Blog mania, part 3

This one’s a long one. Watching the Gregory Brother’s “Can’t Hug Every Cat” will probably suffice for all that I have to say.

In addition to everywhere else, I also went to Turkey. (I told you I would, remember?) It was definitely a cool place to visit, and it was kinda neat to know my grandparents had visited there on their last trip together. I could bore you with talk of amusing merchants, fascinating history, breath-taking views and gorgeous architecture, but I’ll just entertain you with the minute details of my personal life and bodily functioning instead. Just kidding, I’ll do both!

I really did like Istanbul. After travelling throughout other parts of Europe, it was nice to see this other side of it. Some parts reminded me a bit of other cities I’ve been to, but overall it was fairly different. For example, the Turkish everywhere. I only learned one word this time (su=water) but I enjoyed seeing signs that said things like “taksi” and “tramvay” (v’s are pronounced like w’s). The most striking things were the huge number of mosques (they were everywhere) and stray cats (also everywhere). I actually didn’t mind the calls to prayer, probably because they never woke me up at 5 am. They were kind of interesting to listen to, and added some setting and atmosphere to the trip. I must admit, though, that hearing three at the same time from nearby mosques was pretty overwhelming. It’s hard to explain what they sound like, so look it up if you’d like. Do it in the middle of the night, with the sound all the way up, next to your roommate’s head. He or she will love it for sure. I had heard a recording of a call to prayer before, so the sound wasn’t so weird to me as the regularity of the calls.

As for the cats, it was seriously crazy. Another girl and I attempted to measure the number of cats, approximating about 50-60 cph (cats per hour). In case you can’t tell, that’s a lot of cats. There were all pretty friendly and would jump on your lap to be pet. It would have been a nightmare/paradise for that girl who cries about cats in that eharmony video. You know the one. Well, ok maybe not, since you’re reading this instead of watching the Gregory Brothers like I recommended. Anyway, of particular note were all the kittens, sleeping cats, and a pregnant cat in Hagia Sophia. Cute, sad, and oh so cuddly.

My cold continued strong throughout the trip, and my portable pharmacy of six different types of medicine proved handy in caring for myself and other sick people (most of our group). I realized that I do not deal very well with conflict. I hate it, and yet feel powerless to aid in resolving conflicts between others. Some of the events that occurred over the course of the trip were kind of horrible in my opinion, but thankfully I was not directly involved in them. I wish I could explain all of the moments where I have been dumbfounded and wished that problems would simply disappear because I had no idea what to do otherwise. However, it was helpful, I think, to be able to observe the events, dynamics and individual people as well as my part in all that unfolded. By the end, I think I finally felt I was doing the right thing and in the position I wanted to be in, though I think what was important was not what I did per se but what I came to understand. I am still terrible at dealing with this stuff, but I had a fascinating look at people and how they act. I think God is teaching me a lot while studying abroad. In the end, things worked out and finished up nicely despite the chaos in the middle, which to me is a sign that God is working rather than my life turning to shambles or something. These things are certainly not pleasant experiences, but I’m coming out of it much more aware of matters concerning myself, others, and life in general. I’m also coming out of it slightly terrified to interact with others, but you know, that’s kind of normal anyway.

Enough melodrama; time for some lists.

Things I did:

• Visited Asia (Istanbul has parts in Asia and in Europe)
• Saw Hagia Sofia
• Learned how to pronounce Hagia Sophia
• Saw the Blue Mosque
• Posed for a group photo shoot outside the Blue Mosque
• Went to the Grand Bazaar
• Loved the exchange rate (for once)
• Went on a boat ride
• Sung “I’m on a Boat”
• Saw tons and tons of stray cats
• Continuously sung, “Can’t Hug Every Cat”
• Went to the Topkapi Museum
• Learned how to properly wear a head scarf
• And saw a few other mosques etc. whose names I do not recall (and I am too lazy to look up)

Things I ate:

• Baklava
• Turkish Delight
• Turkish pizza
• Kebabs

Things that merchants said:

