French Kissing Life...

Saturday June 14th:
So John and I went to the Hof and got stuff to make dinner and made the most amazing chicken-curry with basmati rice ever!! Then afterwards we went to the Kleiner Mohr and watched the Sweden-Espana game!! Espana won! woohoo!! Then we stuck around for the Russia-Greece game and Kayla/Jeff and Eric joined us. We hung out there for a while and then walked back to my apartment and I went to bed.

Sunday June 15th:
I woke up and worked on some stuff and putzed around all day. Nothing exciting.

Monday June 16th:
I woke up and dragged myself to Starbucks to write. I got there and a story idea came to me. I sat there for over 4 hours punching out word after word, it was fabulous!! Anna came halfway through and talked to me for a while and then left again and I continued writing. Then I went home and made myself something for dinner and watched a movie and went to bed.

Tuesday June 17th:
I woke up and went to class. After class I went to AJY and had lunch and then went to class from 4-6. After class I RUSHED back to my apartment for a aim date with KIR!!!! We talked for over 4 hours online. It was UNBELIEVABLY amazing :) I miss her SO much its ridiculous. We caught up on almost everything and it felt so good to just know that she's as excited about me coming back to the states as I am... I really miss her... then I went to bed around midnight-ish.


Wednesday June 18th:
I woke up and had class from 11-1 then went to AJY and met Anna for lunch at the mensa. We sat in the mensa from 1ish until 4 and got kicked out and sat on the fountain in the middle of Uniplatz until 5:30ish. I ended up crying for almost the majority of the time and it was good because we hadn't actually talked in quite a while. Then I left and went to the hof to get stuff for dinner and came back home to eat dinner. Then around 8:30 I headed over to the Central Pub to try and watch the Espana soccer game, but because they were automatically advancing the Pub wasn't going to play that game when Russia-Sweden was more important. Damnit. So I sat there with Anna and Kayla for about an hour and then headed back home and went to bed.

Thursday June 19th:
I woke up and went to Praktikum. The kids were pretty bad and didn't want to do their activity so I sent them back to the classroom and left around 10ish. Then I came home and showered and went to starbucks to read for a while. I started feeling kinda crappy while I was at starbucks. Then I went to Pop Musik and went to Creative Writing and Audra said she was leaving early so I told the professor I had to leave early too. The Germany-Portugal game was being televised on Uniplatz so I met Anna/Kayla/John/Davor at Uniplatz for a while and Pat/Becca showed up for a few minutes and then they left...and about 15 minutes into the game I went home. I got home and called Dad at work and talked to him for a while, then called Mom and Sarah who were in LA and then went to bed.

Friday June 20th: MARGARET'S WEEKEND IN HEIDELBERG!
I woke up and told praktikum I couldn't make it that I was sick. Then around 1ish I went to hauptbahnhof and picked Margaret up!! We came back to the apartment to drop her stuff off and then made our way to the Altstadt. We went and had coffee at my favorite little coffee shop and then went to AJY to send emails/find out about dinner plans from other AJYers. Anna was the only one free that night so we decided to eat around 5:30 so that we'd have time to make it to the Turkey-Croatia soccer game. So Margaret and I left and went to the Heidelberger Zuckerladen with Alison and that was really fun!! We didn't get anything, but we helped Alison play the game! hah! Then afterwards we walked up and down hauptstrasse searching for Kinder Eier couldn't find any so we sat down and listened to a street performer. Then around 5:30, Anna met up with us and we went to the Schnitzelbank for dinner. I had TWO big schnitzels and a HUGE plate of Bratkartoffeln. DELICIOUS!!!!!! Afterwards I felt really crappy again, and we went to Mohrs to watch the game with Kayla/Jeff/Cece. We sat there until after 11 because the game went into over time and then to "Piekeys" (sp?) and in the end Turkey won. Damn. That meant Germany would be playing Turkey next... after the game we walked back to Bismarckplatz and went home to sleep.
Me, Anna and Margaret outside of Schnitzelbank after our FABULOUS dinner!

Saturday June 21st:
We woke up, got ready and headed to the bakery down the block to get breakfast and then made our way to the Zoo! We met Anna/Jeff/Cece/Kayla at the Zoo. We spent a good amount of time at the Zoo and I got sick halfway through. Then around 4ish we came home and went to the grocery store because Margaret's cousin and his girlfriend were coming over for dinner. So we got stuff for dinner and then came home and I took an hour nap and felt worse when I woke up. Not a good sign. Her cousin came and Anna made spaetzle for dinner and then they all left around 8ish. I told Margaret I wasn't feeling well, so we went to the Hof and got junkfood and came back and had Kayla over to watch P.S. I Love You. Then Kayla left and I stayed up the entire night because I couldn't sleep. Fabulous.

Sunday June 22nd:
I was SO sick. Margaret woke up and went to the PX to get me meds...and then went out with Anna to see the rest of Heidelberg, while I slept. Margaret left around 5ish and then Anna came back and made me dinner. Then Anna left to watch the Espana soccer game and I tried to sleep. Around 11ish I started panicking and had Anna come back over to keep me company. Well, I ended up getting ridiculously sick... not good. Anna took SUCH good care of me. She's truly an angel... around 3am I finally fell asleep.

Monday June 23rd:
I slept until 12ish and then continued to sleep/watch movies the rest of the day.

