, I walked down to Pere Lachaise, a famous, ginormous cemetary. Seriously, huge! Somehow I missed getting a map of the place, so I just walked around for hours and yes, I did see the grave of Jim Morrison, among many other famous people. After a few hours I went back to Canon and thank goodness my camera was fixed! I could not fully express my happiness en francais, but I think they got the picture. As I was taking the metro back, happily snapping pictures like a lame tourist, trhe man sitting next to me just happened to be another guy who worked at Canon and recognized my camera (probably by my excitedness and maybe also by the USC charm on the camera...). We discussed how happy I was, since he spoke a little English.
That evening, I made some friends in the hostel and went on a Pub Crawl with them. It was fun, but I left about half way through with a guy from Kansas I had been talking to who was studying aborad in Germany. We went to the Arc de Triomphe and le Tour Eiffel. They were so beautiful at night, although by the time we got to the Tour Eiffel, it was no longer lit up (being 1:30 am and all...). We ran to catch our metros (which stop running about 2am on the weekends) and luckily I made my last train, but he missed his and had to walk back to his hostel in Montmartre. I didn't know anything about him, except his name (Derrick) so I never know if he made it back or was lost forever in Paris...
Saturday, I went to the Musee D'Orsay which, a mon avis, is the best museum in Paris. I mean, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh... It doesn't get much better! I had been to the big musees on our family trip to Paris a few years ago, but I knew if I only saw one museum in Paris this time, it would be that on. I also went to le Jardin de Luxembourg, which were so beautiful. Plus, I ate un crepe avec le fromage, which was fantastic. As I was leaving the gardens to go meet a friend, I realized that no metro or bus was running as a result of the LGBT parade! uh oh.... Luckily I found out that Paris is really not that big as I pulled out my map and walked over towards Odeon. While you may be able to walk pretty much everwhere, the advantage of the metro is that you won't turn on the wrong street, which you can easily do on foot. I met my friend (through my roommate Sarah) Laura Villevieille (oui, elle est Francaise) who is living in Paris for the summer. She took me for an amazing almond croissant and we walked for a while past Notre Dame to Shakespeare & Co, which is a tiny little English bookstore. So cool! You could spend hours in there reading and hanging out. They even have cots and typewrtiers upstairs and sometimes house writers up there. After, we went to a cafe for a drink and she introduced me to the Monaco - a French drink that mixes beer and grenadine. Very good. That night, I met a guy from NY in the hostel who had been traveling for 6 months! Crazy! I don't know if I could ever do that... Him and I and a girl from Connecticut went to the Tour Eiffel, and actually got to see it light up, and then it sparkles for about 10 minutes every hour. Let me tell you, there is nothing like sitting in the grass with a bottle of wine watching the Tour Eiffel light up the purple Parisian sky!
Sunday I decided to chekc out the market on Rue Mouffetard. There were lots of people and lots of fresh food stands, in addition to the normal shops and cafes. I had a crepe citron (mon favorit)and then went up to the Bastille and le Place des Vosges in Le Marais, a fashionable little neighborhood. Il y a un jardin tres beau, where I sat for a while before going to Montparnasse. Conveniently pretty much all pretty much all of Paris is in a month long sale and I bought some really cute shoes. I'm not quite sure where they will fit in the backpack, but we'll worry about that later ;)
Sunday night I switched hostels (nothing wrong, just moving to a different part of town) to one up in Montmartre. I made some more friends and went to watch the Euro Cup finals with two Australians - Alex and Dan - at the Auzzie bar across from the Moulin Rouge. Dan just moved to London and Alex is 4 months into her year long travels. A whole year! Wow. Nous avons ete tres heureux quand Espagne a gagne and we walked around a bit and went back to the hostel. I thought there would be more people out celebrating, but it wasn't nearly as crazy as I expected. France wasn't playing, but still, we are surrounded by Spain and Germany.
