Bloody Brilliant! A view from across the pond ...

The end of an era ...

2007-12-19T10:19:00.001-08:00

Yes, my England days are officially over. I'm back in the USA now, and finally have a moment to close out the travel blog.
I did manage to pack my entire 3 months back into 2 suitcases and a backpack, even if I did have to sit on them to make then zipper closed. I even gave away half the stuff I brought with me and acquired in Newcastle, and I still had so much to bring home. It was basically a free-for-all with all my flatmates and friends over who got to keep my towels, sheets, school supplies, pillows, duvet, food, etc. It was pretty hilarious to watch, yet slightly disturbing. I figured since I gave away half my stuff and used up all the toiletries and such, that my suitcases would be significantly lighter on the return trip. Not so much. Luckily the weight limit from 70 to 50 pounds has been delayed until next year. Yeah, I just made it under the 70 pound mark on both cases. One was 30kg, the other 32kgs. Same exact weight as the way here. Go figure.

Anyway, my last night in Newcastle was as fun as it could be. I said goodbye to half my freinds who left for home earlier in the day, then drove out to Nando's for dinner with Graham, Natalie, Fran, and Louise. Delicious last supper. Then we headed home to continue packing and such. Since I had to leave at 4am, I saw no point in going to sleep. Everyone who was left decided to stay up late with me, they just couldn't let me leave all by myself at 4am all lonely. Natalie had to crash early since she had to work in the morning, so she said her very, very tearful goodbye early on, and gave me a card that I was instructed not to open until I left Newcastle. Go ahead and rip my heart out. Luckily, I had saved one last Ocho letter from the Loyola girls to remind me why I needed to come home. I opened the last of 7 letters, this one from Hannah (my roommate from the past two years who will be leaving to go abroad in the spring), and it made me realize that no matter how much I'll miss Newcastle, I have friends and family back home who miss me more. So back to the stay-awake-all-night-and-eat-all-my-leftover-food party. Mike and Bex stayed as late as they could, but Fran, Louise, Mark, Byoung, and Pete were with me until the bitter end. Matt came back for the last couple hours as well. With one last look at the empty bedroom before I left, I locked up and headed to the post box to meet taxi for the airport. With a crew of 6 friends carrying my luggage to the post box for me, I left Marris House for the last time. We all hugged goodbye and they watched me drive away into the night. I got a phone call halfway to the airport saying they missed me already.

The flight home was fine, and I slept through most of it. I opened the letter from Natalie during the layover in London, and she had printed out pictures of me and her, and some of our side of the flat from my final week in Newcastle. That made me really, really not want to get on that plane across the Atlantic. But, alas, I knew I had to move on at some point. I had just never intended on getting so attached to everyone I met there. I'm starting to save money now for a return trip before everyone graduates. And saving money to recover my bank account would be key right now. The currency conversion rate of over 2 dollars to 1 pound killed me - I came home with a grand total of $4.44 left in my bank account. I guess it's time to get back to work and dip into that emergency savings account. But hey, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I loved every minute of it!
We left Newcastle at 6:20 am, and landed in Newark, NJ at 12 noon American time. My mom and grandfather were there to welcome me home at the airport, and we chatted for the entire 4 hour ride home. It was nice to see family again, and it made me happy to be home.

So that brings me back to my life back in good old Ellicott City. I had a slew of messages from the Newcastle crew hoping I had gotten home safely, and I'm sure with email and such I'll be able to keep in touch with most of them. I had an overnight babysitting job for the day after I got home, so really I haven't been home for a full 3 days yet. I just started to unpack the massive suitcases, and I now have a good 5 loads of laundry beckoning me. Fantastic. But it's good to be home. I already have a packed schedule for this week seeing friends from home and Loyola, and also doing all the holiday baking. My mom saved all the cooking for me - hooray! I have so much to catch up on with my friends ... technically it shouldn't be any different from a regular semester away, but with the time zone difference, phone calls and IM conversations were nearly impossible. A whole semester of drama and scandal to recall all at once, sweet! O yeah, and I have the entire season of Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives for me to catch up on - I've been totally out of the American entertainment loop. So with the Christmas prep in full swing, people to see, and places to go, missing Newcastle is easier than I thought. Although, I must admit I'm anxious to hear how the new flatmate who takes my place in flat 32C works out and how the rugby team is doing. Can't wait for all the gossip-filled trans-Atlantic update emails to start flowing after the holiday season!

Final day in England ...

2007-12-13T05:11:00.000-08:00

So I sit here at 1pm ... with nothing packed yet. Maybe if I don't pack, I don't have to leave. But I know that won't work because Rachel, Jill, and I already have a taxi booked to take us to the airport at 4:15am tonight. I'll just stay up late to pack and sleep on the plane. This afternoon half of the block friends leave, so I have to say goodbye to all of them. I hate goodbyes, and this is even harder since I really don't know if I'll be seeing them again. Sure, they would love to come visit me, and I really, really want to come back to England; but the harsh reality is that even if I come back to England there's no guarantee that everyone will still be around. Life isn't fair sometimes.

But my final week here has been pretty great all things considered. Secret Santa was so much fun Tuesday night. All 16 of us from Marris House flats A, B, and C gathered in our room to exchange gifts. Everyone did great on the 10pound price limit. I was the only one who didn't know who had my name, but everyone had told me in the weeks before that my Secret Santa has put a lot of thought and effort into it. Well, it was a great gift and I was soooo close to crying when i opened it. Matt had bought be rugby ball, and over the weeks had gotten all 15 of them to sign it for me before i left. That's when it really hit home that I was leaving. But then I cheered back up and went out on the Roast Duck'd bar crawl. The only thing more crazy than 16 people exchanging gifts in one flat is getting 16 people around to ALL the bars on both routes of the bar crawl. The night was legendary to say the least. Natalie and I came back a little earlier than the rest since I had an exam the next day and she needed to do work, too.

I woke up early to study all morning, then go take the est at 2pm. The Biochem exam yesterday was INSANE! There were 3 of us taking the exam, and all of us left the exam room infuriated. At least 1/3 of the test was on information we were told that we would NOT be tested on because they cut out the last week of lectures since they took away our 4 week study period. Jerks. When I get home and am more level-headed about the whole things I'll be writing a passive-aggressive email to my professor. Oh well. The stuff that I knew on the exam, I knew well, so I should still pull off a decent grade. So, irked as we were, Cait and I headed into town for some retail therapy! Not that i have much money left, but I found the cutest dress to wear to the rugby dinner for only 5 pounds! Score! And I bought the mix CD of all the British pop/club mixes that I've been hearing all the time over here. So then I went back to the flat and got dressed up for the Rugby dinner. I met up with 6 of my favorite teammates, Hannah L, Hannah B, Becky, Sophie, Diane, and Alex to split a taxi into town to Marco Polo for dinner. It was so unusual to see both the 1st and 2nd teams dressed up in nice clothes instead of covered in mud! We had delicious food and wine, then walked down the street to Sam Jack's singing all our rugby songs as usual. It was such a perfect night with the team, but I said my sad goodbyes early so I could spend my last night with flatmates, too. After being smothered in one massive group hug, I left the team/family I've grown to love these past few months.
I got back to my flat and made the rounds of goodbyes between flats A, B, and C. Everyone will still be here today or tomorrow and will stop in again to say goodbye while I pack. I was doing fine with the goodbyes until i got to Sarah, and then the tears started. She had painted a couple of picture frames with photos from our Barcelona trip for me to take back. Leaving her will be the hardest, but I'm sure at least the two of us will keep in touch via email. I made it through Secret Santa, leaving the rugby team, and everyone else without crying. Who knows what kind of mess I'll be tonight. I never thought I'd get so attached to everyone here.

This is the last of my entries before I fly across the ocean. I have to pack my life into 2 suitcases again, and Fran, Natalie, Graham, and I are going to Nando's for dinner. I'm really excited to see my family at home, and get back to all my friends at Loyola. But I just wish there was a way to bring all my England crew with me.

Blogging is the best way to procrastinate

2007-12-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Seriously! I can always justify blogging instead of doing schoolwork because I know people at home are checking up on me, plus it will be a great way to relive my trip when I get home ( in 3 days, eek!)

I realized that I was so excited to write about Barcelona last night that I totally disregarded the rest of last week! An entire week of Newcastle craziness unrecorded? Shameful.
I spent all of Tuesday morning and afternoon (since it was the only day without pouring rain this week) wandering around Newcastle taking photos of all my favorite places and finishing up my holiday shopping. The city center is always bustling with holiday cheer and merriment recently, and everything is all decorated and lit up for Christmas. It's almost pleasant enough for me to forget the wind and cold - for a second anyway. Then I got a surprising email from the rugby team saying that the Lancaster game was actually still on, and that I got drafted to the 1st team again. So with that stressful piece of information in mind, i realized i had better get to studying biochem since Wednesday afternoon was shot. I took a nice, long 5 hour study break to have dinner with my rugby family. We all met up with my rugby grandmum, Kelli, at her house for my goodbye dinner. My rugby mum, Kelly, my rugby aunt, Lizzie, and rugby cousin, Lizzy were all there, and Cat and Mimi joined us for a team dinner since Kelli shares a house with Mimi and cat lives right down the block. All my favorite rugby team members in one place eating, gossiping, and chilling out (what else do girls do?). Leaving the team behind is going to be just as hard as leaving my flatmates since I spend just as much time with them. I went back to my flat late and studied biochem for a bit with Matt ... well, more like taught myself the basics of biology with his help so i could figure out what i was supposed to learn this semester. I've missed half the biochem lectures between rugby games and course schedule overlaps, so I needed some major late-night cramming.

Wednesday I wake up thinking I have a rugby game until just before I'm about to head to the pitch, only to get an email saying Lancaster isn't coming up at all. Bummer. But hey, at least I was called up to the squad initially. Plus, i actually needed all Wednesday afternoon to learn a semester's worth of biochem. And for only the 2nd time this semester I was able to make it to my Wednesday archeology lecture - shocking. As for the rest of Wednesday ... oh right, more studying 24 lectures of biochem I didn't know.

Thursday was full of nerdiness, basically. The biochem exam went surprisingly well, and I pulled off a great grade considering I just learned biology overnight. Then I still had to make though an archeology lecture, seminar, and a sociology lecutre. Just when I thought my brain was on overload, there's more. I then spent a record 5 hours in the library for the rest of the night and didn't get back to my flat until 10pm. I never go to the library. Ever. I hate libraries. But I realized that I actually had to get all the sources and semester's worth of readings that I would need to write my 4,000 word sociology final exam essay and archaeology final paper upon my return to the USA (thank goodness they aren't due until January!). So I basically rounded up all my sources and books for the papers and spent my life (and a small fortune) at the photocopier. Still cheaper than buying the books, though, and I can transport all my work back home. I'm sure the librarians thought I was nuts, but do I really care? When am I ever going to see these people again?

Friday - Monday: BARCELONA. Which still tops the list of best places I've visited here.

