Let me just give you a heads up that this blog entry will be very lengthy so you may want to get a drink or snack and put your feet up to make yourself comfortable for this read. I also would like to let you know it won't be proofread because it takes me enough time to write everything down and I am way too busy of a woman to spend the extra time proofreading when everyone reading will be able to decipher what I mean to say during any of my typos/misspellings.
First, I'd like to start by telling you the basic itinerary and outline of the trip. We left on October 19th and came back to Canterbury on October 31st but weren't able to celebrate Halloween. I think we're going to have a Halloween celebration next weekend since everyone will be back then and everything. So anyways...we visited Berlin, Prague, Munich, and Zurich spending 3 nights in each place for a total of 12 nights. It was a very long and tiring holiday but well worth it and so amazing to see everything in each city to see how different and unique they all are.
i traveled with Maddy, one of my roommates who is also working her second year for English Lacrosse, which was very nice to not travel alone anywhere. Jaclyn and Rachel, twins who are both over here doing what I'm doing, met us in Berlin after they visited Amsterdam which Maddy and I had already done. They stayed with us for Berlin, Prague, and Munich which was a blast because they are so fun and it was great to have a good group of people you love being around when you're together all day everyday for almost 2 weeks or so.
Alright so now I'll break down the trip by each place. I've already put up pictures from each place and there are over 500 on snapfish if you can get to that account. If not, ask my Mom how to access it lol.
Monday night our flight was delayed awhile so we didn't end up leaving until 9.30pm which got us into Berlin pretty late and then we had an adventure trying to find the hostel. At Gatwick London airport, I had a problem checking in because the woman asked me if I could fit my big purse into my carry-on and then make it fit into that big metal thing they have to measure the carry-ons and I was like oh yeah I know it will that's fine so she goes "ok well can you please show me?" At this point I started sweating trying to zipper my huge purse filled to the top into my carry-on which ended up not zipping all the way and I just left it. I got it into the metal thing and she was like ok push it down to make sure it goes all the way so I did. And then it was stuck. Everyone in the check-in line and at the counters were watching me try to pull it out while the lady at the counter is telling me how to do it by pushing from the bottom. Anyways, I ended up getting it out after a struggle and that's the way it began...and was followed by the flight delay. So we finally got to Berlin and struggled finding the hostel because the train we needed was having brake problems or something so we couldn't take it from the airport and went a very roundabout way but ended up at the right place and finally got to the hostel and ended up in bed at like 2am or maybe later....not good times lol.
Jaclyn and Rachel were already there and sleeping so we didn't see them until the next morning. Also, a teacher from Jaclyn's school named Steve was there and he's been all around Europe and majored in European Political History or something like that she we had our own personal tour guide around Berlin which was amazing. The first full day there we did everything we possibly could and saw all the main sights. We waited in line and saw the German Parliament which was really cool and had good views from the top then we walked around and saw the Holocaust Memorial, US and British Embassies, the New Synagogue, Reichstag, and the Opera House. I'm sure we saw more along the way but those were the main ones I jotted down in my notes:-) The next full day we had we went to Sachsenhausen concentration camp which was about 45 minutes from us so that was a full day trip. I can't even describe the day or the experience to say that it was very hard to be learning and reading about things that happened in the exact place where you're standing...the fact that humans can treat other human beings that way....I just can't get my head around it and it's one thing to learn about it in a classroom and a completely different experience to walk on the grounds where it happened. After the camp, we got back and went to eat dinner at an Italian restaurant by our hostel which was very nice. Something I noticed in Europe is that dogs go everywhere with their owners...everywhere. They are in fast food places, supermarkets, Starbucks, nice Italian restaurants, on the tube and trains...literally everywhere. It was so strange to me because they weren't just little dogs but big dogs sitting on the train and it was just so bizarre but anyways that was just something I noticed that I thought about when I mentioned the restaurant. After the restaurant, we just went back to the hostel and watched a soccer game in the lobby then went to bed. The next day we left in the afternoon for Prague so we did the Berlin Wall in the morning and learned all about that. After we saw that, we walked around a bit more and then just went to the hostel until we had to go to the train station.
We took the train from Berlin to Prague and that was fairly straight forward and not difficult. We checked in and just walked around that night for a bit getting to know the area and then went to bed. For our first full day, we woke up to catch the free walking tour which was 3 hrs but definitely worth it. Prague is amazing and it was so interesting to learn about and also sooo beautiful! We saw the main sites on the tour like the national theater, astronomical clock in the old town square and we learned about alot of the history and different stories they have there. After the tour, we walked over the Charles Bridge which is like one big market and we got over to the other side to walk around the Prague Castle which is huge but beautiful. We didn't pay for the tour so we just walked around it and got pictures. On our way to the castle, we bought hot wine from a little stand on the street and the guy ended up being a national ballerina and was telling us all about his days and where he traveled and it was very interesting!
That night, we did a bar crawl which was fun but I didn't drink enough where it was actually worth the money for me but it was still a good experience and it was a good thing to do because we enjoyed it. They take you to one bar and then 3 clubs and we barely made it to the second club before just going home and going to sleep because the second club we went to wasn't fun and way too smokey so we were ready to call it a night. It was very interesting how many Americans there were in Prague...I'm not sure I met any Czech people lol. Alot of them worked for the bar crawl companies just living abroad and having various other jobs and just living over there and traveling which was interesting. We met alot of people along the way just living abroad doing whatever and enjoying time over there and also people backpacking around Europe for however long. We met 3 guys who actually quit their jobs and planned a huge trip to travel indefinately around Europe and they are from England and wanted to hang out with us whenever they got back from traveling lol. Everyone we met was very nice though and we had so much fun but anyways...:-)
So the next day in Prague, we slept late and then went to Bohemian Bagel and sat there for awhile eating lunch. It was very very very American and the food was amazing and cheap so we loved it there! Then we walked around and went to the other side of town to see things and then went back for a nap because we were still tired. We ate dinner at a local little place in Old Town Square and got various things and it was very good. Then we just hung out with bar crawl people riding on their 7-seater bike which was awesome and soo fun! There were so many people taking pictures of it and we were in many of those peoples' pictures so that was fun lol. Then we just went back to the room and went to bed.
We left for Munich in the afternoon the next day so we got up to check out and see some things before we left. We went to Petrin Hill to see the tower which apparently is supposed to be like the Eiffel Tower. We didn't go up it but got some good pictures from the hill and got good exercise getting up there! It was gorgeous with beautiful views and it was a pretty day so it was nice to be outside and doing that. We also saw a memorial of the communist rule after the Holocaust which was interesting...I have pictures of that on snapfish as well. Then of course we went to lunch at Bohemian Bagel and sat there until we had to leave for the train station. This was the worst journey by far but it was made fun by the people we met along the way which is what it's all about right? I guess so....lol
So when we found out the train times in Prague, the lady said the ones from Prague to Munich on the day we were leaving were complicated because of railway work and such so there were buses involved in the journey but the one at 5pm was direct so we were like oh great let's get that one!
Well....we get on the train and a woman came by and told us that we had to get off at blah blah stop to change so we asked our new German friend that we just met to translate and he said it wasn't direct and then told us what we had to do. Well thankfully we met Achim and Maria who were our German friends on the trip and they didn't know each other before us. Achim spoke English and German and Maria only spoke German so he translate to her for us which was comical but she loved us of course:-) Achim had just been married by law and the next week was having a Church wedding "to be wed by God"....a bit different than America but interesting. We were confused because he kept saying he was married but he was planning things for his wedding...so then he explained. So anyways, we ended up having to take 2 trains then a bus with everyone packed on it and all our bags on our laps and then another 2 trains before getting to Munich. It was miserable and ended up being a 7 1/2 journey. We had to race off the train at one of the stops to the vending machines to stock up on whatever we could find which ended up being gummy bears, vitamin c throat things, pretzels and a snickers lol oh and some kind of carbonated apple juice drink which was strange. So the trip to Munich....not the best.
We got in late and went to bed and then we ended up sleeping late into the next day and missing the tour we were meant to get so we just walked around ourselves and saw alot of the city and then went to a beer hall for dinner around 5 or 6pm and very unexpectedly stayed until it closed at midnight lol. It was the best night of the whole trip and we met lots of interesting people and drank German beer by the liter which was quite the experience but what Munich is known for so that was fun. Needless to say...we slept in the next day as well lol. The one thing I looooved about Munich was that our hostel had a free breakfast and it was actually really good! Our Berlin one did as well or maybe Prague I don't remember but the Munich one was really good and we were able to make sandwiches for lunches to take with us during the day...it was great!
On Tuesday, the second full day in Munich, we did Dachau another concentration camp. I think the more you go to, the more it affects you and you really begin to not only understand what these people went through but you can also actually feel it when you're there...it's terrible but also something that everyone should experience at some point in their lives to truly understand it. So anyways, we did that and then we ended up spending the day with the boys I mentioned above who quit their jobs to travel from England. They went to the camp with us and then we hung out all night in the hostel with them and they were really fun.
The next day, Maddy and I left around 12:30 for Zurich and Jaclyn and Rachel left later at night to go back to London. We got up and did some of the free tour but Maddy and I had to leave for the train station so I'll need to get Rachel's pictures from that. We had a pretty easy train ride into Zurich and then got to the hostel around dinnertime so we checked in and then walked around. Little did we know that Zurich's one of the most expensive cities in the world! We couldn't even afford McDonald's...it was terrible! Although we make pounds, the franc is equal to the american dollar so that's what we compared everything to when we saw prices. A meal at McDonalds was 12 francs which was like $12 to us and we were like oh wow! We did alot of window shopping and just walked around looking at what we couldn't afford. We went to the supermarket every morning and got brie and bread to eat during the day and would splurge on Starbucks lol. We bought pasta, pesto sauce and tomato sauce at the supermarket along with a head of lettuce and single packets of dressing for dinner the nights we were there which worked out well. We didn't go out because it was way too expensive but we walked around alot and just learned about the city which was gorgeous. Switzerland in general is beautiful and has beautiful residents. Everyone in Zurich is just amazingly gorgeous and we would stare at them all-girls and boys lol. We could easily pick out locals and visitors. People would guess that we were Americans and we'd be offended since Swiss people are so pretty and they didn't think we looked like we were from there lol.
Alright, so the first full day we were there we got up early and took the 10am train 2 hours to Interlaken which is the huge home of extreme sports and a big tourist attraction. It was gorgeous and I didn't want to leave there. The weather was beautiful and we couldn't have asked for a better day. We walked around and took lots of pictures and sat at a little cafe and then headed back on the 4pm train and got back for dinner to make some pasta and salad at the hostel. We hung out and just went to bed after walking around the city at night after dinner and it was just so pretty there. The next day we slept in because we had the worst hostel nights there sleeping-wise with girls getting in at 3am then people waking up at 7am...it was just terrible trying to sleep. We woke up and then walked around the city but it was a gloomy day and not great for pictures. We took a Zurich guide and did the walking tour they take you through in there and that was nice because we learned about things as we saw them. Then we went back to the hostel, made dinner and just relaxed again that night. We went to McDonalds at night for ice cream and ran into a guy we met at the beer hall in Munich who works for some aviation company and is quitting his job at 30 to get a 50% pay cut to join the US Army. Interesting guy and weird that we saw him again but he was traveling for business and was on our train to Zurich so we thought maybe we'd see him somewhere...embarassing that it was in McDonalds though lol.
Last day in Zurich....we checked out and walked around in the morning and took lots more pictures lol and then went to the train station to get to the airport and make our way back to Canterbury. Our train from Gatwick had 2 changes and we actually ended up on the same train as Emma, one of our other roommates and Jill, the other American lax coach...small world because they didn't even plan on running into each other and then we all met up on the same train into Canterbury for the home stretch of the trip lol.
It was a great experience, good fun and good people, beautiful pictures, so much history and information to learn everywhere. We could have easily spent 2 weeks in all of these places going into all the museums and just learned everything there is to know but it's nice to even be able to visit them and catch a glimpse of the city for a few days. I feel very lucky and fortunate to have had this opportunity and I'm looknig forward to my next trip....to America for Christmas!!!:-) I can't wait to go home for awhile and see everyone and especially since it's Christmas! I miss everyone and I'm sorry for the typos but I'm tired and wanted to write this while it was still pretty fresh in my mind. I love you all!!!!!! xxxx
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Summer 09 and The Beginning of Canterbury Tales
My summer was amazing and it was soo great being home for those 6 1/2 weeks. I love going home to see my family and friends:-) I got home July 12th and then went to Ocean City July 14th with my family for 2 weeks. It was nice to see my Mom's side from the west coast and spend that time together. It's always sad when the beach vacation ends knowing it'll be another year until we're all together again:-( I'm crossing my fingers that they make it over here to visit me during my spring break though hint hint:-)
I dogsat for Sissy and Bunky which was fun and scary at the same time, ha. I love their house but I definately enjoy it more when there's a Thanksgiving dinner involved and my family:-) It was fun living there for the week though and Maddie was a great girl and very well behaved. I think she was anxious for me to leave though because she missed her mom and dad. We became very good friends and she also became very close with Ali as well since she helped me while I was there since I'm too scared to be there by myself, ha.
I went back to the beach for a week with my parents and we have visitors in and out for the week...Ali, Kelly, Lisa, John, Aunt Donna, and Anna. We spent some time at Aunt Lil's and Gregory read me a book which was very impressive:-) It was another perfect week at the beach and I couldn't have been luckier to go there so much this summer.
One of the best weekends I've had in a long time involved some crazy people from Denver. We had a Denver reunion in Baltimore a weekend in August and it was sooo fun and so great to catch up with everyone and spend the weekend together. It always amazes me because no matter how much time goes by, whenever we're all together it feels like nothing has changed and I just saw everyone yesterday. It was so fun and we all hung out and slept at Kelly's house downtown where she lives with her sisters. There were a lot of people in town and it's the second annual gathering so hopefully there will just continue to be more and more people every year!
I went to a Ravens game while I was home which was so fun as usual and they won!! Yayyy:-) I love them and will definately make everyone a fan that I live with here...except for the Americans here because they obviously have their own teams, ha.
I had such a good summer home and loved everything about it but two especially fun times were the family gatherings at good old Hunting Hills Swim Club:-) We were lucky enough to all find 2 dates that worked where we could all meet at the pool and hang out for the night. I love being with my family during the holidays but I also miss the pool cook outs we used to have so this was realllly nice:-) The first time we did burgers and amazing sides which I actually can't think about because it makes me mouth water. We had a splash contest and did some relays and I didn't participate in the contest the second time....for obvious reasons. The second time, we did chicken and great sides again and both times we had great desserts from Lisa Crocker:-) (like Betty Crocker). The second time we played keep it up with a ball in the pool and then used the ball and made games with it going off the diving boards and such. Overall, good times as usual:-) I can't wait to be home and play games with everyone at Christmas!
Congratulations to Michelle & Joey:-) Their wedding was beautiful and she was a gorgeous bride. I absolutely loooved her dress and hair and everything about the wedding and everyone looked so great and so happy! The reception was alot of fun and the food was amazing with a really good band that kept everyone entertained and my mom dancing, ha.
I can't think of anything else which probably means that I forgot something really important and I'm sorry...just remind me!
CANTERBURY
Alright, so where to start...?!
I am in a gorgeous town called Canterbury which is located Southeast of London, about 17 miles from the coast and about 45 minutes from Paris. I'm about 2 hrs or so from London now because of having to switch trains and the tube but they are currently building a line that will go right from Canterbury to London and take about 35 minutes! I don't know what that will be finished but that sounds alot better/easier than what it is now. There is alot of history here and it's a very historic/touristy town. There are constantly tour groups and people with cameras around everywhere taking pictures of everything. It's so pretty and I'm excited to do a tour and learn about everything. There are all kinds of monuments and memorials about WWII and things from history.