Yesterday (Monday) Alex and I decided to go to the Catacombs, were there are tons and tons of bones from victims of the plague. Before we left, I ran back down to my room to get something and ran into none other that Derrick! (Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel, missed the metro.. following?) So in case you were worried, he made it back just fine (although 2 hours later...) Ahhh the small world of backpacking. Anyway, we got to the Catacombs, but unfortunately, it being a Monday, they were closed. So Alex, a boy we met at breakfast Jerre, and Jerre's friend from school Tessa, walked through Luxembourg (definitely pretty enough for at least two visits), through Notre Dame, along the Seine past le Palais de Justice sure Ile de Paris, and the Louvre and into le Jardin du Crrousel et le Jardin des Tuileries. We sat in les jardins for quite a while. I have had the best weather while I have been here - 70s and 80s with a clear blue sky: perfect! We decided to walk back to th hostel, which took about an hour, and we got to see La Madeleine, et les Galeries Lafayette. Last night Alex and I and a couple more Australian boys walked up near Sacre Coeur and got crepes with Nutella (is there any question about what I mostly eat here?) Back at the hostel, I ran in to Derrick and his friends and talked with them for a while in the lobby. They were on their way to the Tour Eiffel, and actually planned to sleep in the park there before their early morning train back to Germany. Alex and I decided to go meet them about 11pm. We figured as long as we left by 1:15am we would be fine catching all our trains. When we arrived at our last stop, there were scores of people leaving, which we thought was very odd. Anyway, we went to the Tour Eiffel, found the boys and watched the Tour light and sparkle for a while. About 12:45, one of the boys mentioned that we didn't have much time to get back. It took me a minute before I realized that it wasn't the weekend, so the metro closed about 1am! Alex and I SPRINTED back to the station but it had already closed. Hahahaha. So we had two options: 1) take a taxi back, or 2) sleep in the park with the boys. We decided since we already missed the metro we might as well go back for at least a little while. After a couple more hours, we were both sufficiently cold, damp (dew? humidity? Je ne sais pas), tired of the Russians next to us singing, and grossed out by the family of rats we saw, and we took a taxi back to the hostel. And our driver gave me his phone number to call if I wanted to go to a discotheque... random hahaha! It was a really fun night and we had a blast hanging out with the guys!
Today I took it easy and spent a while walking around le Cimetiere de Montmartre. Then I wandered around the artists and cafes by the Sacre Coeur, and went inside the Church. I climbed to the top of the dome to see an amazing 360 view of Paris. The church itself is so amazing and the view is spectacular! The neighborhood I'm staying in is so lovely that I was quite content to spend the afternoon here (along with doing some laundry in the sink...).
I'll keep you all posted on my next few days here, before I leave for Geneva on Friday!
I have now been in Paris for 5 days and there is still so much more I want to do! Anyway here are my last few days:
I arrived in Paris last Thursday, found my bags, found the metro and found my hostel. I walked around the neighborhood and hung out at the hostel for a while, since I had left my bags in the sketchy, unlocked luggage room until I could get my room at 5. I was staying in the 15th arrondisement (neighborhood) which is a little ouside the center of the city, so it was nice and quiet. I found a fruit and vegetable market and got some stuff to make a sala, along with a croissant from the boulangerie - the nice thing about hostels is that they have kitchens you can use, which is generally much cheaper than trying to eat out anywhere! That evening I met up with the Hermans and a friend who are doing a Study Abroad tour of Europe on Rue Mouffetard. We went to a Morrocan restaurant and got gelato (yumm). It was awesome seeing them in Paris, especially since being all alone for 24 hours after being with 50 other people for 10 days straight was quite a shock to the system. Back at the hostel, my first set of roommates were a group of Columbians who were going to school in the Czech Republic - a bit of a language barrier haha.