Tuesday June 24th:
I woke up and went to the doctors at 11. I got seen at 2:30 (joy) and he took blood because he was worried that my glands were swollen and I was constantly tired. After the docs I went home and slept for a while and then had a meeting at 6 at AJY. I went to my meeting and then came back home-made soup and went to bed.

Wednesday June 25th:
I woke up and had class from 11-1, then had lunch with Kayla and Cece. We went and had sushi which was really yummy and then afterwards I had a meeting at 2 to finish my presentation stuff with my group and at 3 I had coffee with Maressa. We had a great coffee date and at 4:30 I met Anna and went shopping for Kayla's birthday gift. I got her stuff from LUSH and then went home to shower/get meds for Anna who was now sick (crap) and then rushed to meet Anna at Mohr's for dinner. We had dinner at Mohrs and then were joined by Jeff/Cece/Kayla/Nelly to watch the Germany-Turkey game. Germany won which was SUPER EXCITING and we walked back to Bismarckplatz with the entire group and met up with Pat and the Wartburg group-which was awkward. Then around 12, Anna and I walked back home and I went to bed.The four AJY girlies at Mohrs watching the Germany-Turkey soccer Semi-finals!! It's Nelly, Kayla, Anna and me.

Kayla and me after Germany kicked Turkey's butts!! Woohoo!

Thursday June 26th:
I woke up and felt HORRIBLE. I slept maybe 4 hours and simply couldn't sleep anymore. So I skipped praktikum and ended up sleeping until 11 after being up from 4-6. I woke up and had to get ready to go to Paris that night. I felt awful all over again tho...it was horrible. I went to the PX to get medication and then met Kayla/Anna for Kayla's birthday lunch. After lunch I came home and skipped my classes and slept the whole time. I woke up and made pasta and choked it down-then began to pack. Halfway through packing, Whitney called me from Italy!!! We talked for an hour which was AMAZING and then said goodbye for a little over a week! Then I finished packing and went to Hauptbahnhof with Charis to head to Paris!! We had decided we'd take the bus with Eurolines because it was 50 euros round trip-dirt cheap! So we were supposed to be picked up 9:45...but the bus pulled in at 11. Fabulous. We got on the bus and I took an Advil PM and slept the whole way.

Friday June 27th: PARIS!!!!!
We pulled into Paris at 6:18 and got off the bus and had to find out way to Aunt Patti's. We got in line for the metro and bought tickets and took it to the very last stop and got off. We got off and waited about 5 minutes and Aunt Patti showed up! We walked from the stop to the apartment and talked the whole time-it was great. We got there and Aunt Patti went to get fresh croissants for breakfast. I was feeling HORRIBLE so I asked if she had tea and she made me green-tea and honey and I must have drank a million cups all day. Well David came down and I got to see him for 5 minutes which was nice, but Ben was sick so he wasn't going to work that day. So David left, we had breakfast and afterwards we were taken to David's room where two beds were waiting *sigh* and we slept until 1:15. Then we got up and each took showers-in a REAL shower! It was FANTASTIC!!! Altho I have to say that the bed I slept in was the best thing about the entire trip. It was the most comfortable bed I have EVER slept in. Hands down. After I got ready, we went down to have lunch with Aunt Patti who was home on her lunch break. She brought the BEST ham&cheese sandwhiches Ive EVER had and I must've eaten a TON. It was so delicious. I had more tea and then we went up to check on Ben. He emerged and we talked for a few minutes and it was really good to see him :) Then Aunt Patti left and we talked to Ben a bit more and then we left! We walked to the 82 bus and took the bus all through Paris. It was a gorgeous ride. We got off at Tour Eiffel and were legit under the Eiffel Tower!!!! We walked around the Eiffel Tower took our pics and then walked up to the Trocadero to take more pictures of the Eiffel Tower. It was so strange being up there, I had these intense flashbacks to running around the Trocadero with Ben & David in our light up sneakers when we were 4 and 5 years old. It was so strange. Then Charis and I took the metro from Trocadero to the Champs Elysee to go shopping/see the Arc de Triomphe! We got off the metro and watched some street performers for a while and then went to the Arc de Triomphe to take our pictures. Afterwards, we walked the Champs and window shopped. We bought ourselves Starbucks for 4.70 euros (Talls mind you...RIDICULOUS) and then went to the infamous Sephora! Charis bought somethings and then we decided we were exhausted and headed back home. We took the metro to Pont de Neuilly and didn't have directions to get home-so I decided I could figure it out and led the way. We walked along the Seine River and eventually got to number 68 :) I had done it!! We walked in and Aunt Patti was there setting things up for appetizers. She had bought amazing cheeses, baguettes, Foie Gras, and other things. SO GOOD! Then Uncle Richard got home and we all moved into the living room to talk. THEN we got to call my FAMILY!!! It was SO good to talk to my parents on the PHONE. Gosh I miss them. Then while Aunt Patti was talking to my Mom, Uncle Richard pulled out all the old photos and we looked through them. He was amazed at how much I remembered from our previous trips to Paris and when they visited us in Germany. Afterwards we hung out in the living room for a while and then Aunt Patti made steaks and melon for dinner. We ate around 8:30ish and then sat down to watch some TV while we waited for Margaret to show up. We got to watch AMERICAN BASEBALL!!!!!!! Granted it was the Cubs vs. White Sox...but still! It was baseball and I flipped out. Then around 12 Margaret showed up!!!! We talked about our plans for the next day and then went to bed.
The Eiffel Tower up close and personal! It had a ring of gold stars on it, not sure why, but it was definitely more amazing in person than I thought it was going to be.
The Arc de Triomphe! Simply gorgeous :)