I'm living with 4 other people: Emma, Maddy, Chris, and Ed. They are all here doing what I'm doing for the most part. Maddy is doing lacrosse for the county of Kent but based here. She doesn't actually work at the school during the day so she's strictly lacrosse with me and Jill, who is the head coach and started 3 years ago by doing what I'm doing. We all have a good time together coaching together. Jill has the U15 team; I have the U14 (new to lax) and Maddy has the seniors. I have alot of work to do with my girls because most of them have never played before but it's nice to start from scratch and watch as they progress which I guarantee they will:-)
I love my roommates and we all get along so well...so far;-) Everyone has their own personality and it's nice that 4 of us are all new to the school and department, adjusting together to how everything works. We all hang out together in lessons during the day then have our after school sports and then go to dinner at the school and then we're back at the house to hang:-) Chris does Rugby; Emma does Field Hockey/Netball, and Ed is Rowing. We had family dinners when we first got here because the dining hall wasn't open and that was fun. We live right next door to the Jolly Sailor which is a pub and that's just dangerous, ha. It's really fun but soo loud living next door because there are always people there and it's just going to get worse. Canterbury is a university town because of Kent which is based right outside of it I guess? Or in it? I'm not completely sure but the owner of the pub told us that it gets really crowded/loud there and everywhere around here pretty much gets more fun when the students are all back. It should be fun and it's really nice having roommates. Our house is so amazing and huge! I have pictures on my facebook but it doesn't even do it justice...it's massive. I've been working on my room alot and making it homey and my own:-)
I love the school, the people we work with, the department, my head of house. I am assigned to Jervis House which is literally right down the street so I'll have a couple duties at that boarding house. My head of house is in charge of signing things for lax because they needed an academic person behind each sport so she understands that lax can take alot out of you so I won't have as many boarding house duties this year which will be really nice. The school is gorgeous and huge. I tried to take pictures but I didn't get all the buildings...I'll work on it:-)
Those are the basics and I could go on and on with details because it's me and I ramble but I'll try and just keep it simple so that it doesn't go on forever and ever, ha. I will try and write as things happen and keep it updated. If you can, keep an eye on facebook because I'll try to keep that updated with pictures and such.
Miss and love you all!! xxxx
DP
ps. sorry mom, it was way too long to proofread:-)
I dogsat for Sissy and Bunky which was fun and scary at the same time, ha. I love their house but I definately enjoy it more when there's a Thanksgiving dinner involved and my family:-) It was fun living there for the week though and Maddie was a great girl and very well behaved. I think she was anxious for me to leave though because she missed her mom and dad. We became very good friends and she also became very close with Ali as well since she helped me while I was there since I'm too scared to be there by myself, ha.
I went back to the beach for a week with my parents and we have visitors in and out for the week...Ali, Kelly, Lisa, John, Aunt Donna, and Anna. We spent some time at Aunt Lil's and Gregory read me a book which was very impressive:-) It was another perfect week at the beach and I couldn't have been luckier to go there so much this summer.
One of the best weekends I've had in a long time involved some crazy people from Denver. We had a Denver reunion in Baltimore a weekend in August and it was sooo fun and so great to catch up with everyone and spend the weekend together. It always amazes me because no matter how much time goes by, whenever we're all together it feels like nothing has changed and I just saw everyone yesterday. It was so fun and we all hung out and slept at Kelly's house downtown where she lives with her sisters. There were a lot of people in town and it's the second annual gathering so hopefully there will just continue to be more and more people every year!
I went to a Ravens game while I was home which was so fun as usual and they won!! Yayyy:-) I love them and will definately make everyone a fan that I live with here...except for the Americans here because they obviously have their own teams, ha.
I had such a good summer home and loved everything about it but two especially fun times were the family gatherings at good old Hunting Hills Swim Club:-) We were lucky enough to all find 2 dates that worked where we could all meet at the pool and hang out for the night. I love being with my family during the holidays but I also miss the pool cook outs we used to have so this was realllly nice:-) The first time we did burgers and amazing sides which I actually can't think about because it makes me mouth water. We had a splash contest and did some relays and I didn't participate in the contest the second time....for obvious reasons. The second time, we did chicken and great sides again and both times we had great desserts from Lisa Crocker:-) (like Betty Crocker). The second time we played keep it up with a ball in the pool and then used the ball and made games with it going off the diving boards and such. Overall, good times as usual:-) I can't wait to be home and play games with everyone at Christmas!
Congratulations to Michelle & Joey:-) Their wedding was beautiful and she was a gorgeous bride. I absolutely loooved her dress and hair and everything about the wedding and everyone looked so great and so happy! The reception was alot of fun and the food was amazing with a really good band that kept everyone entertained and my mom dancing, ha.
I can't think of anything else which probably means that I forgot something really important and I'm sorry...just remind me!
CANTERBURY
Alright, so where to start...?!
I am in a gorgeous town called Canterbury which is located Southeast of London, about 17 miles from the coast and about 45 minutes from Paris. I'm about 2 hrs or so from London now because of having to switch trains and the tube but they are currently building a line that will go right from Canterbury to London and take about 35 minutes! I don't know what that will be finished but that sounds alot better/easier than what it is now. There is alot of history here and it's a very historic/touristy town. There are constantly tour groups and people with cameras around everywhere taking pictures of everything. It's so pretty and I'm excited to do a tour and learn about everything. There are all kinds of monuments and memorials about WWII and things from history.
I'm living with 4 other people: Emma, Maddy, Chris, and Ed. They are all here doing what I'm doing for the most part. Maddy is doing lacrosse for the county of Kent but based here. She doesn't actually work at the school during the day so she's strictly lacrosse with me and Jill, who is the head coach and started 3 years ago by doing what I'm doing. We all have a good time together coaching together. Jill has the U15 team; I have the U14 (new to lax) and Maddy has the seniors. I have alot of work to do with my girls because most of them have never played before but it's nice to start from scratch and watch as they progress which I guarantee they will:-)
I love my roommates and we all get along so well...so far;-) Everyone has their own personality and it's nice that 4 of us are all new to the school and department, adjusting together to how everything works. We all hang out together in lessons during the day then have our after school sports and then go to dinner at the school and then we're back at the house to hang:-) Chris does Rugby; Emma does Field Hockey/Netball, and Ed is Rowing. We had family dinners when we first got here because the dining hall wasn't open and that was fun. We live right next door to the Jolly Sailor which is a pub and that's just dangerous, ha. It's really fun but soo loud living next door because there are always people there and it's just going to get worse. Canterbury is a university town because of Kent which is based right outside of it I guess? Or in it? I'm not completely sure but the owner of the pub told us that it gets really crowded/loud there and everywhere around here pretty much gets more fun when the students are all back. It should be fun and it's really nice having roommates. Our house is so amazing and huge! I have pictures on my facebook but it doesn't even do it justice...it's massive. I've been working on my room alot and making it homey and my own:-)
I love the school, the people we work with, the department, my head of house. I am assigned to Jervis House which is literally right down the street so I'll have a couple duties at that boarding house. My head of house is in charge of signing things for lax because they needed an academic person behind each sport so she understands that lax can take alot out of you so I won't have as many boarding house duties this year which will be really nice. The school is gorgeous and huge. I tried to take pictures but I didn't get all the buildings...I'll work on it:-)
Those are the basics and I could go on and on with details because it's me and I ramble but I'll try and just keep it simple so that it doesn't go on forever and ever, ha. I will try and write as things happen and keep it updated. If you can, keep an eye on facebook because I'll try to keep that updated with pictures and such.
Miss and love you all!! xxxx
DP
ps. sorry mom, it was way too long to proofread:-)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Malaga (finally) & Amsterdam
I know I know..it's taken forever for me to write these blogs but blogging is not something that can be done without effort. It takes alot of time and cleverness to be this funny:-)
First things first: MALAGA, SPAIN:-)
This was the most beautiful place that I have been to since I've been over here. I have loved everywhere I've been for different reasons but this was just gorgeous everywhere you turned. The water was so pretty, the sand wasn't white but still nice in between your toes, people drove on the right side of the road, our place we stayed was perfect and 100 times better than anywhere I've stayed (hostels would never be that nice) with 2 pools, a restaurant, lobby with internet, bar, convenient store, etc. It was so pretty and every morning when I ran I could see the ocean and feel the sun already at 9am. Although sometimes I'd set my UK phone alarm for 9 thinking it was 9 and forgetting it was an hour ahead in Malaga so maybe the sun felt so hot because it was really 10am, ha.
There were many things that happened that week that were pretty priceless and would only happen to us 3..especially with me around, ha. The first night we went to dinner I caught my hair on fire. Funny thing was that I saw smoke and didn't know it was coming from my hair. There was a candle on the table and when I went to get up I leaned forward and I guess my hair brushed by the candle, I saw smoke, saw the candle still lit, and could hear it burning (tttssss) and I was brushing the smoke away from my face going "ummm I did something.." not knowing what had happened and Lisa goes "YOUR HAIR!!" and lunged forward grabbing my hair to stop the burning haha. My hair was fried with black edges and little pieces falling out the rest of the week and it smelled like there was a campfire following me everywhere I went that night.
Another incident we had was when Polly visited us. I'm sure you're wondering who Polly is. Lisa was sitting in the sitting room reading and started screaming and sad that a bird flew into our place. Sure enough there it was in Christine's room. We didn't know what to do because it seemed hurt and wouldn't move. I tried feeding it noodles like a Mama Bird feeds her babies worms but it wasn't hungry I guess cuz it backed away...I even nudged it's little beak with the noodle thinking maybe Polly didn't see it but she just didn't want it. So finally Christine got it and put it out the sliding door and she hung out on the roof across from us for awhile and was gone in the morning. We're not sure what happened to her but I'm sure she was happy to get away from us.
Another exciting event was that Christine read a book...an entire book!! We were so proud of her. She read Harlan Coben's Long Lost which I bought in the Dublin Airport and literally you can't put it down so she read the whole thing! Now she knows she actually does like to read, she just needs to find something she likes.
Ok, so now about our trip and what we did...you can track it by the pictures pretty much but I will quickly run through what we did each day..
They arrived into Malaga 3 planes later (Baltimore to Philly, Philly to Madrid, Madrid to Malaga) Saturday morning the 23rd of May. They walked around, settled in and unpacked and got the rental car. Then I got there at around 1130pm but I think it ended up being late so I didn't even see them until later like midnight I'm pretty sure. They drove me back and pointed everything out to me in the dark which wasn't too impressive until I could actually see it.
Sunday was a laid back day and we went to La Cala beach and Lisa and I should have worn more sunscreen because our fronts of our bodies couldn't see the sun until about Wednesday after that so we learned our lesson for Ocean City. Then we did dinner at the condo and I burned my hair...
Monday we went to the Nude Beach (Cabopino) and didn't pay for chairs but just laid out on our towels. We went to the supermarket to get stuff for the week for lunches and snacks so we weren't buying lunch everyday. We bought sandwiches at La Cala but then we had packed stuff the rest of the week like crackers, fruit snacks, and fruit so that worked out well!
Tuesday we went to the market in the morning which was huge. It wasn't anything too impressive and looked like most markets I'd been to before but was still neat to see and we got to see a different town. We went to the beach in the same town that day (Fuegirola).
Wednesday we left early and did the day in Granada. This was Christine's day. We went to Granada and did a Palace and some gardens and walked miiiiiiles. We went to a couple different town I'm pretty sure because we walked for so long and we bought some really neat rings there. It was interesting to see and nice to do something away from the sun for the day.
Thursday we just went back to La Cala beach and we kinda called this "our beach" now because we had been there a couple times and it was just cozy and we felt like we belong there now haha.
We went to Biddy Mulligan's for dinner. I broke a glass of course. I had my purse on the table and went to put it on the ground and knocked the glass off the table and they gave me a hard time. I burn my hair...break glasses...can't take me anywhere. We stayed there for a couple drinks and hung out with some really fun bartenders/waiters named...? oh wow I forgot their names lol. Lisa will remember. But anyways, I started telling my jokes and they were a pretty big hit. We had these drinks called a snakebite and apparently they aren't even allowed to be sold in some pubs because they are pretty strong. They are half strongbow or some kinda cider beer, half heineken and then some blackcurrant juice...they are very good but sweet and strong so you can only have about 2.
Friday we went to the pool at our place so that we could just use our place for lunch and the bathroom and just to be close for our last day and really relax. It was very nice having the pool there though because the ocean water was too cold but the pool was very refreshing. We went back to Biddy Mulligan's that night for a drink before we left and I went back with more jokes that I had written down from my Facebook. Both nights, a couple customers heard them and chuckled so even though people say they are dumb...they still laugh:-)
Saturday we had to leave:-( We left really early which was a hassle but it was such a treat not traveling by myself!! I was on their flight from Malaga to Madrid and was even able to sit with them!! I was so excited as you can tell:-) Then I got to Madrid and it was much harder than I thought it'd be...I ended up having to take a tram to my terminal and this took me awhile to figure out and resulted in my going up and down escalators and going in circles seeing the same things over and over but being the little world traveler that I am, I found it:-) So then I got back here on Saturday night and have a day to relax on Sunday before school started back up on Monday. I loved Malaga and it was gorgeous and gave us nice tans...even Christine got brown and we had a great time being together and got along very well and had a good week:-)
Now for Amsterdam...this one won't be as long because it was only a weekend. On Friday I had a morning lesson here for Rounders and then got a cab to Newport and made my way to the airport. I got into the airport and had to take a train to Central Station in Amsterdam where I met McKensie, Dani, and Lexi:-) It was soooo good to see them and did not feel like it'd been a year at all!! We went to the hostel and dropped my stuff off into the tiny 3 person room where 4 people would be sleeping (Dani let me share with her and we did the good old sleepover feet to head which actually worked well). We went to a coffee shop and got a drink and then we walked around Central Amsterdam for awhile and then found an Italian restaurant and ate there for dinner. Then they took me to the Red Light District. I cannot believe that these girls so that for a living...I was in shock they just sit there on their cell phones waiting for a customer. I dunno, it just would never be something I'd think is normal. There were tons of restaurants and bars and things around there though so it was the most crowded part of Amsterdam because after exploring West and East Amsterdam we realized that the central part was definately the party place of the city. So after walking around there we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep because Saturday was going to be a big day.
We woke up on Saturday and were gone all day and night...I'm pretty sure we walked for 13 hours straight. We saw anything and everything. We started with the Van Gogh Museum which was really neat and then we sat in Museum Square for awhile because it was such a pretty day. Me, McKensie and Lexi then spent 2 hours in the Heineken Brewery making videos to send to friends and family and this was sooo much fun. I loved that place and didn't want to leave lol. Then we met Dani outside and we walked around for a bit and then went to this Pancake place because Amsterdam is known for their pancakes or something and I know why now!! So thin and just mmm sooo good:-) Then we walked around for a couple more hours seeing things and went to the China District for dinner which was really good. Then we went to a coffee shop for a drink and hung out for a bit and then went home. We were exhausted from walking so much and the sun and just a long day in general.
On Sunday, their cab came at 5am to take them to the airport for their 7am flight. They went to Prague and are actually going home today. I had a nice little touristy day by myself. Check out was at 11am so I slept in, showered, packed my stuff up, checked out and went to the Anne Frank House/Museum. This was amazing and I am so glad I did it. They did it Friday before I got there so this was perfect on Sunday that I was on my own to do it. It was incredible being there and seeing videos of her father talking and her best friend and her real diary and just being in the house. Then I walked to a different side of town to the Pancake Corner for my last pancake there:-) It was sooo worth the walk lol:-) And then I made my way to the train station to get back to the airport for my flight home. I got back around 10pm or so and started school on Monday because it wasn't a holiday or anything, just a normal weekend but so neat I went to Amsterdam for the weekend:-)
I wish that I had spent more time with them but I am so glad I did it and it was so worth it. It was a great trip and another amazing experience:-)
I have to go because I have to go over to School House to help with the little ones but I will write another blog soon about my plans for September.
I miss everyone and I will be home for summer in less than 3 weeks!!!!:-)
Love,
DP
First things first: MALAGA, SPAIN:-)
This was the most beautiful place that I have been to since I've been over here. I have loved everywhere I've been for different reasons but this was just gorgeous everywhere you turned. The water was so pretty, the sand wasn't white but still nice in between your toes, people drove on the right side of the road, our place we stayed was perfect and 100 times better than anywhere I've stayed (hostels would never be that nice) with 2 pools, a restaurant, lobby with internet, bar, convenient store, etc. It was so pretty and every morning when I ran I could see the ocean and feel the sun already at 9am. Although sometimes I'd set my UK phone alarm for 9 thinking it was 9 and forgetting it was an hour ahead in Malaga so maybe the sun felt so hot because it was really 10am, ha.
There were many things that happened that week that were pretty priceless and would only happen to us 3..especially with me around, ha. The first night we went to dinner I caught my hair on fire. Funny thing was that I saw smoke and didn't know it was coming from my hair. There was a candle on the table and when I went to get up I leaned forward and I guess my hair brushed by the candle, I saw smoke, saw the candle still lit, and could hear it burning (tttssss) and I was brushing the smoke away from my face going "ummm I did something.." not knowing what had happened and Lisa goes "YOUR HAIR!!" and lunged forward grabbing my hair to stop the burning haha. My hair was fried with black edges and little pieces falling out the rest of the week and it smelled like there was a campfire following me everywhere I went that night.