I forgot to mention this in my last post, but halfway throuhg my Israel trip, my camera decided to die. Disaster. Luckily, I was with 50 other people so I can easily get pictures. Now that I'm on my own though, this would be a huuuuge problem! So, Friday I undertook the task of getting it fixed (Euro/dollar conversion make buying a new camera way out of the question). Another backpacker told me of a camera store colseby on Rue Suffren. It took me about an hour to find the Rue itself, after asking beacoup des gens where it was, and then when I finally found the street, no one had even heard of the store... fantastique. Alors, I took the metro (my new bff) across Paris to find Canon France. They wern't sure if they could fiz it, but said they'd have a look. So while I waited, I walked down to Pere Lachaise, a famous, ginormous cemetary. Seriously, huge! Somehow I missed getting a map of the place, so I just walked around for hours and yes, I did see the grave of Jim Morrison, among many other famous people. After a few hours I went back to Canon and thank goodness my camera was fixed! I could not fully express my happiness en francais, but I think they got the picture. As I was taking the metro back, happily snapping pictures like a lame tourist, trhe man sitting next to me just happened to be another guy who worked at Canon and recognized my camera (probably by my excitedness and maybe also by the USC charm on the camera...). We discussed how happy I was, since he spoke a little English.
That evening, I made some friends in the hostel and went on a Pub Crawl with them. It was fun, but I left about half way through with a guy from Kansas I had been talking to who was studying aborad in Germany. We went to the Arc de Triomphe and le Tour Eiffel. They were so beautiful at night, although by the time we got to the Tour Eiffel, it was no longer lit up (being 1:30 am and all...). We ran to catch our metros (which stop running about 2am on the weekends) and luckily I made my last train, but he missed his and had to walk back to his hostel in Montmartre. I didn't know anything about him, except his name (Derrick) so I never know if he made it back or was lost forever in Paris...
Saturday, I went to the Musee D'Orsay which, a mon avis, is the best museum in Paris. I mean, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh... It doesn't get much better! I had been to the big musees on our family trip to Paris a few years ago, but I knew if I only saw one museum in Paris this time, it would be that on. I also went to le Jardin de Luxembourg, which were so beautiful. Plus, I ate un crepe avec le fromage, which was fantastic. As I was leaving the gardens to go meet a friend, I realized that no metro or bus was running as a result of the LGBT parade! uh oh.... Luckily I found out that Paris is really not that big as I pulled out my map and walked over towards Odeon. While you may be able to walk pretty much everwhere, the advantage of the metro is that you won't turn on the wrong street, which you can easily do on foot. I met my friend (through my roommate Sarah) Laura Villevieille (oui, elle est Francaise) who is living in Paris for the summer. She took me for an amazing almond croissant and we walked for a while past Notre Dame to Shakespeare & Co, which is a tiny little English bookstore. So cool! You could spend hours in there reading and hanging out. They even have cots and typewrtiers upstairs and sometimes house writers up there. After, we went to a cafe for a drink and she introduced me to the Monaco - a French drink that mixes beer and grenadine. Very good. That night, I met a guy from NY in the hostel who had been traveling for 6 months! Crazy! I don't know if I could ever do that... Him and I and a girl from Connecticut went to the Tour Eiffel, and actually got to see it light up, and then it sparkles for about 10 minutes every hour. Let me tell you, there is nothing like sitting in the grass with a bottle of wine watching the Tour Eiffel light up the purple Parisian sky!
Sunday I decided to chekc out the market on Rue Mouffetard. There were lots of people and lots of fresh food stands, in addition to the normal shops and cafes. I had a crepe citron (mon favorit)and then went up to the Bastille and le Place des Vosges in Le Marais, a fashionable little neighborhood. Il y a un jardin tres beau, where I sat for a while before going to Montparnasse. Conveniently pretty much all pretty much all of Paris is in a month long sale and I bought some really cute shoes. I'm not quite sure where they will fit in the backpack, but we'll worry about that later ;)
Sunday night I switched hostels (nothing wrong, just moving to a different part of town) to one up in Montmartre. I made some more friends and went to watch the Euro Cup finals with two Australians - Alex and Dan - at the Auzzie bar across from the Moulin Rouge. Dan just moved to London and Alex is 4 months into her year long travels. A whole year! Wow. Nous avons ete tres heureux quand Espagne a gagne and we walked around a bit and went back to the hostel. I thought there would be more people out celebrating, but it wasn't nearly as crazy as I expected. France wasn't playing, but still, we are surrounded by Spain and Germany.
