I am really not a fan of the school's internet. And by really not, I mean I want to kill it. It's way too slow. I can't use Skype or Magic Jack to call anyone, which is fantastic. The call goes through, but the video lags and freezes, if there's video at all, and the audio constantly breaks up and makes people sound like the teacher from Charlie Brown. Unfortunately there's nothing that can be done about it, because this is just how the network is. Everyone is having trouble, and when I asked my roommate about it, she called a friend who said he never uses Skype here because the connection is so bad. Right now I'm thinking that maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll be able to try it this weekend since a lot of people are gone. Selwa, my roommate, said that a lot of people normally go home on weekends, moreso right now because it's Ramadan.
Anyway, backing up.
My luggage finally appeared last Friday! I had been expecting it, but didn't want to say anything in my last post and jinx it. I'd called the airport Thursday morning to check on my bags, and was told they were supposed to land in Fes that night and to call back Friday morning to make sure they were there. I had to argue with the woman in French, which was fun of course. People from the school's Office of International Programs were making a trip to the Fes airport that night to pick up a student around midnight and to pick up bags belonging to at least 8 people. They were all on the same flight from Casablanca to Fes and apparently someone decided the plane was too heavy so they took bags off at random. I gave them my claim ticket and whatever and they said I'd get a phone call when my stuff was dropped off at the dorm. I was awake for a while and there was no phone call. Every time I heard a car or a suitcase outside I'd get up and check, and I saw nothing. When I woke up in the morning I went downstairs and didn't see any luggage, so I wanted to kill something. There was also no one at the desk. When I came down 45 minutes later to leave for breakfast I discovered it was hiding on the other side of the desk. Huzzah. Turns out they never called anyone about it; a girl whose bags were in that group said she was walking back to the dorm around 12:30 and they were just unloading the suitcases at that point, and they must have just kept them chilling there all night. Needless to say, I was super happy to have clean clothes and shampoo and all that fun stuff.
Weekend consisted of more orientating. Most of it was actually a waste of time because things didn't go as planned, weren't ready on time, etc. Sunday I went to the marché (market) in town with Laura because we needed ID photos for our residency cards. I got a Moroccan SIM card there, but it's not working in my phone. I haven't had the chance to go back and switch it out or something, because things have crazy hours because of Ramadan. They close mid-afternoon and open back up some time after F'tor, the huge meal for breaking the fast. I'm going to try to go up tomorrow. If I can't get it to work I may just buy a pre-paid Moroccan phone because they're pretty cheap. We'll see how it goes.
First week of classes went pretty well. There were a few hiccups along the way. For one, my 8am Arabic class was changed to 9am, then changed back to 8am but no one told us. So all but one person missed the first class, because she didn't know it was changed in the first place.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
URRRRGH.
28 hour trip = made of epic fail.
Tuesday, just after noon: After getting lost in the parking deck at Logan, we get into the terminal so I can check in. We took our time because, hey, my flight didn'tlleave for another two hours. We stand in line to check my bags and suddenly the woman is changing my flight to the one that's currently boarding and leaves in less than half an hour. This, of course, leaves me with all of five seconds to say goodbye to my parents as I run to security and then to the gate. In tears, mind you. I'm sure I looked pretty awesome. I was a wreck the entire flight to Newark.
The flight to Newark was scheduled to be 1 hour and 50 minutes. The flying itself took about 46, and the rest was spent chilling on the runway in Logan and circling above Newark. Jeez. The Newark airport is a gigantic pain in the butt, and it took the opportunity to let me know I had blisters from my sneakers. Awesome. Luckily I had my flip flops in my carryon and I was able to squish the sneakers in. The flight to Rome wasn't so awful. I watched Star Wars (even though I almost fell asleep by the end). [EDIT: Wow I'm dumb. I watched Star Trek, not Star Wars.] I didn't have anyone next to me. There was a guy I wanted to punch in the face because he threw a hissy fit over not getting to sit with his friends. By "guy" I mean he had to be at least 40 and by "hissy fit" I mean he was yelling and swearing at not only the flight attendants but also at other passengers. Yeah. Awesome. Oh, and the little kid in the row behind me kept throwing up.