• Gorgeous, gorgeous. Yes, you are.
• I am still single.
• How can I help you spend your money?
• I'm a good boy.
• Hello baby. (said by some pre-teen boys. over and over again.)
• My name is Christiano Renaldo. I love you.
• Hi, how are you. I'm fine, thank you. (all together in a single breath)
• I'll eat you. Run away.
• Excuse me sir. (Said by a group of girls to a group of female students, after saying "excuse me" in Turkish a few times. It was for an interview for their English class. They were actually cute.)
• I have a paschmina for your mother-in-law.
• Mine is bigger, his is smaller.
• Don't touch, please watch. But I touch.
• This way is the right way.
• You are so sweet. Your blue eyes. (said in passing)
• Welcome to heaven.
• Why do you break my heart?
• Hello charming ladies, I am here.
• Excuse me, you dropped something- my heart.
• Belly dancing? Paschmina? Chicken kebab?
• Spice girls!
• Stop thinking so much, life's too short.
• Tell her that she's beautiful. Ask.
• guy: What's her name? (pointing)

Faria: Juli...

guy: I eat Juli here (points to heart)

• guy 1: Excuse me, you have beautiful eyes. I like your eyes. Your eyes... (as I keep walking along)

guy 2: Marry him!

guy 3: Now it's my turn

30 second summary: I went to Istanbul. It was cool and stuff. I didn’t eat turkey, but I did see a lot of cats.

So many blogs done in a single day! Only one more and I’ll be caught up. So obviously I won’t be doing it for 4 weeks or so.

You really can’t hug them all. But you can try to pet them.

Blog mania 2: Polly voo Francey?

Again, I'm super behind and trying to just throw these up here. I don't know what I'm saying, and you probably won't either. I've heard of fun games where you switch out punctuation with funny words or phrases, so give that a try if you'd like, but I can't guarantee that there are any semi-colons.

About two weeks ago, I was in Paris from a Thursday to a Sunday with Juli and Dana. I really liked the city. It was both old and new and had a wonderful spirit about it. We took a general guided tour and another guided tour of Montmartre, where we were staying. Our first tour in particular was very interesting and our guide told us many funny stories and fascinating facts. It's hard to describe Paris, because it was more felt than seen. It reminded me of Rome combined with Sicily, with both cosmopolitan areas and smaller poorer areas. It was overall very beautiful and quite a unique experience.

It was sort of cool to be able to speak French and for once be able to read the signs while traveling (as in, I don't speak Italian or Catalan). Unlike Barcelona and some other cities, unfortunately, English did not seem to be universally known. I was a little afraid to speak French because it would take me a while to form full sentences and I had trouble understanding people in real time. It was especially hard since I was the only one in our group who spoke any French. Somehow, we managed.

Our last full day, we met up with the illustrious and French-speaking John Thiel and Katrina Medoff to visit a famous cemetery and bookstore. The three of us will live in the theater house when we return to Bucknell. I've known john from intervarsity since freshman year, and Katrina through a combination of arts res and my roommate. Just in case you didn't know and were wondering. They are both doing Bucknell en France this semester in Tours and happened to be visiting Paris for the weekend. After Katrina headed back to tours, John, Juli, Dana and I had a nice dinner and then went to an awesome little jazz club in a medieval cellar. We swing danced a little but I loved just watching all of the marvelous dancers there.

But of course, what would a trip be without a slight disaster? During our dinner with john, I set my purse on a chair with Juli's coat and souvenir bag during the middle of the meal. At the end, I went to pay and discovered my purse missing. We searched inside and around the block with no luck. After done trouble searching and the help of a kind French woman, we found the nearest police station, but alas, it was closed. We tried to call with no avail. Fortunately, it was a small purse, and although it contained items of monetary value, everything in it was pretty easily replaced (I still had my passport, camera and phone). It's frustrating, but it could have been worse. My mom is bringing a new debit card and everything else is taken care of- except my stupid Oyster card for the London underground. Trying to take care of that has been a nightmare, but that's another story. Really though, I was quite thankful that things turned out as well as they did. However I am no longer quite a fan of Transport for London.

Things I saw

• The lock bridge
• A lot of other bridges (and the Seine, of course)
• The Louvre (for 45 minutes, using the secret entrance)
• Notre Dame
• Sacre Coeur
• The Eiffel Tower
• Arc de Triumph
• St. Michel’s fountain
• Moulin Rouge
• Jardin des Tuileries
• And a bunch of other things briefly on our tours

Things I ate

• The best baguette in Paris (and so probably the world) according to a Parisian contest, and lots of other delicious bread
• Ramen
• Wine and raspberry champagne (Well, I only tasted due to being on cold medicine. Did I mention I got a bad cold in France and had to buy medicine in French? Well I did.)
• Beef bourguignon
• Hot dog
• Pommes frites (jk, fries)
• Baguette sandwiches
• McDonalds (before leaving to go to the airport)
• Beignes
• Croissants
• Salmon Provençal (I might be making this up. I probably am. That’s what happens when you wait two weeks to write about things.)