Yesterday (Monday) Alex and I decided to go to the Catacombs, were there are tons and tons of bones from victims of the plague. Before we left, I ran back down to my room to get something and ran into none other that Derrick! (Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel, missed the metro.. following?) So in case you were worried, he made it back just fine (although 2 hours later...) Ahhh the small world of backpacking. Anyway, we got to the Catacombs, but unfortunately, it being a Monday, they were closed. So Alex, a boy we met at breakfast Jerre, and Jerre's friend from school Tessa, walked through Luxembourg (definitely pretty enough for at least two visits), through Notre Dame, along the Seine past le Palais de Justice sure Ile de Paris, and the Louvre and into le Jardin du Crrousel et le Jardin des Tuileries. We sat in les jardins for quite a while. I have had the best weather while I have been here - 70s and 80s with a clear blue sky: perfect! We decided to walk back to th hostel, which took about an hour, and we got to see La Madeleine, et les Galeries Lafayette. Last night Alex and I and a couple more Australian boys walked up near Sacre Coeur and got crepes with Nutella (is there any question about what I mostly eat here?) Back at the hostel, I ran in to Derrick and his friends and talked with them for a while in the lobby. They were on their way to the Tour Eiffel, and actually planned to sleep in the park there before their early morning train back to Germany. Alex and I decided to go meet them about 11pm. We figured as long as we left by 1:15am we would be fine catching all our trains. When we arrived at our last stop, there were scores of people leaving, which we thought was very odd. Anyway, we went to the Tour Eiffel, found the boys and watched the Tour light and sparkle for a while. About 12:45, one of the boys mentioned that we didn't have much time to get back. It took me a minute before I realized that it wasn't the weekend, so the metro closed about 1am! Alex and I SPRINTED back to the station but it had already closed. Hahahaha. So we had two options: 1) take a taxi back, or 2) sleep in the park with the boys. We decided since we already missed the metro we might as well go back for at least a little while. After a couple more hours, we were both sufficiently cold, damp (dew? humidity? Je ne sais pas), tired of the Russians next to us singing, and grossed out by the family of rats we saw, and we took a taxi back to the hostel. And our driver gave me his phone number to call if I wanted to go to a discotheque... random hahaha! It was a really fun night and we had a blast hanging out with the guys!
Today I took it easy and spent a while walking around le Cimetiere de Montmartre. Then I wandered around the artists and cafes by the Sacre Coeur, and went inside the Church. I climbed to the top of the dome to see an amazing 360 view of Paris. The church itself is so amazing and the view is spectacular! The neighborhood I'm staying in is so lovely that I was quite content to spend the afternoon here (along with doing some laundry in the sink...).
I'll keep you all posted on my next few days here, before I leave for Geneva on Friday!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Israel!
Shalom and Bonjour!
I know it has been a while since I left, but I had to wait until I had free internet access in order to start :)
I've kept a daily journal as I've gone, so we'll start from the beginning...
I've just finished the first part of my trip and oh my gosh, it has been incredible. The ten days I spent in Israel have been unreal - I never thought I could do and see so much in that time! I'm afraid this will be quite a long post because I want to tell you everything!
First off, I arrived in NY at 5 am to meet up with my group later in the day. I made friends with two British boys who had been traveling for the last three months. We talked for a few hours, and I plan to meet up with them when I get to London! My first European friends :) I met up with my Birthright group (about 40 people ages 18-25, mostly from the East Coast) and we went through security for El Al Air, which was pretty intens! They asked us all sorts of questions, which I must have answered wrong because they took all my bags (including carry-ons) to search and told me to come back and get them later haha. So much for my nice packing...
We got to Israel the next morning after an uneventful 10.5 hour flight and drove on a big tour bus (basically our home for the next 10 days) straight to the Sea of Galilee. It was so beautiful, and I had my first (of many) Israeli falafel - delicious! We stayed the next two nights at a Kibbutz right on the sea. One weird thing about most of the Kibbutz's at which we stayedc was that the showers consist of a curtain and drain with a big squeegee, but nothing to keep the water out of the rest of the bathroom, so you just have to sweep all your water into the drain afterward. A bit messy as you can imagine...