Today has been a crazy study session for that lovely Biochem final tomorrow. I've come down with end-of-semester-itis and I seriously can't take anymore. So I'm quitting for a while to spend the evening with my flatmates and the rest of my block for our Christmas dinner and Secret Santa exchange, then it's out in Newcastle for Roast Duck'd - the huge end of year bar crawl. I'm really bummed that I can't go crazy with everyone else, but I'll at least go out for a few hours. The biochem exam isn't until 2pm tomorrow, as long as I get a few hours of sleep and can review again in the morning I'll be fine. I'm only here once, and I'm just going to make the most of it.

As of 4pm tomorrow (ironically 24 hours from now), my academic career at Newcastle University is over. Which means throwing a huge packing party tomorrow night to have one last night of fun with my flatmates and divide up all the stuff I'm leaving here that I don't have room to bring back. Before the flat party begins, I'm going out to dinner at a great Italian restaurant near the river front, Marco Polo, for the rugby team holiday dinner. I can't believe it will be the last time I see them. I'm still in denial. Most of my flatmates and friends leave for home on Thursday, which should make Thursday night a slightly less stressful packing time. Though I already have plans to go out to eat at Nando's with Natalie, Graham, and Fran late on Thursday. I just won't sleep at all Thursday night since I have to leave at 4am to get to the airport for the Friday morning 6am flight home.

Less than 3 days left. I really don't like that. Now I'm off to cook whatever mystery food I have left in my fridge since I'm running low on time and money now. Little more biochem, some secret santa action, fun on the bar crawl, then up early in the morning to study again. Coffee is my best friend at this point.

I LOVE Spain!

2007-12-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Each city I visit in Europe seems to be better than the next, but Barcelona was absolutely unbelievable. If there's one country I must return to, it's Spain. Well, Spain and England. I definitely intend on making a return trip to visit everyone here after graduation and my bank account has recovered sufficiently.

The best part about Spain was that I felt so comfortable there. Granted, I haven't taken Spanish classes in a couple years, nor have I ever been particularly confident about my bi-lingual abilities. But there's nothing like being thrown into a foreign country (with a friend who speaks no Spanish at all) to make you realize just how much 12 years of Spanish classes did for you. I apparently maintained a fairly extensive vocabulary, and was able to ask for directions, order food, shop, and translate everything from menus to museum brochures for Sarah. Brilliant! I was still able to speak rapidly, too, and was complimented may times by people I spoke to on how good my Spanish was. I even remembered how to translate into the present perfect and formal command tenses! Who does that? They could place that I was speaking North American Spanish, which is a little different from the Continental version, but still pretty darn close. And for all those years I thought I would never really need Spanish.

Anyway, Sarah and I arrived in Spain early evening on Friday (we took a cheap flight at a normal time of day, surprisingly) and then hopped on the hour-long bus ride from the Girona airport to the Barcelona city center. From there we navigated the metro (both with enormous backpacks in tow) and wandered through the crowds on La Rambla to find the BCN Lofts hostel office. The reception was down a really sketchy back ally, but it was easy enough to find and the room was only a 15 minute walk away. The room was tiny, but in a really sweet apartment building. The BCN Lofts hostel has taken a bunch of apartments all around the city above shops and such and just refurbished them into bedrooms, so it was really nice. We had a tiny private room with bunkbeds and just enough room to turn around, but the place was clean witha decent kitchen and hot showers (and cheap ... 55 Euro for 3 nights within walking distance from most the major sights!). We got settled and went to take on Spain! Since it was way too late to do any tourist stuff, we explored La Rambla (the major market/touring attraction) and all the merchants and people along the way. We got ourselves (almost) lost along the side streets of shops that we all lit up with Christmas lights. The whole city was aglow with holiday decorations and it was all just so gorgeous. We walked away from the watered-down tourist version of restaurants in search of a more authentic place to eat (mainly one with only a Spanish menu and was not ridiculously overpriced). Sarah spotted a restaurant and I was able to translate the menu board outside that got us a huge pitcher of sangria, an enormous dish of paella, and dessert for 15 Euro each. Score! The sangria took us a couple hours to finish itself, and eating all the mussels and prawns and mystery seafood was certainly an interesting, but tasty, experience.

Saturday we got up around 9 ready to take on the day. Gorgeous weather. About 65 degrees, sunny, and pleasant. What a refreshing switch from England. Sarah and I were walking around in light layers, and all the locals were dressed in fluffy winter coats, hats, and boots. Funny ho we perceive the Spanish winter was summer-type weather. We got breakfast at a nice little cafe Nuria on La Rambla (neither Sarah or I function well without coffee in the morning). First stop was supposed to be La Boqueria market, which apparently was closed all weekend for a holiday (who knew?) So we headed to La Caterdral instead which was stunning, but we couldn't see all of it because the outside is under restoration, and the world's longest mass was being held at the time, so part of the inside was closed. We explored the Gothic quarter some more and seemed to run into street fairs and markets everywhere we went. Just another reason to love Spain. We found the Picasso Museum close to the Cathedral and spent a good couple of hours in there. Famished by this point, we went on another search for lunch, but couldn't find anywhere suitable for a college budget. We just kept on walking towards the Barceloneta beachfront and found a great cafe there. At this point, the sun was beginning to set on the waterfront with all the boats, hills, and palm trees in the scenery. It was absolutely beautiful. We explored and waterfront area, walked along the beach, the Christopher Columbus square, then headed out to see the plazas at night. We walked up to Plaza Espana and then to the magic fountains, which were unfortunately shut off for the winter months. No harm done, though, as we loved just exploring the city. We ended up back at La Rambla for the Saturday evening frenzy, then got handed coupons for cheap drinks at an international youth bar, so we stopped in for a break in traveling and recommendations for nightlife plans. Onward bound we were after a bit and on in search of food again. We got Spanish omelets for dinner, then headed back for a brief siesta before getting dressed to go out. Barcelona's nightlife doesn't really get started until 3am or so, and after a while of being out and since we were so exhausted from the day we headed back a little early.

Sunday was packed with activities again. We split a 10-ride metro pass to get to the sites a little further away. Another great, warm, sunny day in Barcelona, but windy as anything. We started with breakfast at the same cafe as Saturday, then headed out to the Parc Guell. It was designed by Gaudi, and it's absolutely insane. The architecture and mosaics everywhere are brilliant, and the plants are green even in winter. We spent a long time in the park, but once it started to get overcrowded we headed out to La Familia Sagrada. Another one of Gaudi's ingenious works, his cathedral still isn't completed yet. It's still under construction, and will be for a long time to come. A lot of the outside is finished (and gorgeous), but the inside is barren and full of scaffolding. It's so wild to see the work process of all the huge columns, roof, and stained glass windows being installed. Both of Gaudi's sites were definitely my favorite part of the trip. We got some great photos of everything, too, especially since Sarah's an art student and is amazing. We then went up to the Parc de Montjuic with all the intentions of going on a cable car ride over the park with a great view of the coast and city, but the cable cars weren't running due to extreme wind conditions. But we explored the park and got spectacular views of the city from the top of the hill anyway. With the day almost over and not much else to conquer in Barcelona, we went back to La Rambla with all the merchants. Then, we decided we couldn't possibly leave Spain without a proper tapas meal, so we found a great place close to our hostel (quite a nice place, really). Incredible tapas and great sangria ... what a perfect way to close out a perfect weekend.

This morning we got up early and returned the jkeys to our hostel around 7:30am. Surprisingly, none of the stores on La Rambla were open at all. But, luckily La Boqueria market, which we both so wanted to experience, was just coming to life. We saw all the fruit, fresh bread, and meat being put out on display and ready for sale. We grabbed coffee, fruit, and fresh bread for breakfast/lunch on the journey home. Then it was onto the metro, bus, and plane back to Newcastle. 2 days and 3 nights was the perfect amount of time for Barcelona. We got to see all the major tourist stuff, and still have time to relax and soak up the atmosphere. Sunny weather, great friends, and a lovely city. What a perfect weekend!

Now it's on to study for my Biochemisty that's on Wednesday afternoon. I hope to get enough done so I can relax at our block Secret Santa dinner and then go out for a little bit on the last huge Newcastle bar crawl. We'll see how it goes. Then Wednesday to celebrate the end of my exams, I'm going to the rugby team formal Christmas dinner at the nice restaurant Marco Polo in town, then I'll spend the last night with all my flatmates who are leaving on Thursday afternoon. Then Thursday will be a packing frenzy and I'll leave at 4am Friday morning for the airport to come home. 3 whole days left. Not nearly enough at all.

10 day countdown ... again

2007-12-04T02:48:00.000-08:00

It's another stretch of the final 10 days, this time to return to the USA. I have so much left to accomplish, and I have no clue how I'll get everything done. Oh well, I guess the first thing to go will be sleep. Bring on the coffee rush!

So Saturday I hopped on the train (for just a 13.55 pound return ticket, nice!) to visit York for the day. It's only about an hour south on the train, and I got to see so much gorgeous English countryside on the way. York is just so pretty and British, and the town was all decorated for Christmas already! I spent the day wandering around the York Museum gardens, York Castle, and York Minster. The Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in all of Northern Europe ... impressive. I spent a couple hours in there and got a free guided tour. It's so monstrous you could get lost in there. Afterwards I ambled through the shops in the Shambles, a series of alleyways with little stores where Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter movies was filmed. I found the Newgate Market and the York Christmas fair and got some holiday shopping done, too.

Sunday was a rainy day in Newcastle, thus forcing everyone in the flat to be bums and just lounge around all day. The rain actually forced me to study a bit for a huge Biochemistry exam I have on Thursday (gross) and catch up on emails.

Yesterday was ridiculously busy with 2 Biochemistry lectures and a Biochemistry seminar. Too much learning makes my head hurt. Then off to a massive rugby training session in the Baltic weather. I left the flat at 4:45, and didn't get back until 9:00. Waaayyyy too long in the cold. And, it turns out our match this Wednesday is canceled because Lancaster's team doesn't have enough players this week. Sure, training with the team is fun, but I totally would have skipped the cold if we didn't have a match this week.
And I found out yesterday that my final exam schedule has been very unpleasantly switched. i still have time to write my Sociology final essay over the break, and I take my archaeology exam when I get back to Loyola, but suddenly Biochemistry has to be taken before I leave. What!?! We were told from the beginning that we would be given the extra 4 weeks like all the other students to review, then take the exam when we got back to Loyola. Not so much anymore. The Biochemistry exam that's worth 80% of my grade has to be taken 2 days before I leave here. So much for having a fun party week before I go. At least maybe the info will be fresh in my mind since I have a test in Biochem this Thursday anyway. The Biochem department even had the nerve to send an email telling us we had 2 options: 1) return to Newcastle in January and take the exam on the Newcastle Uni campus, or 2) take the exam Dec 12 before we leave. Jerks.

So that brings me to today. I'll be teaching myself Biochemistry for a while, then (if it stops raining) touring town and finishing up some holiday shopping. My rugby family has a huge dinner planned tonight at my Rugby Grandmom's house, so that'll be a whole lot of fun.