The airport in Rome was also a huge pain in the butt. Getting through security was ridiculous. The airport itself was yucky. And I was one of those annoying people they have to page because the aircraft was almost done boarding. I'd been standing at the gate the whole time, but the woman had announced that business and first class passengers would board first, then economy class. So naturally I'm waiting for her to announce, "Okay, economy class now." There were still plenty of people sitting in the waiting area so I didn't think anything of it. Then she announced my name and two others. Whoops. And of course this is one of those crazy European airports where you have to take a bus from the gate to the acutual plane. But people still hadn't finished boarding by the time we got there, so it was okay. That doesn't mean I didn't feel like an idiot anyway. The plane was almost half empty, so I got my own row. I slept most of the flight. The food was awful. I think I got maybe 5 hours of sleep total between the two flights.
When I got to Casablanca, SURPRISE my luggage didn't get there. Not just mine, but half the people on the flight. They didn't explain why, just took a ridiculously long time to fill out claim forms. And they don't deliver luggage here like they do in other countries. I was ready to kill something because I did NOT want to make the 5 hour trip again (each way) to get my bags. But when I told the guy where I was going he said they'd send them to Fes, which is about an hour away from here.
As a result of my bags being lost, I had about three minutes to get to the train. I decided to forgo stopping at an ATM for cash because I didn't want to waste time. Oh surprise, they don't take credit cards. So by the time I went back through security, went back up to the ATM, and came back down, the train was gone. Which means I had to wait an hour for the next one and miss the connecting train I wanted, meaning I'd get into Fes an hour and a half after I was supposed to. Oops. Called the school to change my pickup time. And cried again out of sheer frustration. Because I am that awesome.
So there I am, silly white girl sitting on the floor in the middle of the train station, crying, on the phone. And then on the train. At no point was I ever sobbing or anything, not even leaving Boston, but I was sniffly and teary and obviously upset. An older woman and her adult son sat across from me and offered me a kleenex. Aww. We talked in French for a little while (why was I upset? Did my boyfriend leave me? [HA.] Was I crying just because I was in Morocco?). It was hard to understand the woman because the train was super loud and she had a bit of an accent. They were nice though, so I appreciated it.
That train ride was 35 minutes. They don't announce the stops like they to in the US and Europe, you just have to hope you can see the sign for the station from where you're sitting. I managed to get off at the right stop, though, and find my next train (4 hours!!). It was a little awkward at first because it was a train with compartments like in Harry Potter, and apparently you just go and sit in whatever compartment you can find space in. I stood in the hallway for a little, amazed by a sketchball who didn't understand that my pointedly ignoring him meant "go away plzkthx." One guy getting off the train was like "Hey you can sit in there where I was." So I did. And then even though I was pretty sure my stop was the last one of the train but I was afraid to fall asleep anyway. I wound up sleeping for like 10 minutes at a time before jolting awake thinking I'd missed something. Not fun.
Finally at Fes, I met up with the Student Ambassador who was picking me up, and happily ran into Laura, the other girl who's here on the Boren Scholarship, and a guy named Steve. Hour long ride from Fes to Ifrane. They drive CRAZY here. Not as bad as Turkey, I don't think, but still pretty bad. Or at least there are fewer cars on the road so it doesn't seem so bad. Got to campus. Laura and I are in the same building, yay! The rooms are HUGE, even for two people. We have a milion and a half drawers, and an actual closet, and our own bathroom! For the two people. I'm kind of excited, because I was expecting to share with a lot more. I guess we lucked out being in the newest dorm. I haven't met my roommate yet because continuing students haven't moved in, but I hope things work out. The longest I've had a roommate was 10 weeks, I think? But we had an entire apartment and Renée is pretty awesome anyway, so that was a leeetle bit different from being here for a year. Pictures will come soon, anyway.
