When I came back home, it was as if I had never left. Which was a strange feeling. I had changed and no one else had, it felt like. The time change was the worst: I was so tired and felt so sluggish for a good week. I had to go to work the very next day after getting home and that was so strange!

I hope I get to go back to London and explore everything I didn’t get to this time around.

I climbed the Eiffel Tower this last weekend. I felt so free. I have wanted to do that my whole life and I finally got the chance to do so! The view was breathtaking.

Paris was pretty, too. And the food! Oh my goodness the food was delicious, probably the best food I have ever had.

I want to go back and bring my mom with me. She would love it

I went to Scotland last weekend. I felt like I was home. It was a strange yet familiar feeling. Edinburgh is such a beautiful city; so green and full of hills and ripe with culture – probably more so than London. When you’re in Scotland, you can just feel that it is the home of the Scots. In London, it is home to many, many people. Edinburgh just had a small-town feel – which I really like. I want to go back.

My feet ache from climbing Mt. Arthur, from which I could see all of Scotland at the top. I’ll never forget it.

My Shakespeare class is so fun. The field trip days are long but I enjoy them; I am learning so much.

We went to Titus Andronicus a few days ago at The Globe theatre; to stand and watch a play in a place that is rife with so much history was incredible. I felt like a part of history. Not to mention, it was a great play. Very bloody, which I like. I did not know Shakespeare wrote such horrific plays.

A girl named Kate and I wandered around Central London yesterday. Not being able to drive is so lovely. Walking gets tiring but I love it. I am able to stop and really look at things, which is nice and something I do not generally do at home. Maybe I should start.

London is so different from America. My first few days here were overwhelming, exciting, exhausting and ridiculously stimulating. Once I got my wits about me, however, I began to relax and meet people and figure out how to wonder alone on my own without getting lost. It is easy to get lost here but I have discovered it is also easy to get back. Tube stations are everywhere; you just have to know which tube stop leads to home. I feel as though a lot of this month is going to be trial-and-error. Which is fine by me. That’s the exciting part about traveling!

I am really nervous. I have never been away from home for so long before, much less in another continent! I am really excited, though. It will be a great experience and I look forward to all that I will learn. Mom cried as she watched me go through security. I am sad to leave family but all I can focus on is the fact I am going to London and fulfilling a dream!

In three weeks I will be home with my family! (I MISS YOU!!!) I can hardly wait to give them all big hugs, sleep in my own bed and take a bath. I can hardly wait to get doggie kisses from Dexter and Kico and get cat hair all over my clothes. I can hardly wait to be back in Oregon. Honestly, I’m actually even excited to go back to school in just over a month. WOoooU!

I am in love with Barcelona; the people, the culture, living by the beach, and big city life. I’m going to miss all the walking, (Spanish) tortilla, and my new friends. I will miss this city. I’m going to miss going new places every weekend, cheap flights to London and the thousands of years of history found in Europe. Sometimes, I just might even miss the crying baby and barking dog that live next door. As much as I am going to miss it here, I miss my family more. I can’t wait to see you guys!

Someone just hurry up and figure out teleportation already! (and make it cheap, please)

The first week has been great. I got to Querétaro, Mexico last Thursday morning and stayed in a hotel until Sunday. I got to my host family on Sunday and got all moved in. My host family has seven and almost eight people in it. There are the Grandparents, Isabel and Raúl, the two daughters Monique and Isabel. Monique is married to Martín and has two kids one is four and one is 10. Isabel has a boyfriend so maybe they will be getting married soon! My family has two dogs and a beautiful three story house.
I have already learned so much on my trip, my Spanish is improving quickly and starting Monday a couple girls and I are doing an all Spanish week. No speaking English allowed! This week was the first week of classes which have been hard because only one professor speaks English and the other two classes are a conversation class and composition class. The professors are more formal here and you have to treat them very respectfully, which is how it should be! I also learned you cannot eat or drink in class unless it is water.
One aspect of the Hispanic culture I have really had to get use to is the sense of time. Everyone here has their own schedule and their own time frame. A lot of times people just will not makes plans but then expect that you all are ready to do whatever. My friends and I always joke that speed limits and red lights are optional here because no one here really follows them. The traffic here is also insane. I have no clue how anyone drives in this place! I take the bus and taxi almost everywhere I go. It is very interesting because in the United States we have very strict schedules and rules and we follow them. Something I really love in the culture here is during the week the mom prepares meals when people are hungry and we usually eat La Comida together. However on Sundays everyone one eats La Comida together and this Sunday we had a BBQ outside with chorizo and carne asada.
I have seen a lot of the Centro area and Colonial areas of Querétaro and I am in love with every part of it! The streets are cobblestone and the buildings are older and colonial looking. After exploring the city we went on our first weekend trip and that was to Mt. Bernal. The elevation is 2510 m tall and I hiked all the way up with my group. The view from the top was breathtaking. Querétaro is so green and beautiful with rolling hills and small cities I could have stayed up there forever. After climbing the mountain we got to explore the city of Bernal and look in some local shops and get ice cream. Next weekend we are going to Mexico City and I am so excited!

Hasta Luego!