The next day we drove up to Safet. We walked around and the two girls I was rooming with and I made friends with a woman who happened to own an art gallery up the street. She had painting and blown glass, and she actually blew glass into a pendant for us! It was really cool. We drove up to the Lebanese border (the state of Israel is about the size of New Jersey, so only a few hours drive up and down). Our guide pointed out places where the Hezbollah hide out and we saw Israeli tanks driving to and from the base on the border. We also went up to the Golan Heights, were we could see Syria and Jordan, and we climbed through bomb shelters. Obviously, Israel is currently at peace in those areas, but it was still strange to be in a place where just a few years ago shells were falling. Although, since the state is so small, there were times when we were within 25 miles of falling shells in Gaza. We got to go kayaking too, where we shared the river with literally 100s of school-aged Arab kids. Needless to say, we got pretty wet, especially when some older kids (drunk maybe?) jumped onto our kayak and professed their love - a little awkward haha. While the Arab kids were certainly interesting, I think Israeli men as a whole are the most attractive I have ever seen.
The next day we had a lecture/discussion about Arab/Israeli relations within Israel. Israel is made up of Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs (Muslims) mostly. There are separate school systems taught in Hebrew or Arabic (although all the Arabs learn Hebrew as well, and everyone learns English). We got to go to a High School and meet a group of 16 and 17 year olds who were preparing for a trip to the US. They actually took us to their houses and we got to talk with them for a while. They were very hospitable!
On our fourth day, we went to Tel Aviv. We went to Independence Hall and Rabin Square where we met up with eight Israeli Soldiers (four girls and four guys) who then spent the next five days with our group. In Israel, all young people are required to serve in the army for 2 or 3 years after high school (so they were our age). Remember the whole attractive Israeli men thing? Well the women are absolutely gorgeous too! We spent the afternoon walking and shopping at Shuck Ha Carmel and then spent the night out dancing in Tel Aviv at clubs on the boardwalk (yessss I'm finally in a place where I am old enough to go out!). Since we were on an official group trip, we could never go out on our own or stay out much past 12, so the parties always continued in the Hotel long after. On this particular night we were at a hotel right on the Mediterranean! However, we weren't actually given time to go to the beach... there was no way I was going to leave Israel without getting in the Mediterranean, so another boy and I snuck out at 3 am and went swimming! The water was so much warmer than the Pacific! Oh, and I forgot to mention, but I think I averaged about three hours of sleep per night and was surprisingly fine with it! It's not like I was in Israel to sleep, as I was frequently reminded ;)
We got up and went to volunteer for a group called Table to Table, which sends people out to harvest crops that will otherwise be wasted and distributes the food to those in need. This particular morning, we were picking celery. It was hot and messy, but because there were so many of us, it went quick. This celery, however, became the bane of our existance, which I will get to in a little bit. After the celery, we drove to some ancient caves that were used to trap Roman soldiers. This was definitely one of my favorite things! We crawled through the caves which were soo small you had to be on your knees or stomach! I found out that I am not claustrophobic... We then drove down to the desert (Nagrev) to a really nice Kibbutz and swam and hung out. Since this was Friday, it was the start of Shabat. We lit candles and had dinner and then went to the bar. Another side note - pretty much everywhere we went there were several other birthright groups. I saw more big tour buses in Israel than I have in my entire life (although Taglist is expecting to talk about 40,000 young adults on the trip this year, so I guess it makes sense).
Saturday was still Shabbat, and it was nice to have a little rest. In the morning, five of our group members had bar/bat mitzvahs. It was pretty informal and kind reminded me of a Las Vegas wedding... Most kids spend months preparing for this ceremony, not three days. But good for them for doing it, because I certainly did not. That night, after Shabbat was over, we went on a night hike out in the desert. I have never seen sooo many stars!! It was so incredible - you could actually see all the stars that you see on a star map, and our guide pointed out a bunch of constellations too. The hike itself was pretty difficult- very hilly and rocky, but totally worth it.