So dinner yesterday was a little disappointing. We can't tell yet if the food is always like that or not because it's Ramadan so the vast majority of people on campus aren't actually eating when we are. Between last night and today I met so many people though. I can't remember names or anything, but hey. So far everyone has been really nice and awesome. Orientation today was boring, as orientations tend to be. Only three more days of it, yay! We get to register in the morning, huzzah. I need to try to change one of my classes. More on that later.
So the travelling here was miserable, but the being here so far is pretty awesome. Turning out different from my trip to France, but I'm totally okay with that. I broke six nails during my travels, and normally I wouldn't care except they're all broken at crazy angles and both my nail clipper and nail file are safely packed away in my suitcases. Typing is actually difficult as a result. Awesome.
No pictures yet. Maybe later. Maybe when I have clean clothes and don't think I smell funny when I go out in public.
Tuesday, just after noon: After getting lost in the parking deck at Logan, we get into the terminal so I can check in. We took our time because, hey, my flight didn'tlleave for another two hours. We stand in line to check my bags and suddenly the woman is changing my flight to the one that's currently boarding and leaves in less than half an hour. This, of course, leaves me with all of five seconds to say goodbye to my parents as I run to security and then to the gate. In tears, mind you. I'm sure I looked pretty awesome. I was a wreck the entire flight to Newark.
The flight to Newark was scheduled to be 1 hour and 50 minutes. The flying itself took about 46, and the rest was spent chilling on the runway in Logan and circling above Newark. Jeez. The Newark airport is a gigantic pain in the butt, and it took the opportunity to let me know I had blisters from my sneakers. Awesome. Luckily I had my flip flops in my carryon and I was able to squish the sneakers in. The flight to Rome wasn't so awful. I watched Star Wars (even though I almost fell asleep by the end). [EDIT: Wow I'm dumb. I watched Star Trek, not Star Wars.] I didn't have anyone next to me. There was a guy I wanted to punch in the face because he threw a hissy fit over not getting to sit with his friends. By "guy" I mean he had to be at least 40 and by "hissy fit" I mean he was yelling and swearing at not only the flight attendants but also at other passengers. Yeah. Awesome. Oh, and the little kid in the row behind me kept throwing up.
The airport in Rome was also a huge pain in the butt. Getting through security was ridiculous. The airport itself was yucky. And I was one of those annoying people they have to page because the aircraft was almost done boarding. I'd been standing at the gate the whole time, but the woman had announced that business and first class passengers would board first, then economy class. So naturally I'm waiting for her to announce, "Okay, economy class now." There were still plenty of people sitting in the waiting area so I didn't think anything of it. Then she announced my name and two others. Whoops. And of course this is one of those crazy European airports where you have to take a bus from the gate to the acutual plane. But people still hadn't finished boarding by the time we got there, so it was okay. That doesn't mean I didn't feel like an idiot anyway. The plane was almost half empty, so I got my own row. I slept most of the flight. The food was awful. I think I got maybe 5 hours of sleep total between the two flights.
When I got to Casablanca, SURPRISE my luggage didn't get there. Not just mine, but half the people on the flight. They didn't explain why, just took a ridiculously long time to fill out claim forms. And they don't deliver luggage here like they do in other countries. I was ready to kill something because I did NOT want to make the 5 hour trip again (each way) to get my bags. But when I told the guy where I was going he said they'd send them to Fes, which is about an hour away from here.
As a result of my bags being lost, I had about three minutes to get to the train. I decided to forgo stopping at an ATM for cash because I didn't want to waste time. Oh surprise, they don't take credit cards. So by the time I went back through security, went back up to the ATM, and came back down, the train was gone. Which means I had to wait an hour for the next one and miss the connecting train I wanted, meaning I'd get into Fes an hour and a half after I was supposed to. Oops. Called the school to change my pickup time. And cried again out of sheer frustration. Because I am that awesome.
So there I am, silly white girl sitting on the floor in the middle of the train station, crying, on the phone. And then on the train. At no point was I ever sobbing or anything, not even leaving Boston, but I was sniffly and teary and obviously upset. An older woman and her adult son sat across from me and offered me a kleenex. Aww. We talked in French for a little while (why was I upset? Did my boyfriend leave me? [HA.] Was I crying just because I was in Morocco?). It was hard to understand the woman because the train was super loud and she had a bit of an accent. They were nice though, so I appreciated it.
