I really should be writing my essay right now, but I can’t stop thinking about how lucky I am right now. Even though this whole experience is coming to an end soon, and I’m deeply entrenched in so many assignments, it can’t break my spirit.
Life is so great.
For me to be saying that, in such a stressful time is something so strange and new and really wonderful. In past years, finals week have been absolutely horrible. Not just because I was studying and finishing up papers, but because I had to go home where I would face a whole summer alone in my house, immense pressure from my parents to find a job, constant worrying about my grades coming back, being afraid to look at Banner and tell my parents.
Not this year though. Yeah, I’m worried about my grades a little, but all I have to do is pass, even just by 1 point. My GPA isn’t going to transfer. I just have to pass the class and get the credit.
I have a job lined up for the summer, a good job, and another lined up for the fall.
I’m going to UIFI (Undergraduate Interfraternity Insititue) in Indianapolis for 5 days in June.
I’m going to Rochester to see Ally.
Yeah, there are going to be big things I’m going to miss this summer. This is the first year I won’t be going to Inlet, which is pretty big for me and my family. It hurts my heart like hell that I won’t be able to go, but I know all the things that I’m doing now are going to further me as an individual, and that is what matters the most. I won’t be around my friends all summer, but that is also okay, because we’re all busy, going in our own directions to our own successes, and that makes me feel so proud of all of them; after three years being apart during the school year, I already know that not having a summer glued together isn’t going to break us up.
It all makes me so, so happy. I have some things that I’m worried about, but its being pushed to the side, and that is what I need.
9 months ago, I thought I had nothing in this world; nothing to look forward to, nothing to live for.
I don’t have any words to describe the feeling of now knowing how wrong I was, and how much has changed in under a year.
I can only hope that things continue this way, but I have to remember that if there is a bump in the road, that is okay too.
For as long as I can remember, going to London has been one of the top five Things I Need to Do in My Young Life. I don’t even know how it came to be such an idealized place for me, perhaps years of Anglophilia and Royal Watching and watching far too much British programming. When I finally did get to London, I wasn’t over the top ‘oh my god this is happening’ about it, probably because a. I was exhausted and b. I had time to be excited about it for a long time and had come to terms with it in a way? If that makes sense? So, London…I visited the first time in the height of school-aged European tourist group time, as schools across Europe were out on holiday for Easter. There were so many people just, everywhere, especially in big shopping and tourist areas. It was kind of my worst nightmare, so many people you can barely seen in front of you at some points, too many people touching me and shoving me (other tourists are not nice). Aside from that, London was a beautiful city and I really wish I had more time to visit more museums and the parks, and eat more food, obviously. I was lucky that I was able to go back into London for a couple of days with my parents. By the end of my time in the city, I had a pretty good handle on where major things were in relation to each other and the tube system, and it felt really comfortable. In terms of city life, I think I would enjoy living in London for a little while, except when it was Easter holidays.
In terms of tourist attractions, London had my favorites. The first day there, I went to the Tower of London. Now, the Tower of London is not one single tower, but a huge castle complex/fortress .. thing. You can’t describe it as one thing because it has had so many different purposes through out its history. A royal residence, a military fortress, prisons. I spent a good few hours there, but I could have definitely stayed longer. By far my favorite part of the Tower of London was going to see the crown jewels. Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed inside, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget what I saw there. It is one thing to know crown jewels exist in the world, and to see someone wearing it on television or in a movie, but to actually see the real thing closely, it’s totally different, it’s mesmerizing. After that, I went to Elizabeth Tower aka ‘Big Ben’ (Big Ben is the bell inside, the clock tower itself is called Elizabeth Tower), the Palace of Westminster (Parliament buildings) and Westminster Abbey (where Will & Kate got married). There were so. many. people. I couldn’t even think. Thankfully, it was more relaxing with slightly less people around when I went back with my mom and dad and I was able to absorb more. When I was with my parents, we went to Westminster Abbey, which was probably the best £20 ever spent. Simply, amazing. I don’t even know how to put it into words. My first day in London was absolutely beautiful, some of the nicest weather I’d seen since arriving, so I took some time to soak up the sun in St. James Park, where I also saw some pretty cool birds. After that, a short walk to Buckingham Palace which was just so so cool to see in person. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to taking a leisurely stroll through Hyde Park, getting some ice cream and sitting in the sun at the peaceful Princess Diana memorial fountain.