Another incident we had was when Polly visited us. I'm sure you're wondering who Polly is. Lisa was sitting in the sitting room reading and started screaming and sad that a bird flew into our place. Sure enough there it was in Christine's room. We didn't know what to do because it seemed hurt and wouldn't move. I tried feeding it noodles like a Mama Bird feeds her babies worms but it wasn't hungry I guess cuz it backed away...I even nudged it's little beak with the noodle thinking maybe Polly didn't see it but she just didn't want it. So finally Christine got it and put it out the sliding door and she hung out on the roof across from us for awhile and was gone in the morning. We're not sure what happened to her but I'm sure she was happy to get away from us.
Another exciting event was that Christine read a book...an entire book!! We were so proud of her. She read Harlan Coben's Long Lost which I bought in the Dublin Airport and literally you can't put it down so she read the whole thing! Now she knows she actually does like to read, she just needs to find something she likes.
Ok, so now about our trip and what we did...you can track it by the pictures pretty much but I will quickly run through what we did each day..
They arrived into Malaga 3 planes later (Baltimore to Philly, Philly to Madrid, Madrid to Malaga) Saturday morning the 23rd of May. They walked around, settled in and unpacked and got the rental car. Then I got there at around 1130pm but I think it ended up being late so I didn't even see them until later like midnight I'm pretty sure. They drove me back and pointed everything out to me in the dark which wasn't too impressive until I could actually see it.
Sunday was a laid back day and we went to La Cala beach and Lisa and I should have worn more sunscreen because our fronts of our bodies couldn't see the sun until about Wednesday after that so we learned our lesson for Ocean City. Then we did dinner at the condo and I burned my hair...
Monday we went to the Nude Beach (Cabopino) and didn't pay for chairs but just laid out on our towels. We went to the supermarket to get stuff for the week for lunches and snacks so we weren't buying lunch everyday. We bought sandwiches at La Cala but then we had packed stuff the rest of the week like crackers, fruit snacks, and fruit so that worked out well!
Tuesday we went to the market in the morning which was huge. It wasn't anything too impressive and looked like most markets I'd been to before but was still neat to see and we got to see a different town. We went to the beach in the same town that day (Fuegirola).
Wednesday we left early and did the day in Granada. This was Christine's day. We went to Granada and did a Palace and some gardens and walked miiiiiiles. We went to a couple different town I'm pretty sure because we walked for so long and we bought some really neat rings there. It was interesting to see and nice to do something away from the sun for the day.
Thursday we just went back to La Cala beach and we kinda called this "our beach" now because we had been there a couple times and it was just cozy and we felt like we belong there now haha.
We went to Biddy Mulligan's for dinner. I broke a glass of course. I had my purse on the table and went to put it on the ground and knocked the glass off the table and they gave me a hard time. I burn my hair...break glasses...can't take me anywhere. We stayed there for a couple drinks and hung out with some really fun bartenders/waiters named...? oh wow I forgot their names lol. Lisa will remember. But anyways, I started telling my jokes and they were a pretty big hit. We had these drinks called a snakebite and apparently they aren't even allowed to be sold in some pubs because they are pretty strong. They are half strongbow or some kinda cider beer, half heineken and then some blackcurrant juice...they are very good but sweet and strong so you can only have about 2.
Friday we went to the pool at our place so that we could just use our place for lunch and the bathroom and just to be close for our last day and really relax. It was very nice having the pool there though because the ocean water was too cold but the pool was very refreshing. We went back to Biddy Mulligan's that night for a drink before we left and I went back with more jokes that I had written down from my Facebook. Both nights, a couple customers heard them and chuckled so even though people say they are dumb...they still laugh:-)
Saturday we had to leave:-( We left really early which was a hassle but it was such a treat not traveling by myself!! I was on their flight from Malaga to Madrid and was even able to sit with them!! I was so excited as you can tell:-) Then I got to Madrid and it was much harder than I thought it'd be...I ended up having to take a tram to my terminal and this took me awhile to figure out and resulted in my going up and down escalators and going in circles seeing the same things over and over but being the little world traveler that I am, I found it:-) So then I got back here on Saturday night and have a day to relax on Sunday before school started back up on Monday. I loved Malaga and it was gorgeous and gave us nice tans...even Christine got brown and we had a great time being together and got along very well and had a good week:-)
Now for Amsterdam...this one won't be as long because it was only a weekend. On Friday I had a morning lesson here for Rounders and then got a cab to Newport and made my way to the airport. I got into the airport and had to take a train to Central Station in Amsterdam where I met McKensie, Dani, and Lexi:-) It was soooo good to see them and did not feel like it'd been a year at all!! We went to the hostel and dropped my stuff off into the tiny 3 person room where 4 people would be sleeping (Dani let me share with her and we did the good old sleepover feet to head which actually worked well). We went to a coffee shop and got a drink and then we walked around Central Amsterdam for awhile and then found an Italian restaurant and ate there for dinner. Then they took me to the Red Light District. I cannot believe that these girls so that for a living...I was in shock they just sit there on their cell phones waiting for a customer. I dunno, it just would never be something I'd think is normal. There were tons of restaurants and bars and things around there though so it was the most crowded part of Amsterdam because after exploring West and East Amsterdam we realized that the central part was definately the party place of the city. So after walking around there we just went back to the hostel and went to sleep because Saturday was going to be a big day.
We woke up on Saturday and were gone all day and night...I'm pretty sure we walked for 13 hours straight. We saw anything and everything. We started with the Van Gogh Museum which was really neat and then we sat in Museum Square for awhile because it was such a pretty day. Me, McKensie and Lexi then spent 2 hours in the Heineken Brewery making videos to send to friends and family and this was sooo much fun. I loved that place and didn't want to leave lol. Then we met Dani outside and we walked around for a bit and then went to this Pancake place because Amsterdam is known for their pancakes or something and I know why now!! So thin and just mmm sooo good:-) Then we walked around for a couple more hours seeing things and went to the China District for dinner which was really good. Then we went to a coffee shop for a drink and hung out for a bit and then went home. We were exhausted from walking so much and the sun and just a long day in general.
On Sunday, their cab came at 5am to take them to the airport for their 7am flight. They went to Prague and are actually going home today. I had a nice little touristy day by myself. Check out was at 11am so I slept in, showered, packed my stuff up, checked out and went to the Anne Frank House/Museum. This was amazing and I am so glad I did it. They did it Friday before I got there so this was perfect on Sunday that I was on my own to do it. It was incredible being there and seeing videos of her father talking and her best friend and her real diary and just being in the house. Then I walked to a different side of town to the Pancake Corner for my last pancake there:-) It was sooo worth the walk lol:-) And then I made my way to the train station to get back to the airport for my flight home. I got back around 10pm or so and started school on Monday because it wasn't a holiday or anything, just a normal weekend but so neat I went to Amsterdam for the weekend:-)
I wish that I had spent more time with them but I am so glad I did it and it was so worth it. It was a great trip and another amazing experience:-)
I have to go because I have to go over to School House to help with the little ones but I will write another blog soon about my plans for September.
I miss everyone and I will be home for summer in less than 3 weeks!!!!:-)
Love,
DP
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
May Days:-)
Well, we have been having beautiful weather where it actually feels hot here but windy and then today looking out my window...rain. I think it's supposed to rain the next few days which is a downer but hopefully the weather men are wrong!
Saturday is Speech Day, which is apparently the biggest day of the school year here. They have a huuuuge tent set up (like for weddings) down on the lacrosse/rounders/athletics fields where it'll take place and the whole school comes. They give out all kinds of rewards and apparently it's really boring but a big deal and everyone has to dress up (no idea what to wear!)
One week from Speech Day, I'll be on my way to meet Christine and Lisa in Malaga, Spain where it is currently (hold on, let me check)...sunny and 70 degrees! It will feel warmer though because it is so far south. I remember in the Canary Islands it was like 65-70 some days and we were like oh man, we won't get any sun and we ended up getting tan and had to use the pool to cool off! So, I am going to start researching Spain-y/Malaga-y things to do around there so we can get the whole experience including camel riding:-) I'm very excited and then I come back and I will have to start thinking about how to get my life into 2 suitcases to come home!
I'm not sure what I'm doing for July yet before I come home because I wanted to do Greece but the girl who told me she's going is going with her sister and 2 friends and her sister booked it all and now the travel agent is away until the end of May and I'll be in Spain and blah blah blah sooo I'm not sure what my plan is yet for then..maybe I'll be coming home early!:-)
Let me try and recap from the last time I wrote..hmm..
Since lacrosse is over, I have been helping with the Summer term sports which are: Rounders, Tennis, and Athletics (very interesting). Athletics is like Track&Field and I've been to two events which are all day on Wednesdays which is nice to break up the week a bit. The first one we went to was District and the other teacher I went with and I got the job of announcing and recording in the box in the stands-very interesting. She kept wanting me to announce to see how people would react to my accent and I refused. When she'd leave to go to the toilet, they would walky-talky something to announce and I'd put my head down so they thought no one was in the box lol BUT I was a good recorder of all the times and names and everything!
The next one we went to was the next week and it was all the girls who qualified for County and we took about 13 girls and my job was just to sit with the girls that day and make sure they got to their events on time and such. Yesterday, at the last minute, we found out that one girl needed to go to Cmbrawn (soo Welsh) to do her javelin throw so I went with another teacher and she drove the 3 of us there, she threw her javelin and won, we drank tea, and came back lol so that was a quick trip! I am mainly doing Athletics and I am actually learning alot about the techniques and how to teach things like: shot put, long jump, hurdles, high jump, sprinting, etc. so it is a good experience. I have also been playing tennis and told Lisa we are playing this summer. I'm not that great but it is really fun and my arm hurts the next day which may or may not mean I'm doing something wrong lol.
Lastly, I have a couple Rounders lessons and that is just a game that I will never get into..it's even worse than softball. Maybe this summer we can have a family party and I can teach everyone how to play rounders up at Western Hills or something lol.
A couple weekends ago it was bank holiday weekend which I still don't understand what it is but I just know that banks were closed on Monday so schools were too. I went to Dublin with another girl and it was very fun. We got there Friday night, dropped our stuff and went out to this club 2 doors down from where we were staying and then Saturday we took the train to Bray to go see the coast and walked around there. Sunday we woke up and did the Dublin bus tour and we decided not to tour the cathedrals or anything since we had seen enough history in London but we did do the Guinness factory tour which was reallllly cool. I have lots of pictures and I didn't put them all on Facebook since it takes so long but it was really really neat..I will have to explain it more when I got home. I got a shirt from there which was my only Dublin souvenir which my mom couldn't believe but ya know..I'm not made of money-gotta prioritize! :-) Sunday afternoon/evening we went to this realllly good Mexican restaurant that the Dublin tour bus guide said was his favorite in all of Dublin because for some reason we were both craving Mexican and we both got REALLY GOOD enchilladas! So then we made our way to the airport that night and we got back into London and took the tube and buses back to where she lived and got to bed late. It was nice seeing where she was though because I like seeing other peoples' lives here and living situations and such. So we didn't get to bed until after 1am then I was up at 7am to make my way back to Monmouth and got back here around 1pm or so...so it was a long and busy weekend but very worth it!
I can't think of anything else right now but if I do, I will include it in my next blog. Oh! I sent my Mom an "I <3 MUM" mug for mother's day which I was very proud of since she calls herself "mum" to me now:-) And I received two very lovely cards from her and Sissy that they made at the beach:-)
Ok, that's all for now!
love you miss you!
DP
Saturday is Speech Day, which is apparently the biggest day of the school year here. They have a huuuuge tent set up (like for weddings) down on the lacrosse/rounders/athletics fields where it'll take place and the whole school comes. They give out all kinds of rewards and apparently it's really boring but a big deal and everyone has to dress up (no idea what to wear!)
One week from Speech Day, I'll be on my way to meet Christine and Lisa in Malaga, Spain where it is currently (hold on, let me check)...sunny and 70 degrees! It will feel warmer though because it is so far south. I remember in the Canary Islands it was like 65-70 some days and we were like oh man, we won't get any sun and we ended up getting tan and had to use the pool to cool off! So, I am going to start researching Spain-y/Malaga-y things to do around there so we can get the whole experience including camel riding:-) I'm very excited and then I come back and I will have to start thinking about how to get my life into 2 suitcases to come home!
I'm not sure what I'm doing for July yet before I come home because I wanted to do Greece but the girl who told me she's going is going with her sister and 2 friends and her sister booked it all and now the travel agent is away until the end of May and I'll be in Spain and blah blah blah sooo I'm not sure what my plan is yet for then..maybe I'll be coming home early!:-)
Let me try and recap from the last time I wrote..hmm..
Since lacrosse is over, I have been helping with the Summer term sports which are: Rounders, Tennis, and Athletics (very interesting). Athletics is like Track&Field and I've been to two events which are all day on Wednesdays which is nice to break up the week a bit. The first one we went to was District and the other teacher I went with and I got the job of announcing and recording in the box in the stands-very interesting. She kept wanting me to announce to see how people would react to my accent and I refused. When she'd leave to go to the toilet, they would walky-talky something to announce and I'd put my head down so they thought no one was in the box lol BUT I was a good recorder of all the times and names and everything!
The next one we went to was the next week and it was all the girls who qualified for County and we took about 13 girls and my job was just to sit with the girls that day and make sure they got to their events on time and such. Yesterday, at the last minute, we found out that one girl needed to go to Cmbrawn (soo Welsh) to do her javelin throw so I went with another teacher and she drove the 3 of us there, she threw her javelin and won, we drank tea, and came back lol so that was a quick trip! I am mainly doing Athletics and I am actually learning alot about the techniques and how to teach things like: shot put, long jump, hurdles, high jump, sprinting, etc. so it is a good experience. I have also been playing tennis and told Lisa we are playing this summer. I'm not that great but it is really fun and my arm hurts the next day which may or may not mean I'm doing something wrong lol.
Lastly, I have a couple Rounders lessons and that is just a game that I will never get into..it's even worse than softball. Maybe this summer we can have a family party and I can teach everyone how to play rounders up at Western Hills or something lol.
A couple weekends ago it was bank holiday weekend which I still don't understand what it is but I just know that banks were closed on Monday so schools were too. I went to Dublin with another girl and it was very fun. We got there Friday night, dropped our stuff and went out to this club 2 doors down from where we were staying and then Saturday we took the train to Bray to go see the coast and walked around there. Sunday we woke up and did the Dublin bus tour and we decided not to tour the cathedrals or anything since we had seen enough history in London but we did do the Guinness factory tour which was reallllly cool. I have lots of pictures and I didn't put them all on Facebook since it takes so long but it was really really neat..I will have to explain it more when I got home. I got a shirt from there which was my only Dublin souvenir which my mom couldn't believe but ya know..I'm not made of money-gotta prioritize! :-) Sunday afternoon/evening we went to this realllly good Mexican restaurant that the Dublin tour bus guide said was his favorite in all of Dublin because for some reason we were both craving Mexican and we both got REALLY GOOD enchilladas! So then we made our way to the airport that night and we got back into London and took the tube and buses back to where she lived and got to bed late. It was nice seeing where she was though because I like seeing other peoples' lives here and living situations and such. So we didn't get to bed until after 1am then I was up at 7am to make my way back to Monmouth and got back here around 1pm or so...so it was a long and busy weekend but very worth it!
I can't think of anything else right now but if I do, I will include it in my next blog. Oh! I sent my Mom an "I <3 MUM" mug for mother's day which I was very proud of since she calls herself "mum" to me now:-) And I received two very lovely cards from her and Sissy that they made at the beach:-)
Ok, that's all for now!
love you miss you!
DP
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Spring Has Sprung:-)
Hello everyone!:-)
I am back here in Wales after a terrific holiday away from here for a few weeks and a very nice break with family and friends.
It started with my parents here and staying in my little town of Monmouth for a few days while I finished up with school. Then we went to Bath and stayed right in the heart of Bath which was a treat because it was walking distance to everything possible. We stayed in Bath on Saturday and then Sunday we left for Cornwall but stopped at Stonehenge (sp?) for a bit and then made our way to Uncle Hank and Aunt Shirley! They were very nice and alot of fun to stay with--I think I learned more from Uncle Hank in those few days than I did in my years of school. I felt smarter leaving there:-)
They took us everywhere in Cornwall and it was beautiful and my mom has many pictures to show you everything we saw. Then we went to London for the remainder of the trip (Tues-Sat). My dad is a history buff so we saw EVERYTHING there was to see and did all the audio tours and I learned more from that trip also so between the tours and Uncle Hank, I am smarter than I was in March!