That train ride was 35 minutes. They don't announce the stops like they to in the US and Europe, you just have to hope you can see the sign for the station from where you're sitting. I managed to get off at the right stop, though, and find my next train (4 hours!!). It was a little awkward at first because it was a train with compartments like in Harry Potter, and apparently you just go and sit in whatever compartment you can find space in. I stood in the hallway for a little, amazed by a sketchball who didn't understand that my pointedly ignoring him meant "go away plzkthx." One guy getting off the train was like "Hey you can sit in there where I was." So I did. And then even though I was pretty sure my stop was the last one of the train but I was afraid to fall asleep anyway. I wound up sleeping for like 10 minutes at a time before jolting awake thinking I'd missed something. Not fun.
Finally at Fes, I met up with the Student Ambassador who was picking me up, and happily ran into Laura, the other girl who's here on the Boren Scholarship, and a guy named Steve. Hour long ride from Fes to Ifrane. They drive CRAZY here. Not as bad as Turkey, I don't think, but still pretty bad. Or at least there are fewer cars on the road so it doesn't seem so bad. Got to campus. Laura and I are in the same building, yay! The rooms are HUGE, even for two people. We have a milion and a half drawers, and an actual closet, and our own bathroom! For the two people. I'm kind of excited, because I was expecting to share with a lot more. I guess we lucked out being in the newest dorm. I haven't met my roommate yet because continuing students haven't moved in, but I hope things work out. The longest I've had a roommate was 10 weeks, I think? But we had an entire apartment and Renée is pretty awesome anyway, so that was a leeetle bit different from being here for a year. Pictures will come soon, anyway.
So dinner yesterday was a little disappointing. We can't tell yet if the food is always like that or not because it's Ramadan so the vast majority of people on campus aren't actually eating when we are. Between last night and today I met so many people though. I can't remember names or anything, but hey. So far everyone has been really nice and awesome. Orientation today was boring, as orientations tend to be. Only three more days of it, yay! We get to register in the morning, huzzah. I need to try to change one of my classes. More on that later.
So the travelling here was miserable, but the being here so far is pretty awesome. Turning out different from my trip to France, but I'm totally okay with that. I broke six nails during my travels, and normally I wouldn't care except they're all broken at crazy angles and both my nail clipper and nail file are safely packed away in my suitcases. Typing is actually difficult as a result. Awesome.
No pictures yet. Maybe later. Maybe when I have clean clothes and don't think I smell funny when I go out in public.
Monday, July 13, 2009
No comprendo :(
Wahoo! Only a month after the fact, I'm finally posting about my trip to Barcelona. Better last than never, right? Right.
The trip started off swimmingly. Courtney, Tristan, and I went to the train station around noon to get a train to Geneva, from where our flight was leaving at... 6 something? [Can I say "from where" in English? It works in French.] We found out there was no train, only a series of buses making random stops because they were working on the tracks on that specific route. Three days out of the whole month they were working on it, and we picked one of those days. So we got on the bus, got to where it stopped (an hour from Geneva), and were told we had to wait something like an hour and a half for the next bus. Which would take us somewhere else, where we could get a new bus that would take us to Geneva... buuuut we wouldn't get there in time for our flight. Awesome! So after I talked to the train info lady, we wound up taking a cab. To Geneva. For a grand total of 100 euro. Aaaand Tristan lost her keys somewhere between Chambéry and wherever the heck we were. Culoz?
After the cab ride, we suddenly have plenty of time to spare at the airport. This involved wandering around doing a whole lot of nothing. Whee. The flight to Barcelona was uneventful. After a train ride from the airport and a few changes on the subway, we found our hostel. The directions on the website lied, of course, so we walked by it a few times before we found the right street. Went back to the main part of the city but couldn't find Cori. Nobody's French phone wanted to work in Spain. :( Thus mine was rendered useless as well; I could call and text, but it didn't do any good since no one could answer. Fail. Had really expensive tapas. I tried crocodile & cheese. It was actually pretty good.