Important: Bird
Other highlights of London include Borough Market, which was like a green market / farmers market right down the road from the hostel. I had an amazing egg sandwich, fresh pressed juice and pain au chocolat for brunch one morning. I wish I could go there for breakfast every morning. While exploring, I saw Covent Garden Market which was pretty posh, Picadilly Circus which had all the major stores, and Regent and Canarby Street with smaller, quirker shops. Exploring equaled wistful window shopping. I also saw the department store, Harrods, which was just amazing and so extravagant. Seeing designer clothes, like Ellie Saab dresses, that I’ve drooled over on the internet, was a torturous dream come true. Seeing it up close just makes me appreciate the art of fashion so much more. Harrods is just full of, in my eyes, outlandish luxury items in an almost hilarious way. I also was able to go to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross & Abbey Road.
My three favorite things that I did in London are:
The British Museum: This place seriously exhausted me but it was totally worth it. I LOVED IT. I saw so many like, once-in-a lifetime-chance-to-see-this-, and i-learned-all-about-this-in-6th-grade-social-studies-and-now-I’m-finally-seeing-it-, types of things. But, because the museum holds these wonders, everyone goes there. When I was looking at the Rosetta stone (HELL YEAH I SAW THE ROSETTA STONE), so many other tourists crowded around me and squeezed me and there were just so many people touching me, I couldn’t handle it. I just wanted to take a minute to observe this magnificent item, but if I had stood there any longer I would have lost it. Anyway, I was able to see the Elgin Marbles (the sculpture from the pediment of the Parthenon in Athens) which was SO EXCITING because I had just learned alllll about it in my Greek & Roman art history class last semester. I also went and paid (the British Museum itself is free, holla) to see the exhibit Defining Beauty which was stunning and I wish I could have stayed there for ever, but I had Jess waiting for me.
Camden Pub Crawl: coolest pub crawl ever! and a free(ish) t shirt! We went to some seriously awesome places. One bar was doing a Soundtracks On Saturday night, where they only played songs from movie soundtracks and it was actually so groovy. I didn’t want to leave! The last place we went to was called Proud, and it was an old stable/barn converted into a club, so that’s like the coolest thing I’ve ever done.
Harry Potter Walking Tour: a tour around the city of all the places that were either filmed in the movie or were inspirational to JK Rowling, producers and set designers. Also including a not so bad-looking tour guide and other informational tid bits about the city. Another stop on my long running harry potter pilgrimage!
One of the most, um, exciting parts about Amsterdam was the journey there. Stressful and pretty weird, but what part of my life isn’t a combination of those?
So it started pretty bad because I’m a dummy and didn’t get it together fast enough and had a lot to do the morning before I left and long story short, had to run to the train station to make it to the train. I made it onto the train with like two minutes to spare, so, cool. Then it got weird and didn’t stop being weird for a while.
I sit down on the train and I’m completely out of breath from running and red in the face, all my things are everywhere, I’m a serious mess. Then, this old man in the seat diagonal from me asks me if I’m alright and I say “yeah, yeah. fine, just winded from running here.” The man asks me and Jess where we’re from and upon finding out we’re American, tells us that he was a captain in the United States Air Force and a state trooper. I didn’t really want to talk to him so I just said something along the lines of “that’s nice” and he went on to tell us that he was born in the UK and now lives in London but lived in the United States and is a US citizen as well. Again, still not really interested in talking to this man who is either just an old man on the train or the token Crazy Man on the Train. He tells us his name, Sebastian, and then his epic tale of how he got to America: As a child, he was swimming off the coast of Kent in the English Channel when a riptide current pulled him out to sea. So I’m thinking that he’s going to tell us that the coast guard picked him up and that is what inspired him to enter service. But, no. Turns out Sebastian was the Crazy Man on the Train. After the current pulled him out, he then was pulled further out to sea and across the Atlantic, and he eventually landed on the coast of Maine, where a family took him in and raised him. After that, because he didn’t want to be in the United States illegally, he met with the President, who pardoned him and gave him a passport.