Sunday we continued through the deser to Be'er Sheba, which was hot (even hotter than the rest of Israel), dirty, and as one of the soldiers put it (his words, not mine) the shithole of Israel haha. We visited Ben Gurion University, which was very pretty, but none of us could really enjoy it because we were all quickly coming dow with what became known to us as MUCS: Mysterious Unidentified Celery Syndrome. To various degrees of severity, at least half the group was developing splotchy red spots and lines. Some were blistering as well. So, we took a trip to a clinic where they didn't really know anything and spent three hours cleaning and wrapping our mysterious "chemical burns" (as they thought it might be). The clinic took so long that we missed our camel rides! I was soooo bummed... I really wanted to ride a camel! We spent the night in traditional Bedouin tents (ours, luckily, was right next to the camel pen, so I jumped the fence and petted them at least) We had an amazing dinner and thankfully Gary had bought a guitar that day so we had a campfire and sung. This was another night of less than two hours of sleep, as we got up at 4am to go climb Masada to see the sun rise. We were a little last so we literally ran up the mountain, but it was so worth it. WAtching the sunrise over the Dead Sea among ancient ruins was absolutely unbelievable. After, we took a different, 700 stair, winding, cliff-on-one-side path down. I may not be claustrophobic but I am decently afraid of heights... especially cliffs. Exhausting. It was only 7:30 am when we got to the bottom haha! We had breakfast and then took a short hike up to some waterfalls where we swam and played in the beautiful, clear water. Then we went to the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on Earth and is soo salty that you just float! You seriously just sit on the water - no treading, just sitting! The bottom was covered in salt crystals which made it very pretty. The high salt content meant that the water burned any cut or opening in your body. Like really burned a lot... so we couldn't stay in very long. We got some of the famous Dead Sea mud and covered ourselves thought, which was very nice but unfortunately did not cure our MUCS. From the Dead Sea, we drove to Jerusalem and said goodbye to our soldiers. Having them with us was so much fuin and they fit in so well with our group. It was very sad to see them go, but it's nice to know that I ill have people to visit when I go back!
We spent our last full day in Israel in Jerusalem's Old City. We walked through the Jewish Quarter and shopped and ate. The vendors are all very pushy which was super frustrating for me, but at least you could bargain with them to get the prices down. We stood in the very center of Jerusalem to see all 4 quarters of the city. Jersalem, like Israel, is surrouned by areas that hate it - it is a haven inside the West Bank. We alos went to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) to leave our own notes in the wall. Mena dn womern have seperate sections of the wall (the women's is much smaller of course). People from all over put so much faith in that wall and even if for only that reason it is so special and emotional. We had our closing dinner and tie-in program and then went out in (the new part of) Jerusalem. Our last night was a lot of fun - just haning out in a square, going to an Irish (yes, Irish haha) pub, and then back to the hotel.
The next morning we went to the cemetary at MT Hertzel and saw, appropriately, Theodore Hertzel's grave. This cemetary was so beautiful and so peaceful - not sad or creepy at all. We went to a big outdoor market and then to the airport. I made a lot of really good friends on this trip and it was so strange and sad to see them all get on the plane together without me. Instead I spent 12 more hours in the airport as my already late evening flight got delayed until the early morning. I flew from Tel Aviv to Belgrade (Serbia), got in at 3:30 am, slept on a metal bench (ugh) and left SErbia at 8:30, finally getting to Paris about 11am!
I'm currently in Paris and I'll update on my Parisian adventures very soon!
I know it has been a while since I left, but I had to wait until I had free internet access in order to start :)
I've kept a daily journal as I've gone, so we'll start from the beginning...
I've just finished the first part of my trip and oh my gosh, it has been incredible. The ten days I spent in Israel have been unreal - I never thought I could do and see so much in that time! I'm afraid this will be quite a long post because I want to tell you everything!
First off, I arrived in NY at 5 am to meet up with my group later in the day. I made friends with two British boys who had been traveling for the last three months. We talked for a few hours, and I plan to meet up with them when I get to London! My first European friends :) I met up with my Birthright group (about 40 people ages 18-25, mostly from the East Coast) and we went through security for El Al Air, which was pretty intens! They asked us all sorts of questions, which I must have answered wrong because they took all my bags (including carry-ons) to search and told me to come back and get them later haha. So much for my nice packing...