I may be slightly crazy, but when the guy said crocodile I was like "Must. Try." If only to say that I have.
Best part of the night:
In a train station. I freaked out a little. It was awesome. Even though it was closed.
Sunday we went to see la Sagrada Familia. It's pretty much the most ridiculous church I've ever seen. They've been building it since the late 1800's and at this point the projected finish date is like 2030. Yeah. Not going to post any of the 200 photos I took because you can't see half of it in any of them. You can see them on my Photobucket.
From there we went to lunch, met Cori, and went up to this old castle-fort-thing. It was interesting. La Sagrada Familia stood out from the Barcelona skyline. It reminds me of a giant spider creature, like something you'd see in Harry Potter or LotR. Go figure. We wandered around Barcelona a bit, then went to dinner at a place called Les Quinze Nits. Super cheap, really awesome. Super long line always starts in Plaça Reial, but it's so worth it. Went back to the hostel that night, talked to one of the guys at the check in desk, watched part of Iron Man with him and an Egyptian guy at the hostel. Hostels are cool for meeting people. :)
Next day we did a walking tour of Barcelona (it was free! I love Europe). It rained a little. Sad face. Wandered down to the harbor but didn't go to the beach. Had dinner at a place called Travel Bar, which was just that; little hideaway place for tourists. The dinner was only a euro with the purchase of a drink; we split a pitcher of sangria four ways, which meant 4 euro dinner. Epic win? Yes indeed. Wandered a bit, went back to the hostel, went to a club. I was in a fantastic mood the entire time because my wrist had decided it hated me again.
Tuesday was our last day in Barcelona. Slept late, went to Park Guell, which is this ridiculous park that Antonio Gaudi designed; he's also responsible for a lot of the ridiculousness in la Sagrada Familia. Went to the beach for a little while (sunburn fail!). I didn't go in the water, but I'd been in the Mediterranean twice before so whatever. Cold water is cold. Went back to Travel Bar to meet up for a cooking class they offered at their sister bar near the waterfront. Cooking class was less "class" than "sit here and watch me explain how to make paella." Also learned how to make sangria. That went over well. Seafood paella was pretty good, though having to peel the heads and legs off the shrimp wasn't fun. From there we went with a couple people from the cooking class to a little shot bar called Espit Chupitos. Chupito means shot. How clever. This place has over 500 shots and it was pretty awesome. They don't tell you what's in them, but some of them are fun. Some of them were scary (like the one called "diarrhea." No thank you.). There was a Harry Potter one that sparkled (by lighting the bar on fire and throwing sugar in it). Bob Marley one was layered green, yellow, and red. Etc. They were pretty clever. Went back to the hostel after a little while, got packed, and went to sleeeeep. Got up super early the next day to get to the airport, flew back to Geneva, killed a few hours there before catching a train back to Chambéry.
Overall, Barcelona was probably my least favorite place. There wasn't a whole lot to do or see. The stupid church is its biggest draw, I think, except maybe for the beaches. I did really like the old city and the few Roman things we saw, but that was really it. The city also reeked of urine, which was less than pleasant.
When it comes down to it, I prefer historical things to big cities, I guess. Paris and London and Istanbul all worked because they've merged the old and the new. Maybe I'd have liked Barcelona if I'd had more time to spend in the old city, I don't know. If nothing else, I can say I've been to Spain woo.
The trip started off swimmingly. Courtney, Tristan, and I went to the train station around noon to get a train to Geneva, from where our flight was leaving at... 6 something? [Can I say "from where" in English? It works in French.] We found out there was no train, only a series of buses making random stops because they were working on the tracks on that specific route. Three days out of the whole month they were working on it, and we picked one of those days. So we got on the bus, got to where it stopped (an hour from Geneva), and were told we had to wait something like an hour and a half for the next bus. Which would take us somewhere else, where we could get a new bus that would take us to Geneva... buuuut we wouldn't get there in time for our flight. Awesome! So after I talked to the train info lady, we wound up taking a cab. To Geneva. For a grand total of 100 euro. Aaaand Tristan lost her keys somewhere between Chambéry and wherever the heck we were. Culoz?