Yep.
Thank goodness our time on that train was short. The next leg of our journey was from Crewe (as the train goes from Chester to Crewe, and we change trains there) to Manchester Airport. Finally (mostly) alone, Jess and I looked at each other and said “That man was absolutely nuts.”
After a 50 minute flight and another 15 minute train ride I was in Amsterdam! All of the places I visited on break were amazing, but Amsterdam was definitely unique. The hostel was great, clean and comfortable and had a great vibe. I miss it.
Sightseeing!
Our first day in Amsterdam was mostly spent exploring and wandering around the city, getting our bearings and used to the city. We toured the Royal Palace, which was beautiful and the tour had a ton of cool info about the Dutch monarchy. Later, we went to a medieval church, which was, to our surprise, in the middle of the Red Light District. We didnt realize until we were walking around the church, and Jess saw the women in their windows. I thought I saw something in a window, but assumed it was a mannequin, because I was busy looking at the kindergarten with (almost) my name on it right in between two blocks of windows. Later in the day while wandering around the canals, I discovered an antique market where I found a postcard from Albany, so obviously I bought it. That night we had a guided tour of the Red Light District. I was kind of nervous about my safety, but Amsterdam is the 5th safest city in the world, the tour guide was great and even gave us a little talk about how trustworthy and great the police in Amsterdam are. As he said, “you know our Police are good because they’re called ‘Politie’.” I learned a ton of cool stuff about the history of Amsterdam and the history of the sex industry and law making and how the district has changed over time. We were taken to the place that pioneered the sale of condoms, shown Amsterdam’s most popular sex theatre and peep shows (i didn’t see the peep show, just the place where they are,) and even saw a man trying to hire a prostitute. After, I had an amazing dinner at this placed called Wok to Walk which is basically a Chipotle for lo mein and it was DELICIOUS. Ended the night with a few drinks and people watching in the hostel bar. A fun, exciting, education and exhausting day!
Saturday, we walked FOREVER to the block where we caught a sub-par river cruise. It was raining so the views weren’t as good as they could have been and the audio information was cheesy, but still I learned a lot of things. After that, quick pub lunch and then across the street to the Heinekin Experience. There was a huge line, so I was super thankful I got my ticket online in advance so we didn’t have to wait in the rain. The Heinekin Experience was definitely one of my favorite alcohol-related educational tours. There wasn’t just the typical ‘this is how you make beer’ stuff, but also a lot on the history of the company, which was cool. There was also this 4D thing called ‘Be the Brew’ on a moving platform that ‘immerses’ you in the brewing process. Like Beer Disney. Later that night, we had our first Dutch waffle at this place near our hostel called Pancakes & Waffles and it was DELICIOUS. Homemade dough and freshly cooked after you order.
TFIOS BENCH
On Sunday, it rained forever and it was absolutely miserable. We were in the Rijksmuseum for most of the day, but when we were outside it was absolutely HORRIBLE. We saw the bench from The Fault in Our Stars movie and took pictures. I really need to re watch the movie. Then we made our way to the museum, which is also where the IAMsterdam sign is, which was cool to see, but we could barely stand the weather to take pictures. Again, thank god we bought tickets online for the Rijksmuseum because the line was so long and we were so happy we did not have to stand in that in the weather. The collection was AMAZING. After, we needed to find lunch, but the places were all the way across the museumplein. We were SOAKED by the time we got across and just went into the first open restaurant we saw. After, we waited forever in the wind to take the tram back to our hostel where we finally dried off and warmed up. For dinner that night, we found a tiny little Italian restaurant that imports their ingredients daily from Italy. I had amazing spinach ravioli, chardonnay and fresh bread. Later, we went back to Pancakes & Waffles for crepes.
super excited – about to go into the Anne Frank House & escape the wind!