On a really cheerful note, BARCELONA this Friday! I'm so ridiculously excited! Sarah and I started to plan our trip last night and it's going to be awesome. I can't wait!

2 weeks left ...

2007-11-30T15:10:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was rugby day as usual. Actually, it was my last match ever with the Newcastle University 2nd team. We traveled about 3 hours by coach to Bradford to play in the nasty, cold, cloudy, misty weather. But we have such a great time on the bus that time passes quickly. Just the 18 2nd girls had the whole bus to ourselves, so it made for great chit chat and fun. I played the entire 80 minutes as usual at hooker. No, no one stepped on my dead leg, but the other one got pretty banged up. And a slight knock to the head put me on the ground for a bit, but I kept playing. No biggie. I swear I had the best game so far, and I gained a whole lot of ground in the penalties just taking the ball into contact and driving through the opposing front lines. Sure I got bashed a bit, but if you gain 20 meters for the team it's worth it. And ... I got "Forward of the Match" again. What a great way to close out the year. I might not get to play rugby again here, unless I get called up to the 1st team for their home match next week. We'll see what happens. All the girls were really sad to see me go, and we lamented on the bus for a little bit, only to cheer up and go out as usual. The theme this week was Pink. We all actually got huge matching pink T-shirts, which I promptly sliced up on the bus and wore as a dress with leggings and a cute polka-dot belt from Rome. Adorable. Sure, rugby girls are hard-core, but we sure do know how to clean up well! Put 18 girls, pink clothes, and drinks on a 3 hour bus ride and you got yourself a proper party. We met the 1st team girls out on the town when we got back, and it was great to have all of us together again. I'm just as close with the 1st girls as the 2nds, which makes everything so much fun. I think the friends I've made on the rugby team and the travels we have together will be the part I miss the most about England.

This Thursday brought a whole busy day of seminars and lectures as usual. Nothing too exciting at all, really. I then spent half the evening writing a huge archaeology essay (which happened to be due Friday by 4pm ... plenty of time, right? Hey, last time I did an archaeology project at 3am I ended up with a 97/100. Not bad at all. I work best under pressure. Plus, I can't spend all the prime social hours being studious!). Since my paper was almost done anyway, I went out with my flatmates to the infamous BluBambu. It's been sooooo long since all the flatmates went out together as a group and not separated on different sports and club pub crawls. We had a great time, plus Lauri and I can get everyone in for free since we're both on sports teams sponsored by BluBambu. Great night of Newcastle craziness.

And that just brings us to today ... I got up early to finish the archaeology paper and *shock* turned it in 2 hours before the deadline. I finally got all my muddy rugby gear washed (last loads of expensive laundry I'll do here) and just sat around icing my bruises all day. We're having just a chill pizza and movie night in hosted by my flat tonight since we're all dead from the week of shenanigans. Tomorrow I've decided to hop on the train to York, explore the town and go Christmas shopping. Then on Sunday I'll be a tourist and take pictures of Newcastle. O yeah, maybe I should work on my essays and biochemistry before exams this coming week. Plenty of time for that later. I'm just trying to squish everything I wanted to do into the last 2 weeks here. I'm really going to miss this place ... in 2 weeks, I'll be home. Weird.

Roman Holiday

2007-11-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

My Rome trip was, in a word, FANTASTIC! There's nothing better than arriving in a foreign country only to meet up with friends who love you and can give you a personalized tour of the city. We saw anything and everything, stopping by all the sights that my sister had recommended from her studies in Rome. The best part about visiting Anna and Janine in Rome is that they're both taking history, philosophy, and theology classes there, so they know EVERYTHING about the sites in Rome. They have classes at the Forum and Colosseum instead of in a traditional classroom, and even did research papers on monuments in Rome. Anna and Janine are definitely the best tour guides ever.

Rachel and I got up insanely early (as we always do with cheap flights) to fly out of Newcastle and into London on Friday morning. We had a nice, long layover, then finally flew from London to Rome, landing about 4pm. Janine had emailed me detailed instructions of how to navigate the airport, bus terminal, and metro lines, so Rachel and I found our hostel very easily. We settled into the Pop Inn Hostel (great location, about 50 meters from the main Termini metro and bus station), then called Anna and Janine. We met Anna at the metro station around 7:30. I've never been so excited and happy to see friends. Anna took us on the metro to meet up with Janine and their friends Laura and Jess. The plan for Friday night was to visit all the favorite places Anna and Janine frequent since all the tourist stuff was already closed. We got gelato at their favorite place, Tony's Gelaterria, which is only a few minutes walk from their house (Anna and Janine go there so often that the owner knows them well by now), then stopped for a great Italian dinner at Il Caminetto (best buffalo mozzarella cheese pizza ever!). After we were stuffed with wine and pizza, we took the tram and bus to explore Trastevere by night. The Tiber riverside is gorgeous at night, and Piazza Trilussa is packed with young Italians hanging out. We wandered around and shopped a bit, then went to Anna and Jess' favorite chocolate shop for chocolate shots. Literally an shot glass molded out of chocolate filled with chocolate liqueur, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. Delicious.

Rachel and I got up early on Saturday to check out of our first hostel (yes, we switched hostels because we're so poor). We met Anna, Janine, and Laura at 8am to travel to the Vatican. Rachel and I got in line to see the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums while the other girls went to sit in St. Peter's square to watch the Pope ordain 23 new Cardinals. The Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel are just too stunning for words. We walked through all the galleries and Raphael rooms on the way to Michaelangelo's ceiling, and one room is just more breathtaking than the other. We left the Sistine Chapel just in time to catch the others leaving the ordination. We grabbed cannoli at Janine's favorite 24hour pastry shop, then headed out to a pizza shop for a quick lunch. At this point it's absolutely pouring down rain! Disappointing, but the rain mostly stopped by the time we had to get on the metro again. Since it wasn't raining much anymore, Janine, Anna, Rachel and I went to the Forum and Colloseum. From taking classes at the Forum, the Rome girls could tell us all about the history and what the Forum used to look like. They pointed out the Imperial Palace of Augustus, Teatro di Marcello, Temple of Apollo, and Temple of Hercules in the area. We walked down around the Forum and through to the Colloseum and our lovely tour guides told us all about the gladiator fights. It was so surreal to think about what the Forum and Colloseum used to be like so may years ago. The world is certainly a drastically different place. Afterwards we walked though Piazza Venezia (gorgeous fountains and statues like all of Rome). We headed up to the Bocca della Verita at the Santa Maria in Cosmedin church. We all did the typical tourist picture with our hand in the cracked mouth of the Bocca della Verita. We walked back up through to Piazza Barberini and near where the Anna and Janine's university program is based. Just as if our day wasn't packed enough, we all headed back to the Vatican to meet Laura and Jess to see the Apostolic Palace. The Apostolic Palace is usually not open to the public, but since the 23 Cardinals had been ordained earlier in the day, people were allowed to go inside and congratulate the new Cardinals. The line, or rather mob, outside was insane, but we got in just fine. We met the new Cardinals from Philadelphia and Iraq, then went touring around the Palace (magnificent). By the time we got out, St. Peter's was dark and all the statues of saints around the top wall and fountains were illuminated. We were close enough to our hostel, so we all went to check into our second (cheaper, and nicer) hostel of the trip and change clothes for our evening out. Since we were all famished at this point, we took the metro to Spagna to their favorite restaurant, L'Archetto Spaghetteria. So many choices of pasta, and so delicious. We had a lovely Italian meal, then headed out to see the Spanish steps. Then, the girls took us to the Fontana de Trevi. Nighttime is by far the best way to view the fountain. It's just absolutely incredible. While I was there I did the traditional wish at Trevi fountain. 3 coins (one for luck, one for love, and one for a return trip to Rome) thrown from your right hand over your left shoulder as you make a wish. We left and then literally ran down the street to catch the bus to Campo dei Fiori. It's clearly the highlight of international youth culture with lots of American exchange students enjoying the nightlife. We visited The Drunken Ship and surrounding bars in the Campo, then got gelato at Blue Ice. Finally, we all headed back to our hostel or house and caught a few hours of much-needed sleep.

Sunday morning - croissants and cappuccino make the best breakfast. Rachel and I meet the girls in the late morning and head out to Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus). There's really not much there except for a huge field that's apparently great to jog around. Then we walked over to the Baths of Caracalla. Anna did her huge research paper on the Baths of Caracalla, so she gave us an amazing detailed tour of the Baths (it was drizzling, so she had the typical tour guide red umbrella deal going on. hilarious). We all ate lunch (yeah, we all like to eat - a lot) in the area right between the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps. We bought really pretty Italian glass necklaces in one of the shops nearby, too. Then we went to the Pantheon, which Laura did her research paper on so we had yet another great personalized tour. Then it was onward bound back to St. Peter's, this time to go into the Basilica. At the fantastic recommendation of my sister, we went up to the top of the Copula of St. Peter's first. It's a looooong walk up really narrow and sloped spiral staircases, but it was so worth it. It's definitely the best view of Rome, and the sun was settling as we looked out over the beautiful landscape. Then we went into the San Pietro Basilica itself. Words can't describe the ornateness of the church. I'm pretty sure I stood in the middle of the Basilica in awe foe a good 15 minutes just trying to take it all in. It's places like St. Peter's that would make you never want to leave Rome. We left and got dinner at a yummy local restaurant, then went to Piazza Navona at night. We bought bottles of great Italian red wine for our nighttime walking tour of piazzas and back to Campo dei Fiori. Italy is so relaxed about everything, and I love it. Sure, walk around the street drinking wine straight from the bottle - Italy wouldn't be the same without it. Exhausted from 2 1/2 days of touring Rome by day and night, we all parted ways once more. Rachel and I went back to our hostel to sleep for just a couple hours before getting up for another early flight.

Monday was just another day of check-ins, security, and flying. Remind me to write SwissGear backpacks a thank-you note when I get back - that backpack has been the center of my life for the past 2 months. The airport security checked my bag in London, unpacking absolutely everything and wondering exactly how I fit so much stuff into a tiny bag. After 15 hours of traveling and layovers, I finally arrived back in Newcastle around 8pm Monday evening. I only missed 2 lectures (biochemistry and sociology), but I got to prep for my biochemistry lab practical in the London airport. Not to many people were around the flat, but I unpacked and got settled in once again. Then ... I got to experience fantastic British healthcare. Between walking around Rome for 3 days and flying, the massive bruise I got from being stepped on during rugby training in the mud last week had drastically increased in size and color. At the recommendation of my medic-in-training flatmate, friends in Rome, and NHS nurse helpline, I called a taxi and got myself to Newcastle General Hospital pronto. The nurse on the phone was concerned that I had still had internal bleeding or a blood clot, which is not something to mess with. Well the emergency room in Newcastle is uber-efficient, and free (nice!). I didn't have to deal with paperwork, insurance, or any of that junk, and I was seen by the doctor in about an hour. Turns out they don't think I still have internal bleeding, it's just that it's such a large area that I'll have a huge 8inch x 10inch dark purple and swollen spot on my thigh for the next 3 weeks. Guess I'll be wearing black leggings under all my skirts when I go out at night now. The nurse recommended I try tennis instead of rugby (haha, right!). Between ice, compression wraps, and pain meds, I should be fine.