After the cab ride, we suddenly have plenty of time to spare at the airport. This involved wandering around doing a whole lot of nothing. Whee. The flight to Barcelona was uneventful. After a train ride from the airport and a few changes on the subway, we found our hostel. The directions on the website lied, of course, so we walked by it a few times before we found the right street. Went back to the main part of the city but couldn't find Cori. Nobody's French phone wanted to work in Spain. :( Thus mine was rendered useless as well; I could call and text, but it didn't do any good since no one could answer. Fail. Had really expensive tapas. I tried crocodile & cheese. It was actually pretty good.
I may be slightly crazy, but when the guy said crocodile I was like "Must. Try." If only to say that I have.Best part of the night:
In a train station. I freaked out a little. It was awesome. Even though it was closed.Sunday we went to see la Sagrada Familia. It's pretty much the most ridiculous church I've ever seen. They've been building it since the late 1800's and at this point the projected finish date is like 2030. Yeah. Not going to post any of the 200 photos I took because you can't see half of it in any of them. You can see them on my Photobucket.
From there we went to lunch, met Cori, and went up to this old castle-fort-thing. It was interesting. La Sagrada Familia stood out from the Barcelona skyline. It reminds me of a giant spider creature, like something you'd see in Harry Potter or LotR. Go figure. We wandered around Barcelona a bit, then went to dinner at a place called Les Quinze Nits. Super cheap, really awesome. Super long line always starts in Plaça Reial, but it's so worth it. Went back to the hostel that night, talked to one of the guys at the check in desk, watched part of Iron Man with him and an Egyptian guy at the hostel. Hostels are cool for meeting people. :)
Next day we did a walking tour of Barcelona (it was free! I love Europe). It rained a little. Sad face. Wandered down to the harbor but didn't go to the beach. Had dinner at a place called Travel Bar, which was just that; little hideaway place for tourists. The dinner was only a euro with the purchase of a drink; we split a pitcher of sangria four ways, which meant 4 euro dinner. Epic win? Yes indeed. Wandered a bit, went back to the hostel, went to a club. I was in a fantastic mood the entire time because my wrist had decided it hated me again.
Tuesday was our last day in Barcelona. Slept late, went to Park Guell, which is this ridiculous park that Antonio Gaudi designed; he's also responsible for a lot of the ridiculousness in la Sagrada Familia. Went to the beach for a little while (sunburn fail!). I didn't go in the water, but I'd been in the Mediterranean twice before so whatever. Cold water is cold. Went back to Travel Bar to meet up for a cooking class they offered at their sister bar near the waterfront. Cooking class was less "class" than "sit here and watch me explain how to make paella." Also learned how to make sangria. That went over well. Seafood paella was pretty good, though having to peel the heads and legs off the shrimp wasn't fun. From there we went with a couple people from the cooking class to a little shot bar called Espit Chupitos. Chupito means shot. How clever. This place has over 500 shots and it was pretty awesome. They don't tell you what's in them, but some of them are fun. Some of them were scary (like the one called "diarrhea." No thank you.). There was a Harry Potter one that sparkled (by lighting the bar on fire and throwing sugar in it). Bob Marley one was layered green, yellow, and red. Etc. They were pretty clever. Went back to the hostel after a little while, got packed, and went to sleeeeep. Got up super early the next day to get to the airport, flew back to Geneva, killed a few hours there before catching a train back to Chambéry.
Overall, Barcelona was probably my least favorite place. There wasn't a whole lot to do or see. The stupid church is its biggest draw, I think, except maybe for the beaches. I did really like the old city and the few Roman things we saw, but that was really it. The city also reeked of urine, which was less than pleasant.
When it comes down to it, I prefer historical things to big cities, I guess. Paris and London and Istanbul all worked because they've merged the old and the new. Maybe I'd have liked Barcelona if I'd had more time to spend in the old city, I don't know. If nothing else, I can say I've been to Spain woo.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Y helo thar.