Saturday June 28th:
We woke up at 8:30 and all tumbled into Margaret's bed. Too lazy to get up right away we laid there giggling for a while and then got out of bed and each got ready for our busy day. We went down stairs and Aunt Patti had fresh croissants, eggs, yogurt, fruit ready for us. Amazing. Then She gave us 3 tickets to the Louvre!! Free! Omg! We left the house around 10 and walked to Pont de Neuilly and took the Metro to George V. We got off and looked for Deutsche Bank...they didn't have an ATM so then we went to Barclays on the champs and walked all the way down through the Champs and through to the Tuileries and through the Tuileries and made our way up to the Louvre. We stopped at a Paul's sandwhich stand, got our sandwhiches and ate sitting outside the Louvre. Then we already had tickets so instead of standing in line, we walked straight through. Amazing. We spent over 3 hours in the Louvre looking at so many things. It was all unreal. It was really powerful simply being in the Louvre. I'm not a big art museum fan but everything in the Louvre was extremely famous and here I was, a 20 year old, standing looking at things that were thousands of years old. Unreal. Of course we visited Mona...and Napoleon's apartments...and then around 2:30ish we left to go get coffee. We walked down Rue de Rivoli and got coffe at Palais Royal Cafe and got hit on by the waiter which was fun and then went shopping down Ru de Rivoli for a while. Then around 5 we headed back home. We got home and had until 6:30 to get ready to go out that night. We got all ready and then went to dinner with Aunt Patti and Uncle Richard. They took us to this amazing steak and frites place where you don't even order you simply say how you like your steak. Then they bring you a plate of steak and frites (fries) and the steak has this amazing green sauce covering it. YUM!! Then the BEST part...YOU GET SECONDS!!! Needless to say, we were stuffed. So we ate and ate and ate and afterwards we got up and decided to walk through the Left Bank a little. They took us all over the left bank-through the Latin quarters and made our way to the Notre Dame where we got to take our Notre Dame pictures and go inside for a bit. Then they took us across the bridge to their favorite ice cream place (YUM) and we had ice cream and watched some street performers and then they walked us back through the Latin Quarters to the bar that the boy told us to go to "Long Hop". The walk with my Aunt and Uncle was by FAR the best part of the entire trip. They took us to all these cool places-but the best was Shakespeare & CO. Its a tiny bookstore thats the PERFECT bookstore-its truly a paradise. The even cooler part is that the owner, George Whitman, decided that his bookstore would be a place for aspiring writers and renowned writers to have a place to rest their heads if needed and a place for reference books to look through and write if they need it. So the room above the bookstore part is covered in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with THOUSANDS of old books dating back to the 1800s and the walls that aren't covered in books have notes from authors who've written there. Hemingway-being one of them. The bed that they slept on is still there as well. HOLY CRAP! It was unreal. I felt like crying...but I kept it together. Uncle Richard really knew where to take me... So at around 11 they dropped us off at Long Hop and headed home while we attempted to get in the party mood. We walked in-realized it was too early and went for a walk around trying to figure out where to go first. We couldn't find anything so we went back to Long Hop and got a drink. They had Strongbow on TAP! So we all got a Strongbow and sat in the bar that was SWELTERINGLY HOT for about an hour. It had the potential to be a cool bar-but we were there too early, were too tired and didn't know anyone. So around 12 we left and went to the Trocadero to take pictures with the Eiffel Tower at night. We did that and then headed home. Got home around 1:30ish and went straight to bed.
Charis, Margaret and me in front of the Louvre!!

Margaret, Charis and me in front of the Seine river and Notre Dame!THIS my friends, is Shakespeare & CO. UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING.

I kinda like this picture of the Notre Dame :)

Sunday June 29th:
We woke up around 8:30 again and got ready to head out. We had fresh croissants waiting for us (unreal) and figured out how to get back to Shakespeare & CO. We took the metro there, got out and walked around the Left Bank. We went back to Shakespeare & CO and took pics/bought a t-shirt and then continued through the Left Bank shopping for things. It was gorgeous out and we enjoyed the time we had. Then around 12ish we went back to pack and get ready to leave. We said goodbye to Margaret right when we got back...sadness...and then Charis and I had lunch with Aunt Patti who brought back fresh ham and baguettes and veggies/fruits. Then she packed us dinner for the bus and we packed our bags and around 2:30 we left. :( She walked us back to the Metro and then we took the Metro to the bus station. We got on the bus and took the bus all the way back and got home around 12am. Amazing weekend...truly amazing.

Monday June 30th:
Today I woke up and showered/got dressed and went to meet Jesse and Manuel at AJY at 1. We did our powerpoint for Wednesdays class and then around 4pm I left AJY and went to the hof to get food for the week. Then I came home and uploaded my paris pictures on Facebook and then went to class at 7. We didn't have to stay so I came home and updated my blog-talked to my sister and am now getting ready to go to bed early so that I don't relapse and get sick again. I'm desperately trying to figure out a way to go back to Paris-although we'll see if it'll work out...I only have 21 days left officially which makes me SO HAPPY but also sad that I may not be able to go back to Paris for a 2nd time. But we will see. Whitney comes on Saturday and I am SO excited!! Then she leaves on the 11th after my birthday! After next Thursday the 10th (my 21st!) I'll officially be done with ALL my school work-which is SUPER nice. Thank god. Then it's...HOME!! I can't wait to talk to all of you in person or via cell again. I miss you all SO SO SO much!!!! Love love love!!