Week 2 flew by and it was a blast. During the week the study abroad group went to a restaurant to watch one of the fútbol games and see the culture when there is a game going on. The restaurant was pretty full but nothing compared to when México was playing in the world cup. When México played people would fill the restaurants and then there would be people overflowing into the streets just trying to watch the game in the restaurants. In one of the plazas there was a TV set up and people were watching the game, setting off fireworks, playing music and having a great time. The scene was definitely really cool to see.
During the week I would usually stay home and do homework and I watched Harry Potter with my family one night. The professors definitely keep you busy with homework. I usually do homework from after Comida to when I go to bed. It’s crazy! There are some very culturally different things in México, aside from paying to use a bathroom, which is usually 5 pesos, there are also almost never toilet seats on the toilets! It’s just the toilet bowl. Also the men here are very forward with how they feel and sometimes it feels like they think they have a right to tell you what they think and if they want to dance with you they usually don’t take no for an answer.
For the weekend, the study abroad group went to México City and went to various museums and the Aztec Pyramids. I climbed to the top of the a smaller temple and was able to see some of the inside. I also climbed to the top of the Sun Temple. The altitude was huge and it was actually really challenging to climb however, there were grandmothers climbing up there just like me and some passed me!! We went to the museum of art and saw a Pablo Picasso exhibit along with art that told the history of México. We went to the museum of anthropology which was huge, we saw how humans evolved into the people we are today, we saw archeological sites which included underneath the now México city, before it was Tenochtitlán which was an Aztec city. When Tenochtitlán was conquered by the Spañards they built their building right on top of the Aztec houses and temples. As archeologists are discovering more of the city the citizens get to see a big part of their culture. We saw some underground burial chambers and we also saw where temples were being dug up in the city, which is cool because we only saw the tops of them because they are so far down. We also had the opportunity to see the sacrificial stone that people were sacrificed on. Another place that showed the history of México was the Plaza of Three Cultures. This plaza is in the middle of three major landmarks that are from different cultures and they had a lot to do with the revolution that took place. We got to see Chapultepec Castle which was turned into a museum telling the story of the royal people who lived in the castle before the revolution.
We also visited Xochimilco which is referred to as the Mexican Venice. There are beautifully decorated boats that you get on with a guide who takes your boat down the canals. The boats at Xochimilco are big party places and there were lots of celebrations happening when we went. People will also hop from boat to boat if they want to or see a girl they want to talk to! The culture there was wonderful, it is definitely a place people should go if they want to see some of the culture. The last place we went to was Frida Kahlo’s house. This was also turned into a museum and there were many cultural clues in the house. The house was bright blue on the outside and so colorful on the inside.
My Spanish has improved so much and now I understand why people go on study abroad trips! Week 2 flew by and I know week 3 will as well.

The aquaducts in the city.

This last weekend Peyton, Kylie and I went home with our friend Isha to Mumbai for the weekend. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision after canceling our initial plan to Goa because of the weather forecast being 100% chances of thunder and lightening storms. Turns out Goa had beautiful weather that weekend and Mumbai was pouring, often times flooding the streets. Regardless of the weather conditions I am so thankful we made the decision to travel home with Isha. We spent the weekend eating homemade food and exploring her city. From street shopping to seeing the “Gateway of India” we were able to get a slight taste of the city life which was a refreshing change after being surrounded by rural villages for a month.

Our mode of transportation for our 7 hour journey to Mumbai would be a sleeper bus. I have never really been on a public transit bus in the States, so you can only image my anxiety regarding a “sleeper” bus in India. Surprisingly it was great! Because all of my germ-a-phobe tendencies have gone out the door along time ago I didn’t mind the fact that the pillows and sheets were ready made (unclean) and the bus was set up as if every row were bunk beds. Isha and I were on the top and Kylie and Peyton were right below us. After talking with Ishas friends who were also going home for the weekend on one of their bunks we returned to our own to try and get some sleep before our big weekend in the city. I covered my pillow with my jacket, curled up with the shawl the Isha brought for me to sleep with and when I woke up we were in Mumbai. We left Loni at around 10:30pm on Friday and we arrived in Mumbai at around 5am tired and hungry. We took a rickshaw from the bus stop to Ishas home where we met her family and ate the best home cooked breakfast I’ve had in a very long time. Saturday was Ishas moms birthday we so we were able to celebrate with her and the rest of their family and later family friends.

The rest of the week consisted of good food, family time at home playing games and learning “Indian poker” and adventures in the city visiting the queens necklace on marine drive, the Gateway of India and one of the highlights of our trip street shopping. While street shopping Isha taught us the technique to bargaining which will hopefully come in handy our last week as we travel around India by ourselves.

The trip to the city to go street shopping was an experience in itself. We took the public railway which is so crowded it is easy to loose each other in the shuffle. When the reached the platform where we would be catching the train Isha told us to push our way on when the train comes. I didn’t really know what she meant by that until our train pulled up with people hanging out all sides. As the train was coming to a stop people were flooding out climbing over one another as other people were simultaneously pushing their way on. Literally pushing each other on or off. Now the train stops for maybe a few seconds before it takes off again so it was very chaotic to say the least. A little panicked we opted to wait for the next train. Now a little more prepared we waited and as the train came to a stop we pushed our way on, myself first, then Kylie, then Peyton as I looked back the train started moving with Ishas head no where in sight, after a few moments of shear panic I saw her smiling face. Instantly relieved we all made it on the train we found a seat and rode the train to Colaba Cauwsy.

Overall our weekend in Mumbai was the best one I’ve had here in India. I am so thankful to Isha and her family for taking us in and treating us so well. I felt so comfortable immediately after meeting her family, which made for a very enjoyable weekend. I was able to stay up late and talk with her parents as they shared stories and their family photo albums. If I’m ever in Mumbai again their home will be my first stop.

So thankful to have met this amazing family!

Queens necklace with the girls

The Gateway of India! We met up with Murtaza who was home for the holiday weekend as well.

Myself, Kylie and Sasha, (Ishas sister) in the back of a rickshaw on our way to the mall.

So excited to have found Starbucks in Mumbai!

Ishas mom sending me home with goodies!