Today was catching up on sleep, then the last biochemistry lab of the semester. I'm trying to get everything reorganized tonight and maybe do some work. We have another away rugby match tomorrow, and I'll be on the front lines as usual. It's our last 2nd team game of the season, and I wouldn't miss it for the world! Tomorrow's theme for the rugby social is PINK!!! I'm so excited!

3 weeks left ...

2007-11-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

So it's been over a week since my last update. My apologies, but life over here gets mighty hectic. Here's the past 9 days in a nutshell ...

Last Wednesday was yet another rugby match day. I played the full game as hooker for the 2nd team at our home field, Cochrane park. We didn't win, but the 2nds are finally beginning to gel as a team and play well together. We don't really care about the score so much, we just like being on the field having a fun time. I survived my first "dump tackle," too. I was SO close to scoring, when out of nowhere this huge girl from the other team just picks me clear off the ground and throws me back down again, ball still in hands. Borderline illegal tackling, but hey, at least my team got a penalty kick out of it. The 1st team also played at the home fields, so we got to catch the last 10 minutes of their game, too. Afterwards, the team met up for evening activities. The Newcastle University Men's 1st team were playing our rival, Northumbria University (aka "The Poly" ... they're more of a polytechnic institute than a university. We're "The Posh kids," they're "Poly Scum." And here I thought Brits were all polite.) The game was held at the Newcastle Falcons (professional rugby) stadium, so it was a huge deal. All the rugby girls met up and went to the stadium together to cheer on our boys as a team. It was a fantastic time, and the entire stadium was packed with Newcastle and Northumbria students. Naturally, the women's rugby team went right from the stadium to our social establishments of choice. Last week's rugby social theme: School girls. Nice. I got to celebrate my birthday at midnight with the rugby girls, which of course was a great time.

Thursday ... I'm OLD. The big 20. No signs of fine lines or wrinkles yet, though. I opened all my cards from family back home and felt very loved. My flatmates and I hosted a party that evening with my favorite theme, "Anything But Clothes." Classy. We had everything from trash bags, sleeping bags, towels, and cotton batting formed into cute little outfits. Great efforts on everyone's parts, though i must say the Loyola crew back home are much more creative. Afterwards, everyone who didn't have exams the next day (about 14 of us) went to my favorite night club, BluBambu. Great night.

In the aftermath of Thursday night, everyone just lounged around on Friday and had a relaxing day. We all rested up just long enough to go out to Solution, the nightclub in the Student Union for the night. Yes ... the Newcastle University has a nightclub and bars in the basement. This is why I love England. They played great British cheesy pop from back when we were all in middle school. It seemed so strange not to know all the old songs, but my flatmates are on a mission to educate me in the British Cheesy Pop genre before I leave. Oh yes, I'll be coming home with multiple crazy British techo, dance, and pop CDs.

Over the weekend, I actually cracked down and did some schoolwork. I had a reality slap in the face when I realized that all these projects are due in a couple weeks before I leave, and to keep my scholarship I have to get good grades. So i had a minor freakout and organized all my work before going out Saturday night. Sunday I spent in the library and computer lab printing out ALL the biochemistry powerpoint handouts for the semester. I figure if they're printed and sitting my in room, I might be motivated to review them before our major exam in 2 weeks.

Monday brought the rain. Rain, rain, and more rain. It seriously rained for 3 day straight here. No sunshine, and lots of puddles. How depressing. I did the usual lectures and classes deal on Monday, then camped out in the library gathering sources for my Archeology report (totally not excited about that). And then there was rugby training ... I turned into a human icicle. Seriously, when it's raining, cold, and windy the team still plays hard. Intense, but fun.

Tuesday brought more library and work (noticing a work theme here? I was just motivated to get stuff done before I go away this weekend). Then I had my third Biochemistry lab practical, which was actually really fun. It was focused around enzyme kinetics, which was fascinating. Yes, I'm a science nerd. I've grown to accept it. Tuesday night most of the people from my block of flats hung out in my apartment discussing housing for next year. It's time for everyone to separate into apartment groups and start house-hunting. Drama, drama, drama. I'm so glad I don't have to do that. Living on campus is SO much easier. And yet at the same time I so much want to stay here with my British friends.

This brings me to yesterday, Wednesday. This week there were (shockingly) NO rugby matches scheduled, so I actually got to go to my Wednesday archeology lecture. Of course, we still had rugby training. We just played a match against each other mixing up the 1st and 2nd teams. After 3 days of rain, we were all soaked in mud. At least tackling in mud doesn't hurt as much. However, I currently have the MOST massive bruise ever on my thigh (I'm sitting here now with a bag of frozen peas bound onto my leg with plastic wrap to try and keep the swelling down.) Getting accidentally cleated/kicked in the same spot 3 times tends to be pretty painful. Then we all went out for the usual Wednesday night rugby social. "Bin Bags" was this week's clothing of choice. Believe me, you will never see trash bags look so good. We all fashioned them into dresses, skirts, tank tops, etc. Slightly hazardous since trash bags tend to rip (luckily mine stayed intact), but so much fun.

So I sit here today on Thanksgiving waiting to Skype home to the family to chat with everyone at once. I really, really miss helping out with all the cooking, the Macy's parade, and the holiday craziness. But, Loyola has sponsored a formal dinner for everyone tonight (we'll see if it stands up to American Thanksgiving standards). Then, I'll be packing my backpack full of 4 days worth of clothes and such to jet of to ROME tomorrow morning. Rachel and I leave at 5am to get cheap flights to Rome. We'll have a long-ish layover (hooray for biochem studying in the airport), but by the afternoon we'll be meeting Janine and Anna in Rome. Plane tickets and hostels are booked, all we need to do is hop on the plane. Pizza, pasta, and gelato await me. Oh yeah, and maybe some Pope and historic monument action, too!

Losing my accent ...

2007-11-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

Sunday's trip to Durham was fantastic! I went with my flatmate, Sarah, who loves Durham and hasn't visited the town in ages. We stopped off at Starbucks in the morning for a holiday-flavor latte (yes ... they have all the holiday flavors here, too! So excited!), then hopped on a noon train from Newcastle to Durham. It only takes 15 minutes to get there, so we had a great chunk of the afternoon ahead of us. Durham is SO unbelievably picturesque. We wandered through the city center and along the riverside up to the Durham Cathedral which is, in a word, stunning. This tops all cathedrals I've seen thus far - seriously. The stained glass windows, architecture, statues, everything is just so gorgeous. Then we headed into a pub and out of the cold for lunch, then back up the hill to the Durham castle. We took ourselves on a (semi-lost) self-guided tour of the castle, which turned out to be much more fun than a usual stuff tour-guide version. Shopping in Durham was fun, too, and we found a few fun little boutiques with adorable clothes.

The weather here has started to turn horribly cold. I had 5 layers on (including 2 huge sweatshirts) at rugby training Monday night, was running around, and was still absolutely freezing. The wind is the worst part, though. Luckily it hasn't been too wet yet, and I'll be gone by the time all the snow arrives after winter break. I'm really glad I got to tour around Newcastle while the weather was still warm enough.

My flatmates commented today that I'm starting to lose the edge off my American accent. It's definitely not as strong as it used to be. When the girls from Rome came to visit, they told me that my inflection is different, and that I ask questions like a Brit. I've even started to pick up on all my British flatmates' sayings ... I can't even imagine what I would sound like if I was staying here for a year.

Tomorrow is a rugby match at home. I should be playing for the 2nd team again, which makes me really happy. I really liked playing with all the Fresher girls I've been training with, plus it's just a lot less intense than the 1st team. I'm all about having fun as a team, not about winning. Then, the entire school almost is going to watch the Newcastle Uni men's team take on the Poly (our rival school) at the Newcastle Falcon's stadium. It should be INSANE. I'll be splitting my time between sitting with the womens rugby team and my group of latmates and friends. Then, it's out for the usual Wednesday night rugby social craziness. Who knows what will happen when the clock strikes midnight ... the team celebrates birthdays like no one's business. Half of me is dreading leaving the teenage years, then again it's one year closer to being 21.

5 week countdown

2007-11-10T04:29:00.000-08:00

Sad realization ... in just 5 weeks I'll be back in the USA for the holiday season. Where has all my time gone? I have so much more I want to do here, and yet I've done so much already. I've been so busy jetting off to different countries on the weekends that I've completely lost a sense of time. So I took this weekend off to continue exploring my Northeast England region.
Today might be the first day with absolutely nothing on my agenda. So I'm thinking maybe I should sort out some schoolwork, book my hostel for Rome, get groceries since I have no food left, and maybe do laundry. Or maybe I'll just sit around with a cup of tea and crumpets, act British, and relax. Then tonight I'm going out with my flatmates and friends to an 80's Pop party at the union. I figure I have to party it up now or never ... it's my last weekend of being a teenager! I turn 20 on Thursday ... that's OLD!
Tomorrow I'm hopping the train to Durham. It's only about 15 minutes away, and it will make for a really nice day trip touring the Cathedral and castle, and just shopping around the town. My flatmate Sarah is going with me, and then we're meeting up with my other flatmate, Natalie, who will already be in Durham for the weekend visiting her family.

Not to much to report from this week except from the Rugby game. Wednesday both the 1st and 2nd teams played in Sheffeild, so we all traveled together on the 3 hour bus ride South. I played the entire 80 minute game for the 2nd team, which was a lot of fun since I haven't played with the other Freshers yet. We lost terribly, but it was all in good fun. I was just happy to be on the field as part of a team and playing my heart out. Sheffield's front row girls were pretty huge and hit really hard, so my shoulders are still quite bruised. Oh well, what else is new? We hopped on the bus, then went to pick up the 1st team, then all 40 of us rugby girls went to pick up our 1st team Vice Captain from the hospital (she got a major concussion) on the way home. Just picture a coach filled with rugby girls dressed in neon and UV glow paint (the rugby party theme this week was Rave) pulling up to the front door of a hospital ... not exactly something you see everyday. We all got our "Rugby Moms" on the bus ride home, too. It was all supposed to be a surprise, but Kelly had requested me as her daughter within the first 2 weeks of the season, so I already knew who my rugby family was. Nothing says 'team bonding' like 3 hour bus ride craziness.

Thursday and Friday were just filled with classes ... boring. Traveling and sports are so much more exciting than lectures and seminars. But my final exams and papers are all due mid-January after I get back to the States, so I figure I have the entire 3 week break to catch up on academic junk. I'm only going to be living in the UK once, why waste my time with classes? Live up the once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Newcastle and Dublin with the Rome crew

2007-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

It certainly has been a crazy and exciting week for me. I've had a fantastic time being a tourist in my own town, traveling to Ireland, and just being with some of my best friends from home.