Xoxo,
Becca

PS. For the rest of my Paris pictures click here and here.

On The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful...

Wednesday June 4th: ESPAÑA TRIP!!!!!!!!
I woke up around 7ish, straightened my hair and finished packing then went to AJY to make copies of my passport/visa/drivers license and tell Heckmann/Tracy we were going to Spain for the weekend, just so someone knew. Then I went to Sbux to get myself a coffee and got on the bus to head back. Fab from the Wartburg got on the bus and sat next to me and it was the first time we've ever talked. He's a cool kid :) We talked all about Spain and how excited I was and how much I was gonna have and then we got off at Adenauerplatz and took seperate trams home. I got home, grabbed my bag and headed to the Hauptbahnhof. I met Jesse there and then Kayla showed up. We boarded the bus that would take us to Frankfurt Hahn! We rode that bus for almost 3 hrs then got to the airport and got a few pastries before Kayla and I said goodbye to Jesse and boarded our plane. We got to Spain around 5pm and had to figure out how to get from the airport to the Hostel. So took the Metro to a stop, got off and then took a bus right to our hostel! We checked in and were assigned to room 14 beds 8 and 9. We took our stuff upstairs and there were three boys in our room already. We said hi and they looked at us weird and didnt respond so we were like uh..ok? and dropped our stuff off and then headed out to explore! We walked up and down Plaza de La Reina and then made our way to Plaza Ayunmeinto which was GORGEOUS. We settled for a place around Plaza Ayunmeinto and had our first Paella experience! Oh my god...I think I'm in LOVE with Spanish food. I had Paella Valencia (their signature!) with Chicken and Rabbit and altho I'm not a big Rabbit fan...the rest of it was FABULOUS!! I'm hooked. Afterwards we walked around a little bit more trying to find the grocery store that was apparently near the Hostel, and then went back to our hostel and afterwards went back out to get a cider at a bar on Plaza de La Reina. It was more like Champagne than cider...but it was still good and we were able to catch a few minutes of the Espana-USA soccer game that was on TV. Then we went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Thursday June 5th: The Food Market and La Bolseria!!
We woke up and Kayla went running and came back and said there was an awesome market we had to go to so we got ready and headed over there. We stopped and got a pastry at a little shop and then went to the food market. It was by FAR the coolest thing I've ever seen-food wise. It was a HUGE market where they sold literally EVERYTHING from fresh meat to fresh veggies/candy/breads/fruits/cheeses/etc. We walked around and got another pastry and then decided we'd do a stirfry for dinner. So we tested out Kayla's minimal Spanish and got a bunch of veggies from this one lady for less than 3 EUROS! SO SO SO CHEAP!!! Then I went and got a chicken breast from one of the meat ladies. It was the BIGGEST chicken breast I've ever seen. And it was only 2 euros. So then we left and walked around trying to figure out where the grocery store was again and ended up walking down their main "drag" for shopping instead. We walked in and out of stores and found their version of Kaufhof or Macys and in the basement was a grocery store (Woo!) so we did some more shopping for breakfast essentials and such and then went back to drop all the groceries off at the hostel. We decided we may as well attempt to go to the beach so we got ready and headed towards the buses. Thats when we saw the grocery store that's closest to the hostel! Woo! So we went to the beach and sat there for maybe an hour then it got over cast and we decided we should head back before we got SOAKED. So we went back and took the metro back to our area. We got off and went to the grocery store and bought bread because we were STARVING. Then went home and cooked dinner! Our dinner was UNREAL!! That chicken was by FAR the best chicken I've had in a really really long time.

After dinner we napped for a little while and then got ready to go out. We decided to test out a place called La Bolseria which we had heard from a book was really good. So we went downstairs around 10ish and asked where it was located. They said since it was pouring it would be better to take a cab and so we went outside and for the first time in my life-I hailed a cab! haha! We got in and the driver took us there and it was 5 euros for the whole ride which wasn't bad at all. We got out of the cab and walked in and the place was SO cool. It was decorated in a Bohemian (sp?) theme. it was about 10:45 when we got there and it was DEAD. Apparently the Spaniards don't start to party until really late. So Kayla and I ordered a drink and sat and talked for a while. Thats when we noticed the bartender. HOLY COW!!!! I have never.in.my.life. seen someone so attractive. He was the sexiest person I have ever seen. Holy shit. Tall-dark-Spanish-fit-put together-scruffy..mmm! So Kayla and I tried to talk to him a little and it failed because he only spoke Spanish *sigh* and we only spoke English and German. So we simply sat and stared. I swear there was drool. Then around 1ish people started to arrive-thank god. We hung out for a while but it was kinda lame, so we left and went to another bar down the street called Radio City. We got kinda turned around and lost and ended up exploring more of Valencia and then made our way to Radio City. We walked in and it was the total opposite of La Bolseria. It was grungy and dirty and smokey and the people weren't dressed up at all. They were in jeans and torn tshirts and greasy. So we walked around to see what it was like and got stopped by these three guys. One spoke horrible English so we attempted to talk but it was pretty discombobulated. The one who spoke a little English was Paco...and one of the other ones was Nacho (no joke) and we can't remember the 3rd ones name. Paco kept trying to get me to dance with him and I simply said no. He ended up burning my arm with his cigarette (still have that mark..) and his 3rd friend kept asking Kayla to "you...kiss...me?" hahah. The best part was that halfway through the conversation Paco began to roll a joint in the middle of the club (WTF?). So we made up some excuse about our parents needing us back at the hotel and left. Sketchy. We took a cab back to the hostel and went to bed.

