February 2012
1 post
#$%^&*!
Well, my previous post was uncharacteristically melancholy. So, I decided to share the happenings that go on at my barista job. There are, of course, customers who treat me like their personal coffee slave, but the people who appreciate a perfectly balanced dry cappuccino- and say, “Thank you” when I hand it to them- make the job enjoyable. Those individuals tend to share little...
a bull's eye in left field.
I’m dehydrated, sitting on the worn sun-bleached red couch in my parents home, typing, and gazing out the sliding glass door, as “Arms” by Tunng languidly plays from my iPod- “Here we go again.” I’m watching the stray, lovingly dubbed, “killer cat” as it stalks a jittery fat squirrel outside. Last year it took out a raccoon- the cat, not the...
May 2011
1 post
fuzzy focus
So, it has been a full year since my return to the States. My European travels seem to have happened ages ago. I miss it, but it is time to start my adult life. College is officially over. I have a BA from Valparaiso University, and graduated cum laude on May 15th. It is a bizarre sentence to utter: I am not going back to school because i finished it. I mean, someday i would like to go back to get...
August 2010
10 posts
headaches, heartaches & happiness
It’s been several months since my return to the States. In that time, I completed a Public Relations Internship at the Field Museum in Chicago, visited my Grandparents in Wisconsin, and learned choreography for ‘Step in Time’ and ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.’ My friend Patrick asked me to be the ‘Mary Poppins’ to his ‘Bert.’ It was a...
leaving London :*(
Monday, Em and I packed and cleaned our room. took down all our posters, maps, letters, and postcards. I took a final walk through the city centre, and when I came back, it was time to go to our Pub meal at the SIN with our Professors. I was happy to be able to talk to Professor Griffiths and to be able to say goodbye. Em and I turned the music up LOUD and danced like maniacs in our room. Kristi...
July 2010
9 posts
Lake District
The next morning, we all piled on the bus, and started to head out to Aria Force, preserved by the National Trust. Saturday we went to an old coal-mine. We climbed around a waterfall- which, was actually really dangerous- and had Romney’s Kendal mint cakes: a kind of peppermint patty type candy that is exclusive to the Lake District. Sunday we went to Devonshire to see Chatsworth: also known...
the final countdown.
Tuesday held our final Art class. We turned in our portfolios and Professor Shankshaft lectured on King’s College Chapel. All the girls went out for lunch to get tapas at a little Spanish restaurant downtown. It was the beginning of the bittersweet ends. I went to Trinity College with Andrea, had a teary moment in the market, and went back to the house in the evening to study for Professor...
May 2010
32 posts
wonderful weekend
Thursday, I went to London with Kristi and Brain to see Les Miserables. We ate duck in Chinatown before the show, and Friday we went to Harrods, ate chocolate in Hyde Park, went to Covent Gardens where we met up with Erin, and ate dinner at a great Cajun place. We saw Oliver! that night. I LOVE musicals. Oliver! was particularly splendid. The choreography was superb, and I was engrossed with the...
growing up & going home
I don’t know how to describe the feelings that consume me right now. Having just returned from the city centre with a little bag full of gifts for friends, it hit me: in seven short days I will be back in the States: one week. that’s it. Our schedule for the next few days is ridiculous. Tomorrow is our final exam for Murphy’s British History, as well as our last common meal. Prof...
Coming home to Cambridge
Upon our arrival to the house, we were welcomed with open arms by our classmates who’d been fortunate enough to find alternate transportation home. I showered right away, and didn’t even unpack before I went to bed. Sunday Em and I went to town and had a picnic in St. Mary’s courtyard. We ate pasties: best English food ever. Later that day, we went to tea with kristi. Sunday,...
slumming in spain
Because the train was late, we got free breakfast and coffee, which was nice. Steve’s mom found an all-inclusive hotel in Salou, Spain: about an hour outside of Barcelona by train, so because of the great deal, we decided to stay there. The six of us: Trevor, Farhan, Steve, Dani, Em and I had no idea that this place would be our residence for the next seven nights… The girls unpacked,...
swiss bliss
We woke up, packed, ate breakfast, and got on the bus that would take us down the spiraling roads on the mountain… Em puked on the bus. Dani, the nursing major, took care of her while I watched our stuff. I, unfortunately, inherited my Mom’s gag reflex, so if I’m around vomit, I will too. Well, anyways, because of all that, we missed our first train, and that created a domino...
sunny sorrento
Dani, Em and I caught one of the earlier buses so that we would make it to Naples in, what we hoped would be, the early evening. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought Sorrento and Naples sounded fun. The train was crowded: seriously overcrowded. There was luggage protruding from various chairs, duffle bags thrown on overhead railings, and people blocked the walkways until nasty...
ROMEing around
It took forever to get to Rome. We took the slow train because it was less expensive, so travel took twice as long. We caught the last shuttle bus too our hotel in Rome. Stevie’s mom used some of her reward points to get us a room at the Sheridan golf, and we were so happy to have warm showers, warm beds, and doors that locked securely. It was wonderfully luxurious compared to the places we...
Fabulous Florence
We made it to Florence late in the evening. Took a cab from the station, had a full on conversation about the weather forecast with the cabby- entirely awkward and fun because he didn’t speak English, and none of us spoke Italian- checked into our seven-bed room and went to sleep. It was cold and noisy that night, but we survived.
The next morning, Steve, Trevor and Farhan headed off to...