Then on April 4th, my parents and I made our way back to America! We went on separate flights which I wasn't thrilled about but we all made it back there and were able to spend another week together:-) At home, I was able to see everyone that I wasn't able to see during my time home in December and it was a very much needed trip. It was very fun and relaxing and it came at the perfect time.
I was able to go out with my friends and I saw different people everyday and every night, went to lunch with family, hung out with friends at night, enjoyed home-cooked meals and then the best of all on my last day I got to spend Easter with my fantastic family:-) It was a great break/vacation and now I am back and we have our faculty day tomorrow and then school starts back up on Monday. Apparently this summer term is the quickest because it's warmer and we are outside all the time so I'm looking forward to it.
And in about 5 weeks, I will be meeting Christine and Lisa in Malaga, Spain which is so crazy that it's only 5 weeks away!! I cannot wait for that and will tell you all about it:-)
I will update again but for now, I miss you and I love you all and I am so happy that I was able to see everyone while I was home:-) And if I didn't see you, I will be back in July for good!
Love,
DP
I am back here in Wales after a terrific holiday away from here for a few weeks and a very nice break with family and friends.
It started with my parents here and staying in my little town of Monmouth for a few days while I finished up with school. Then we went to Bath and stayed right in the heart of Bath which was a treat because it was walking distance to everything possible. We stayed in Bath on Saturday and then Sunday we left for Cornwall but stopped at Stonehenge (sp?) for a bit and then made our way to Uncle Hank and Aunt Shirley! They were very nice and alot of fun to stay with--I think I learned more from Uncle Hank in those few days than I did in my years of school. I felt smarter leaving there:-)
They took us everywhere in Cornwall and it was beautiful and my mom has many pictures to show you everything we saw. Then we went to London for the remainder of the trip (Tues-Sat). My dad is a history buff so we saw EVERYTHING there was to see and did all the audio tours and I learned more from that trip also so between the tours and Uncle Hank, I am smarter than I was in March!
Then on April 4th, my parents and I made our way back to America! We went on separate flights which I wasn't thrilled about but we all made it back there and were able to spend another week together:-) At home, I was able to see everyone that I wasn't able to see during my time home in December and it was a very much needed trip. It was very fun and relaxing and it came at the perfect time.
I was able to go out with my friends and I saw different people everyday and every night, went to lunch with family, hung out with friends at night, enjoyed home-cooked meals and then the best of all on my last day I got to spend Easter with my fantastic family:-) It was a great break/vacation and now I am back and we have our faculty day tomorrow and then school starts back up on Monday. Apparently this summer term is the quickest because it's warmer and we are outside all the time so I'm looking forward to it.
And in about 5 weeks, I will be meeting Christine and Lisa in Malaga, Spain which is so crazy that it's only 5 weeks away!! I cannot wait for that and will tell you all about it:-)
I will update again but for now, I miss you and I love you all and I am so happy that I was able to see everyone while I was home:-) And if I didn't see you, I will be back in July for good!
Love,
DP
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
New Beginnings
Hmmm, where to start?
Alot has happened since I last wrote! I cannot believe that it's almost April now! My parents have landed in London and are hopefully making their way here and should be here this afternoon--I cannot waaaait! I am getting so anxious and antsy to see them. They will stay in my little town of Monmouth until Saturday morning and then we are going to Bath for the day/night. We leave Sunday for Cornwall to see the fam and stay there for 2 nights I think. The rest of the time we are in London which I am very excited for because London never gets old and you never run out of things to do there:-)
My parents leave April 4th at 6am to go back to Baltimore and I leave around 4pm to go back and get into Baltimore around 930pm or so. I was going to go to Greece but the girl who I was going with decided that she was going to travel with her boyfriend instead because he is coming here to visit--lucky her.
I was going to go to Denver but that didn't work out and I have been wanting to go home so now I am! I'll be home April 4th-12th and I cannot waaaait!:-) I can't wait to see my friends and family and just be home for a week and drive! I miss Chipotle and Chick-fil-a and everything Americany so I am going to eat lots and enjoy my Mom's cooking and Easter and being with friends and family and use it as time to rejuvenate myself:-)
As many of you know, Charlie and I broke up..well actually it wasn't mutual so Charlie broke up with me. It was a week ago and I am dealing with it day by day. Distance proved to be too much for him to handle. I was willing to do anything and everything but I couldn't do it on my own and you can't do anything to fix it when one person gives up.
Anyways, I am getting there day by day because I am here and enjoying the experience and I will be just fine:-)
Last weekend I went to Cardiff with Ceri (the girl I coach lax with) and her friends for the Wales/Ireland rugby match. Apparently, it is the biggest day of the year to be in Cardiff. Streets were closed off from cars because it was flooded with people. It was such a fun experience and I'm glad that I went. It was really fun and something that I would have never known otherwise. Cardiff is very fun so hopefully I will go back at some point before coming back in July. With lacrosse being over now, I will have Saturdays free so Ceri said we could go down early one day and shop and then stay there overnight and go out because hotels are really cheap there so that'd be fun!
Lax is over...very strange because it started in September and now it's over. Our teams ended up doing well and I think that I helped...I'd like to think that at least:-) I am going to be helping with Athletics (which is like track/cross country) and Tennis in the summer term. They said the summer term flies by and is very relaxed and fun because the weather's nicer and we are outside all the time so that is nice to look forward to.
So we start back up April 20th with school and then Christine and Lisa get here May 23rd:-) I am doing just fine here and am enjoying it very much.
I'm not sure what else there is to tell you. I will write after I am back from Easter and once school starts back up again.
Miss you, Love you
xoxo
DP
Alot has happened since I last wrote! I cannot believe that it's almost April now! My parents have landed in London and are hopefully making their way here and should be here this afternoon--I cannot waaaait! I am getting so anxious and antsy to see them. They will stay in my little town of Monmouth until Saturday morning and then we are going to Bath for the day/night. We leave Sunday for Cornwall to see the fam and stay there for 2 nights I think. The rest of the time we are in London which I am very excited for because London never gets old and you never run out of things to do there:-)
My parents leave April 4th at 6am to go back to Baltimore and I leave around 4pm to go back and get into Baltimore around 930pm or so. I was going to go to Greece but the girl who I was going with decided that she was going to travel with her boyfriend instead because he is coming here to visit--lucky her.
I was going to go to Denver but that didn't work out and I have been wanting to go home so now I am! I'll be home April 4th-12th and I cannot waaaait!:-) I can't wait to see my friends and family and just be home for a week and drive! I miss Chipotle and Chick-fil-a and everything Americany so I am going to eat lots and enjoy my Mom's cooking and Easter and being with friends and family and use it as time to rejuvenate myself:-)
As many of you know, Charlie and I broke up..well actually it wasn't mutual so Charlie broke up with me. It was a week ago and I am dealing with it day by day. Distance proved to be too much for him to handle. I was willing to do anything and everything but I couldn't do it on my own and you can't do anything to fix it when one person gives up.
Anyways, I am getting there day by day because I am here and enjoying the experience and I will be just fine:-)
Last weekend I went to Cardiff with Ceri (the girl I coach lax with) and her friends for the Wales/Ireland rugby match. Apparently, it is the biggest day of the year to be in Cardiff. Streets were closed off from cars because it was flooded with people. It was such a fun experience and I'm glad that I went. It was really fun and something that I would have never known otherwise. Cardiff is very fun so hopefully I will go back at some point before coming back in July. With lacrosse being over now, I will have Saturdays free so Ceri said we could go down early one day and shop and then stay there overnight and go out because hotels are really cheap there so that'd be fun!
Lax is over...very strange because it started in September and now it's over. Our teams ended up doing well and I think that I helped...I'd like to think that at least:-) I am going to be helping with Athletics (which is like track/cross country) and Tennis in the summer term. They said the summer term flies by and is very relaxed and fun because the weather's nicer and we are outside all the time so that is nice to look forward to.
So we start back up April 20th with school and then Christine and Lisa get here May 23rd:-) I am doing just fine here and am enjoying it very much.
I'm not sure what else there is to tell you. I will write after I am back from Easter and once school starts back up again.
Miss you, Love you
xoxo
DP
Sunday, March 1, 2009
It's March!
Hey,
Lots to update you on and I will try to do it as briefly as possible because I know that I do tend to ramble.
Fuerteventura was amazing! I would definately go back to the Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) again in the future. Everything was just so beautiful and the people were friendly and there were alot of things that I would still like to do. We used it as a time to relax and just rejuvenate basically so we didn't travel around and see things. We stayed on local beaches or the pool at the resort and soaked in the rays. Everyone is still asking how I got so brown which I absolutely LOVE hearing:-) It was soo nice there and I definately needed the tan..makes me feel better!
We went to Maspalomas twice for their beach because it is the most famous and biggest tourist beach. It was so crowded-I can't imagine what it is like in the summer months. We walked in the dunes which was pretty cool and it was neat to walk through, although that was part of the nude beach. I hate nude beaches and I will never like them..I walked through with my head down and I started gagging at one point looking at the way these people all just lay there with their goods hanging out for everyone to see.
So anyways, that was that and one day when it was cloudy we decided to ride camels. That was interesting. We did it where there was a chair on either side of the camel so you just sat on the chair but they sit on their knees so they are ground level and I almost fell off when he got up. Ours was named Negro and then we had Sophia Diez and Lopa. Lopa's head was very close to my back the whole walk so that was scary but we walked all through the dunes and it was neat..not very cute creatures though. So that trip was great..very fun and loved soaking up the sun because I really missed it!
What else can I tell you about? Well I went to Ash Wednesday mass on Wednesday and my goal for Lent is to go to church every Sunday morning. I started this morning with the 930am service and it was very nice. I sat next to Judith and her daughter just started playing lacrosse at another school in town so we chatted about that and she is very excited about it. She was very nice and welcomed me into their parish..I feel so loved:-) So that is what I am aiming to do for Lent..
Thursday was Eisteddford Day which is Wales Day and it celebrates their culture and their country being the land of song and it was a very interesting day. The school is split into 4 houses with the year 7-13 in all the houses so there were competitions all day with the choirs, solo instrumentals, singing, poem readings, dances, different subject competitons, etc. So this went on all day and then at the end they announced the winners and everyone was excited and etc etc.
So that was my first and only Welsh Day but it was very interesting I must say.
The weather here has been very nice..it was actually hot today with blue skies. I learned over my holiday trip that the weather in England is not nearly as good as the weather here in Wales so I lucked out:-)
At the end of this week, we are taking the first and second senior teams to the National tournament so I will see alll the girls over here doing what I'm doing there because they will have their teams there. That will be really fun to see everyone so hopefully we can start planning our April trip. Then Monday and Tuesday we take the U15 team to their National tournament so busy busy! Monday, March 16th we have a meeting in London where they just catch up with all the girls to see how it's going and such and I am going to Bath on Sunday and staying with one of the girls there and then we are getting a ride to the meeting in London on Monday so that will be fun. Then a couple weeks after that my parents will be here which I am so excited about!
I was talking to one of the girls last night who I went to Italy with and we were discussing our tentative plans for the April break. We are thinking Berlin, Prague and then about 5 nights in Greece. No idea though because it depends on money and how many people want to go and a bunch of other things so we'll see. But that would be fun..I want to do Greece definately and I would really like to do Germany too. Alright well, this is getting long and the dinner bell's going to go off soon so I'm gonna get going.
I miss you all and I will see you in about 4 months:-)
xoxo,
DP
Lots to update you on and I will try to do it as briefly as possible because I know that I do tend to ramble.
Fuerteventura was amazing! I would definately go back to the Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) again in the future. Everything was just so beautiful and the people were friendly and there were alot of things that I would still like to do. We used it as a time to relax and just rejuvenate basically so we didn't travel around and see things. We stayed on local beaches or the pool at the resort and soaked in the rays. Everyone is still asking how I got so brown which I absolutely LOVE hearing:-) It was soo nice there and I definately needed the tan..makes me feel better!
We went to Maspalomas twice for their beach because it is the most famous and biggest tourist beach. It was so crowded-I can't imagine what it is like in the summer months. We walked in the dunes which was pretty cool and it was neat to walk through, although that was part of the nude beach. I hate nude beaches and I will never like them..I walked through with my head down and I started gagging at one point looking at the way these people all just lay there with their goods hanging out for everyone to see.
So anyways, that was that and one day when it was cloudy we decided to ride camels. That was interesting. We did it where there was a chair on either side of the camel so you just sat on the chair but they sit on their knees so they are ground level and I almost fell off when he got up. Ours was named Negro and then we had Sophia Diez and Lopa. Lopa's head was very close to my back the whole walk so that was scary but we walked all through the dunes and it was neat..not very cute creatures though. So that trip was great..very fun and loved soaking up the sun because I really missed it!
What else can I tell you about? Well I went to Ash Wednesday mass on Wednesday and my goal for Lent is to go to church every Sunday morning. I started this morning with the 930am service and it was very nice. I sat next to Judith and her daughter just started playing lacrosse at another school in town so we chatted about that and she is very excited about it. She was very nice and welcomed me into their parish..I feel so loved:-) So that is what I am aiming to do for Lent..
Thursday was Eisteddford Day which is Wales Day and it celebrates their culture and their country being the land of song and it was a very interesting day. The school is split into 4 houses with the year 7-13 in all the houses so there were competitions all day with the choirs, solo instrumentals, singing, poem readings, dances, different subject competitons, etc. So this went on all day and then at the end they announced the winners and everyone was excited and etc etc.
So that was my first and only Welsh Day but it was very interesting I must say.
The weather here has been very nice..it was actually hot today with blue skies. I learned over my holiday trip that the weather in England is not nearly as good as the weather here in Wales so I lucked out:-)
At the end of this week, we are taking the first and second senior teams to the National tournament so I will see alll the girls over here doing what I'm doing there because they will have their teams there. That will be really fun to see everyone so hopefully we can start planning our April trip. Then Monday and Tuesday we take the U15 team to their National tournament so busy busy! Monday, March 16th we have a meeting in London where they just catch up with all the girls to see how it's going and such and I am going to Bath on Sunday and staying with one of the girls there and then we are getting a ride to the meeting in London on Monday so that will be fun. Then a couple weeks after that my parents will be here which I am so excited about!
I was talking to one of the girls last night who I went to Italy with and we were discussing our tentative plans for the April break. We are thinking Berlin, Prague and then about 5 nights in Greece. No idea though because it depends on money and how many people want to go and a bunch of other things so we'll see. But that would be fun..I want to do Greece definately and I would really like to do Germany too. Alright well, this is getting long and the dinner bell's going to go off soon so I'm gonna get going.
I miss you all and I will see you in about 4 months:-)
xoxo,
DP
Saturday, February 7, 2009
February
Hello All!
Happy February! I just called Mom-Mom Marge and wished her a happy birthday-she said she would tell everyone at Sissy's tonight that her darling granddaughter called her on her birthday. I try:-)
I'm trying to think of what's happened since I last wrote. Well, I wrote a "25 Random Things About Me" on Facebook which was fun. I had a rough draft and went from there with it lol. I'm sure it's stuff that most of you already know but maybe you'll learn something new-never know:-)
A couple weekends ago, I decided that I needed to wash my kitchen and bathroom floors but didn't have any soap for it so I used Herbal Essences and my flat smelled like shampoo for awhile which was nice. I think I discovered a new invention or at least a new way of using shampoo. Went looking for deodorant last week and couldn't find it-turns out it is a spray. Surprising I know haha. I couldn't find it anywhere and then the lady took me to the section and I still couldn't find it then I saw that it was a spray. So I got Tropical Girl Power ha. So that was another interesting experience.
This week was really easy because there was snow off and on all week and lessons were cancelled and school was cancelled on Tuesday and then the rest of the week, it wasn't closed but hardly anyone was in because most people live in the Forest which is up in the hills so they couldn't get down here because it was way worse there than here. Everyone here loves snow and says they've never seen this much in their lives which is neat to experience with them. You could see people actually skiing down the hills over in the distance of the pictures I posted on Facebook. The girls were sledding as much as they could and making snowmen and snow toilets and other odd things. They call it "sledging" here which is strange but I've never heard of that. Anyways, Monmouth goes crazy when it snows. Apparently we are supposed to get more before the whole thing is over but I'm not sure if/when that will happen.