Friday June 6th: THE BEACH!!!!!
We woke up and had breakfast and then put all our beach stuff on and headed to THE BEACH!! FINALLY! We laid out on the beach all day and around 4ish we headed back to the hostel to nap. We slept until 8ish and then got up and headed to the grocery store to get stuff for dinner. We came back and made pasta and tomato sauce with mushrooms/onions/garlic. Then we showered and got ready and had Sangria and met these two new girls in our room who wanted to go out with us! yay! So around 12ish we headed outside-hailed another cab (yay) and told him La Bolseria!! We got out and they were having a really fancy party...who knew! So we were clearly under dressed but they let us in anyway and we ordered drinks from ANOTHER hot bartender and walked around the room. The music was UNREAL and they even had a sax player playing along with all the popular music which made it SO much cooler!! It was PACKED so we found a spot to squish the 4 of us and we danced for a while. I got hit on by a weird kid in a jacket and then all of these OLD men kept hitting on Kayla and me. Apparently in Spain even in your 50s you're still able to get into the clubs that 20-30 year olds go to..gross. So we stayed there for a while and then decided to try Radio City again (not sure why?). We went to Radio City and walked around for a while and the other two got drinks. Kayla and I went to the bathroom and while Kayla was peeing I watched as a girl started lighting a crack pipe. (WTF!) So I grabbed Kayla and dragged her out of the bathroom. I told her we had to get out of there and explained why and the girls drank their drinks and we left. We got in another cab and asked to go to Piccadilly and he had no idea where we were talking about so he took us home and we all went to bed.

Saturday June 7th: BEACH and PAELLA!
We woke up and attempted to go shopping. We were searching for an outdoor market that sold clothes/jewelry/accessories...but all we found were shopping malls. Valencia is FILLED with shopping malls-its ridiculous. So we ended up going to the beach and laid out for a while and then tried again to see if there was any "beachy" shopping...nope just another big mall. So we bought Spanish ice cream (not as good as German eis) and then headed back to our hostel to nap for a little while. We enjoyed our little Siesta and then headed out to go to dinner. We decided we'd spend money going out our last night on one more Paella. So we went to a really cute place called El Rall. It was in this tiny courtyard and they had out door tables and a man playing a violin and we got seated inside by the door and ordered a big Paella Valencia. It came out and was SUPER delicious!! We ate and talked and decided we were way to tired to go out again so we agreed to go home after our paella. We enjoyed the resturant and then around 12ish went back to the hostel. We got there and ended up talking to these two Australian girls who were now in our room. They were Sarah and Kate and they've been traveling the world for over 5 months! They had just gotten there from South American and were spending the next few months traveling Europe! How cool!! We talked to them for a little while and then went to bed around 2ish.

Sunday June 8th: OUTDOOR MARKETS, HIPPIES AND KEBABS.
We woke up and had to be out of the hostel by 11am. So we got up, showered, got ready and had breakfast and were checking out by 10:45ish. We left our bags in their luggage room and walked around taking pictures of the city. We ended up stumbling upon an outdoor market like one we'd been SEARCHING for the whole time!!! I got an amazing Spanish skirt, scarf and finally got one of the Espana bags :) Kayla got Aladdin pants (haha)! Then we walked around some more and stumbled across ANOTHER outdoor market!! SO AWESOME!! We ended up talking to these really hippy people and apparently in Spain in order to sell your homemade crafts you have to have a special permit and the government wouldn't give these people the permit so they were "boycotting it" and selling their things anyway. So of course to support them, Kayla and I bought a ton of stuff. I got a really cool necklace made of wood, a bracelet thats pink/green and Kayla bought a necklace for her gma, a bracelet that matched my pink/green one, earrings for her best friend back home and a headband. Talking to those people was probably the best part of the trip. They were the only ones that spoke English and they were so down to earth and friendly and wanted to share their stories. Then we went into the main market and Kayla bought a purse and we bought Falafel Kebabs for lunch that were delicious! Then since it was close to 3 we headed back to the hostel to get our stuff :(. We took the metro all the way back to the airport and headed back to Frankfurt Hahn. It was SO sad to leave Espana. I wanted to simply stay. It was UNbelievable there. I've never been anywhere that I've wanted to spend so much time in before. I will definitely be going back. We got to Frankfurt Hahn around 8 and took a bus to Mainz hauptbahnhof and then took a train from Mainz to Heidelberg and got back around 11:30. Sabina was here with Anna so they met me at the hauptbahnhof and Sabina and I came back to my apartment to start our mini visit :)! We stayed up until about 2 talking and then went to bed.

