Nothing could have made me happier than seeing my family over the holidays. Right now, I am sitting at my gate in JFK heading to my next adventure and thought I should whip out my laptop and write about this past week being HOME!

I arrived at EWR and met a Swedish girl that needed help getting to the city. Being the expert I am, I let her tag along and follow  me to NYC Penn Station where I was greeted by my dad and sister in an aggressive but loving bear hug. We spent 3 nights at the Manhattan Hotel on 52nd street (practically Times Square). We saw the Christmas Spectacular ft. the Rockettes and I finally saw Wicked! It was absolutely amazing, even my dad was laughing the whole time. On the last day we went to see the 9/11 memorial and museum and walked around Central Park at night.

Next we got a hotel in New Jersey near my brother’s house so we can see my cute little niece. She is seriously the cutest little thing on this earth. She is growing up and learning so fast. So, we spent Christmas with them and it was nice. I miss being with my family.

My dad and sister’s flight was a day before mine so I stayed with my aunt and uncle for a night. It was fantastic! My Nani was there as well and we opened up a bottle of wine or two and talked for hours. My uncle made his famous pizza and it was amazing. Then this morning I had lunch with some amazing close family friends. This trip has been a success.

Now I am here, an hour until I board my flight to a new place that I have never been before. My stomach is turning thinking about it. I am just so so excited to get back to traveling and exploring. I still have so much to see.

I hope that whoever is reading this, wherever you are, that you enjoyed the holiday season so far.  I said this in a past post, and it’s a bit vulgar for some, but there is truth to it in my life. Maybe this will be a thing I leave at the end of some post since it’s my life motto at the moment: keep traveling, keep exploring, keep fucking up and keep trying again. Until next time…

 

11 cities, 10 flights, 9 countries, 8 buses, 7 languages, 6 currencies, 5 shuttles, 4 continents, 3 layovers, 2 holidays…1 month.

First,  I began my adventure with a quick trip to Eilat, Israel. When we landed at the VDA airport, of course, out of me and my travel partner, Connor, I am the suspicious one and started to be questioned about every single detail of my life. The boarder control lady said my college part seemed very promising (totally sarcastic).

Anyways, we took a shuttle into the city and got a huge Israeli hummus platter and two strong-ass coffees. We then continued to hang out on the beach, got some beers and cigarettes, and just enjoyed the sunset. It was a very touristy city, but it was also a great introduction into this month long of many adventures.

I was so worried about 3 days before this trip thinking that I would get lost or not know where to go or what to do. And honestly, every exciting that happens is something that I did not plan and unexpected. My goals for the upcoming trips is to be more accepting of the fact that only so much is in my control. It all happens for a reason. I am a very prepared person and I worked hard to make everything smooth, but sometimes, things happen..this trip is teaching me to be o.k. with that!

 

New French word of the week: dents de sagesse…. otherwise known in English… Wisdom Teeth. Lets talk about the most horrifying and terrible experience of my life. Getting these two damn teeth out of my mouth caused so much havoc and pain it is kind of ridiculous. I went from crying from pain in kitchen (yes, my roommates were probably tired of me complaining but they stuck around!) to screaming on the dentist’s chair during surgery (I am still scarred for life) to crying and bleeding on the streets of Lille (shoutout to my roommate for picking me up from the dentist and dealing with my emotions) to being on bed-rest for almost 5 days.

Back to my roommates, I’ve already mentioned it a few times already in this post but I really love them at the moment. We have had our ups and downs but we are connecting so well right now and they have been supper supportive since my surgery. They have been patient and spending time with me and listening to me complain. Tonight, we had a movie night and had a family dinner (which they made me separate plate since I have temporary eating restrictions). I’m most definitely going to miss them.