This time in one week I will be in the middle of my travels to the airport for Fuertaventura! My mom got me some guide books from Amazon.com and I have been looking at them for some ideas on what to do and such-very useful books! I've also been working on my resume so if any of you know anyone who's hiring, let me know and I'll send you my resume:-)
Well, I'm not really sure what else to tell you..I am sure I'll have tons of stories after my trip about traveling and then the week there at the island. Can't wait to put up pics and share my experiences with you all! If I think of anything else or if Lisa reminds me of something I forgot to include in this, I will write another one, ha.
Happy Valentine's Day:-)
Love,
Danielle xo
Happy February! I just called Mom-Mom Marge and wished her a happy birthday-she said she would tell everyone at Sissy's tonight that her darling granddaughter called her on her birthday. I try:-)
I'm trying to think of what's happened since I last wrote. Well, I wrote a "25 Random Things About Me" on Facebook which was fun. I had a rough draft and went from there with it lol. I'm sure it's stuff that most of you already know but maybe you'll learn something new-never know:-)
A couple weekends ago, I decided that I needed to wash my kitchen and bathroom floors but didn't have any soap for it so I used Herbal Essences and my flat smelled like shampoo for awhile which was nice. I think I discovered a new invention or at least a new way of using shampoo. Went looking for deodorant last week and couldn't find it-turns out it is a spray. Surprising I know haha. I couldn't find it anywhere and then the lady took me to the section and I still couldn't find it then I saw that it was a spray. So I got Tropical Girl Power ha. So that was another interesting experience.
This week was really easy because there was snow off and on all week and lessons were cancelled and school was cancelled on Tuesday and then the rest of the week, it wasn't closed but hardly anyone was in because most people live in the Forest which is up in the hills so they couldn't get down here because it was way worse there than here. Everyone here loves snow and says they've never seen this much in their lives which is neat to experience with them. You could see people actually skiing down the hills over in the distance of the pictures I posted on Facebook. The girls were sledding as much as they could and making snowmen and snow toilets and other odd things. They call it "sledging" here which is strange but I've never heard of that. Anyways, Monmouth goes crazy when it snows. Apparently we are supposed to get more before the whole thing is over but I'm not sure if/when that will happen.
This time in one week I will be in the middle of my travels to the airport for Fuertaventura! My mom got me some guide books from Amazon.com and I have been looking at them for some ideas on what to do and such-very useful books! I've also been working on my resume so if any of you know anyone who's hiring, let me know and I'll send you my resume:-)
Well, I'm not really sure what else to tell you..I am sure I'll have tons of stories after my trip about traveling and then the week there at the island. Can't wait to put up pics and share my experiences with you all! If I think of anything else or if Lisa reminds me of something I forgot to include in this, I will write another one, ha.
Happy Valentine's Day:-)
Love,
Danielle xo
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Oh my, It's January.
Can you believe it?! The last time I wrote was a month ago! I am so sorry to all of my faithful followers:-) So much has happened in one month it is pretty unbelievable. I'm back across the pond and homesick again-it's almost worse this time because I absolutely loved being home when I was there but once July comes I will be back in America for the rest of my life..except for some vacations hopefully. So I am trying to do my best to be optimistic and enjoy the last 6 months here...wow that sounds like so long!
Soo after I wrote the last time, we had the last week of school with a bunch of Christmas festivities which Ali was here for. We had a staff talent show type thing and the PE staff were jelly babies and we had these big stretchy bags and rolled and jumped around. I actually had it recorded on my camera and forgot to show everyone while I was home..very funny. So then Friday, the 12th we had the staff Christmas party which was fun-good food and dancing and music and lots of wine. Then Ali and I missed the bus Saturday morning from Monmouth to Newport so we took a cab and then she couldn't get on the same bus to Heathrow because she didn't have the same ticket as mine..it was just an open-return one and blah blah we had drama with that so eventually we both ended up at the Heathrow airport and took the tube to our hostel which was very interesting. Looking at the ceiling and seeing how small the room is, you just couldn't imagine how they fit all the furniture in there but it was fine. We thought we would outsmart the cleaning people by sneaking into the laundry closet and getting new sheets because we wanted to make sure they were clean and then we started taking them out and it was about 30 pillowcases...not smart. haha so then we felt like idiots because we grabbed a bag full of pillowcases from the linen closet. But it ended up being ok in the end. We did all of the touristy stuff there was to do and it was very fun. Now I am back and all by my lonesome and cannot wait to have visitors again-hurry up Mom and Dad!!
So then I got back on Tuesday and Charlie came to visit Friday-Monday:-) That was fun and it was really nice having him there and he met the family and all that good stuff. Then Monday, I went with him to Michigan to meet his family and that went very well also. I also met his high school friends..I love them all-the fam and the friends:-) Next time I'll see them will probably be the summer though but I am learning to take things day by day and not worry about the summer yet!
Then I was home for Christmas and everyone had the bug and that was fun..glad we were all in it together:-) Then that Sunday I got to go to the Ravens gameee!!! That was sooo exciting! Man I looove them!!! They are just so cool:-)
My laptop had to have the motherboard replaced which controls the whole system and all the hardware and I haven't gotten that back yet so I have watched the last 2 Ravens games in the computer lab with my jersey on and sweaty palms because I get so nervous! And I can't even celebrate with anyone..just me jumping around haha. So yeah, waiting on that and hopefully it will get here tomorrow so I can get the internet and everything sorted out with the IT guys but Lisa will probably make me watch the game in the computer lab anyway-superstitious family, I tell ya!
My last few days home I went to Denver to see Kaitlyn and Charlie and his friends/roommates and that was really fun. So weird being out there and not going back to school but just to visit. It was really good to be out there and see everyone though and I was so sad to leave obviously.
Hmm let's see what's happened since I've been here...
Well I got a bug bite that scared me because I constantly scratched it for 2 days and so it got swollen and really red and my mom scared me saying I should get it looked at. I shower with the water so hot that it leaves almost a rash looking type thing on wherever it hits so when I got out of the shower, I thought I had a rash from the bug bite and hyperventilated a little bit...I kept careful watch and the rash faded and then I remembered it was because of the water temperature. I left home sick and came here more sick (sicker?) and went to the doctor and got some antibiotics..feeling better but still tired. Getting there though. The doctor also reassured me that bugs here do not cause illnesses so that was a relief!
Went to Merlins yesterday for dish soap and everything on the back was in Welsh so I had to ask someone if what I picked out was for dishes..the first thing was for toilets. Then I found the dish soap:-) My favorite place Woolworths closed..it's like a Walgreens or Rite Aid or things like that. Rumor has it they are replacing it with Icelands which is all frozen food and if you've visited me you would know that I can fit 2 ice trays in my freezer and thats it sooo Icelands will do me no good:-(
I think that's about it right now..I am planning my February half-term break and I am going to visit one of the girls who I did Italy with in Bath and then we are going to leave Tuesday for Munich then stay there for however long and then end in Berlin and come back to London on Saturday...and we start school back up on Monday. So it's really only a week break but I had to do something or I'd go crazy here for that long by myself. Not sure what we'll do for the long April break but some girls were talking about getting a place off Portugal or Greece so we shall see. I am also in the midst of planning a curise with Christine and Lisa for the end of May:-) We're thinking the Greek Islands:-) Sooo I am very happy and trying to just keep myself busy planning things and finding things to do..spending money-ugh. I will update you as soon as something exciting happens in my Welsh life:-)
xo,
DP
Soo after I wrote the last time, we had the last week of school with a bunch of Christmas festivities which Ali was here for. We had a staff talent show type thing and the PE staff were jelly babies and we had these big stretchy bags and rolled and jumped around. I actually had it recorded on my camera and forgot to show everyone while I was home..very funny. So then Friday, the 12th we had the staff Christmas party which was fun-good food and dancing and music and lots of wine. Then Ali and I missed the bus Saturday morning from Monmouth to Newport so we took a cab and then she couldn't get on the same bus to Heathrow because she didn't have the same ticket as mine..it was just an open-return one and blah blah we had drama with that so eventually we both ended up at the Heathrow airport and took the tube to our hostel which was very interesting. Looking at the ceiling and seeing how small the room is, you just couldn't imagine how they fit all the furniture in there but it was fine. We thought we would outsmart the cleaning people by sneaking into the laundry closet and getting new sheets because we wanted to make sure they were clean and then we started taking them out and it was about 30 pillowcases...not smart. haha so then we felt like idiots because we grabbed a bag full of pillowcases from the linen closet. But it ended up being ok in the end. We did all of the touristy stuff there was to do and it was very fun. Now I am back and all by my lonesome and cannot wait to have visitors again-hurry up Mom and Dad!!
So then I got back on Tuesday and Charlie came to visit Friday-Monday:-) That was fun and it was really nice having him there and he met the family and all that good stuff. Then Monday, I went with him to Michigan to meet his family and that went very well also. I also met his high school friends..I love them all-the fam and the friends:-) Next time I'll see them will probably be the summer though but I am learning to take things day by day and not worry about the summer yet!
Then I was home for Christmas and everyone had the bug and that was fun..glad we were all in it together:-) Then that Sunday I got to go to the Ravens gameee!!! That was sooo exciting! Man I looove them!!! They are just so cool:-)
My laptop had to have the motherboard replaced which controls the whole system and all the hardware and I haven't gotten that back yet so I have watched the last 2 Ravens games in the computer lab with my jersey on and sweaty palms because I get so nervous! And I can't even celebrate with anyone..just me jumping around haha. So yeah, waiting on that and hopefully it will get here tomorrow so I can get the internet and everything sorted out with the IT guys but Lisa will probably make me watch the game in the computer lab anyway-superstitious family, I tell ya!
My last few days home I went to Denver to see Kaitlyn and Charlie and his friends/roommates and that was really fun. So weird being out there and not going back to school but just to visit. It was really good to be out there and see everyone though and I was so sad to leave obviously.
Hmm let's see what's happened since I've been here...
Well I got a bug bite that scared me because I constantly scratched it for 2 days and so it got swollen and really red and my mom scared me saying I should get it looked at. I shower with the water so hot that it leaves almost a rash looking type thing on wherever it hits so when I got out of the shower, I thought I had a rash from the bug bite and hyperventilated a little bit...I kept careful watch and the rash faded and then I remembered it was because of the water temperature. I left home sick and came here more sick (sicker?) and went to the doctor and got some antibiotics..feeling better but still tired. Getting there though. The doctor also reassured me that bugs here do not cause illnesses so that was a relief!
Went to Merlins yesterday for dish soap and everything on the back was in Welsh so I had to ask someone if what I picked out was for dishes..the first thing was for toilets. Then I found the dish soap:-) My favorite place Woolworths closed..it's like a Walgreens or Rite Aid or things like that. Rumor has it they are replacing it with Icelands which is all frozen food and if you've visited me you would know that I can fit 2 ice trays in my freezer and thats it sooo Icelands will do me no good:-(
I think that's about it right now..I am planning my February half-term break and I am going to visit one of the girls who I did Italy with in Bath and then we are going to leave Tuesday for Munich then stay there for however long and then end in Berlin and come back to London on Saturday...and we start school back up on Monday. So it's really only a week break but I had to do something or I'd go crazy here for that long by myself. Not sure what we'll do for the long April break but some girls were talking about getting a place off Portugal or Greece so we shall see. I am also in the midst of planning a curise with Christine and Lisa for the end of May:-) We're thinking the Greek Islands:-) Sooo I am very happy and trying to just keep myself busy planning things and finding things to do..spending money-ugh. I will update you as soon as something exciting happens in my Welsh life:-)
xo,
DP
Thursday, December 4, 2008
December!
I can't believe it's December and that my birthday was 2 weeks ago and that Thanksgiving was this time last week! Time is definitely flying! My birthday was fun and then Thanksgiving was really fun and it was nice that I wasn't by myself. The usual group of girls that I hang out with (Amy, Steph, Andrea, Tegan, and Katherine) all decided that I needed to have a proper Thanksgiving dinner where we could all hang out together that night and cook together and have a little bonding time. When my mom came out here so brought some extra bags of stovetop thinking ahead to Thanksgiving and then some french fried onions which everyone loved and was picking off the top of the green bean casserole. I made the green bean casserole for the very first time and I must say- It was delicious! I think I did an excellent job and was very proud of myself! Although when Mom-Mom and my mom were here and my mom made it, some of the top ones were a little dark and Mom-Mom said "boy, you really cooked those onions" and mine turned out that way too so it must have been the oven:-) But they had never had it before and really liked it. Tegan said she didn't like green beans but would try it to be nice and ended up loving it so I think I did a pretty good job:-) I also made stovetop which wasn't the most difficult of tasks but even I would find a way to mess that up- and I didnt. We went to a nearby town called Ross and got an already roasted chicken, well we got 2. So we had them, green bean casserole, stovetop, butternut squash (not a fan), mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, and ice cream. I was very full so it felt very much like Thanksgiving! I said the prayer before we began our meal and everyone loved it and clapped and I reminded them that you usually don't clap for the person after they do the prayer haha. Very good meal though:-)
Ali is coming to visit on Monday!!! I am sooo excited and she is making fun of me because of everything I have planned for us to do and how busy I am keeping her but I want her to get the most out of this trip and even my little town has a lot to offer:-) So we are going to a couple castles and up to the Kymin which Lisa loved:-) It was a 45 minute walk straight up haha..very tiring but it has the best view around of Monmouth so it is definitely worth it..with some water! Then I'm going to take her out on Friday to Spoons, the pub we go to every Friday so she can see it. Won't stay out late since we leave for London the next day and I already have alot planned for that Saturday! We go home Tuesday out of London Heathrow..so crazy how soon I go home!!! I am very excited to be home and to see everyone and to just hang out in the house. DU has a 7 week break this year so everyone is home for what seems like forever so I am very jealous.
I had a meeting today with head of boarding, ceri the girl I work with, and the head of the pe department. It was very interesting and helpful just talking about next term and getting more girls involved in lax and really talking up sports in general around the boarding house. Also, since lacrosse ends in April, they said I need to start thinking now about what I want to do after school during the week. My options are: Athletics which is basically track, Badminton, Rounders, and Tennis. They said maybe I could broaden my range of knowledge of sports and help with some different ones on different days so I may do that. I am finished here in July and then want to travel before coming home for good. I'm so sad that I am missing the OC vacation this year but it will always be there and I won't always have the chance to travel Europe. I was worried in my meeting that they would bring up next year and that I'd have to say that I wasn't coming back but they didn't! Some girls actually are going home after they are finished lacrosse at their school. Most girls are leaving in April/May but I told them that I planned on staying through to July 3rd and they are already short on staff for sports so I wouldn't just abandon them.
This past weekend we went to a triangle where we take all the teams and they play 2 different teams and it was the same place where a bird pooped on my twice so I was a little anxious the whole time being there and paranoid about what was around me. But, I came home poop free so it was all clear!
Let me know if anyone would like anything from London while I am there before I come home, already getting scarves for Kelly which have been requested ha. Let me know if you can think of anything else you may fancy:-) Alright, well I will write again if I think of anything else and let me know if you have any suggestions for what sport I should take over in the Spring!
Love,
DP
Ali is coming to visit on Monday!!! I am sooo excited and she is making fun of me because of everything I have planned for us to do and how busy I am keeping her but I want her to get the most out of this trip and even my little town has a lot to offer:-) So we are going to a couple castles and up to the Kymin which Lisa loved:-) It was a 45 minute walk straight up haha..very tiring but it has the best view around of Monmouth so it is definitely worth it..with some water! Then I'm going to take her out on Friday to Spoons, the pub we go to every Friday so she can see it. Won't stay out late since we leave for London the next day and I already have alot planned for that Saturday! We go home Tuesday out of London Heathrow..so crazy how soon I go home!!! I am very excited to be home and to see everyone and to just hang out in the house. DU has a 7 week break this year so everyone is home for what seems like forever so I am very jealous.
I had a meeting today with head of boarding, ceri the girl I work with, and the head of the pe department. It was very interesting and helpful just talking about next term and getting more girls involved in lax and really talking up sports in general around the boarding house. Also, since lacrosse ends in April, they said I need to start thinking now about what I want to do after school during the week. My options are: Athletics which is basically track, Badminton, Rounders, and Tennis. They said maybe I could broaden my range of knowledge of sports and help with some different ones on different days so I may do that. I am finished here in July and then want to travel before coming home for good. I'm so sad that I am missing the OC vacation this year but it will always be there and I won't always have the chance to travel Europe. I was worried in my meeting that they would bring up next year and that I'd have to say that I wasn't coming back but they didn't! Some girls actually are going home after they are finished lacrosse at their school. Most girls are leaving in April/May but I told them that I planned on staying through to July 3rd and they are already short on staff for sports so I wouldn't just abandon them.