Monday June 9th:
Sabina and I woke up and went to the Apotheke to get her cough meds then went to have lunch with Anna and the mensa. After lunch we walked up to the Castle! We took tons of pictures and walked around for a while and then headed back down the mountain where we ran into Francois who suggested we do the Student Prison. So for 50 cents we got into the Student Prison and walked around that for a while. Then I took her to the Old Bridge so we could get pictures of the front of the castle and eventually had ice cream with Anna and made our way to the PX so I could stock Sabina up on American meds and make up haha. We decided we'd cook dinner for everyone so we got chicken breasts, rice, and stuff for a salad. We got home, relaxed for a while, and then began cooking. We cooked the chicken breasts in onions/garlic/white wine and then Sabina made her one of her famous salads yummm! We had John/Dan/Davor/Anna over for dinner and then afterwards went to the Central Pub to watch the Netherlands/Italy Soccer game. Afterwards, we came back and hung out with John for a little while and then went to bed.

Tuesday June 10th:Speyer!
We woke up and met John at hauptbahnhof at 11 to go to Speyer for the day! We took the train and got there around 12ish and walked around. We saw the oldest romanesque Cathedral and a Synagogue that was built in the 900s and bombed in 1500s. That was really cool! Then we went and had lunch at a really yummy little outdoor cafe. I had schnitzel and pommes (mmm!) and then afterwards went and had Eis from another little outdoor cafe before heading back to Heidelberg at 4. We got back and Sabina and I went to the hof to get stuff for dinner. We made homemade spaghetti sauce and pasta and then ate around 6 before heading to AJY to print off her boarding pass for the next day :(. We met Davor and John at AJY and then went to the Kleiner Mohr to watch the Sweden-Greece soccer game. Sonja was working which made it really fun :) We watched the game and SWEDEN WON!!! So Sonja gave us four free B52 shots...I'd never had one before and apparently its lit on FIRE and you have to suck it up through a straw really quickly. haha. Crazy! So we did that and then we drank some more and hung out at the bar with Sonja and Anna met up with us and then we went to the Big Mohr and Sabina and I walked around and met a bunch of people b/c she was in her Swedish jersey and everyone wanted to congratulate her-haha. Then afterwards we went back to the Kleiner Mohr had another drink and around 1ish left. John walked Sabina and I back so we didnt have to walk alone and when we got home, I noticed I didnt have my keys. CRAP! So John took us to his room and gave us his bed and he slept on the floor. Such a nice guy. So we went to bed.

Wednesday June 11th:
We woke up at John's around 9:30 and left to head to AJY hoping my keys were there. We got there and walked upstairs and there they were sitting on the desk. So we grabbed them and went back home to get Sabina ready to head back to the airport. I made a typical brunch with Bagels/Lox/Scrambled Eggs and fruit. Nan would be proud :) haha Then around 12 we went to the hauptbahnhof to get her on a train that would take her to the airport on time. :'( We said goodbye and promised we'd keep in touch and it was SO HARD saying goodbye. I already miss her...Stupid Sweden being so far from North Carolina. Damnit. Afterwards I came back, showered/straightened my hair and got ready to meet Anna for ice cream at 4. Then met all the boys at AJY to head to the grocery store since it was Wed and we always cook together on Weds. So we went to the hof and then met Kayla at my apartment. So it was me/kayla/anna/davor/john/pat and we made a HUGE salad and had chicken on the side (for the salad but b/c Kayla's a veggie we put it on the side) and John made homemade spicey couscous. Yum! Then afterwards everyone left and I went to bed.

Thursday June 12th:
I woke up and had praktikum at 8. So I went to Praktikum and was instructed to read them a story and then have them draw animals and label them in English. So that went well! Mark one of the students drew the BEST Donkey I have EVER seen. He's one of the whiney-est kids I've ever met but when i told him that was the best Donkey I've ever seen his entire face light up which was so cute. Martin's starting to warm up to me again, thank goodness, he told me all about his weekend and stuff. All the kids asked if I knew their names and since I've been practicing I now do and they were SO SHOCKED that I knew their names haha. Hanne and Charlenne especially. The two of them loved my bracelet from Spain so they followed me around staring at it all day...and asked me next time I'm in Spain to buy them one. haha. So i left around 10ish and went to the hof. I bought stuff to make chicken salad like Sally with grapes :) and fresh German bread and stuff to keep making Salads because I'm in a big salad kick at the moment. So I came home, cooked the chicken like Mom does except it was harder because I don't have an oven so I had to do it in a pan...then cut it up and made the chicken salad and put it in the fridge and made myself a big salad with cucumbers and stuff for lunch and worked on Francois's story for class. Then around 3ish I left and went to AJY to print off my hw then went to class from 4-6 and at 6:30 I went to hear a German Author give a reading. It was pretty cool, altho it wasn't a fiction book he was reading from it was a "how to write" book. So that made it kinda lame..but it was still cool. I went with Sarah and Francois which was good :) Then afterwards I came home and made myself some Pasta..found out Germany lost to Croatia :( and then talked to Colin for the first time in months which was good. Then went to bed.

Friday June 13th:
I woke up and had praktikum at 8 again. I went and was instructed to teach the kids verbs in English. So I had them cut out the verbs and glue them in their english book and then we played a game where one kid had to pick a card with a verb on it, act it out and the others had to guess it. The first group liked that a lot. The 2nd group thought I was boring and I realized I ended up scolding half of them. Especially this one girl named Marlenne who at first was the quietest girl in the class and I guess is now comfortable and is really obnoxious. She got everyone to play tag instead of listening to me. ugh. So I sent them all back to the classroom and told Frau Zech they just didn't want to play the game. So around 10ish she let me go home. I came home and went back to bed for four hours, and then woke up feeling really crappy. So I made myself some tea and got back in bed and watched movies all day. I ended up watching: 27 Dresses, National Treasure 2 and The Other Boleyn Girl. I also got to talk to Sammy for the first time in a LONG time, which was really good. Then around 12ish I went to bed.