We got to Israel the next morning after an uneventful 10.5 hour flight and drove on a big tour bus (basically our home for the next 10 days) straight to the Sea of Galilee. It was so beautiful, and I had my first (of many) Israeli falafel - delicious! We stayed the next two nights at a Kibbutz right on the sea. One weird thing about most of the Kibbutz's at which we stayedc was that the showers consist of a curtain and drain with a big squeegee, but nothing to keep the water out of the rest of the bathroom, so you just have to sweep all your water into the drain afterward. A bit messy as you can imagine...
The next day we drove up to Safet. We walked around and the two girls I was rooming with and I made friends with a woman who happened to own an art gallery up the street. She had painting and blown glass, and she actually blew glass into a pendant for us! It was really cool. We drove up to the Lebanese border (the state of Israel is about the size of New Jersey, so only a few hours drive up and down). Our guide pointed out places where the Hezbollah hide out and we saw Israeli tanks driving to and from the base on the border. We also went up to the Golan Heights, were we could see Syria and Jordan, and we climbed through bomb shelters. Obviously, Israel is currently at peace in those areas, but it was still strange to be in a place where just a few years ago shells were falling. Although, since the state is so small, there were times when we were within 25 miles of falling shells in Gaza. We got to go kayaking too, where we shared the river with literally 100s of school-aged Arab kids. Needless to say, we got pretty wet, especially when some older kids (drunk maybe?) jumped onto our kayak and professed their love - a little awkward haha. While the Arab kids were certainly interesting, I think Israeli men as a whole are the most attractive I have ever seen.
The next day we had a lecture/discussion about Arab/Israeli relations within Israel. Israel is made up of Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs (Muslims) mostly. There are separate school systems taught in Hebrew or Arabic (although all the Arabs learn Hebrew as well, and everyone learns English). We got to go to a High School and meet a group of 16 and 17 year olds who were preparing for a trip to the US. They actually took us to their houses and we got to talk with them for a while. They were very hospitable!
On our fourth day, we went to Tel Aviv. We went to Independence Hall and Rabin Square where we met up with eight Israeli Soldiers (four girls and four guys) who then spent the next five days with our group. In Israel, all young people are required to serve in the army for 2 or 3 years after high school (so they were our age). Remember the whole attractive Israeli men thing? Well the women are absolutely gorgeous too! We spent the afternoon walking and shopping at Shuck Ha Carmel and then spent the night out dancing in Tel Aviv at clubs on the boardwalk (yessss I'm finally in a place where I am old enough to go out!). Since we were on an official group trip, we could never go out on our own or stay out much past 12, so the parties always continued in the Hotel long after. On this particular night we were at a hotel right on the Mediterranean! However, we weren't actually given time to go to the beach... there was no way I was going to leave Israel without getting in the Mediterranean, so another boy and I snuck out at 3 am and went swimming! The water was so much warmer than the Pacific! Oh, and I forgot to mention, but I think I averaged about three hours of sleep per night and was surprisingly fine with it! It's not like I was in Israel to sleep, as I was frequently reminded ;)
We got up and went to volunteer for a group called Table to Table, which sends people out to harvest crops that will otherwise be wasted and distributes the food to those in need. This particular morning, we were picking celery. It was hot and messy, but because there were so many of us, it went quick. This celery, however, became the bane of our existance, which I will get to in a little bit. After the celery, we drove to some ancient caves that were used to trap Roman soldiers. This was definitely one of my favorite things! We crawled through the caves which were soo small you had to be on your knees or stomach! I found out that I am not claustrophobic... We then drove down to the desert (Nagrev) to a really nice Kibbutz and swam and hung out. Since this was Friday, it was the start of Shabat. We lit candles and had dinner and then went to the bar. Another side note - pretty much everywhere we went there were several other birthright groups. I saw more big tour buses in Israel than I have in my entire life (although Taglist is expecting to talk about 40,000 young adults on the trip this year, so I guess it makes sense).