This past weekend we went to a triangle where we take all the teams and they play 2 different teams and it was the same place where a bird pooped on my twice so I was a little anxious the whole time being there and paranoid about what was around me. But, I came home poop free so it was all clear!
Let me know if anyone would like anything from London while I am there before I come home, already getting scarves for Kelly which have been requested ha. Let me know if you can think of anything else you may fancy:-) Alright, well I will write again if I think of anything else and let me know if you have any suggestions for what sport I should take over in the Spring!
Love,
DP
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Just a Brief Update on Life
I'm not really sure why I say brief because everyone knows that once I get started, they end up way longer than I originally planned. So my birthday was Friday and that was exciting! The PE Department had a little bday party for me with a cake and some cards and I have a new Wales keychain for my keys now. I went out for my birthday and then yesterday we had lax games but it was in Reading which is near London and the bus got lost so it ended up taking us about 3 hrs to get there and then didn't even get back here until about 7:15pm soo it was a very long day for only about an hour and a half of games. On the way back I was on the bus with the U14, 13, and 12 and they drove me crazy. I might even go as far as saying they make me second guess having kids. I have never been asked so many questions in my life! Miss Provance what time will we be in Newport? What time will we be back at school? Where are we? Can I use the bathroom? Every 10 minutes. And then my favorite..Miss Provance, are we on the Severn Bridge now? I looked at her and said "Well, you may be able to see if you look out the window and see the same view that I have up here." And she sat down haha. I couldn't believe how many questions they could ask and how looooud they could be. Then they were harassing the bus driver about going faster and getting back quicker and where we were and asking what speed he was going and when we'd be back and blah blah blah.
People here told me they do not celebrate birthdays like we do because on November 1st, I was like it's my birthday month!!! And then last Monday..It's my birthday week!!! They were like yeah I think birthdays are bigger in America and I was like well I looove my birthday so I am not how a typical American would react to it being their birthday ha. Thank you everyone for all of the great birthday wishes and cards and gifts:-)
Ali gets here in 15 days! That is so crazy that she will be here in 2 weeks and we are in school that whole week so she will have to guest blog about my life here and let you know what it's like. Funny she will get to meet all the kids. They will be in awe of another American. I still have kids looking at me when I talk and then go "oh my god I looove your accent!" It makes me laugh but I'm flattered of course haha. So she will be here December 8th and then school ends December 12th, we go to London December 13th-16th and then fly out of Heathrow to Baltimore!!! I cannot wait to be home for Christmas and am very sad about missing Thanksgiving but I guess it's all a part of growing up which is what people are telling me and expecting that to make it better- it's not. Well the dinner bell just went off so I better get going. I told Lisa that one day and she said "there's an actual bell?" haha it sounds like a bell for changing classes but it goes off when it's time for a meal which is good because sometimes I lose track of time. I will think of if there is anything else to update you on and maybe add another one tonight. I started reading Twilight today and already love it. Love you all and miss you! See you soon!!
Danielle
x
People here told me they do not celebrate birthdays like we do because on November 1st, I was like it's my birthday month!!! And then last Monday..It's my birthday week!!! They were like yeah I think birthdays are bigger in America and I was like well I looove my birthday so I am not how a typical American would react to it being their birthday ha. Thank you everyone for all of the great birthday wishes and cards and gifts:-)
Ali gets here in 15 days! That is so crazy that she will be here in 2 weeks and we are in school that whole week so she will have to guest blog about my life here and let you know what it's like. Funny she will get to meet all the kids. They will be in awe of another American. I still have kids looking at me when I talk and then go "oh my god I looove your accent!" It makes me laugh but I'm flattered of course haha. So she will be here December 8th and then school ends December 12th, we go to London December 13th-16th and then fly out of Heathrow to Baltimore!!! I cannot wait to be home for Christmas and am very sad about missing Thanksgiving but I guess it's all a part of growing up which is what people are telling me and expecting that to make it better- it's not. Well the dinner bell just went off so I better get going. I told Lisa that one day and she said "there's an actual bell?" haha it sounds like a bell for changing classes but it goes off when it's time for a meal which is good because sometimes I lose track of time. I will think of if there is anything else to update you on and maybe add another one tonight. I started reading Twilight today and already love it. Love you all and miss you! See you soon!!
Danielle
x
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
LINK TO MY PICTURES!
Hey, here is the link to my snapfish with some pics. I also have some others on Facebook of Italy but here is my link. Miss you all! x
http://www3.snapfish.co.uk/photolibrary/owned_view=owned_2008/t_=149683675
http://www3.snapfish.co.uk/photolibrary/owned_view=owned_2008/t_=149683675
Monday, November 3, 2008
Arrivederci:-)
So here I am back from my long vaca away from Monmouth and the duties of a PE teacher and lax coach. I am completely exhausted and sore from all the walking I did in London and then around Italy. Also, I had a lifeguarding course today with all the PE teachers and my arms hurt to touch they are so sore. Tomorrow I am going to wake up not able to move-I am getting old! I got back from Italy yesterday afternoon after taking a 6am flight out of Rome and going to the airport with another girl on my flight the night before. I never want to spend the night in the airport again! Also, I learned that it is not fun having a small bladder because places in Europe make you pay to use the bathroom-how bizarre is that?! I should have added how much I spent on that. It was a running joke that I was the 5 yr old in the group because whenever we were going somewhere, they would make me "try" to go to the bathroom even if I said that I didn't need to haha. And then whenever we would see one, they'd say ok Danielle, go in and try at least. Sure enough, I always went!
This is going to be a long one so get comfortable, grab whatever water, do whatever you need to do:-)
So we met in the Gatwick Airport in London and flew into Pisa. Couldn't find the hotel when we got there so walked around in the rain for awhile then decided to get a cab. The lady was standing outside waving her arms. Good old Cecilia-bless her. So we figured she was waving us down so we stopped at the house haha. Sure enough, she was looking for us. We had our own house there because no one else was staying in the hostel so that was awesome. We walked around town that night and then just went to bed. We woke up and Cecilia had breakfast for us and some Espresso-yum! We went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa which was pretty amazing to see in person. It almost seemed fake that we were standing right in front of it. So we did all the touristy pictures and actually ran into a couple other girls who were leaving Pisa but were there through out program so it was fun seeing them for a couple hours! Walked around some more and took the train to Venice. The train ride was the most fun I've ever had in transportation haha. We bought loaves of fresh bread, oil, olives, cheese, peppers, chips, and had an amazing feast. Oh and we also bought some bottles of wine. Needless to say we had a fantastic time! We got to the hostel that night and just relaxed and went to bed. Woke up and did St. Mark's Basillica which was beautiful. We paid to walk around and go to the top and take pics and everything of St. Mark's Square. I am officially a peristerophobian. I am completely terrified of pigeons. They will walk across your feet if they need to get somewhere! They would all make fun of me because I would scream and run from them because sometimes I swear they were flying full speed right at me. They are not afraid of humans at all. There was a lady in the middle of St. Mark's Square feeding them with her kids and the pigeons were multiplying around them and I almost had a panic attack. I couldn't breathe because it was so scary. They would fly right in front of your face or above your head and hit your hair. It was soo scary! So I was the girl with the 5 yr old bladder and afraid of pigeons. Then we paid for this ferry and it was like the bus tour in London where you pay for a pass and it takes you to all different stops along the "Canal Grande" and you can get on and off whenever you want. So we did that for awhile and got off at certain places to take pictures. Some old man gave Marcy a statue of Santa Lucia so we carried her with us and she even made it in some pictures. We walked along the Rialto bridge which is historically known for Italy's most vibrant markets (again, from my book). We took the boat to an island called Murano where they make glass. This is something that was soo amazing! We got to watch them make glass and it was so mesmorizing! So cool how they did it and they have the prettiest jewelry from it. We all bought a few rings from there because we couldn't resist-my favorite one broke and I still don't like to talk about it because it makes me sad. So we did that until later at night, had dinner, relaxed and went to bed. The next day we walked alll around Venice and went to the best pizza place in Venice called Arca and had pizza and wine which was fun. I drank more wine on this trip than ever in my life oh and also, the gelato! Sooo good!! I felt ok eating alot though because we walked so many miles a day! So anyyywaayyys...walked around and such that day then took the train to Florence.
Went to bed when we got there that night because we were exhausted. The next day we had tickets to the Uffizi museum which Shantel and I still call the "you-fuzzy" because we could never get how to say it. This was an art gallery with priceless paintings and sculptures from the world's most important collection of Renaissance art. I am copying sentences from my Western Europe book haha:-) The museum's most famous paintings are the Primavera and The Birth of Venus which actually meant nothing to me until I saw them and was like ohhhh yeahhh I know those! ha. Lots of other cool things there and some very famous paintings but I won't bore you with that because I didn't care until I saw them in person to be honest. We walked around Florence some more, hit some markets (well didn't actually hit them), and then went to teh Duomo which was alot cooler than I thought. It's in alot of my pictures. It looks like a 3-D puzzle. There is room inside for 20, 000 people so it's huuuge! It has stained-glass windows that date back to the mid-15th century and are some of Italy's best. We climbed the 463 stairs to the top of the Duomo and I can't even explain the views. I have pictures of it but it is so different seeing it in person. We all got up there and were just speechless. So incredible! Last tidbit: the interior of the dome glitters with Florence's only mosiac cycle, the earliest dating back to 1225. After that we did dinner and wine. We decided to buy a bottle of champagne each at the dollar store so this may have been the most eventful night of the trip. We went to various places, meeting many people, and it was very very fun but it made for a rough morning. We woke up to get to the Accademia which has the original scultpure of David from the story of David and Goliath and yes mom this is "the naked guy." I thought you would know who it was but I guess whatever helps you remember:-) This was really the only thing we looked at in that museum. There were some other neat things but that was the amazing one. We snuck pictures of it and it was neat to hear the history of it. We walked around some more, went to some markets, and then left for our train to Rome!
We woke up on Thursday and paid 20 euros for a guided tour of the Colosseum and the Foro Romano which was the ruins of Ancient Rome. These were both unbelievable and so amazing to be standing in and walking around. The money was definately worth it because otherwise we would have just wandered around not knowing anything about what any of it was. We learned so much about the times back then and their culture and way of life. We also learned what certain things were that we could have just overlooked probably. Later that night, we went out and had another great time just like in Florence. Met lots of new people from everywhere but it made for a rough morning since we woke up at 730am-yuck! We woke up early to do St. Peter's Cathedral, Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican. It was pretty amazing to see these places in person. I felt so holy:-) We wanted to go to Mass in St. Peter's but we would have had to wait like 4 hours and that would have just been too long to sit around in a chapel..even if it was a famous one! St. Peter's is the largest Roman Catholic building in the world, accomodating 60,000 people and has 778 columns, 44 altars, 135 mosaics, and 395 statues. It was absolutely breathtaking and I didn't even know what to take pictures of because everything was just so beautiful everywhere you would turn! We did the audio tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and I think I could have stayed there for days just listening to everything that each individual sculpture and painting stood for. It just held so much history and it was so amazing to listen to. The Sistine Chapel is something that everyone needs to see in their life. The audio guide told us sooo much stuff about it but I don't wanna bore you:-) So later that afternoon around 2ish me and Marcy got separated and had no map. We decided to wander into shops and bars and restaurants. Had a glass of wine everywhere we went, had a nice dinner and shared a bottle of wine, and walked around some more before finally buying a map and making it back to the hostel at around 10:30pm. It was a very eventful afternoon/night but so fun. Saturday, last day, we woke up and did the Trevi Fountain. This was built in 1762 and has been there since. Oh my god. I just read in my book that you needed to toss TWO coins into the fountain to ensure that you returned. greatttt I'm not going back! That is a downer! ha. Well nothing I can do now I guess...continuing on..
Had dinner at the hostel and then left at like 9pm for the train station to take one to the airport in Rome. Like I said before, never sleeping in an airport again. It was miserable and made for a long day! Still exhausted but I wanted to post this blog for my faithful followers:-) I miss everyone and I will see you in December!!!! If I think of anything else, I will post it on here:-)
DLP
This is going to be a long one so get comfortable, grab whatever water, do whatever you need to do:-)
So we met in the Gatwick Airport in London and flew into Pisa. Couldn't find the hotel when we got there so walked around in the rain for awhile then decided to get a cab. The lady was standing outside waving her arms. Good old Cecilia-bless her. So we figured she was waving us down so we stopped at the house haha. Sure enough, she was looking for us. We had our own house there because no one else was staying in the hostel so that was awesome. We walked around town that night and then just went to bed. We woke up and Cecilia had breakfast for us and some Espresso-yum! We went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa which was pretty amazing to see in person. It almost seemed fake that we were standing right in front of it. So we did all the touristy pictures and actually ran into a couple other girls who were leaving Pisa but were there through out program so it was fun seeing them for a couple hours! Walked around some more and took the train to Venice. The train ride was the most fun I've ever had in transportation haha. We bought loaves of fresh bread, oil, olives, cheese, peppers, chips, and had an amazing feast. Oh and we also bought some bottles of wine. Needless to say we had a fantastic time! We got to the hostel that night and just relaxed and went to bed. Woke up and did St. Mark's Basillica which was beautiful. We paid to walk around and go to the top and take pics and everything of St. Mark's Square. I am officially a peristerophobian. I am completely terrified of pigeons. They will walk across your feet if they need to get somewhere! They would all make fun of me because I would scream and run from them because sometimes I swear they were flying full speed right at me. They are not afraid of humans at all. There was a lady in the middle of St. Mark's Square feeding them with her kids and the pigeons were multiplying around them and I almost had a panic attack. I couldn't breathe because it was so scary. They would fly right in front of your face or above your head and hit your hair. It was soo scary! So I was the girl with the 5 yr old bladder and afraid of pigeons. Then we paid for this ferry and it was like the bus tour in London where you pay for a pass and it takes you to all different stops along the "Canal Grande" and you can get on and off whenever you want. So we did that for awhile and got off at certain places to take pictures. Some old man gave Marcy a statue of Santa Lucia so we carried her with us and she even made it in some pictures. We walked along the Rialto bridge which is historically known for Italy's most vibrant markets (again, from my book). We took the boat to an island called Murano where they make glass. This is something that was soo amazing! We got to watch them make glass and it was so mesmorizing! So cool how they did it and they have the prettiest jewelry from it. We all bought a few rings from there because we couldn't resist-my favorite one broke and I still don't like to talk about it because it makes me sad. So we did that until later at night, had dinner, relaxed and went to bed. The next day we walked alll around Venice and went to the best pizza place in Venice called Arca and had pizza and wine which was fun. I drank more wine on this trip than ever in my life oh and also, the gelato! Sooo good!! I felt ok eating alot though because we walked so many miles a day! So anyyywaayyys...walked around and such that day then took the train to Florence.
Went to bed when we got there that night because we were exhausted. The next day we had tickets to the Uffizi museum which Shantel and I still call the "you-fuzzy" because we could never get how to say it. This was an art gallery with priceless paintings and sculptures from the world's most important collection of Renaissance art. I am copying sentences from my Western Europe book haha:-) The museum's most famous paintings are the Primavera and The Birth of Venus which actually meant nothing to me until I saw them and was like ohhhh yeahhh I know those! ha. Lots of other cool things there and some very famous paintings but I won't bore you with that because I didn't care until I saw them in person to be honest. We walked around Florence some more, hit some markets (well didn't actually hit them), and then went to teh Duomo which was alot cooler than I thought. It's in alot of my pictures. It looks like a 3-D puzzle. There is room inside for 20, 000 people so it's huuuge! It has stained-glass windows that date back to the mid-15th century and are some of Italy's best. We climbed the 463 stairs to the top of the Duomo and I can't even explain the views. I have pictures of it but it is so different seeing it in person. We all got up there and were just speechless. So incredible! Last tidbit: the interior of the dome glitters with Florence's only mosiac cycle, the earliest dating back to 1225. After that we did dinner and wine. We decided to buy a bottle of champagne each at the dollar store so this may have been the most eventful night of the trip. We went to various places, meeting many people, and it was very very fun but it made for a rough morning. We woke up to get to the Accademia which has the original scultpure of David from the story of David and Goliath and yes mom this is "the naked guy." I thought you would know who it was but I guess whatever helps you remember:-) This was really the only thing we looked at in that museum. There were some other neat things but that was the amazing one. We snuck pictures of it and it was neat to hear the history of it. We walked around some more, went to some markets, and then left for our train to Rome!