Tuesday night the Rome ladies arrived, the Ocho girls Anna and Janine from Loyola, and they brought along Laura from their Rome program who goes to CUA back in DC. She's a great girl and a lot of fun, so she was an excellent addition to the group! We all headed back to my flat to get them some dinner at 10pm and get settled. Naturally, my British friends and flatmates named us "Team America" for the week. And what does Team America do upon arrival in Newcastle? Go out and enjoy the nightlife, of course!!! So we went out and about on the town ... the Rome crew agrees that it's a lot crazier here than anywhere else we've been. We managed to collect pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags from my flatmates and rearranged the furniture to fit all 4 of us into my tiny bedroom. It was a challenge, but we made it work.

Wednesday we got up early to tour around Newcastle. We toured the Newcastle University campus, the city center, Grainer Market, and gathered the makings for cheap Halloween costumes. Then we headed on the metro to the coast town of Tynemouth. It wouldn't be a proper England trip without seeing castle ruins or the North sea. We wandered about Tynemouth, saw the old castle and priory, and walked along to the seaside and lighthouses. Breathtaking English coastline views. Of course, for lunch we all had fish and chips in the village chippery. We got back around dinner time to get our costumes ready, meet up with my flatmates and friends, and went out for Halloween. Everyone got along brilliantly, and as usual all my British friend were extremely welcoming. It was so nice to see my home world and my Newcastle world collide all at once. Great time. Newcastle does Halloween even crazier than Baltimore (and I did not think that was possible!). The usual Wednesday scene was even wilder then usual, and we all had a great time. There were about 20 of us in the group of Team America, flatmates, and friends from the block hopping from one place to another. What a night to remember!

Thursday we had unfortunately early wake up calls to get out and get going. Anna and Janine headed up to Edinburgh on the train to visit Clarice who was there for the weekend, and Laura wanted to continue touring around Newcastle. We all got breakfast and dropped Anna and Janine off at central station, then Laura and I did a bit more Newcastle touring before I headed off to catch all 4 of my Thursday lectures. I met back up with Laura after classes and we went out to dinner with my flatmate Natalie and Graham. Being the good little Catholic girls that we are, Laura and I headed to church (darn those Holy Days of Obligation!). Then we met up with Rachel who wanted to see the Loyola Rome girls and we all headed to be Anna and Janine's welcoming committee at Central Station. We all headed down to the Quayside upon the River Tyne to see the riverside and the Tyne and Millennium bridges at night (gorgeous!). We grabbed some dessert down at the Quayside and tried to head back for a semi-early night before Dublin.

4:30 am wake up! Off in a taxi to the airport by 5am to catch an early (but cheap!) flight to Dublin! We got to the Marlborough hostel by 11 am, only to find that we couldn't actually check in until 1:30. All we wanted to do was take a quick nap before touring! We managed to plan out trip though and grab lunch before crashing for a bit. The accommodations were ... interesting. We were all for a cheap vacation since we're all running out of money, and of course a EuroTrip college student style just wouldn't be the same without at least one crappy hostel. The common areas were nice and they had internet access and all, but the beds and showers were not to pretty. O well, all in the poor student experience! We got out Friday night to explore the Temple Bar and Medieval district areas by night, got a bite to eat at a pub, then saw some live Irish music and dancing. The Liffey River at night is quite the social scene and beautiful as well.

Saturday was a jam-packed tourist day! We got out and walked ALL over Dublin to see Trinity College, Christ Church, St. Steven's Green and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We managed to catch a tour of the Dublin Castle, too, which is still used today as a working political building. And of course a trip to Dublin wouldn't be complete without a tour of the Guinness Storehouse and a pint at the top at the Skybar! The Irish certainly know how to brew their beer. Once all the tourist places closed in the evening, Laura and I stopped in for a weekend mass. I was really glad I went with her as we ended up in one of the most impressive churches I've ever seen. Then we went shopping and got dinner, then headed to a pub for more music and beer (do the Irish even do anything else at night?)

As usual with our tour group, we got up early Sunday to catch out tour bus for the Irish countryside (Janine's great suggestion). We booked a trip with Over The Top Tours, which took us for an all-day tour of all the lakes and mountains surrounding Dublin. We went on the Wicklow and Glendalough tour, stopping at multiple places along the way just to take in the views. In a word - stunning. I've never seen so much green and natural beauty in my life. And it was the perfect season to tour the countryside, too ... all the leaves were just beginning to change colors! What a perfect day! We spent the night at the famous and very popular Temple Bar sampling all the traditional Irish brews, and even saw some of our friends from the countryside tour there.
Then, 3am wake up for me to head out to the airport for a 6am flight back to Newcastle. Ridiculously early, but seriously inexpensive.

It's back to the usual routine here again. Tomorrow the rugby 1st and 2nd teams both have away games in Sheffeild, so the entire team will be on the 3 hour bus rides together! It should be a fantastically fun time lasting from 7:45 am until about 2am the next day! I'm supposed to be starting and playing the entire game for the 2nds to I get playing time (and apparently help them out since they haven't been winning much). But who knows ... they like to change teams around on me pretty often! Since we'll all be on the party bus together tomorrow, we'll get our "Rugby Moms" and "Rugby families" just like sororities do. Kind of cult-ish, but more crazy and fun. Then we'll all head out directly from the bus on the Newcastle University Athletic Union bar crawl. Every sports team will be out tomorrow night on a massive bar crawl wearing matching blue TShirts. Just because we're insanely fun, the rugby girls are setting ourselves apart. This week's theme ... Ravers! We'll all be busting out the neon tights and glow bracelets along with our Athletic Union Ts (I saw half the team out in the mall today shopping!). This could get wild!

And Rachel and I just booked our flights to Rome ... I'll be in Italy November 23 - 26! SO excited!

Paris in Autumn

2007-10-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend in Paris was seriously one of the best weekends of my life. Paris is absolutely stunning in the fall, plus I got to see two of my best friends from home. Oh yeah ... and crepes with chocolate and banana is my my new favorite food.

Only the 10 single-semester Loyola students went on this trip, which proved to be much less hectic than all 30 of us traveling around. We all met up at the airport Friday evening and landed in Paris around 9pm. Getting to the hotel was a bit of a mess, but by the time we checked in it was around 11pm. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower, so we all walked over after we ditched our bags to soak in the nighttime atmosphere. The Eiffel Tower all lit up and sparkling at night is probably the most incredible sight I'll ever see. It was almost surreal to think that I was actually in Paris. Some of Jill's friends from Loyola who are studying in Cork, Ireland (and also happen to be my roommates for the spring semester) were also touring Paris the same weekend, so we met up with them under the Eiffel Tower and hung out until 1am or so until we just had to crash so we could get up and tour in the morning.

Another absurdly early wake up call, unfortunately with no coffee in sight (you'd think you could find coffee in Paris ... apparently not where we were). We all headed over to the Louvre and got Museum passes courtesy of Loyola which let us tour everything free for 2 days. Before we toured the Louvre galleries all of us caffeine addicts grabbed coffee and croissants in Starbucks. We saw the Mona Lisa first ... amazing in person. I didn't really understand all the hype over the Mona Lisa until I saw it for myself. It really is just that amazing. We quickly toured the rest of the painting galleries in just a couple of hours and headed out to find lunch and explore Paris. Most of the Loyola crew wasn't that enthused about touring (why not I can't even imagine), so Rachel and I branched off with a plan to conquer the city by ourselves. We ate quiche (typical, right?) in the Louvre courtyard like proper tourists, then walked along the Seine river taking in all the sights and shopping at the art vendor stands along the way. We walked all the way down to Notre Dame to tour the cathedral, then waited in line to climb to the top of the towers to chill with the gargoyles. SO many stairs! But by the time we got to the top the sky was clear and sunny so we could see all of Paris. What a beautiful city. We walked back down along the Seine River, grabbing coffee and crepes along the way, to the Musee de Orsay to see their extensive impressionist collection. We stayed until the museum closed at 6pm, and then Mary and Clarice met up with us! Mini-Ocho reunion in Paris! I was SO ridiculously excited to see them. They took Rachel and I on the metro to get dinner and see their nice Paris apartment. We spent hours at dinner just catching up and eating the most amazing French food ever. Their apartment is close to the Eiffel Tower as well, so we walked back over there at night. Mary, Rachel, and I bought tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was too windy to go all the way to the very top, but we got up to the second tier. Paris is even more stunning at night. It seemed so surreal that I was actually standing on the Eiffel Tower ... isn't that something you only see in movies? When we went back down to ground we saw Jill and my future roommates all hanging out on the green behind the tower. At night the field behind the tower is just one international party/photo shoot. Everyone just brings a blanket and a bottle of wine and just hangs out. So European.

Exhausted as we were, we got up early again on Sunday to see the rest of the city. Rachel and I took the metro to Mary and Clarice's apartment and they took us to the market to get baguettes for breakfast. Clarice had a huge paper to finish, but Mary spent the day being our tour guide. We went to Concorde Plaza, then walked all the way down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triumph. Again, being proper tourists, Rachel and I climbed up another huge spiral staircase all the way to the top. It was a bit hazy on Sunday, but we could still see the Eiffel tower in the distance. We had extra time, so Mary took us to the Musee de l'Orangerie, the small Monet museum that's pretty tricky to find. Rachel and I are both huge Monet fans, so we were really excited that she could take us there. Since she's an art history major, she's by far the best person to tour museums with. The museum is small, but was definitely my favorite gallery in Paris. It just had 2 huge oval rooms with Monet's giant waterlily paintings. You could just sit in the center of the room all day and lose yourself in the paintings. Absolutely stunning. By 3:30 we had to leave Mary and get back to the hotel to pickup our luggage. We met up with Jill again and navigated the super-confusing metro/RER/train route to the airport. Luckily we had planned enough time to get a little lost. We got to the airport in time, but just absolutely drained from 2 packed days of walking all over Paris. I'm definitely considering going back to Paris for another weekend while I'm here. There's just so much more to see and do!

This week I get to be a tourist in Newcastle. Anna and Janine arrive in just a matter of hours ... another mini-Ocho reunion! I'm almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. Even though I've been here for a few weeks, I still haven't had time to see all the typical tourist sites in Newcastle. So Wednesday I'm just skipping classes and going out in the city and to the coast with them. Then Friday morning we all head off to Dublin. This should be a crazy week, but so much fun. I'm just so happy to see more of my best friends from home that I can't stop smiling!

"Crouch. Touch. Pause ... ENGAGE!"