30 second summary: I went to Paris, saw stuff, spoke French, had my purse stolen, survived. I also learned that toilet seats are only optional toilet accessories.

PS:

We had to take a metro and walk from where we checked in to our hostel to the apartment itself, and the person at the desk accidentally gave us the wrong directions. So by the time we got to the apartment, it was around 11pm and we were starving (we had hardly eaten lunch around 11:30 am). This is a picture of our first French meal:

bon appetit : )

Post mania, part 1: The Joys of Introversion

I'M SO BEHIND AND BUSY AND STUFF. So I'm going to try to post things quick instead of spending 3 hours editing each and triple guessing myself. First thought, best thought, right? Right?!? I don't even know if time lines are right any more, I meant to post these ages ago. Alright, here goes.

Musings, as promised.

(Not that I thought you were worried. Or even noticed I said this was coming. It's fine. If I were you, I'm sure I'd pretend to read while watching the Charlie Sheen song.)

About two weeks ago (ps I started to write this the day after. #post fail), I met with Cindy and Joel Hylton of world harvest for dinner. Inter varsity is sponsoring a leadership training trip here in London through world harvest spring break of next semester, and since I'm missing all the meetings at Bucknell and since I'm already here, Jesse set me up with the Hyltons to find out more about the program. Truth be told, we only talked about the spring break program for about twenty minutes though it sounds awesome) and spent a good deal of time talking about England, America and life abroad. We shared stories and I did my best to give them a sense of what our inter varsity chapter is like at Bucknell. I was there for around 4 hours but it was comfortable and nice, and we had easy conversation. It felt like home in a way, and it's nice to talk to different people who have similar experiences as Americans in the UK. It kind of reminds me of having Easter dinner at Cathy and Glen's from Lewisburg Alliance. Living in the middle of London, spending time in a place reminiscent of home in the states without having to leave the country is a wonderful thing.

But the thing that caught me the most was my trip back to the center of London to my flat. I walked straight down a long and fairly empty residential road to the train station past houses and apartment buildings. It was a cool quiet night, and the calm streets were lit well with street lamps and dusted with dead leaves. In places, the air was gently scented with chimney smoke, and I saw a fox mosey about along the way. It may sound a bit creepy to walk a dark deserted street alone, but it was wonderfully comforting to me. That was home for me, as it felt just like suburbia in fall as I remembered it. I was a little sad to miss Halloween etc., and walking down that street brought me right back to trick-or-treating, selling pizzas and talking walks near my house. As I neared the station, cars, shops and various people popped up, reminiscent of the more populated and restless places near home. Fortunately, however, the residential street on route to the station was a long one.

The train ride home was even a little more incredible. I made a point to walk all the way to the end of the platform when my train arrived so that I had a chance to have a whole car to myself. When the tube gets crowded (as it often does), the farthest cars are often you only chance at getting a seat or even standing room, so walking to the end was a normal thing to do. To my surprise, no one joined me in the front car for about 20 minutes. It was wonderfully freeing, as I did not feel remotely self conscious and could take up as many seats as I desired. I had planned on writing notes for later or just playing a game on my phone, but instead I just sat thinking and relaxing. I guess it is the introvert in me, or perhaps the fact that I live in a triple in the center of a busy city, but I loved it. It is certainly a rare moment to be entirely alone in a subway train, let alone for that long. Honestly, it’s rare to be alone period. I need times to be alone and think to feel normal and continue functioning. II became a little antsy and annoyed when people did finally come into my car and sit right near me, but ultimately I left feeling refreshed and recharged, both from the wonderful company of the Hyltons and my quiet ride home.

37.9 second summary: I had dinner with an American couple and later experienced a dose of introverted paradise. Splendid.

Past, present, future.

I’m a terrible blogger. Not that my blog makes a difference in your life, or that I should feel sympathy for you considering my lengthy and frequent warnings against reading, but I am sorry and I wish I could always be funny and interesting. Sadly, it just doesn’t roll that way mi amigo.

But to entertain friends, family, and more probably the government agents trying to determine if I am a traitor, here are some more recent happenings in my life. (btw, I’m on to the grape jelly thing but other than that there’s nothing to worry about- England is cool but I still like America.)