Saturday June 14th:
I woke up and made myself some breakfast and am now updating my blog. I'm cooking dinner with John tonight...a Chicken Curry with Rice and Salad dish. Sounds like something Dad would make ;) haha! Then I really want to go watch the Spain/Sweden soccer game and maybe go out afterwards. We shall see tho. I'm going to try to be better about updating. I officially have 37 days left until I'm home!! And in those 37 days I have Margaret coming/Paris trip with Charis and Margaret/Whitney coming!!/my 21st birthday!!!!/one weekend and I'm HOME!!!! It's gonna fly, I can feel it! HIL may even come visit too!!! Which makes me want to scream and cry all at the same time! I really have some pretty freaking amazing friends ;)!!! AND I get to see KIR SO SOON!!! God...things are just working out :) Well, I think I'm gonna start getting my day going! I miss and love you all so much!!!

ps. If you want to see pictures from ESPANA click here!

Between Midnight and Daylight...

Tuesday May 27th:
I woke up and met Kayla & John for lunch at the Mensa. Then we had a Vollversammlung at AJY at 1:15 so I went to that...stupid pointless meetings. Then afterwards I had class at the PH from 4-6. I was supposed to eat dinner with Charis but she got sick so instead I had Davor/John/Dan over for dinner which was fun. Then after dinner, they left and I hung around and went to bed.

Wednesday May 28th:
I woke up and went to class from 11-1 then had lunch with Jesse. We were on our way to get my sandwhich from AJY and we ran into Sonja, my friend from creative writing. I had skipped the previous week and Sonja was fuming. She stopped me in the middle of the street and was like "Oh my GOSH do I have to talk to you!" So she told me the story of the previous Thursday. Apparently the Prof told the class that I was a spoiled/arrogant/selfish/American Brat who came over here thinking my way of doing things was better than theirs and my idea of doing in class writings weren't actually useful and it was a big waste of time. He also said that even tho he's not a creative writing professor he knows that his way of doing it is how they do it in England and England's education system out beats America's by yards and he told Sonja that he knew what type of education we received in the states. (WHAT THE FUCK??) So Sonja got really pissed b/c she was the only American in the class and simply sat there not saying anything. Well, this DOUCHE-FUCK named Matthias turns to Sonja and was like "American-I want you to read this." and flung his in class write at her. So instead of blowing up and slamming him, Sonja simply said "I'm sorry. I can't write today." and got up and left class. Well, she later found out that the Prof told the ENTIRE class that her boyfriend broke up with her and thats why she walked out of class crying. Sonja was irate. So we came up with the decision to go to class dressed as AMERICAN as possible/walk in with Starbucks/show up late. It was going to be classic! Then I went to the grocery store and had Kayla/John/Anna/Davor/Dan/John over for dinner again. We made homemade kasespatzel and then went to investigate the "night life" here on a Wednesday night. We went to Max Bar for a drink and then around 9pm I headed out to come home because I had praktikum early the next morning.

Thursday May 29th:
I woke up and had praktikum at 8. I got to the school and was instructed to tell the kids a story that connected all these stickers and the kids had to pull the stickers off and lay them on this board thing in correspondance with my story. Needless to say it didn't work so I simply taught them the words for each of the stickers and had them repeat them back to me two or three times and then the kids got to put the stickers were they wanted too. I left around 10ish and headed home to shower before meeting Kayla/John for lunch at 12ish. After lunch I had Pop Musik and then...I had to meet Audra at Starbucks to prep for class. I was wearing my jean skirt, rainbow flip flops, pink Ralph Lauren Polo, Yankees cap, pearls, my coach purse and sunglasses. So Audra met me at Sbux at 6 and we got our coffees and then went to class and got there like 5 minutes late. Sonja wasn't there, so I was like "great..its just us." Well, 20 minutes late she walks in and was like "sorry the line at McDonalds was just WAY to long". (hahaha) So all three of us had our starbucks and we were sitting there speaking to each other. Then we got split up into "reading" groups and Sonja/Francois/Sarah and I were in a group with H.P (Hans Peter..not sure if I've written about him, but he's the "leader" of their little German pack. He writes the WORST stories I've EVER read. They're all about this stupid wars that take place 20,000 years in the future on a planet not named thats similar to Earth but not earth and he doesn't know anything about any of his characters except that they all speak the same. HORRIBLE!) and this other weird chick and H.P. had a new update on his 20,0000 year future war WOOO so Sonja/Sarah/Francois and I were really excited. Not. I've never seen 3 people SO bored in their life. When it was time to give criticisms H.P. rebuffed everything the four of us said and only listened to what his little fan club told him. Sonja described the class in a very accurate way. its simply a class where the 7 Germans who've been there forever can get a nice little pat on the back and be told that they really can write and they really are good-even tho they suck. Well, after class Sonja/Sara/Francois and I went to Alfredo's for dinner together. It was SO good. I finally feel like I have friends in my crw class :)! Thank god. Dinner was amazing. We talked for two hours and then afterwards, Sarah went home but the rest of us went to the Wartburg's Bar abend. It was a pool party theme and they had a big blow up pool filled in the basement (I thought it was gross b/c the floor down there is NASTY and people kept getting in and out of the pool and..ew..) and almost all of AJY showed up. So I hung out with Sonja and Anna/Kayla/John Gamble/Eric/Nelly left to go to The Villa and I stuck around. Pat bought me a Vodka-Lemonade which was actually pretty good but I was so tired I could hardly drink it so I gave a bunch to Davor. Then at about 12ish Sonja/Francois and I left. Francois walked me to the Villa so I could meet up with everyone else and then I sat there waiting until they were ready to go and left around 2 and walked home with Kayla/John.