We woke up on Thursday and paid 20 euros for a guided tour of the Colosseum and the Foro Romano which was the ruins of Ancient Rome. These were both unbelievable and so amazing to be standing in and walking around. The money was definately worth it because otherwise we would have just wandered around not knowing anything about what any of it was. We learned so much about the times back then and their culture and way of life. We also learned what certain things were that we could have just overlooked probably. Later that night, we went out and had another great time just like in Florence. Met lots of new people from everywhere but it made for a rough morning since we woke up at 730am-yuck! We woke up early to do St. Peter's Cathedral, Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican. It was pretty amazing to see these places in person. I felt so holy:-) We wanted to go to Mass in St. Peter's but we would have had to wait like 4 hours and that would have just been too long to sit around in a chapel..even if it was a famous one! St. Peter's is the largest Roman Catholic building in the world, accomodating 60,000 people and has 778 columns, 44 altars, 135 mosaics, and 395 statues. It was absolutely breathtaking and I didn't even know what to take pictures of because everything was just so beautiful everywhere you would turn! We did the audio tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and I think I could have stayed there for days just listening to everything that each individual sculpture and painting stood for. It just held so much history and it was so amazing to listen to. The Sistine Chapel is something that everyone needs to see in their life. The audio guide told us sooo much stuff about it but I don't wanna bore you:-) So later that afternoon around 2ish me and Marcy got separated and had no map. We decided to wander into shops and bars and restaurants. Had a glass of wine everywhere we went, had a nice dinner and shared a bottle of wine, and walked around some more before finally buying a map and making it back to the hostel at around 10:30pm. It was a very eventful afternoon/night but so fun. Saturday, last day, we woke up and did the Trevi Fountain. This was built in 1762 and has been there since. Oh my god. I just read in my book that you needed to toss TWO coins into the fountain to ensure that you returned. greatttt I'm not going back! That is a downer! ha. Well nothing I can do now I guess...continuing on..
Had dinner at the hostel and then left at like 9pm for the train station to take one to the airport in Rome. Like I said before, never sleeping in an airport again. It was miserable and made for a long day! Still exhausted but I wanted to post this blog for my faithful followers:-) I miss everyone and I will see you in December!!!! If I think of anything else, I will post it on here:-)
DLP
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
ps
Forgot to add that we stayed in a very cute place on a very cute street in an adorable area known as Earl's Court. It was very convenient for the tube and my mom worked very hard to find the place called London Town Hotel which we called home. Special thanks for my mom and MMJ who planned and financed many of the things we did because without you, Lisa and I would have just traveled the tube. Shout out to you ladies:-)
Cheers
Cheers
Grab a snack, drink, and use the bathroom before this one.
On Sunday, we bought tickets for the Original Bus Tour which takes people all around London, making various stops allowing us to get off whenever and jump back on a bus after seeing a landmark. This was very convenient because we still had many things we wanted to see. Some of the things we saw were: St James Palace, The Ritz Restaurant, Speakers Corner (where anyone can stand and speak out about anything except the Royal family on Sundays). We also saw the Dorchester where many of the famous people stay, the barbed wire fence of the Buckingham Palace gardens (41 acres), the street where the Duke of Wellington owns all the property and you can't buy, can only lease, and it's the most expensive homes in not only Europe...but the world. We got off the bus to see St Paul's Cathedral, which isn't open for tours on Sunday, but were able to walk through and light candles. Mom and Mom Mom walked up farther and listened to part of the Mass, while Lisa and I walked around. We then got back on the bus and stopped at the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, where we saw the Crowned Jewels and everything else that was worth more than we will ever make in our lives...combined. Lisa and I walked around separately and saw many things. We saw the site where Anne Boleyn and many others were decapitated which was a glass memorial with a glass pillow on top of it. We also went into the White Tower which was full of armor and artillery used for many centuries before. For dinner, we went to the Sports Cafe near Trafalgar Square where Lisa had read that they show NFL games on Sunday night. Unfortunately, they did not play the Ravens game because they only get certain ones on certain weekends. We were still able to watch another game and see the scores during that. While waiting for our table, a very handsome young man walked by me and I hit Lisa and said "that was Josh Duhamel!" For those of you who don't know who this is, he was in Transformers, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, the show Las Vegas, and All My Children. Shaking, we followed him outside and debated how to go about asking him to be in a picture with us. I guess we were pretty obvious because he saw us struggling and walked over and asked and we were like oh yeah of course sure. Lisa fumbled with her camera and knocked her earring out and I thought my knees were going to give out on me because I was shaking so bad. So we got a picture with him and went into the restaurant and realized that our booth was back to back with his and his fiance, Fergie of Black Eyed Peas. If you don't know who Fergie is, then look her up because she is very famous. We ate our dinner and when he got up to pay the check and get ready to leave, I (being the brave one that I am) walked over to Fergie's booth and said "um hi excuse me..would you mind being in a picture with my sister and I?" and she said "oh of course! you asked so politely!" I blushed. I frantically summoned Lisa to come over and join me and my mom got up also to take the picture. She was very proud of herself because every other time she took a picture with Lisa's camera, she accidentally pressed power and turned it off. She not only didn't turn it off, but was able to get all 3 of us in the picture without her glasses. Lisa was complimented on being a sports fan when Fergie saw she was wearing a Ravens jersey. I did not know what was going on because I was shaking and all I could do was smile. Lisa says that Fergie tried to shake my hand but I'm not sure what I was doing because everything was out of focus. We told her that it was nice to meet her and she said the same (we didn't think to ask why they were there or anything like that). I don't really remember what was going through my head at the time because we were so excited. Josh came back and said bye and smiled and waved (our new friend!) and he took her hand and they walked out of the restaurant...and our lives.
One of the best nights of our lives by far.
We slept in on Monday, went to get tickets for Wicked and then got on our Original Bus tour bus to go to the Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. It was really neat to see and be there but it was so crowded that it was hard to get good pictures although Lisa still managed to get up there in the action. After that, we went to Harrods and saw floors full of everything we can't afford and Lisa wouldn't try anything on with me. That night we went to see Wicked which was really really good and had some very catchy tunes. Tuesday, we slept in and missed breakfast which ended at 9am everyday. We went to the Portabello Road Market in Notting Hill. It was a pretty walk but didn't buy anything. We took a picture of the Travel Book Shop that was in Notting Hill (the movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant). We walked around inside and were intrigued that it was in a movie. After that, we walked around the Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana. We were leaving that day so we didn't have time to walk to the other side of the park to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.
Lisa and I began our journey back to Monmouth around 130pm, leaving for the Victoria Station. We found our way to the National Express office, bought tickets for that day and Friday to go to the airport and then got on the bus to Newport. In Newport, we experienced some confusion because no one, including ourselves, knew where the bus going to Monmouth picked up Newport passengers. We traveled around the area asking anyone and everyone who led us in all different directions and then finally found it under a bridge near the Newport Railway. Good thing we had some time to spare. We arrived in Monmouth and decided to not take a cab the short distance back to my school. With 3 bags between us, we realized this "short" distance (uphill) was much farther than we thought. We finally got to the gates of the school, and Lisa saw the hill that led up to the top where we needed to be. Finally got to my flat, talked to my mom to let her know we were safe, and spent the night catching up on some shows that we missed.
Today, we walked into town to get some groceries and see everything. We then hiked up to the Kymin which is the highest point around with the best view of Monmouth. This is a very steep, 45 minute walk or so, and Lisa and I can't move. We made it to the top, took some pictures, drank some more water, and then headed back down. It was beautiful but very tiring and our bodies ache. Made spaghetti, green bean casserole, and stove top for dinner (weird combo I know) and then relaxed the rest of the night. Tomorrow is another day and we are planning to pack, do laundry, walk to the Monmouth Castle (which looks close on the map), and see what else the day brings us. Early day starting at about 6am on Friday and a long day of traveling back to America for her and Italy for me. Hope you enjoyed our very long blog!:-) Sorry this one wasn't that funny but beggars can't be choosers.
xoxo
LP and DP
One of the best nights of our lives by far.
We slept in on Monday, went to get tickets for Wicked and then got on our Original Bus tour bus to go to the Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. It was really neat to see and be there but it was so crowded that it was hard to get good pictures although Lisa still managed to get up there in the action. After that, we went to Harrods and saw floors full of everything we can't afford and Lisa wouldn't try anything on with me. That night we went to see Wicked which was really really good and had some very catchy tunes. Tuesday, we slept in and missed breakfast which ended at 9am everyday. We went to the Portabello Road Market in Notting Hill. It was a pretty walk but didn't buy anything. We took a picture of the Travel Book Shop that was in Notting Hill (the movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant). We walked around inside and were intrigued that it was in a movie. After that, we walked around the Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana. We were leaving that day so we didn't have time to walk to the other side of the park to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.
Lisa and I began our journey back to Monmouth around 130pm, leaving for the Victoria Station. We found our way to the National Express office, bought tickets for that day and Friday to go to the airport and then got on the bus to Newport. In Newport, we experienced some confusion because no one, including ourselves, knew where the bus going to Monmouth picked up Newport passengers. We traveled around the area asking anyone and everyone who led us in all different directions and then finally found it under a bridge near the Newport Railway. Good thing we had some time to spare. We arrived in Monmouth and decided to not take a cab the short distance back to my school. With 3 bags between us, we realized this "short" distance (uphill) was much farther than we thought. We finally got to the gates of the school, and Lisa saw the hill that led up to the top where we needed to be. Finally got to my flat, talked to my mom to let her know we were safe, and spent the night catching up on some shows that we missed.
Today, we walked into town to get some groceries and see everything. We then hiked up to the Kymin which is the highest point around with the best view of Monmouth. This is a very steep, 45 minute walk or so, and Lisa and I can't move. We made it to the top, took some pictures, drank some more water, and then headed back down. It was beautiful but very tiring and our bodies ache. Made spaghetti, green bean casserole, and stove top for dinner (weird combo I know) and then relaxed the rest of the night. Tomorrow is another day and we are planning to pack, do laundry, walk to the Monmouth Castle (which looks close on the map), and see what else the day brings us. Early day starting at about 6am on Friday and a long day of traveling back to America for her and Italy for me. Hope you enjoyed our very long blog!:-) Sorry this one wasn't that funny but beggars can't be choosers.
xoxo
LP and DP
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Four Funny Foreigners
Yesterday, I didn't really have any lax so my mom, mom mom jo, and I drove to see the Chepstow Castle and also went by the Tintern Abbey. They were both gorgeous but both would have to be a day trip so we will go back in the spring when my mom and dad visit. My mom decided that driving here is not for her and I agreed after we got back to the school and I was nauseous and lightheaded from being in the passengers seat with her driving all day. She thinks that if she hits curbs and almost hits a lady with a walker, it's better than hitting another car and also damaging theirs along with ours. She tends to stop when another car is coming and I told her that the people behind us would start honking if she continued stopping everytime there was another car but she isn't from here so it was ok apparently. We ended up finding the Europcar Rental Car place perfectly fine this morning which my mom said was a gift from God since it was so small but I didn't think it was hard to get to at all-but I guess that's just because I'm kinda a local now:-) So we got a ride from there to the bus station where we were told the National Express office was closed on the weekends. The lady working at the other desk came over and told us that we could call the number on the door and order them and then show the driver our ticket number on our mobile phone (which is mine) or we could buy them online, if we were able to find somewhere with internet because we couldn't use hers. My mom was beside herself and said "how were we supposed to know that they weren't open today?!" and the lady calmly said "well it says it right here" pointing to the door at the office. We shrugged it off and decided to call the number. This was a task in itself with me trying to buy the tickets because for some reason we had to do them separately (senior, adult, young person). The lady on the other line told me about 50 times "annnnd this is the service bus 201 leaving Newport at 10:10 and arriving at the Heathrow Central Bus Station at approximately 12:45". I was like yesss I understand that! Over and over she told me that. So then I had to tell her the billing address of the card we were using and she didn't understand that I was saying sparrow because of the way I was saying sparrow. When I asked her if she needed the zip code she said "no I have most of the address, it's fine." So we finallyyyy got the tickets and then the bus came and he asked what kind of tickets we got and I said adult, senior, and young person. I bought mine with my Young Persons Coachcard but only had the number because I am still waiting for it to come in the mail. The lady on the phone didn't mind but the driver was not nice and insisted that I needed the actual card whenever traveling and then left us standing there wondering if I could go with them but he said it wasn't our fault, it was the ticket agent's and to make sure I read the terms and conditions of the card when I got it because it must be with me when I travel.
We made it to Lisa at Heathrow Airport where she was patiently waiting our arrival. We got off the bus with our 5 suitcases and headed to the tube. We survived the tube with all 6 suitcases and people standing all around them as they were obstacles throughout the tube and cheered when we got off because they actually had some room to stand. They we took the lift (elevator) to where we needed to go, which opened on both sides. We thought we were supposed to exit the opposite side we entered, however we found out otherwise. The doors opened, everyone else went out the right way and for some reason we began to exit the wrong way where many people were waiting to enter. Lisa was very agitated at how people had been acting throughout the station so told a guy to "at least wait until we get off" (rolling over his foot and catching his jeans on the way) while I am following and get told my an old lady with a cane, who is banging her cane on the floor, that we were going out the wrong way. Then we tell my mom that we went out the wrong way and she said "I know! We had to walk through the riot you created with 3 suitcases." She told the rioters that we were tourists and apologized after Lisa and I were laughing hysterically off to the side. She came over and joined us and we laughed about it for awhile. We left flustered from that and pulling our 6 suitcases, finally making it to our London Town Hotel. Lisa and I walked around town for a little while and went to Starbucks while Mom and MMJ rested. Then, we all went back to the tube more experienced with less luggage and made our way to the tourist attractions. We took multiple pictures of Big Ben, a museum, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (which we rode and was amazing) and various street performers. I will learn at some point to post pictures but I'm not quite there yet so be patient. We went to get pizza tonight and had a nice dinner near the hotel and will go to bed early because we are all exhausted. Tomorrow will start another adventure!:-) We'll keep you posted!
Cheers from the Foreigners.
We made it to Lisa at Heathrow Airport where she was patiently waiting our arrival. We got off the bus with our 5 suitcases and headed to the tube. We survived the tube with all 6 suitcases and people standing all around them as they were obstacles throughout the tube and cheered when we got off because they actually had some room to stand. They we took the lift (elevator) to where we needed to go, which opened on both sides. We thought we were supposed to exit the opposite side we entered, however we found out otherwise. The doors opened, everyone else went out the right way and for some reason we began to exit the wrong way where many people were waiting to enter. Lisa was very agitated at how people had been acting throughout the station so told a guy to "at least wait until we get off" (rolling over his foot and catching his jeans on the way) while I am following and get told my an old lady with a cane, who is banging her cane on the floor, that we were going out the wrong way. Then we tell my mom that we went out the wrong way and she said "I know! We had to walk through the riot you created with 3 suitcases." She told the rioters that we were tourists and apologized after Lisa and I were laughing hysterically off to the side. She came over and joined us and we laughed about it for awhile. We left flustered from that and pulling our 6 suitcases, finally making it to our London Town Hotel. Lisa and I walked around town for a little while and went to Starbucks while Mom and MMJ rested. Then, we all went back to the tube more experienced with less luggage and made our way to the tourist attractions. We took multiple pictures of Big Ben, a museum, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (which we rode and was amazing) and various street performers. I will learn at some point to post pictures but I'm not quite there yet so be patient. We went to get pizza tonight and had a nice dinner near the hotel and will go to bed early because we are all exhausted. Tomorrow will start another adventure!:-) We'll keep you posted!
Cheers from the Foreigners.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Guest blogger
Hello,
This is weird; I have never blogged before. :-)
So, this is Kathy, Danielle's mom-- writing because my mother and I are in Wales with Danielle for a visit.
We flew British Airways, Tuesday night. Boy, was that a treat after domestic airlines. We got on, there was a pillow, blanket, eye mask, SOCKS (of all things) and a toothbrush (for morning dragon breath), all wrapped up on our seat-- plus a headset for the 100 channel individual TV in front of us. My mom wanted the window, I took the aisle-- got all settle in. We took off-- first they came around with any drink you would want, complimentary-- then a full dinner-- After all of that, I was really TIRED (the wine helped), settled in-- and just as I got into a sound sleep, mom had to get up to go to the bathroom. That was fine the first time, but she was WIDE awake all night-- didn't want to watch TV, so her past-time was getting up every hour or so. So, I didn't sleep much. It was weird that she wasn't sleeping because she can usually sleep anywhere. What was more odd was that I was really tired the rest of the day and she was really perky.