-We had a leak in our bathroom. We collected about a gallon or more of water in 36 hours. They fixed it, though.

-I went to Brighton beach, which was really cool and a place I’ve always wanted to go. We went on go carts and a carousel, touched the water, climbed on rocks, went shopping and had milkshakes. I’ve had better milkshakes, but I did have an amazing cup of coffee with cinnamon to make up for it.

-I lost two bottles of water, two magnets I had bought as gifts, a small bag full of important feminine products and my good, giant umbrella over fall break. I’m most upset about the umbrella, but I’m getting over it.

Here I tell you my future:

-This weekend: Paris from Thursday until Sunday

-Next weekend: Istanbul from Saturday until Wednesday. Note that I leave Turkey the day before Thanksgiving. #irony #whycan’tEnglandcelebrateThanksgiving?

-Following weekend: My mom and brother visit from the Wednesday I return from Turkey until that Monday.

-Following two weekends: Final projects and papers due.

-Dec 16^th: fly home

-Dec 25^th: Christmas! Hooray!

Summary: I’m procrastinating so I’m blogging more, but I think I forgot how to be funny and I don't know how to write real blog things. Tune in next time for some musings on life.

Fall break, part two: failing at film photography, speaking spanish, opening train doors and at life in general.

Our layover in Rome was lovely. It was definitely one of the best days of our trip. The weather was actually kind of hot, and there was no rain despite the fact that I carried my umbrella all day. We saw quite a lot, somehow getting to nearly all the sights on our top ten list, and ate some truly amazing gelato. I had pear and tiramisu, and they were absolutely fantastically delicious. I have no idea how we made it through the day considering we only had three hours of sleep, went through the hassle and exhaustion of air travel, and spent all day sight-seeing. It was great though, and the graffiti in Rome was really cool. Oh yeah, and so were the ancient ruins and whatever.

Next was Barcelona. It is definitely a cool city and certainly worth a visit if you get the chance. We saw a ton here as well, including a lot of works by the architect Antoni Gaudi, who is fantastic (in my opinion; Picasso hated his buildings); a few important churches; a unique and interesting cemetery and the Mediterranean Sea. I loved the beach, but I think Gaudi’s works were my favorite, particularly Casa Batlló and La Sagrada Familia.

By this last leg of the trip, I was exhausted from traveling, and frustration was building up from ten days of stress and planning. Sometimes you just need a good bed, a nice shower and a few hours (or days) of doing absolutely nothing. Not to mention the paper due two days after I returned, which because I asked for more time now loomed over my head. That’s another story. Ok, not really, that’s pretty much the whole thing. The important thing, however, is that Barcelona is great and I ate so much delicious food.

Then it was back to home sweet England, and the wonderful London transport system. Barcelona’s and Rome’s were actually pretty nice, but I am so used to London (and it’s so well designed) that it was lovely to return to it. We actually missed our stop and had to juggle trains on the way home, but the important thing is that I can at least, by now, pronounce those silly English train stations. Fun fact: Barcelona speaks Catalan, which is like a mixture of French and Spanish and whose pronunciation baffles me. Nearly everyone in Barcelona also speaks Spanish and most people speak English as well, thank goodness. I thought I’d practice my Spanish, but as it turns out, it’s better to speak English so they know to give you English menus etc. I heard so many Americans in Rome and Barcelona that I stopped feeling self conscious, which was a good thing because there’s no way I could have figured out what eggplant or crab was in Spanish.

Food summary:

Panini

Gelato

Tapas

Sushi

Binxto tapas

Trip summary: Our day in Rome was wonderful, and Barcelona was fantastic despite exhaustion, frustration and stress. Still, it was a relief to be back in London.

Blog Summary: I went to Rome for eight hours and Barcelona for four days. I didn't really talk about the things I mentioned in my title.

[[ps: As a travelling-on-a-budget tip, buy some ingredients for sandwiches and some drinks at the beginning of the trip if you have a fridge available. Make sandwiches to take with you each day for lunch and eat them when you come across a good lunch spot and time in the day. We ate lunch in two parks and on a bench outside a beautiful cathedral, and it worked out great. We spent our money on some nice dinners instead. Although we tried to eat as cheap as possible, there is no such thing as “cheap” in Barcelona. Anyway, just thought I’d let you know.]]

here's a bad photo of a graffitied train in Rome (all other pictures are on facebook, go look for em if you care to):

Fall break part 1: Transport failures and offending the mafia

Bucknell so kindly gave those of us here in London a nice week-long fall break, which, combined with our normal four day weekends, gave us ten days off to do whatever our hearts desired. My heart was desiring some Italy and Spain, and so that's where I went. In the end, our plan was as follows: Dana, Laina, Alex and Juli go to Sicily, where Dana has family and where Juli's family is from. After four days, Alex and Juli fly back to London, and Dana and Laina fly to Barcelona for five days, with an extended (8 hour) layover in Rome.