Friday May 30th:
I slept in and then took my computer to Starbucks to write for a while. I left starbucks around 4ish and went to AJY to see if people were up for doing dinner together. I ran into John and he agreed to meet at my place around 730. It started to look gloomy outside so I decide it may b time to head back. I left AJY took the bus to Bismarckplatz and as I got off the bus the sky opened and BUCKETS of rain fell. I was panicking and ran under one of the little "houses" to wait for the 26 tram. I had my computer and did NOT want it to get ruined. :( So the tram pulled up and I got on and then road it to my stop-got off and it was still pouring so instead of walking in the pouring rain home, I waited under the tram-stop and got back on the next one and road it all the way to the end. I then asked the drive if I could stay on the tram until it got back to Ringstrasse and he said "sure" so I sat and read for a while and then road the tram started moving again. Well we got two stops away from Ringstrasse and there was a dead tram stuck on the tracks. It had gotten struck by lightening and wasn't able to move. So instead of just waiting, everyone on my tram got kicked off and had to wait for a bus to pick us up. A sketchy Turkish man asked if I wanted to share his umbrella so I did and we stood in the rain waiting for the damn bus. Then the bus showed up, we all piled on and continued on the way. We passed a building that had been struck by lightening and was on fire, a huge car accident and finally pulled up to Stadtwerke (where the Hof is located) so I got off and booked it into the Hof to buy something for dinner. I was drenched. I walked around and bought spaeztle and chicken nuggets and then bought two plastic bags so I could wrap my computer in one and carry the stuff home in one. By now it had been over an hour and a half from when I had left AJY. Fabulous. As I was walking into my apartment complex, I ran into Kayla and John who had just come by to drop my cell phone off which I had apparently left at AJY. Oops. So they stuck around and we shared the spaetzle and chicken nuggets which was yummy and then we left and headed to The Central Pub across the street to play pool/fooseball and have a drink before heading to Vetters. We went to Vetters to get John Gamble his Mass before he had to leave the following morning :( and then afterwards we had Big Pommes and a Doener (I don't know if I've talked about these yet...but they are these sandwhich things that are filled with meat thats legit sliced off a rotating spit. The meat is disgusting looking and they sandwhiches are then filled with a million veggies and its in a bread thats kinda a mix between a tortilla and a pita bread. I don't like them.) and then we all took the Moonliners home around 3ish.

Saturday May 31st:
I woke up and met Kayla Marie at the Hauptbahnhof around 12ish to head to Mannheim for the day. We were in search of a place that does bikini waxes (eek!) and I also needed to find somewhere to get my eyebrows done. We walked around all morning and couldn't find anything. So around 3 we stopped and had a sandwhich and then headed back to Heidelberg. On the bus to Uniplatz from Hauptbahnhof we bumped into American Mormons who were here on their missions. We talked to them for a while and they all seemed SO YOUNG, and SO homesick. Then we got off the bus and walked Hauptstrasse for a while shopping and then went to AJY. We talked to John about making dinner together and all met at the Hof at 530. We got stuff to make a chinese stirfry and rice and headed back to my place. We made the most AMAZING dinner! John is really a good cook! Then afterwards we hung out for a while and Kayla left to go to sleep and John left around 1ish.

Sunday June 1st:
I woke up and had to head to Kayla's to bake a cake for dinner that night. I got to Kayla's and realized Id forgotten the eggs so Anna came over with eggs and I made yellow cake from complete scratch (GO ME!) Then we headed back to my place and I had Anna/Jesse/Pat over for an Elon-PJAB dinner. It was alright. Anna and Pat made the Schnitzel and Spaetzle and Jesse and I had to make a gas station run to get drinks for people. Then we ate and around 7:45 everyone left. I had thought it'd be cute to have the same dinner we had last spring with the friendship cake but all this dinner did was make me realize just how much we've all changed since then and how different we all are now. It was an awkward dinner and I sorta regret having it be a repeat of that one meal :\. After they left, I read for a while and then went to bed.

Monday June 2nd:
I woke up and met Anna for lunch then went to the PX to buy some travel size stuff for Spain! Then came back and decided to cook myself a big bowl of pasta and I watched Juno and part of 27 Dresses before going to bed. Very uneventful day.

Tuesday June 3rd:
I woke up and had class from 11-1. Then I met Jesse for lunch at 1ish at the Mensa which was really good-I miss her a lot. And then I had coffee with Maressa at 2 for the first time. That was SO fun! We had such a good time :) Then I left at 3ish to head to the bank to pull money out and then class at the PH. After class I headed to the Hauptbahnhof to meet Charis to look into Paris tickets. Train tickets were RIDICULOUSLY expensive. ugh. So we decided to look online for flights or buses. So we came home and found a bus that would get us there for 40 or 70 euros depending upon when we left! So that was cheap so we're doing that! Then she left and I began to pack for SPAIN! Then I showered/got ready for bed and fell asleep.