2007-10-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

I heard the referee say that about a million times yesterday each time we set up a new scrum in the rugby game. I played my first FULL 80-minute game of rugby yesterday as hooker ... on the 1st team! No joke, my first actually full rugby game I started on the varsity squad. Yeah, this came as quite a shock to me, too. I was supposed to be the starting hooker for the 2nd team, but when I arrived at the field yesterday the captains and coach bombarded me and told me that the 1st team starting hooker was sick, I was next in line for the position, and I had better get upstairs and put on a 1st team jersey. I'm sure it took about 5 minutes for the look of fright/disbelief to leave my face. Plus, the 1st team was playing Leeds University ... the best team in the country last year! Believe me, I was scared out of my mind, but the coach and captains told me I was ready for it.
But anyway, I totally dominated and won almost every ball in the scrums, and had perfect line-out throws. Their front line engaged and hit really hard though, so between the scrums and tackling my entire body is completely battered and bruised. I seriously look like I've been hit by a truck or something. It didn't really register with me how dangerous the sport is until the scrum collapsed on me, or maybe it was when I was caught on the bottom of a 6-person pile up and I couldn't breathe that I realized I must be out of my mind. But it was all in good fun, and I really love my teammates. Newcastle won, too! Final score was 17-15. Close game, and very exciting. Apparently I did a really good job again. Who knew?
The best part of all was that I had my own cheering section! My flatmates Sarah and Fran came to watch me play with my friends Matt and Mark. They brought along my camera so I now have evidence for the folks at home who can't quite believe that I play at the front and center of the scrums. The whole rugby team went out again last night for our usual Wednesday night socials. Theme of the week ... Cavegirls! I've never seen so many short, fuzzy leopard-print skirts in my life, but we all looked amazing. Going out with teammates is half the fun of being on a sports team. It looks like I'll be flip-flopping between the 1st and 2nd teams a lot, which is completely fun since I get to know all the girls equally well.

As for the academic side of things, I finally had my first Biochemistry lab practical on Tuesday morning. We did an experiment determining the concentration of unknown proteins by using spectrophotometry and setting up a standard curve with known concentrations of protein. I got to work with a friend from Loyola as a lab partner, too. It was so nice to be back in the science lab doing stuff that actually interests me, and that I'm good at. I have another practical tomorrow, this time on Ion-Exchange Chromatography. Should be interesting. I have an Archeology project due tomorrow, too. And somehow I've twisted it around to be a science project. We had to pick any topic relating to Archeology and research it ... so naturally I chose radiocarbon dating. Hey, at least I understand what I'm reading about!

Tomorrow I fly off to Paris with the single-semester Loyola group. There will only be 10 of us in this trip, which will be less hectic I'm sure. We arrive late on Friday night and leave early Sunday evening, so we don't really have much time there. I plan on touring with the group on Saturday afternoon, but then branching off after the tours are over to have dinner and hang out with Clarice and Mary in their Paris apartment. SO excited!

Another week in Newcastle

2007-10-21T02:46:00.000-07:00

I actually stayed in Newcastle this weekend to relax and put my life back together since I've been so busy lately. I haven't had time to blog in a week, so here goes ...

Wednesday was the rugby game in Lancaster! 8am wake-up call! It's about a 2.5 hour bus ride away, which went surprisingly fast just chatting with all the 1st team girls and enjoying the English countryside. I was on the bench for most of the game since the 3rd year hooker has seniority, but I actually got to play for the last 15 minutes. It was SO much fun. I won all the balls in the scrums, had a couple great line-out throws, and got a little trampled in the rucks. Apparently I did a good job because the captains and coach told me afterwards that the scrums didn't change once I went in, which meant I was doing just as well as the starting hooker. After 80 minutes of stress, bruises, and screaming, we WON! It was a very exciting game, indeed.
We all went to grab a bite to eat with the Lancaster team, then headed back to Newcastle. The bus ride home turns into the "party bus" and everything gets a little crazy. The theme for this week's rugby social was "Fairies," so we had tutus, wings, and glitter everywhere for the ride home. We met up with the 2nd team girls near the Student Union, then went right along to our usual Wednesday night hot spots, rugby bags in tow. 20 hours straight with the rugby team ... hows that for team bonding!

As for my Newcastle womens rugby future, who knows which team I'll be playing on. I was talking with our coach after the game, and it looks like I'll be flip-flopping between teams for the rest of the season, depending on who our opponents are. I'll either be starting for the 2nd team and playing all 80 minutes (yay, game experience!), or being a backup for the 1st team (they'll pull me up if an injury occurs). The 1st team girls are amazing, but I would much rather play more than watch from the side and only get on the field for the last bit. Both 1st and 2nd team play home games in Newcastle this week, and I should find out which team I'm on tomorrow at training. I'm wishing for starting on the 2nd team. All my flatmates and friends from my block are anxious to see me play and are planning to come cheer me on ... well, my rugby guy friends will be cheering, the girls will be hiding their eyes as I get tackled. Oh well, what's a couple more bruises, anyway?

We watched the Rugby World Cup last night in the pub down the street. England lost, but it was still an entertaining game. The rest of the weekend has just been relaxing for the most part. I actually visited the library (shocking, I know) yesterday and caught up on some reading for classes. I have to work on an Archeology project today that's due on Friday, and then prep for my Biochemistry lab practical that's scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. 5 weeks into study abroad and it's finally time to crack the books ... at least until essays and projects are finished.

This Friday I leave for Paris with the Loyola group and we stay until Sunday. I'm planning to see Clarice and Mary while I'm in Paris. Then on Tuesday Anna, Janine, and Laura from Rome are coming up to experience the Newcastle craziness for a few days, then next Friday all 4 of us have a flight booked to Dublin for the long weekend. I'll return to Newcastle Monday morning at the crack of dawn, but sleep is willing to be sacrificed for cheap flights! I'm really excited to see new places, but even more pumped to see my friends again. There's just something different about traveling with people who know you so well.

Yes, I'm still having a brilliant time. I'm balancing friends, fun, and rugby quite nicely. Still covered in bruises from being tackled, but then again I match all the other rugby girls. I'm finally caving into academic pressure and doing some work (blah!). I don't think I'd mind the work as much if it were subjects I'm actually interested in, but Archeology and Sociology for humanities core credit are just boring. I'm actually excited about Biochemistry lab practical on Tuesday, though. We'll just take this week one day at a time until I get to see the Paris and Rome girls in less than a week!

1st Team!

2007-10-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

I just got back from rugby training and got spectacular news ... I made the 1st team for the game this Wednesday. I'm on the 1st team roster as a fresher who has never played rugby before, and this is a serious varsity university sport. I'm so excited I can't even explain it. I don't know how I did it, but the captains and coach agree I'm a natural at the game. I'll be the first substitute for hooker, but I'm sure to get some playing time since I'm the first sub on the roster and the only one who plays hooker. I was doing really well at training today, so everything is looking great. The game on Wednesday is in Lancaster, so we leave here at 9:30am, play all afternoon, shower and change on the bus and go straight to the social outing. Basically, I'll be with the rugby team for 20 hours straight. Free travel through England, good sports, extreme fun ... life can't get better than this!

Edinburgh and Holy Island

2007-10-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend the entire Loyola program here took a bus trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. We left late Friday afternoon to get to our bed and breakfast around 8:30. This bed and breakfast certainly showed where all the study abroad program fees go (we'll see if we get sweet accommodations in Paris in a couple of weeks). Friday night we were all so exhausted and hungry that we just walked down a few blocks to get dinner and hang out in the pub for a bit. I had my first "bangers and mash" meal ... interesting. Really, sausage and mashed potatoes aren't my favorite, but I had to try it once.

Saturday we got up ridiculously early and spent the entire day touring around Edinburgh. We saw the Edinburgh Castle first, then walked down the Royal Mile to grab some lunch on the way to the Holywood Palace (the Queen stays there when she visits Scotland). All these castles and palaces in the UK are absolutely stunning. It's hard to imagine people living there so many years ago. Call me a nerd, but I love visiting historical places. After our palace tour, we had tea in a cute little cafe, then headed up the King Arthur's seat. King Arthur's seat is basically a HUGE rocky mountain cliff with an incredible view of Edinburgh from the top. Jill, Rachel, Kyle and I hiked to the top of King Arthur's seat (which was absolutely exhausting, yet amazing), and naturally decided to climb the adjoining mountain as well. As if one mountain wasn't enough, we just had to be insane and climb the higher one! (yes, yes ... photographic evidence that i was actually enjoying nature to come soon) We actually met 3 American guys at the top of the mountain who are studying in Cork, Ireland and they actually knew our Loyola friends who are on study abroad there! Small world, right? After that, we grabbed some dinner (noticing a trend with food on these trips?) and went on a ghost tour of Edinburgh. Yes, I survived. Those of you who know how I freak out at scary stuff know the ghost tour was a big step for me. But that's what study abroad is about ... doing stuff you would never have done before.
Saturday night we went out to a Scottish nightclub. Again, it really doesn't compare to the Newcastle nightlife. We're on a mission to go out on the town in every country we visit ... so far so good.

Sunday was another absurdly early morning and the bus took off for Holy Island. It's somewhere on the boarder between England and Scotland. We visited yet another castle and the priory. This place was absolutely gorgeous. By far the best scenic views I've ever seen. We had a but of a short day there due to the timing of the tides. The island is attached by a road to the mainland that submerges underwater with the tides. So if we didn't leave the island by 2:30, we would have been stuck there until 8pm when the tide rolled out again.

I got back around 5 Sunday afternoon to catch up with the flatmates and other people in my block of flats. Apparently I missed a pretty great party in my flat for the Rugby World Cup semifinals on Saturday night. And England won! This means I have to stay in Newcastle this weekend to watch the final game of the Rugby World Cup and witness the insanity that is English sports. We all watched the semifinal game between South Africa and Argentina last night. I figure I can learn a bit about the sport I'm playing by watching it. Rugby practice, then who knows what later tonight. Fun stuff!

Game Day and such ...

2007-10-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

Yet another exciting week here in Newcastle. As if Oktoberfest wasn't enough of a party for one week, Monday night was the Fresh Duck'd bar crawl. Basically, all the Freshers at Newcastle University invade the town for one last group party. The bar-hopping started at 5pm, but since I had rugby practice until 8 I met up with my flatmates later in the crawl. Oh, college ... where else do you go out until 4am on a Monday night?

Tuesday was packed with classes. Biochemistry, Archaeology, and Sociology are luckily getting gradually more interesting. There's a lot of reading outside of lectures that I have yet to do, but I have more important stuff to be doing (like country-hopping, playing rugby, and going out with the flatmates!).

Wednesday I flat out skipped my Archeology lecture to travel to Sunderland for my first rugby game! All 35 of us loaded the bus around 10am only to return to the University at 6pm. Long day, but SO much fun. There are so many girls in the rugby club because we have 2 teams. The 1st team is like the varsity squad, and the 2nd team is mainly Freshers and plays in a different league. All the girls split the time on the field for the game against Sunderland so us Freshers could get a sense of the game with some veteran players on the field. I played an entire half of the game at "Hooker." (No ... not that kind of hooker. Go Google rugby positions and look it up.) Apparently I'm the perfect size being short but really strong, and can run faster than the other forwards. Basically, I'm at the front and center of the scrums, I get picked up by my shorts and grab onto the players in the prop position to fight the other team for the ball, I get to be a driving force in all the mauls and rucks, and throw the ball in at line outs (yeah ... I perfected the spiral throw!). I'm battling and tackling girls twice my size! I really caught onto the game well and apparently had some really great plays. I had no clue I was doing well until the veteran players kept telling me that I was doing extremely well. At the end of the game, each team does "Man of the Match" where the captain of each team picks the best forward and back from their own team and the best player from the opposing team. Guess who was named "Forward of the Game"? ME! No joke ... I rocked my first rugby game so well that the captains had a hard time believing I had never played before. Later on at the weekly rugby social the captains told me that right now they're thinking about putting me up with the 1st team. How can I be ready for the 1st team?!?! I'm a little hesitant ... since I'm only here for a semester I'd almost rather get more playing time and start on the 2nd team than be the back-up for the 1st team, then again the 1st team girls are so much fun! We'll just see what happens. All I know is that I must find a rugby team to play on when I get back to the States. This is SO much fun!