Monday was our “Last Day” and we woke up early to go to the Anne Frank House, where we waited in line, in the cold and wind for TWO AND A HALF HOURS, even though we got in line before the museum even opened! The line may have been long, but we got through it (with the help of bagels and coffee) and it was 100% worth it. It was an amazing experience. To learn about Anne Frank and the Holocaust, and to read her diary is one thing, but to actually be up there in the rooms that were the annex and where they lived is a completely different experience. I was rendered speechless the whole time. To be honest, it was a lot bigger than I had expected. When I was in school, my teachers always made it seem like they were all holed up in a crawl space, but that was not the case. Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed (so I guess you’ll just have to go see it for yourself!) After, we walked to the nearby Pancake House, which also had a line! Also worth it. I ate an amazing dutch pancake (like a crepe but maybe a little thicker) with peaches and cinnamon ice cream. So delicious. I love the food in Amsterdam. Later in the day, the weather cleared up so we spent some time walking around in the sun and exploring more, and did the same at night, taking a lot of pictures. I went to bed early that night in anticipation for my early morning flight.
The Never Ending Day
I woke up the next morning at 6 am from a message from our airline that due to bad weather and high winds, our flight had been cancelled. So, at 6 am, we had to rebook flights and trains for the next day so we could get to our next place, London, sort of on time. So we stuck around in Amsterdam but we were NOT happy about it, especially because it turned out to be a beautiful day and our flight had been cancelled due to “bad weather.” The only good thing about it was that we got to have Waffles one more time. Thankfully, the hostel had beds for us that night, so it was nice that we didn’t have to move all our stuff across town. Unfortunately, our beds were in the room right above the bar that plays LOUD bass-thumping music all night. My bed shook from the bass all night and I could barely sleep because of it. Oh, and because the other people in the room decided that it would be a cool and fun idea to have loud sex for a few hours, twice. The next morning, we woke up and couldn’t get out of there sooner. BUT, when we got to the airport, our flight was delayed. Which, made for us to get to Chester much later than anticipated. We had four hours in town, when we were supposed to have a whole day. When we finally did get back, we did our laundry, repacked, and headed back to the train station to get our train to London.
Despite the bad weather, horrible travel and inconsiderate people, Amsterdam was absolutely amazing and I am so lucky to have been able to visit. I hope that I can go back one day.
I Amsterdam! (see … me… in for the I… in my red coat! get it ? GET IT? )
So I have been pretty much MIA on the internet since the end of March, but now I’m back. I’ve been travelling and experiencing and learning and its just been a whirlwind three weeks! Full of fun, new people and what would life be without a few struggles? I’ll be writing more detailed posts coming soon, probably. In the meantime, here is a masterpost of the weird faces I made across Amsterdam/the UK
How the hell is it the end of March?????? I can not believe how fast this month has gone by. March is always the worst of all the months of the year, but March 2015 was a blink of the eye. So far, March hasn’t included big adventures. Just living my life here, day to day. Sometimes it is hard and sometimes it is blissful. I am definitely getting very tired of the dining hall food, but I will have a break from that for three weeks coming up. I miss my family and friends but I am trying to be happy and live in the moment here and find my happy in something every day.
Daily life has been just getting through school and planning for my spring break. I have big projects I have to tackle and finish by the end of Spring Break, which will be hard with all the travelling I’m doing, and with my parents visiting, but I will get it done. I’m kind of nervous for two of my essays due the end of term in May, but I’m sure it will be okay if I work hard. I hope that after spring break, once I’ve done my travelling and seen my parents, I will have better focus and get cracking on everything.
Some days, I’ve been really sad. I often don’t want to get out of bed and start my day. Sometimes, I’ll find myself sitting around and just feel very sad. When that happens, I try to get myself to do something else or watch something that will make me happy or listen to some music.
Lately, it feels like the universe is pitted against me.
Firstly, and I think about this often, I don’t want to have to be dependent on so many different medications my whole life. For depression and anxiety (and acne, but thats another story). I wish I could do it on my own. I know some of you reading this are probably thinking that I can with sheer will, but I don’t have a lot of that, and I’ve tried doing it all on my own, tried doing it on my own and with help from family and councilors. Its too hard sometimes and its a chemical imbalance and I know that, but I just wish it wasn’t there. I know its not real, but I just wish I was a naturally happy person. I hate having to force my optimism. I mean I am definitely becoming more naturally optimistic because of forcing myself to think that way but it isn’t easy. And with everything that I have going on in terms of uncertainty of what direction my life is going in generally, that puts a lot of weight on me. I know that without some of my medications, I would just sit around thinking in circles about that. I know that it would weigh down so heavy on me that I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. This has become very run on and ranty, just let it go there, okay?