Saturday was still Shabbat, and it was nice to have a little rest. In the morning, five of our group members had bar/bat mitzvahs. It was pretty informal and kind reminded me of a Las Vegas wedding... Most kids spend months preparing for this ceremony, not three days. But good for them for doing it, because I certainly did not. That night, after Shabbat was over, we went on a night hike out in the desert. I have never seen sooo many stars!! It was so incredible - you could actually see all the stars that you see on a star map, and our guide pointed out a bunch of constellations too. The hike itself was pretty difficult- very hilly and rocky, but totally worth it.
Sunday we continued through the deser to Be'er Sheba, which was hot (even hotter than the rest of Israel), dirty, and as one of the soldiers put it (his words, not mine) the shithole of Israel haha. We visited Ben Gurion University, which was very pretty, but none of us could really enjoy it because we were all quickly coming dow with what became known to us as MUCS: Mysterious Unidentified Celery Syndrome. To various degrees of severity, at least half the group was developing splotchy red spots and lines. Some were blistering as well. So, we took a trip to a clinic where they didn't really know anything and spent three hours cleaning and wrapping our mysterious "chemical burns" (as they thought it might be). The clinic took so long that we missed our camel rides! I was soooo bummed... I really wanted to ride a camel! We spent the night in traditional Bedouin tents (ours, luckily, was right next to the camel pen, so I jumped the fence and petted them at least) We had an amazing dinner and thankfully Gary had bought a guitar that day so we had a campfire and sung. This was another night of less than two hours of sleep, as we got up at 4am to go climb Masada to see the sun rise. We were a little last so we literally ran up the mountain, but it was so worth it. WAtching the sunrise over the Dead Sea among ancient ruins was absolutely unbelievable. After, we took a different, 700 stair, winding, cliff-on-one-side path down. I may not be claustrophobic but I am decently afraid of heights... especially cliffs. Exhausting. It was only 7:30 am when we got to the bottom haha! We had breakfast and then took a short hike up to some waterfalls where we swam and played in the beautiful, clear water. Then we went to the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on Earth and is soo salty that you just float! You seriously just sit on the water - no treading, just sitting! The bottom was covered in salt crystals which made it very pretty. The high salt content meant that the water burned any cut or opening in your body. Like really burned a lot... so we couldn't stay in very long. We got some of the famous Dead Sea mud and covered ourselves thought, which was very nice but unfortunately did not cure our MUCS. From the Dead Sea, we drove to Jerusalem and said goodbye to our soldiers. Having them with us was so much fuin and they fit in so well with our group. It was very sad to see them go, but it's nice to know that I ill have people to visit when I go back!
We spent our last full day in Israel in Jerusalem's Old City. We walked through the Jewish Quarter and shopped and ate. The vendors are all very pushy which was super frustrating for me, but at least you could bargain with them to get the prices down. We stood in the very center of Jerusalem to see all 4 quarters of the city. Jersalem, like Israel, is surrouned by areas that hate it - it is a haven inside the West Bank. We alos went to the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) to leave our own notes in the wall. Mena dn womern have seperate sections of the wall (the women's is much smaller of course). People from all over put so much faith in that wall and even if for only that reason it is so special and emotional. We had our closing dinner and tie-in program and then went out in (the new part of) Jerusalem. Our last night was a lot of fun - just haning out in a square, going to an Irish (yes, Irish haha) pub, and then back to the hotel.
The next morning we went to the cemetary at MT Hertzel and saw, appropriately, Theodore Hertzel's grave. This cemetary was so beautiful and so peaceful - not sad or creepy at all. We went to a big outdoor market and then to the airport. I made a lot of really good friends on this trip and it was so strange and sad to see them all get on the plane together without me. Instead I spent 12 more hours in the airport as my already late evening flight got delayed until the early morning. I flew from Tel Aviv to Belgrade (Serbia), got in at 3:30 am, slept on a metal bench (ugh) and left SErbia at 8:30, finally getting to Paris about 11am!
I'm currently in Paris and I'll update on my Parisian adventures very soon!
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