From Heathrow, we took a bus to Newport (2.5 hrs).... wasn't too bad. From there, we took a cab to the car rental place I had found online (not knowing there were several car places right outside the bus terminal. This place, called EuroCar, was in this tiny bright green building, with a gravel area in the front (not the parking lot I had envisioned to practice with the car) large enough to park 2 cars. The taxi driver left us at the edge of the road to drag our suitcases across the gravel to the door. I was getting nervous about actually having to drive as I signed the papers. They were impressed that our credit card was approved for the $22,000 they would charge me if I totaled the car! I mentioned car insurance and they said that doesn't work over here. Thank goodness I had signed up for Orbitz insurance when I reserved the rental-- that covers up to $40,000-- just in case I would scrape the car as I would come in the gate to the school. It's an awesome policy I recommend for anyone; better than what the car companies try to talk you into at the desk.
Finally, I had to leave there. They took the time to show me how to start the car.... It's so weird to be on the left side of the road driving on the right side of the car. The gearshift is in the middle, have to use my LEFT hand to use it, but I keep trying the steering wheel and keep turning the windshield wipers on. Mom commented today on how clean I am keeping the window. Pulling out of there took awhile... I wanted NO ONE anywhere near me. Mom made the sign of the cross and off we went. To shorten this, I will say we made it to Haberdashers without getting lost!! I do best just driving down the middle of the road, and find myself slowing down whenever someone is coming opposite me. Highways are the best.
Danielle's apartment is adorable! It looks MUCH nicer than her pictures. The school is beautiful, as are the surrounding areas. It's like being in a fable or something. It's neat to walk around the town (I had to walk down today to find a new adapter for Danielle after my hairdryer blew hers out). The sidewalks are full of shoppers, many know each other. There are all kinds of shops.... and I found a neat place to stay when Joey and I come in the spring.
Mom and I ventured out to sightsee at an amazing castle. It was from the early 1500's... in a beautiful spot-- took some pictures.......
Danielle is trying to be off tomorrow afternoon and she wants us to go up to a mountain top view, but the drive up there is along a NARROW road with some scary switchbacks and I am not thrilled to do it. It would be one of those things where I am scared all of the way up and then scared to come down. So, we'll see.........
By the way, Danielle looks GREAT and is really doing well here!!
So, good-bye-- One more day here and we're off to London!
Kathy
This is weird; I have never blogged before. :-)
So, this is Kathy, Danielle's mom-- writing because my mother and I are in Wales with Danielle for a visit.
We flew British Airways, Tuesday night. Boy, was that a treat after domestic airlines. We got on, there was a pillow, blanket, eye mask, SOCKS (of all things) and a toothbrush (for morning dragon breath), all wrapped up on our seat-- plus a headset for the 100 channel individual TV in front of us. My mom wanted the window, I took the aisle-- got all settle in. We took off-- first they came around with any drink you would want, complimentary-- then a full dinner-- After all of that, I was really TIRED (the wine helped), settled in-- and just as I got into a sound sleep, mom had to get up to go to the bathroom. That was fine the first time, but she was WIDE awake all night-- didn't want to watch TV, so her past-time was getting up every hour or so. So, I didn't sleep much. It was weird that she wasn't sleeping because she can usually sleep anywhere. What was more odd was that I was really tired the rest of the day and she was really perky.
From Heathrow, we took a bus to Newport (2.5 hrs).... wasn't too bad. From there, we took a cab to the car rental place I had found online (not knowing there were several car places right outside the bus terminal. This place, called EuroCar, was in this tiny bright green building, with a gravel area in the front (not the parking lot I had envisioned to practice with the car) large enough to park 2 cars. The taxi driver left us at the edge of the road to drag our suitcases across the gravel to the door. I was getting nervous about actually having to drive as I signed the papers. They were impressed that our credit card was approved for the $22,000 they would charge me if I totaled the car! I mentioned car insurance and they said that doesn't work over here. Thank goodness I had signed up for Orbitz insurance when I reserved the rental-- that covers up to $40,000-- just in case I would scrape the car as I would come in the gate to the school. It's an awesome policy I recommend for anyone; better than what the car companies try to talk you into at the desk.
Finally, I had to leave there. They took the time to show me how to start the car.... It's so weird to be on the left side of the road driving on the right side of the car. The gearshift is in the middle, have to use my LEFT hand to use it, but I keep trying the steering wheel and keep turning the windshield wipers on. Mom commented today on how clean I am keeping the window. Pulling out of there took awhile... I wanted NO ONE anywhere near me. Mom made the sign of the cross and off we went. To shorten this, I will say we made it to Haberdashers without getting lost!! I do best just driving down the middle of the road, and find myself slowing down whenever someone is coming opposite me. Highways are the best.
Danielle's apartment is adorable! It looks MUCH nicer than her pictures. The school is beautiful, as are the surrounding areas. It's like being in a fable or something. It's neat to walk around the town (I had to walk down today to find a new adapter for Danielle after my hairdryer blew hers out). The sidewalks are full of shoppers, many know each other. There are all kinds of shops.... and I found a neat place to stay when Joey and I come in the spring.
Mom and I ventured out to sightsee at an amazing castle. It was from the early 1500's... in a beautiful spot-- took some pictures.......
Danielle is trying to be off tomorrow afternoon and she wants us to go up to a mountain top view, but the drive up there is along a NARROW road with some scary switchbacks and I am not thrilled to do it. It would be one of those things where I am scared all of the way up and then scared to come down. So, we'll see.........
By the way, Danielle looks GREAT and is really doing well here!!
So, good-bye-- One more day here and we're off to London!
Kathy
Sincere Apologies to My People
Hello all! I am so sorry that I have waited so long to grace you with another blog. I have been pretty busy with nonsense stuff-nothing too exciting to write about. Let's see what has happened since the last time I blogged...
I'm injured. Not sure what I did but I hurt my achilles/calf/whatever is right in the middle. It was really sore and I kept running so then the next day I couldn't walk without limping. So now I have been icing it whenever I can, elevating it, keeping it wrapped, and it not running. I have been running everyday so not running is pretty tough because it helps release stress and such. Instead, I started eating more ice cream haha. I got to watch the Ravens game with Lisa! I was told by my family that I can't watch anymore of the games because they were 2-2 and then got crushed and it's because I watched-sad:-( Also, Lisa and I realized that the SlingBox she and Christine bought for me is also controlled by what I do on my laptop. I had watched Grey's Anatomy which she recorded and I was trying to watch Friends and it kept going back to Grey's so I would go back to Friends and finally Lisa IMed me and goes ARE YOU ON SLINGBOX TRYING TO WATCH FRIENDS?!? haha. So now we know that we can actually watch TV together because I can see everything she does on her TV and she can see everything I do on my laptop-very strange to see Baltimore/Maryland commercials haha.
I managed to lock myself out of my flat for the first time. Only took me about 7 weeks. I went to run downstairs and then came back up and went to open it and went uh oh...haha but luckily one of Gap students from Australia had this flat last year (they came last January) and she still had the spare key.
My mom and grandmother got here yesterday!! I had been waiting for my mom to call my mobile and then I had a lesson with the year 7 girls and I hear "DANIELLLEEE!!!" and I look and see my mom at the top of the hill waving intensely haha. So they are here and that's exciting! Yesterday, we went to Pizza Express for dinner and then the grocery store for stuff for dinner tonight. They went to see a castle today while I worked (which my mom will write a blog about) and then she made chicken cordon blue, green bean casserole, fresh bread, and stove top!! oh and some cucumbers which Mom Mom cut up:-) So that was great!! Ice cream for dessert and my mom had a glass of wine while MMJ had a couple beers:-) Now we are lounging watching some TV and tomorrow I pretty much have the day free so we will get to hang out and then Saturday we go to London and meet Lisa!
That's about all I have to write for now and my mom will write about their experience and trip so far.
Miss you and love you all!!
xoxo
Danielle
I'm injured. Not sure what I did but I hurt my achilles/calf/whatever is right in the middle. It was really sore and I kept running so then the next day I couldn't walk without limping. So now I have been icing it whenever I can, elevating it, keeping it wrapped, and it not running. I have been running everyday so not running is pretty tough because it helps release stress and such. Instead, I started eating more ice cream haha. I got to watch the Ravens game with Lisa! I was told by my family that I can't watch anymore of the games because they were 2-2 and then got crushed and it's because I watched-sad:-( Also, Lisa and I realized that the SlingBox she and Christine bought for me is also controlled by what I do on my laptop. I had watched Grey's Anatomy which she recorded and I was trying to watch Friends and it kept going back to Grey's so I would go back to Friends and finally Lisa IMed me and goes ARE YOU ON SLINGBOX TRYING TO WATCH FRIENDS?!? haha. So now we know that we can actually watch TV together because I can see everything she does on her TV and she can see everything I do on my laptop-very strange to see Baltimore/Maryland commercials haha.
I managed to lock myself out of my flat for the first time. Only took me about 7 weeks. I went to run downstairs and then came back up and went to open it and went uh oh...haha but luckily one of Gap students from Australia had this flat last year (they came last January) and she still had the spare key.
My mom and grandmother got here yesterday!! I had been waiting for my mom to call my mobile and then I had a lesson with the year 7 girls and I hear "DANIELLLEEE!!!" and I look and see my mom at the top of the hill waving intensely haha. So they are here and that's exciting! Yesterday, we went to Pizza Express for dinner and then the grocery store for stuff for dinner tonight. They went to see a castle today while I worked (which my mom will write a blog about) and then she made chicken cordon blue, green bean casserole, fresh bread, and stove top!! oh and some cucumbers which Mom Mom cut up:-) So that was great!! Ice cream for dessert and my mom had a glass of wine while MMJ had a couple beers:-) Now we are lounging watching some TV and tomorrow I pretty much have the day free so we will get to hang out and then Saturday we go to London and meet Lisa!
That's about all I have to write for now and my mom will write about their experience and trip so far.
Miss you and love you all!!
xoxo
Danielle
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
FREEEDOMMMM!!
Holy freedom! I feel like a new woman! Went to the IT guys and they made me a "trusted user" with my laptop so that I can access things on the internet without having to give my school log in and having to override things that are blocked and such so I am just a free internet surfer and it feels wonderfullll! The reason they did it, is so that I can use the SlingBox that Christine and Lisa bought me and I have been playing with it and it's so cool. It's like I'm sitting at home surfing the channels in good old Baltimore:-) I already watched some Home Improvement and I think I just smiled the whole time because I was so excited. I have some things ready to record already so now I can watch shows on my laptop live or recorded! The ones at night obviously I will have to record and watch the next day being that they are on 5 hours earlier at home and I don't plan on staying up until 3am every night..ha. But anyways so here I am and I'm very happy they did this for me! It's a good thing to be persistent that's for sure:-)
Miss you all!
xoxo,
DP
Miss you all!
xoxo,
DP
Monday, October 6, 2008
Some days you're the bird and some days you're the statue...
Where to start…In about a week, my life is going to start flying by so fast! My mom and grandmother get here, then Lisa, and then I go to Italy and then I get back and it's November! Time is flying and it will only just keep going faster. I have been sick so I haven't had time to write for my blog because I have been going to sleep early whenever possible. I stayed in this weekend and tried to get some sleep and get better. I feel a lot better but we shall see when the morning comes how I'm feeling. Hopefully this is the end of it and I'll feel much better tomorrow. On Saturday we took 3 teams to St. Swithuns for a tournament and unfortunately I forgot my camera because it was such a beautiful school. The buildings were really pretty and they had so much land. The weather held up which was very fortunate because it was supposed to rain all day and it didn't so that was great. It was a little chilly/cold but that is fine to deal with as long as there's no rain! Today it rained until about 4pm and then it got sunny but all the stores in town close at 4 on Sundays so I worked out this morning and then did some intense cleaning of my flat and was very productive while I stayed in today.
Yesterday, the teams did really well. In the afternoon, the first team got second in the second division, second team got first in the third division, and the U15's did well but didn't win anything. The reason the seconds won their division is because I brought them luck…well actually a bird brought them luck by pooping on me so now they said I have to get pooped on every time before they play which I disagreed with completely. So here is the story…
I was standing under this tree that I had been sitting under all day with peoples' stuff and the first aid kit and such and other people came over after the morning games were over and noticed bird poop everywhere. Then we were standing there and someone goes "oh no a bird just pooped on your jacket!" So of course everyone starts laughing hysterically thinking it's so funny and I am screaming to get it off my jacket and I take my jacket off and see it and use a stick to wipe it off-so gross! So then another person goes "umm, it's in your hair too." I didn't believe them but sure enough, they started taking pictures because it was so funny so they all started gathering around looking at it in my hair. Not only was it in my hair, but it was DRY! Dried bird poop in my hair!! One of the girls on the team I was with had gotten hurt earlier in one of the games so we were all huddled around and waiting to see what was wrong with her and it turns out that some of the girls saw the bird poop then which was about 2 hours earlier. They didn't tell me this until I told them I found bird poop in my hair and they go "oh yeah we saw it but Claudia was on the ground so we didn't say anything.." I was like that was like 2 hours ago! Did you just forget?! I have been walking around with bird poop dried in my hair! So then I took my hair out of its ponytail and they started pouring water on it and scrubbing it and I could feel it in my scalp so then I started gagging and it was cold and my hair was soaking wet and they were just wiping away and finally managed to get most of it out. Then they saw it on the hood of my sweatshirt because it had wiped off from my hair and smeared all over the trim of my hood on my sweatshirt. It was everywhere. So then that afternoon the girls won their division and thanked me and I was like yep the sacrifices I make for you guys..haha So I was glad I could provide some entertainment for everyone but seriously, getting pooped on twice?! Who does that happen to? I was so upset and so disgusted and cold with my wet hair. Oh man. So then we were driving back and I guess they cut the wool off all the sheep everywhere the same day because they were all bare and it was rainy and cold and I felt really bad and I was wearing my UGGs and I was like hm well I feel bad because you were shaved to make these and now you are cold and wet. So anyways, I noticed everytime I saw sheep, none of them had fur or wool or whatever it is called on them-how crazy!
I have been a reading machine lately..really into Jodi Picoult and I just found out that Nicholas Sparks released a new one September 30th and I would looove if my mom would bring that for me when she visits :-) hint hint. Ha. I'm not really sure what else there is to talk about…I have become quite the Netball player. I play during lessons whenever there aren't enough girls for even teams. The other teachers are like do you want to play? I'm like yeah sure! And then we also played Rounders the other day. Not really a fan of that because you run even if you miss the ball and you run with your little bat. I missed it and just stood there and they were like go! I was like where? I didn't hit it! Ahhh. Haha it was stressful at first because it takes some getting used to. The weather has been off and on and I am really really hoping that it is good for when my mom, grandmother, and Lisa visit. I will have to keep an eye on the cows around the time when they are coming to make sure they are all standing. Lisa was saying how she saw someone talking to themselves the other day and thought of me because I told her I have gotten in the habit of doing that. If I am walking to town or something I will find myself talking to myself and then realize it's out loud and I'm like oops :-) Sometimes when I'm running and there are only animals around, I will go "baaa" to the sheep, "mooo" to the cows, and "naaaayyy" to the horses whenever I go by just to see if they look up and then I laugh to myself for a good 5 minutes afterwards if I get them to look up at me. Very sad life I live sometimes by myself haha especially when I resort to those things! Since I have been running outside, I see people on the back roads walking their dogs and at least 3 times they have said something to me in Welsh and I just say "yeah!" and smile and wave and run faster so they don't stop to chat because I have absolutely no idea what they are saying. They look really nice when they are saying whatever they have to say but it is complete jibberish to me and I feel bad because I just smile and wave and run faster by them laughing to myself because I have no idea what they say. One time they said something and pointed to the land behind them and I was like what could they possibly be saying and then I started to panic thinking I was trespassing but I wasn't don't worry haha. I was running through this neighborhood one day and an older couple with a little girl, I'm guessing their granddaughter, in the backseat and they pulled over and asked (in English thank God) where some community center was and I just stared at them blankly and was said "I'm from America. I have no idea I'm sorry." And they said oh that's ok not your fault and drove off chuckling to themselves. I was like alllright..so eventful whenever I step outside :-) I think that's about it for now. I will update you when something incredible happens or something really funny or something traumatic like a bird pooping on me twice...in one day.
Miss you all!!!
Xoxo
DP
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