I also feel like I can’t catch my luck lately. I want good things to be happening! I try to put myself in situations I will enjoy! But I feel like every time I try, the universe creates a shit storm and knocks me down. I’m scared that one day I won’t be able to get back up and just stay down and sad.
OKAY, now, with that out of my system. Happy Things:
First, I am so happy to say that I will be an Orientation Leader this summer. I’ll be spending part of my summer up in Plattsburgh and its going to be a great experience! I am sad that I will be missing camp, but I hope to visit my family another time during my time off in June and August.
Secondly, SPRING BREAK: EURO EDITION STARTS SOON!
The reasoning for the nature of my spring break isnt so cool though. Here is whats happening:
The school is renting out certain housing out to people visiting the school for different conferences during our Easter Holiday Break which runs from this saturday until April 20th (crazy right). I am unfortunately, in one of the buildings they are renting out and so I have to remove myself and all of my things from my room. When I first found out about this in February, I went to the housing office and was like, “Hey so I have no home to go to when I leave… like I would be homeless. I can’t bring my things home because I’m not going home.”
And they were basically like “welp sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ we cant help you, probably.” So I talked to Jess and she is letting me keep all of my things in her room and we are going to travel the whole time until I can meet up with my parents and then I will just live in hotels with them until I can move back in.
SO
I will be going to Amsterdam for 5 days, quick overnight and regroup in Chester (staying with Jess), then 7 days in London!! Then a flight up to Edinburgh for 4 days, then I meet my parents back in Chester!
I’m super excited for my trips. I am PUMPED to see Amsterdam! Coming from a town rooted in Dutch history, I learned a lot about Amsterdam, so it will be so exciting to see everything I learned about! I am also so excited to go to the National Museum and see all the art after studying a little 17th century Flemish & Dutch art! We even found the location of the bench from The Fault in Our Stars! In London, I’ll be doing all the typical things, and since we will be there for Easter Sunday, we’re going to try and go to mass at Westminster Abbey!! It will all be so fun but also tiring, I expect. I am super super excited to see my mom and dad and do a little travelling with them and show them around Chester!
I don’t know why, but I haven’t been very interested in writing about my time in Dublin. Maybe because it was over a month ago? Oh well. So, this post probably won’t be very interesting.
On Monday, I went to the Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery. I liked them both. Guinness was definitely very showy and almost overdone but very interactive which I liked. You know what I don’t like? Guinness. It is disgusting and I hate it. I did have some chocolate with caramel in the middle that was flavoured with Guinness and that was DELICIOUS. My favorite part of the Guinness storehouse was learning how to pour draught Guinness. The coolest thing that I learned is that Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the land for the St James Street Brewery, which is just seriously crazy and amazing.
The Jameson tour was a little more museum-y. They took us through how whiskey is made, and our tour guide was very funny. My favorite parts of the tour were seeing the whiskey in different stages of aging in the barrels and seeing how the colour changes and how it evaporates out. Now I understand why old whiskey is so damn expensive. There is a specific smell to aging whiskey depending on the type of barrel used and they have one you can smell and the tour guide asked if anyone wanted to try smelling it and then no one said anything, and he called on me. I went up there and put my nose to the little place to smell and it smelled really strongly of alcohol, obviously, but also I could smell sweetness and also some of the wood. The other cool part of the tour was the whiskey tasting and I definitely tasted the difference between them. We tasted American Whiskey, Scotch and Jameson (obviously). My favorite was the Jameson, the Scotch was disgusting and the American Whiskey was Jack Daniels and was just, typical.
Tuesday we took a bus ride out to the little seaside village of Howth and it was nice to get out of the city again. We walked all over and up the hill that the town sat over and got a good look at the landscape. It was a relaxing last day.
And thats it for Ireland! I hope to go back one day and see more of the country, and maybe go in the summer to see the flowers and trees and all.