More boring lectures today, but I finally got my package from home that I've been waiting for. I had rugby training (again!) today which was really tough since I was so sore from the game yesterday (getting hit by opposing teams' props literally twice my size hurts a bit). I decided to take the night off and just stay in and recover tonight from all the rugby games and socials.

Tomorrow I head up to Edinburgh, Scotland with the Loyola group. We'll be there until Sunday! It's such a beautiful city, and we seem to have Saturday pretty booked up with touristy stuff, then on the way back to Newcastle Sunday we stop at an island to explore.

I'm booking my flight to Rome for the weekend of Thanksgiving to see Anna and Janine as soon as I find a travel buddy. I just need someone else from Newcastle to go with me so I don't have to stay in a hostel by myself. And apparently the Rome ladies are heading to see Clarice and Mary in Paris in November for my birthday weekend ... looks like my 20th birthday party will be in France! Life can't get better than this ...

Oktoberfest!!!!

2007-10-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Basically, it's like one huge carnival / international frat party where about 5 million liters of beer are consumed each year. Fantastic! This weekend was all that I had expected and SO much more. Definitely topping the list of best weekends ever! This is going to be a long update, but only because so many of you requested mucho details from Oktoberfest.

So Cait and I left Newcastle at 6:45am on Friday morning to hop on the metro and get to the train station, then headed up to Edinburgh on the train, jumped on a bus to the airport, then flew into Munich at 2:45. Insanely busy and hectic day, but Anna and Janine were waiting at the airport for us. After an hour, Clarice's plane had landed and the 5 of us made our way to the HotelPension Zum Gockl in Allershausen (one of Munich's cute countryside suburbs). We checked in to two absolutely gorgeous hotel rooms that were SO much better than what we had expected. On the hunt to find traditional German food, we walked a mile or so into town to find a restaurant. They didn't speak much English, but with the help of my lovely European language phrase book we were able to translate enough to actually order something edible. By the way ... wurst and sausages are totally overrated. After a long day of traveling and exploring Allershausen (and to rest up for the big party the next day), we all crashed relatively early and tried to get some sleep. But honestly ... 5 college girls counting down the hours until Oktoberfest are like a bunch of little kids waiting for Santa ... WAY to excited to sleep much!

6am wake up call .... BEERFEST! We all got up ridiculously early because we knew the lines at the beer tents were going to be absolutely insane on the final weekend of Oktoberfest 2007. Naturally, we monopolized on the free breakfast at the hotel and caught a cab to the nearest train station to head into Munich. SO crowded on the trains. And you would think that people would be sober going to the biggest keg party in the world?? Heck no, all these German guys were pre-gaming and downing beers on the metro. Classy. Half the guys were dressed in lederhosen (the traditional German garb), which just made me happy. We leave the metro in a giant swarm of people, not knowing where the heck we find this Oktoberfest. Our idea? "Follow the lederhosen!" Seriously, all we had to do was follow the mass exodus from the train station and join the swarms of people on a pilgrimage towards the tents. Get lost? Just follow the smell of the beer!
I was expecting kind of like an huge field party with tents set up on grass and everything. Oh no. This was like a giant carnival and massive buildings that they claim to be "tents" where everyone just drinks and is insanely happy all day long. We ended up at the Hofbrau Festzelt tent (which is apparently the most popular and famous tent ... who knew?) and had a wild time. even at 9am there was a huge line outside ... and by line I really mean mosh pit. Picture one huge international spooning session, and you've got the mess that is the Oktoberfest beer tent lines. Even though the 5 girls linked arms and tried not to get separated, at one point I was surrounded by an Aussie, an Italian, and a German guy. All I saw was shoulders for a while since I'm so small, and I think I was basically picked up and moved by the crowd in the stampede once the doors opened. After while of waiting, we finally pushed our way into a tent and found a bit of table to squish in at. Well, even though we were in Germany, somehow us girls managed to find Little Italy. Mostly everyone in out section spoke Italian, and luckily Anna and Janine could translate since they're studying in Rome. As soon as you find a seat, the beer maids come over and take orders. Liters of beer literally as big as my head. Who starts drinking at 9:30am? Oh yeah ... EVERYONE at Oktoberfest. Hilarious. And German beer was absolutely amazing. But we mingled and met SO many different people from all over the world, and naturally between the beer and atmosphere of Oktoberfest everyone is uber-friendly. It's seriously the best keg party in the world. I'll definitely want to go back.
We stayed in the first tent for a few hours, and after we downed a couple beers and huge pretzels we headed outside to see the rest of the party. People everywhere just lining the streets still drinking, eating and selling everything you can imagine. We found a shop with souvenir beer steins and T-shirts, then went in search of more food. Chocolate strawberries were by far the most phenomenal food I had all weekend. I'm not such a huge fan of Bratwurst, but at least I tried it. After lunch we hopped to another beer tent and made new friends, and walked around the carnival some more. We managed to sneak out with our liter beer mugs from the second tent (poor college students and free souvenirs ... amazing!).
We ended up leaving the largest beer fest on earth sometime in the late evening, maybe around 8 or so. We found dinner, took the train back to our hotel, and crashed in bed by 10:30. It was so early for us to be crashing, but considering we had been up since 6am and partying since 9am, we figured it was a pretty good showing.
We awoke around 7 the next morning refreshed and ready to tour Munich. We packed up our backpacks and suitcases and took the taxis and trains into the heart of Munich. We saw the new city hall center, the Rathaus, with it's famous Glockenspiel. Unfortunately, the Glockenspiel is under renovation and everything is pretty much closed on Sundays, so we couldn't go to the top to get an aerial view of the city. But we enjoyed the atmosphere of the town square, saw an oompah band on the street, and had one more traditional German meal ... with beer, of course. Sunday was just a nice relaxing day to take in the city before heading our separate ways back to Newcastle, Paris, and Rome. We took the train back to the airport and all flew out of Munich.

So about 64 hours later I arrived back in Newcastle late Sunday night. As usual, the entire block of flats was in my apartment since we're the only ones with a TV and everyone was happy to see me. Apparently, they missed their "Little America" this weekend. I'm glad to be back. Now it's off to classes, rugby practice, and a campus-wide bar crawl.

Settling in

2007-10-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

I've had at least one lecture for all my classes now. Biochemistry seems like an absolute cakewalk right now, though I'm sure all the review will end soon. But hey, I'm not one to complain about an easy class while I'm traveling all over the place. Archaeology is going to be a lot more work than I bargained for, but it shouldn't be that horrible. Plus, I can't take an archaeology class back at Loyola, so it should be a really fun experience. Any my professor seems really nice, so I guess it should all even out. Sociology should be alright I guess. Humanities classes just really aren't my forte. So far, so good on the academic scene.

Still playing rugby. I've officially made it through the first week of training alive. I have the most disgusting, yet amazing bruises covering my entire body. Small price to pay for a game so fun. We haven't gotten official positions yet, but we'll get to that next practice. Our first game is this Wednesday! I surprisingly have a class on Wednesday afternoons, even though the University technically is supposed to have Wednesday after 1pm free for sports matches. So I split my time between tacking people on the rugby pitch and learning about archeaology. Or just skip the boring stuff and go right for running in the mud ... sounds like a plan. I really like my teammates, too. The freshers and older girls mix together really nicely, and I had a great time at the rugby social last night. We do a team bar crawl every Wednesday to visit all of our local sponsors. Each week is a different theme, and last night was Lara Croft night. So basically about 30 girls looking hardcore and tough like we just walked out of Tomb Raider took the Newcastle nightlife by storm, complete with army face paint and everything (naturally, we all still managed to look ridiculously cute!). Rugby players looking tough and nasty? Who would have thought?

I leave tomorrow for Oktoberfest! So beyond excited right now. I'll fill you in when I get back. This time I promise to put up pictures on webshots (time is tight, sorry!).

RUGBY!!!!

2007-10-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I had my first rugby practice with the Newcastle University Women's Rugby team ... full contact! I'm so ridiculously bruised and sore this morning, but I had SO much fun. This could by far be my favorite sport ever. Sure it's a little aggressive and all the girls are bigger than me, but I'm keeping up just fine. Nothing takes the stress out of a bad day like tackling people to the ground. I decided to sign up for the Freshers team just to meet new people and avoid paying gym fees, but now i think I'm totally hooked. All the veteran players and new Freshers are so nice, and I'll be spending a lot of time with them. Two practices and one game per week, plus a rugby pub crawl every Wednesday night. Our first match is a week from tomorrow, then we have a tournament up in Edinburgh next weekend. I'll already be in Edinburgh for the weekend on a Loyola trip, so I'll just split my time between the American crew and rugby time. Hey, this rugby thing could also be a great way to travel cheap. Score!

On a less exciting note, classes started yesterday. Well, one class anyway. I had my Comparing Cultures sociology lecture, which I think will actually be a really great course. Biochemistry and Archeology start tomorrow. Luckily, all the extra seminars and labs don't start for a few weeks, so for now I have Tuesdays and Fridays off with no classes. After I pull my life together and organize all my coursework today, Tuesdays and Fridays will be filled with day trips. Newcastle itself is a huge city with a lot to explore, so maybe I'll just stick around here for a bit. I've found my way around town already and know at least where the mall, clubs, and grocery stores are. That's all I need, right? I've actually been out running during the day through the city and it's helped me to get my bearings a lot. The Tyne riverside is absolutely stunning. One of these days I'll just be a complete tourist and take a million pictures of this town. It's so sad that i only have 10 weeks left here.

I think that's all I've been up to for the past couple of days. The weekends here are really relaxed. Most students just stay in and hang out around campus since all the cheap student nights out on the town are during the week. I decided not to travel this weekend since I just really needed to recover from all the traveling thus far and get to know my neighbors. I really like my flatmates and the other people in my block and we're a pretty tight-knit group already. Most people gather in my kitchen in the evenings to cook dinner and watch TV since my flat has the largest kitchen set up. This kind of seems like a weird version of Freshman year at Loyola all over again.

As usual, still loving it here. It might seem strange, but I'm really not missing home. Not that I don't love you all on the other side of the Atlantic, but I've just blended in here so nicely and very quickly. More classes and rugby tomorrow, then Oktoberfest on Friday! I'm so excited to see The Ocho girls meeting me in Munich! I can't wait!