These are our stories. (cue Law and Order music) Sorry for the long length and messiness of my writing- I wrote most of this in pieces on my ipod. I included three summary just so you don't have to feel obligated to read the whole thing. An episode of Jersey Shore (or even better, Geordie Shore, the UK equivalent) could probably suffice as well. If you're into that sort of show (and don't try to deny it now).

Our first adventure was getting to Sicily. This involved leaving our flats at 3 am (after an all day field trip that got us back to our flats at midnight), four buses, a cab, a plane, a train and a car ride for us to finally reach our bed and breakfast at 7pm. We cut it a little close at times, but generally everything went well. Well, almost. Apparently there were huge train strikes the first day in Sicily, and it was enough of a mess to confuse and annoy fluent Italian speakers. Please note that although we all knew some Spanish, I knew some French, and one girl had lived in Florence for a semester, none of us knew a useful amount of Italian. Although some of the Sicilians seemed to be making fun of us, others were helpful and nice and we somehow managed all the delays, switching of trains, and extremely crowded train cars ad got to our bed and breakfast. By the time we left Italy, almost all of us had been able to have entire interactions in Spanish with the locals, but the first day was not one of those times. We did, however, learn to count and ask for the bathroom in Italian while sitting in the station. Bellisimo.

Sicily itself was very beautiful. Our first stop was Taormina, where we saw the remains of a huge Greek theatre, did some shopping, and saw some of Dana's extended family. We also found a bus stop but no bus for a castle and found a beautiful island to visit but not a way to get down to it. We also got a little lost trying to find our way back to our bed and breakfast after getting off our train, and somehow these little Sicilian towns completely transform between the day and night- beautiful in sunlight, seedy under streetlights. Thankfully, we survived, and as far as I know escaped the mafia.

Next we took a bus over to Palermo, which someone described as an Italian Newark. In Palermo, I could understand how the mafia started in Sicily. When you looked down the streets, you could see the beautiful mountains in the distance, but the streets themselves were dirty and a little scary. Our street in particular was a strange strip of vendors, small restaurants, bars, and clubs. It was populated by an assortment of interesting people and stray cats. At first, our street appeared to be a hang out for a bunch of Italian teenagers, which was uncomfortable, especially the third time we had to walk by them when we were looking for our hostel. All of these Sicilians made me feel a little better about Jersey Shore though, because I could at least rest assured that those New Yorkers didn't completely make up the "tool" look.

We saw the three main sights in Palermo the first day- a cathedral, a large fountain, and some sculpted facades. We decided to eat pasta that night, which was no easy task. First, nearly everything is closed from 4-8pm (siesta!), and most people don't eat until almost 9. In addition, most food places that were open around 7pm were bars, weird little stands or fancy restaurants. We finally found some yummy penne at a place curiously named New York City cafe. After a failed search for gelato, we checked out the places along our street and headed back to our hostel, where we could hear karaoke until 2am. Thankfully, I have learned from my light-sleeping mother and brought along some ear plugs.

The next day we visited Agrigento with an Australian girl we met in our hostel. She was on a four month trip around Europe, and was at the moment traveling alone after her friend had gone home and her guided tour had ended. Both she and us were relieved to find more English speakers and learn that we weren't the only ones in Italy who did not speak Italian. The Greek ruins, the highlight of Agrigento, were beautiful, and after our day there we had some spaghetti and some tasty Italian deserts, including gelato. It was a nice end to the first leg of our trip. Then, it was back to the hostel for some packing and 3 hours of sleep before our next flight.

Food summary:

I ate pizza, a calzone, paninis, granite (not the rock, the icy fruit drink), good coffee, penne, gelato, and spaghetti. Pretty awesome.

Trip summary:

At times, the (occasional) rude people, crappy trains and language barrier made me miss London. The food and views made me not want to go back.

Blog summary:

I went to Sicily.