By far, my favorite part of my trip to Ireland was the bus trip I took through Wicklow. Jess and I came upon the tour while researching how we could go horseback riding. Jess used her TripAdvisor skills and found it. At 9:30 am on Sunday morning, a mini bus took us and a few other people took us out of Dublin into County Wicklow. The bus tour was narrated by a lovely and kind Irish woman who knew so many interesting little facts about just about everything we saw. She took us through the town of Enniskerry and up the stables where Jess and I were dropped off to spend the late morning horseback riding up through the hills. I’ve dreamed of that experience for years. To finally do so was indescribably satisfying.
We were given a quick riding lesson to familiarize ourselves with our horses (mine was named Caesar and he was lazy and only wanted to eat plants) and then guided by one of the young girls (around my age) who worked there, we headed up through the hills past farms and little country homes. As we leisurely walked along, I took in the beautiful February weather and emerging sunshine while watching the fog clear away from the hills. I could see for miles, even to the sea. It was a relaxing and fun experience and exactly how I wanted to see Ireland. I wanted to ride a horse across the whole country. Things got a little excited when our horses got spooked by a car coming up behind us and started to run. Not a full canter but definitely a high paced trot which was fun and terrifying and a little funny. I was proud of myself for a. staying on the horse, and b. after not riding for at least 8 years, having my body react naturally to the change and being able to take hold of the situation (I was still freaked out though dont get me wrong here). After it all, I just liked being around horses. Horses are so chill. They know whats up. They don’t make me nervous at all. I walked into the stables that morning and couldnt stop smiling. I just love the way the look at you, and they’re so beautiful. I love how intuitive they are. I love petting their noses and shoulders and braiding their manes. Mom, I want a horse
After a beautiful morning, the bus came back to pick us up and brought us back into town where we had a little lunch in a cute little cafe called Poppies and watched the cyclists zoom by. Apparently cycling is very big in Enniskerry on the weekends with all the rolling hills.
guinness lake
After lunch the bus took us out into the Wicklow Mountain National Park to take it all in. It a landscape unlike any I’ve ever seen. The best way I can compare it to something I’ve seen before and so that everyone at home can sort of imagine it is, like, the gentle rolling hills of the Schoharie valley, butthen all of a sudden a large mountain a la the green mountains of Vermont pops up. Not many trees, lots of bushes, lakes and rocky streams. I bet its even more magnificent in the spring when the flowers come out. We saw Guinness Lake (named because apparently it looks like Guinness? Maybe? Also maybe because Arthur Guinness chose the location of the St James St Dublin Brewery because of its access to a really great water supply, one of which being the Wicklow Mountains?). It was beautiful and windy. On our drive, we stopped on a bridge at a spot called Sally Gap. Also known as the “P.S I Love You” bridge. If you’ve seen the 2007 Hillary Swank/Gerard Butler movie, its the bridge where Gerry first meets Holly. And I got to take a picture on the bridge! At the time, I did not care at all because I hadn’t seen the movie ( I have since watched the movie), but the spot did offer a beautiful picture moment.
The spot where it all started for Holly and Gerry. Unfortunately, a beautiful Irish man did not suddenly appear to fall in love with me after this picture was taken.
We traveled onward to Glendalough and the Monastic city which was a nice stroll around old ruinous monasteries and our tour guide told us many things about the growth of Catholicism in Ireland. I found that very interesting but retained very little of it. I do know that the Irish cross has the circle on it because of the Irish pagan roots and something about the sun. Something like that. After a walk through a little nature preserve while seeing two more lakes (hence the name Glendalough which means a glen between two lakes, apparently) and seeing LOTS OF DOGS, the bus took us back to Dublin. I was exhausted and slept the whole way back.
All markers face east towards the rising sun (one of the only things I remember)
That night for dinner, Jess and I headed to a pub called the Brazen Head, which promoted itself as Ireland’s Oldest Pub. The building’s foundations are from the 1700’s, but it has been the site of a pub since the late 1100’s. We warmed up (by the end of the day it got cold and rainy, so it goes) in the crowded pub and I had my first dish of Irish Stew. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten.
That night, I was in bed and sleeping by 10:30 pm.
This will go down as one of the best days of my life. Good food, friends, and getting out into nature in a country I’ve wanted to see for years, seeing dogs, riding horses. Beautiful.