Next update… I am about to embark on a huge adventure soon! I am crazy excited but also I am doing the thing where I get a little nervous right before.  What if it is a bad idea? What if I am not as smart as I think I am? Am I being safe? Am I making wise decisions? Etc… When I went to Istanbul, right before i was super nervous about my safety. I was traveling internationally for the first time alone and I was completely fine until 3 days before. Then all the sudden, I am nervous. What I ended up doing was making each decision one at a time. If I feel safe, I will so this, if not, I will do that. I am just going to do the same on this upcoming trip. I know I will have the time of my life…… 3 more days…

Also, just because I am on a coffee fast, these pictures below are during a happy time when coffee was still my best friend. (Don’t worry, I will return to you soon)

I tend to exaggerate a lot when I am stress about life. I have 12 days until my last class of the 1st semester and it feels like a million years away. I have four papers and a presentation to do. In two days I have to take an exam in a class I already failed in, and I have to come up with a way to make sure in the mean time I stay strong in my other classes. This is the part of this blog where shit starts to get real…

School will never be for me. Never. I will always try my best but I already know I wasn’t made to sit in a classroom. I am 110% left brained. And honestly, that’s okay. This season of my life will net last forever. One day, I will graduate and do something with my life. Who knows what that will be but I am positive it will be better than this.

Besides school directly, the house I live in seems to be under stress as well. We are all so close to the end that at times it feels like no one is trying anymore. We are literally a bunch of random kids from around the world that got put together for about 5 months in this interesting house in Wazemmes. I never had roommates before that I actually cared about. I didn’t understand that when you do bond with someone that lives in your house, it’s 10x more intense then some ordinary friendship. I know what it is like to fall in love with a person’s personality and mind, not in a romantic way but in a “I want to support you and love you so much that hurts” kind of way. I never thought that I would feel this way again, then I met some of my roommates. Of course, within a group, some will bond more with similar minds than the others, and again, that’s okay. I made my bonds. I made a few great friends for life. I care a lot about them. Each of them have their own personal quirks and tendencies that challenges me and helps me grow.

I am thankful for the parties. I am thankful for deep conversations at 2 in the morning. I am thankful for the travel buddies. I am thankful for this stupid group project that almost destroyed the house. I am thankful for the hard times. I am thankful for the music. I am thankful for movie nights.

14 days until everyone moves out….. I am thankful for these past few months with these people.

The photos below are from the last house party we hosted at our place. My highschool best friend came and as you can see, we all had a blast!

Hello again, Belgium. I always find myself coming back here. This time, my high school friend came over to Europe to visit me and we went to Ghent together. Freakin’ gorgeous is an understatement. It was very overcast the entire stay, which just made it seem more like a northern European city. At every turn, there was another beautiful church or castle within the city-center. And, of course, our airbnb was in the red light-district so we got to see women advertising their ‘business’ in the windows (I promise I had no idea before I book it). We drank a lot of beer, and shopped all day long.

During lunch, my friend mentioned that I’ve changed since being in Europe. And i think I agree. It is not a bad thing, I personally think it is great. I have become more outspoken, decisive, straight-forward, and intentional. My personal style have definitely improved. High-waisted pants are a must and the bigger the scarf, the better.  I think I like myself more now than I was back in Atlanta. I am also happy that myself can embrace my changes even if it’s not exactly the same as it used to be. I know this friendship is for the long run. It has been a breath of fresh air having a familiar face here with me.

ALSO, while I am here, i have a brag for a minute. I finally did my presentation for the class Sociologie Politique ALL IN FRENCH AND PASSED. I may have messed up in another class but I definitely pulled it together in this one. I am still not a huge fan of school and get super frustrated with it but these little accomplishments have to mean something. Who knows, maybe I will learn a thing or two this semester.

Anyways, keep traveling, keep exploring, keep fucking up and keep trying again. The first semester is almost over and somehow I am still alive…this must be a sign….

 

 

 

…Paris is amazing. It’s very stereotypical for me to gush over this city but honestly who can blame me? A year ago, I went on a school trip (even though I graduated already 🧐) to France and Spain. Paris was the first city I’ve ever been to in Europe, and for that, it will always hold a place in my heart. Even though there were restrictions and I got some of us in trouble by sneaking off to the Moulin Rouge (oops), I still got to explore and see what this city is about. It was it first time i had a full blown conversation in french with a native and i knew that I must come back again soon.