Is there a Starbucks around here?

2007-09-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

Buying a coffee maker in the UK was probably the best decision of my trip thus far. Averaging 3 hours of sleep each night for the past week has finally taken a toll on me, but I can keep going as long as I have constant access to caffeine. Freshers Week fun keeps me out with my flatmates all night, then the Loyola group boards buses at 9am to go touring around North England.
Yesterday we went to Whitby on the coast. SO freezing and windy. I seriously don't know how people can live in this cold climate. The North sea coast is absolutely gorgeous, though. And naturally we all decided to hiking for a few miles then go climb the rock cliffs with our program coordinator. Exhausting, and totally not something I would normally do, but the view from the top was stunning. Photographic evidence to be loaded on Webshots as soon as I have a spare moment.
After hiking all day I had about 20 minutes to get ready to go to the Glow party with my flatmates. The University rented out a huge arena in town for an end-of-Freshers-week party. We all bought glow in the dark clothes and UV body paint and had a fantastic time. We must have walked 3 miles to the arena on a pub crawl, then danced all night. I'm so glad I have great flatmates. They're such a fun group of girls, and we all hang out with the other apartments in our block. Everyone has been so welcoming ... it's going to be hard to leave in a few months.
After 4 cups of coffee, the Loyola crew went to Alnwick castle today to tour the state rooms and the gardens. The Duke of Northumbria and his family still live in the castle for half of the year. Again, even with 3 shirts and a winter coat on I've never been so cold in my life. The whole wind/rain/cold weather deal just doesn't work for me.
This weekend will be the first time I have nothing planned and no meetings to run off to in the morning. I'm thinking sleeping until 3pm to just recover from Freshers Week sounds like a plan. My room still isn't completely unpacked either, and I need to do that before classes start. Only 2 more days of freedom before I actually have to start learning something. But Oktoberfest is in 1 week! So pumped!

London and Beyond

2007-09-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I hopped a train to London with the rest of the Loyola crew. Basically, I had extremely stereotypical tourist weekend, and loved every minute of it. Navigating a group of 30 college students through the London Underground was rough, but amazingly no one got lost. We arrived really late on Friday evening, so Cait, Rachel, Jill and I just grabbed dinner and headed to a local pub to relax for the night and chat it up with Londoners.
Saturday was a crazy and hectic day, but we got to see so much of the city. All 30 of us went on a guided tour of Parliament and saw Big Ben, then headed over to the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels. I've never seen so much bling in my life ... kind of jealous. Next stop was touristy photo shoot on the Tower Bridge (gorgeous), and by that time everyone was wiped out. While everyone in my group went back to the hotel to nap, I just grabbed a huge cup of coffee and set out to navigate the London Underground (flawlessly!) by myself to enjoy the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square. We all met up again for dinner, then went out to enjoy the London nightlife. Piccadilly Circus is absolutely nuts. But all in all, Newcastle is totally head and shoulders above London in terms of nightlife. Seriously, London just can't compete with this amazing town that I'm living in.
Sunday was more touristy stuff, including Buckingham Palace and more of Trafalgar Square. Cait, Jill, Rachel and I rode the London Eye at night ... spectacular view. London is definitely stunning all lit up. I think we walked all over the city trying to find cheap, yet edible food, and eventually found a Baskin Robbins. You have no idea how elated we all were. English food is mostly just strange, so it was really nice to have familiar treats.

I arrived back at my flat on Monday to meet my flatmates. Of course I had met my American roommate earlier, but I got to meet 4 more friendly girls, Eleanor, Lauri, Fran, and Sarah. All of them are British and extremely nice. So far they've been very welcoming and we've been having so much fun together. Living together seems like it will be easy. All of my flatmates are first-year students, so we're all in the same boat together trying to make new friends. It's so nice to take a break from the Loyola group that I've been traveling with non-stop for over a week and just go out with the British girls. We've been going out in the evenings enjoying the "Freshers Week" events in town.

Classes start Monday, which I'm actually excited about. Next week all of the orientation craziness will be over and I'll actually have time to settle in. This is shaping up to be a great semester already. Still loving Newcastle!

Loving Newcastle!

2007-09-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

So I've been in the UK for 4 days now, and just today got my laptop connected to the internet. I apologize for the lack in blog entries, but there was no reasonable way to get to the internet. The other Loyola students and I have been running around for the past few days in just a whirlwind. Everything is so new and so fun. The campus and city of Newcastle Upon Tyne are HUGE! Luckily, after a couple of days I finally have my bearings and can make it from my flat, to main campus, the metro, shops, and the downtown district.

Though settling in has been hard and a little stressful at times, I'm having the time of my life. I've had so much fun so far, and it's only a few days into my stay here. The locals are so friendly, the British accents are adorable, and the nightlife is incredible. I'm going to be very happy here for the semester.

The flight over here wasn't too bad, just really long. Arriving to Newcastle University jet-lagged with only an hour of sleep was rough, but I was so excited to be in England that tiredness really didn't matter. I arrive in a foreign country to hear that I can't move into the apartment I was assigned. Minor freakout. Apparently there had been a fire in the kitchen over the summer, and everything in the flat was gutted. They put me in temporary housing all by myself, but only for a couple of days. Luckily I was still able to catch up with my Loyola friends. But today i moved into my newly-renovated flat ... gorgeous. My living arrangements are spectacular. None of that nasty college dorm room stuff, just new kitchen, common rooms, and everything. So living out of suitcases for a couple of days was a small price to pay for the best flat I've seen so far. I'm living with 5 other girls, 4 of whom have yet to arrive. Only the international students are here this week, but my British flatmates should be moving in over the weekend. One flatmate, Fiona, arrived when I did. She's also an international student, but from New Jersey. She's a lot of fun, and hopefully our other flatmates will be great as well. I can't wait until everyone else arrives so campus comes alive. 18,000 undergraduates. Huge.

I've spent the past 3 days hopping from one meeting to another trying to get registered in the university system, as well as sign up for classes. There's a reason the Loyola program coordinators refer to registration week at Newcastle as "Hell Week." This stuff is intense. But I think i finally have everything figured out so my classes can transfer and I get credit for everything. Then again, I think the 'study' part of study abroad is a joke. I'm signing up for Introduction to Archaeology as an elective. It includes field trips and excavation experience. When else in my life am I going to be immersed in a foreign country, learning about their history, and also get to dig around their ancient sites? So excited about life right now.

Other than that, what I've done in Newcastle has been a complete blur. Between getting settled into my flat, shopping for things I need, getting a phone, and struggling with the internet, I haven't had much time to explore on my own. I got a brief tour and overview of the city, and there's SO much I need to see and do within the 3 months that I'm here.

The highlight of the city so far: the nightlife. This town is insane!!! I had heard that Newcastle was party central of north England, but that didn't prepare me for this. This is definitely not your average college-town party scene. I don't think I've been back to my flat before 4am for a couple nights in a row now. You can't go a block without a pub, bar, or nightclub. Things will get even crazier once all the other students get back. I'm loving every minute of it.

Next stop: London. The Loyola students are all going together for 4 days. We're all hopping on the train tomorrow afternoon after yet another academic registration session. I'm sure we'll do the usual touristy stuff, but it'll be fun to see how the clubbing scene in London stands up to the crazy city I get to call home for the semester.

I'll fill you in on London when I get back. Just know that I'm extremely happy and excited to enjoy every second of my time abroad. You only live once, right?

Leaving on a jet plane ...

2007-09-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

So this is it. Everything I need for 3 months of my life is packed into 2 suitcases and a backpack. Don't ask me how we did it ... I have no clue. All I know is that everything from sweaters and laundry detergent to soccer cleats and an extra pillow is somewhere in the 2 gigantic suitcases. How am I going to manuver these huge things by myself in an airport? Let's not even go there. I didn't exactly make the 50-pound weight limit ... each bag is exactly 65 pounds. Eeek! But there's always a loophole if you look hard enough for it. British Airways says on their website that baggage up to 70 pounds will be accepted up until Septmeber 30. Score!
Now it's back to finishing up last minute craziness. In a matter of hours I'll be flying over the Atlantic Ocean!

Perfection

2007-09-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

So my last few days in the States are turning out to be absolutely perfect. I drove into Baltimore to see the crew at Johns Hopkins and Loyola yesterday and got to catch up with everyone I needed to see before I leave. Fantastic. Plus, I got to crash the Loyola crab feast, which made me ridiculously happy. Seriously, I can't just visit BMore and not eat crabs. I'm going back for round two at LoCo Friday to spend the night with my favorite girls. Crab feast, Friday nights at LoCo, then leaving for England ... I couldn't ask for more.

3 days left. I'm finishing up last-minute errands today so I can cross off the last few things on my to-do list. It'll be nuts, but hey, today already started off great with a phone call from Mary and Clarice in Paris ... just the beginning to another perfect day! Nothing can keep me from smiling. In 72 hours I'll be on my way to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Wish me luck!

Less Than a Week???

2007-09-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

It's official - I'm totally freaking out. It hit me when people asked me today when I was leaving ... "Sunday." Not "next month," or "in a couple weeks," like it's been for so long. Sunday. O crap. At least all my shopping is finshed. The guest room looks like my wardrobe exploded all over it. How amI going to fit all this stuff into two 50-pound suitcases? Seriously, something's gotta give ... and it's not going to be my little black dresses or clubbing tops. I have no clue what I'm going to do.
Well, at least packing will be easier than saying goodbye to everyone. Sure, I said goodbye to friends from home before they left to go back to school, but now I have to do it all over again via phone. Seeing the Loyola crew later this week will be amazing, but then I have to get ripped away from them again. Just go ahead and tear my heart out.
But hey, I have the most amazing semester of my life ahead of me. Apparently Newcastle is the nightlife hub of north-east England - totally my scene. Bring on the late-night craziness. Sleep is overrated anyway. All I need to function is coffee.
Nervous? Sure. Excited? Like you can't even imagine.

10 day countdown

2007-09-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

So the final countdown is here ... exactly 10 days left in the States. It seems so surreal that in less than two weeks I'll be landing in Newcastle, England. As fast as these next few days of living from one to-do list to another will fly by, I'm certain that 3 months in the UK will go even faster. Even though I'm a nervous wreck as I'm about to totally change my routine and travel all over Europe, I'm even more excited. All of my friends also studying abroad this semester have already arrived in their European host countries and are having a blast ... I can't wait!

So about that whole "I already know English, so I don't have to worry about learning a new language" concept ... yeah right! I swear, for the first few weeks I'm sure half of my conversations in Britain will be lost in translation. Thank goodness for British-Yankee vocabulary cheat sheets.

From navigating pubs and clubs, to catching flights to Munich for Oktoberfest, this should be an interesting few months. And maybe I'm supposed to pass classes while I'm over there? Personally, I think the whole "study" bit of study abroad is more like a weak suggestion than a rule. I plan on letting Europe will be my classroom this semester ... let's country-hop!