I never thought I would be home sick. I always wanted to get out. How young and naive. But,
I really don’t want to be here right now. I miss my friends and my family. I miss the familiarity of home, wherever that is – capital region or plattsburgh. Seeing people I know, maybe not well or personally but being like, oh, she is in that sorority. Oh, he is on that team. Seeing teachers who know me. Seeing anyone I know and who knows me, other than my few friends here. I want to walk around and know I belong just because I saw a girl from that one class across the room and we smiled at each other. I miss friendly cafeteria workers and Tim Horton’s lady who knows my name and exactly how I like my tea. I miss people asking me how my day was. I miss understanding social ritual, knowing how things are supposed to go. I miss people walking at a normal speed. I miss being busy. I miss my therapists. Being able to walk into cvh and ask any question and have it answered. Going to the health center and not having to give my name because they know who I am. I miss my mom. I miss my dad. I even miss my brother. I miss my grandma and my papa. I miss good hot food. I miss 99¢ coffee at express. I miss downer chicken and fries. I miss my apartment. I miss being known and being wanted and seeing people smile. I want to fit in. I want to settle. I want to know. I want to understand. I want to make people smile. I want other people to make me smile.
I want to go home.
SO, this is really overdue, but, like, better late than never? yeah.
The Hostel
The hostel I stayed in was in a very good location in relation to all the places I wanted to go to, and a quick walk into the centre of the city, and very close to a ton of food options. The dorm I was in was a 24 person dorm which was … an interesting. Overall, not bad at all in terms of sleeping. People were pretty quiet and the lights were off at a reasonable time, and I felt like my things were safe in there. There were only three showers for everyone and the bathrooms were co-ed which was an experience in adjustment and surprise. Showering was an adventure as it worked by pushing a button that activated shower spraying luke warm water for a minute, tops, then having to press the button again. If I forgot to press the button again before time ran out it was a rude awakening. Suffice to say that I was definitely wide awake after my showers. There was a free small breakfast provided in the morning and a coffee bar within which was nice. It was only my second time staying in a hostel, and it was fine. I think it would be hard to call your time in a hostel “amazing,” you know, with the lack of privacy, always being around other people, crap showers, etc. But, I honestly do not mind staying in hostels. I’m 20 years old, I have my entire adult life to stay in boring Best Westerns and other hotels, and I’ve lived in a dorm and shared a bathroom with 40 other girls, I can handle a hostel for a few nights.
Night One
Once we all got settled in the hostel, it was time to find some food. Meaning I led everyone out of the hostel and down the street just looking for somewhere to eat, which was pretty much my main tactic for navigating Dublin the whole time. Basically looking down a street and saying “… hm.. lets go this way.” It proved to be a very good tactic because whatever road I walked down led us to The Hairy Lemon pub, which was recommended to Jess by a friend who had studied in Dublin previously. The placed was packed and the walls covered with tons of random things – currency from other countries, pictures, flags, mirrors. It was a great environment to start the trip. Later on, Jess and I went out in search for something to do somewhere, and following the “hm, lets go this way” strategy, we found a place called O’Neill’s where we headed up to the upper floor and spent a while drinking, chatting and listening to live irish folk music. It was so much fun and exactly what we were looking for when we set out that night.
Day One
The first day was dedicated to seeing major sights. Saint Patricks Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Trinity College Library & The Book of Kells, Grafton Street and St. Stephen’s Green. My favorite part of the day was Trinity College. The old library was absolutely amazing and I loved the exhibit on the Book of Kells, which also displayed information on other old manuscripts and the process of creating an illuminated manuscript and information on the illustrations in the books. I couldn’t imagine attending Trinity College, I don’t know if I could handle so many people wandering in and out of campus. I felt like I was intruding while I was there. However, I would not mind seeing the amazing architecture everyday!
That night, Jess & I went out on a pub crawl. After the minor hiccup of Jess and I losing the group and wandering around Temple Bar, we finally found our way back to them. It was a ton of fun, and an interesting way to meet people from around the world who were also visiting Dublin for various reasons.
Apologies for continuously having long overdue posts.
Two weeks ago, my dreams came true and I finally visited Ireland. While I was only in Dublin for most of my trip, I’d still count my trip as a major success. For as long as I can remember now, I’ve wanted to visit Ireland, and I even considered studying abroad there. Going on this trip was truly something I never thought I would be able to do, and after just getting a small taste of the Island and its culture, history and landscape, going back someday to see more of the countryside is one of the top items of my adult life to-do list.