Fast forward to September 2018, I went again. Let’s just say that this time there were no restrictions and someone in my group I traveled with had a birthday on that day. Obviously, we must celebrate.

Sandwiches and wine in a park which we got kicked out of and lots of singing and jokes on the metro.

Paris, thanks for being there summer of 2017. You really started something.. I’ll see you again soon

This has been one of the most used phrases besides “ça marche” that I have used the past few months. Let’s get this straight, french is hard. I struggle everyday trying to learn and to be honest it’s not coming that easy to me anymore. If you knew me in high school, you would know that I was cocky as hell in french class and thought I ruled the world. I got the grades and I was confident. Fast forward, I’m no longer learning as fast as I used to. This is probably the most frustrating thing in the world since this is literally what I am studying at university.

My friends and family back home are giving me advice and letting me know that I will get it eventually. The best advice I got was “accept that you suck and move on. This is where you are and that’s ok. Keep learning and eventually you will suck less”. Abrupt, I know, but this person knew I needed a little kick in the ass.

I went to an event called Franglish tonight where you speak 7 minutes in English and 7 minutes in french with natives in a “speed dating” style. Best decision ever. I spoke so much french and I was understood! In celebration to that, I treated myself to a burger and a Christmas beer from les 3 Brassuers.

When you get a midnight text from your roommate if you want to go on a mini road trip to the beach, you have to say yes!

Honestly, I’ve always hated the beach. I know, unpopular opinion, but it’s true. What’s the point? You get in, you get out, you get sand everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE..it’s just not my jam. But I have to say, i was so relaxed and just all around happy this day. We did everything I hate about being at the beach, and that was just laying there for hours….i loved every minute of it. I slept, I listened to music, I got a beer (it’s Belgium remember?), and watched the sunset.

Damn, I lucked out with these roommates of mine.

My first trip since living in France.. of course it had to be Brussels. It cost me €5 on the Ouibus and was only an 1h ½ away. Let’s talk about beer, let’s talk about waffles, let’s talk about beer again, and more beer??

Obviously we went on a brewery tour and drank wayyy too much but hey, it’s Brussels remember?

We decided on making no plans on this trip. Everything was going to be “go with the flow” and I’m so glad we did just that. We found ourselves at this gorgeous park at sunset and ran into a pavilion that had a band playing. The best music and the best food and you guessed it.. the best beer ever! We danced the night away and met another group of people that invited us to their house party.

We ended up finding a corner in the park, beer in hand, blasting music on the stereo and giving the entire town a personal concert. I sang my heart out to Jason Derulo until both of our phones died and we had to try to remember how to get back to our hostel. It took FOREVER but eventually we found it and we crashed.

I love this life. I love traveling. I love speaking french when it’s actually going well. Can we forget about school and responsibilities? Can this please be my job forever??

I LOVE LILLE AND I NEVER WANT TO LEAVE. Honestly, if that was the only thing I wrote on this post, it would be accurate enough. My first few days in Lille was during the Braderie. It’s this huge festival where everyone sells their stuff on the street like a market and there’s also music and drinks and lots and lots of dancing. Even to this day, two months after I have arrived in this amazing city, I can truthfully say I have danced every single day.

Let’s also have a shoutout to my roommates. Ya girl definitely lucked out on this one.. they are fantastic. There are 7 of us in this house (yes, it gets crowded in the kitchen often) and I love it.

Can we talk about the OFII process and getting everything set up in France? Why is it difficult? Finally everything is sorted and I’m officially legal in France (woohoo) but man, that was a struggle.

Also, I guess I have to talk about my school since it’s the reason I was able to come here in the first place. Sciences Po is a gorgeous school….a little hard for me…but I’m handling it…hopefully. French hasn’t been my friend lately and it’s been a big disappointment to not be as fluent as my peers but ya know what… practice makes perfect. Actually, I just went to this “language speed dating” thing, suggested by my church, where you speak 7 minutes in English and 7 minutes in french with natives. A win win situation for everyone!