Travelling to Ireland was very easy, logistically. Travelling with a suitcase that only had 3 of its 4 wheels over cobblestone streets and with five other girls in tow was slightly more difficult. We left Chester via train to Holyhead, Wales around 10:00 am on Friday. Holyhead is on the tip of Holy Island, a smaller island off a larger island on the northeast coast of Wales, just northwest of Snowdonia and Bangor. The train ride through Wales was absolutely beautiful and I hope I get the chance to see more of Wales before I leave. I think of people, especially Americans, write-off Wales (or even forget about it), but if you do visit the United Kingdom, make time to get out into the Welsh countryside because it is magnificent. It is like something out of a picturesque storybook, you won’t see a landscape like it anywhere else.
From Holyhead, we took a “ferry” directly into the port of Dublin. The transition from train to ferry is so easy on this trip. You can’t get lost because once you get off the train at the Holyhead station, you walk straight and you get to the waiting area for the ferry. From the train station, you’re boarded onto a bus that shuttles you further out to the docks and drives right onto the car decks of the ferry and you get off the bus and walk right up the stairs. Its absolutely foolproof.
When I booked my ticket on the ferry, I was not expected the boat I walked on to. I was expecting something like the Lake Champlain ferry with some seating room in an enclosed area. Kind of like the ferry that takes you to the Statue of Liberty, or one of those ocean science boat trips you can go on in Boston or Connecticut. I hope you understand what I am talking about when I say that (I know anyone who went on the SG 8th Grade Science Club trip knows what I’m talking about). When I walked up to the passenger decks, what I saw was a miniature cruise ship. There was a movie theatre, a restaurant, a cafe, a bar, sleeping cabins. Large expansive seating areas and a gift store. Jess and I grabbed coffee and some lunch and found a relatively quiet area with super comfy chairs, like the ones in the really nice movie theaters, and I let the boat rock me to sleep.
We finally arrived in Dublin around 6:30, disembarked from the ferry and took a taxi to our hostel. Our taxi driver was very nice and gave us a ton of tips about the city and pointed out major landmarks and told us cool little facts and tidbits you would otherwise not know about.
but I could have definitely stayed longer. By far my favorite part of the Tower of London was going to see the crown jewels. Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed inside, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget what I saw there. It is one thing to know crown jewels exist in the world, and to see someone wearing it on television or in a movie, but to actually see the real thing closely, it’s totally different, it’s mesmerizing. After that, I went to Elizabeth Tower aka ‘Big Ben’ (Big Ben is the bell inside, the clock tower itself is called Elizabeth Tower), the Palace of Westminster (Parliament buildings) and Westminster Abbey (where Will & Kate got married). There were so. many. people. I couldn’t even think. Thankfully, it was more relaxing with slightly less people around when I went back with 
while wandering around the canals, I discovered an antique market where I found a postcard from Albany, so obviously I bought it. That night we had a guided tour of the Red Light District. I was kind of nervous about my safety, but Amsterdam is the 5th safest city in the world, the tour guide was great and even gave us a little talk about how trustworthy and great the police in Amsterdam are. As he said, “you know our Police are good because they’re called ‘Politie’.” I learned a ton of cool stuff about the history of Amsterdam and the history of the sex industry and law making and how the district has changed over time. We were taken to the place that pioneered the sale of condoms, shown Amsterdam’s most popular sex theatre and peep shows (i didn’t see the peep show, just the place where they are,) and even saw a man trying to hire a prostitute. After, I had an amazing dinner at this placed called Wok to Walk which is basically a Chipotle for lo mein and it was DELICIOUS. Ended the night with a few drinks and people watching in the hostel bar. A fun, exciting, education and exhausting day!
which also had a line! Also worth it. I ate an amazing dutch pancake (like a crepe but maybe a little thicker) with peaches and cinnamon ice cream. So delicious. I love the food in Amsterdam. Later in the day, the weather cleared up so we spent some time walking around in the sun and exploring more, and did the same at night, taking a lot of pictures. I went to bed early that night in anticipation for my early morning flight.
No One Knows What's Happening 