So. This time next week I'll have been home for almost two days. If you define home as a general "that side of the Atlantic," since my flight doesn't land til around six-ish at night. I have a lot to blog about: grades, a two-day trip to Geneva, a four-day trip to Barcelona. General end-of-the-semester reflections. Unfortunately, you're probably going to have to wait til I get home to read all that. My internets are disappearing on Saturday and I'm not getting home til Tuesday night. Sad face. Blogger hates entries that are copy/pasted from Microsoft Word, too, so I may or may not type things up over the weekend and try to post them when I get home or something. We'll see. Beyond that, nothing interesting has happened in my life. I've watched three seasons of NCIS in less than a week. Good times. I'm going to pack now. Ta.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
You Know You're a Nerd When...
Monday [May 18] was my last final and a big last hurrah dinner with 23 other international students. We're a crazy bunch, let me tell ya. More on that later. We got back around 1130, I think? And then Courtney and I were up til 2-something trying to plan travels. We settled for Barcelona, whee! I didn't get to sleep til after 3 that night, which wouldn't have been too bad...
...except I had a 6:10 am train to Geneva, and had to be up at 5. Ewwww. I managed, somehow. When I got to Geneva I met up with Carolyn (the one from Italy/Turkey) and our friend Catherine, who lived on my floor my freshman year [I lived in her old room my past three semesters. Hee.], then graduated and ran off to Geneva for grad school. We spent 3-3.5 hours sitting in Starbucks talking about VCU, the Honors College, wreaking havoc on the world when we're all FSOs, and... scholarships. Yes. So to complete the post title, you know you're a nerd when you meet up with friends halfway across the world to talk about school and scholarships and other nerd things. Clearly, we're a special bunch. And I'm all the more excited now to gain a functioning knowledge of a third language.
After we left Starbucks we walked to the old city to get some lunch at Chez ma cousine. It was delicious. They had potato wedges and chicken and yum. We passed a protest of some kind on the way but we couldn't really figure out what it was for. After lunch we went to Clavin's church, which was closed. It was pretty huge though. And there's a museum underneath but it cost lots of francs to get into. Oh wells. We wandered around Geneva a bit more before heading back to Catherine's apartment. At which point we may or may not have harassed the National Scholarship Coordinator in the Honors College via Skype chat. He said something to the effect of, "I can only imagine the trouble you three have gotten yourselves into." Great to know people back home have faith in us. =D
We talked more about taking over the world. We made dinner. We watched CSI: Miami. The next day we ate the leftovers from dinner, because 2.2 pounds of pasta is a LOT. Back in town we went to a little store that had all kinds of American products that you can't get in Europe: Kraft Mac & Cheese, Betty Crocker, root beer, Mountain Dew, Reese's... it was amazing. And it made us happy. Even though it was a little expensive, but hey. You do what you have to do. We walked to the lake and got ice cream. Met up with two of Carolyn's friends from RVA. Walked around the lake to the massive water jet they have there. Sat in Starbucks with Catherine for another hour and some change after Carolyn left.
Pretty awesome two days. Solidified the fact that I am a nerd and I love it. :) And I love my friends. (Awwwww.)
...except I had a 6:10 am train to Geneva, and had to be up at 5. Ewwww. I managed, somehow. When I got to Geneva I met up with Carolyn (the one from Italy/Turkey) and our friend Catherine, who lived on my floor my freshman year [I lived in her old room my past three semesters. Hee.], then graduated and ran off to Geneva for grad school. We spent 3-3.5 hours sitting in Starbucks talking about VCU, the Honors College, wreaking havoc on the world when we're all FSOs, and... scholarships. Yes. So to complete the post title, you know you're a nerd when you meet up with friends halfway across the world to talk about school and scholarships and other nerd things. Clearly, we're a special bunch. And I'm all the more excited now to gain a functioning knowledge of a third language.
After we left Starbucks we walked to the old city to get some lunch at Chez ma cousine. It was delicious. They had potato wedges and chicken and yum. We passed a protest of some kind on the way but we couldn't really figure out what it was for. After lunch we went to Clavin's church, which was closed. It was pretty huge though. And there's a museum underneath but it cost lots of francs to get into. Oh wells. We wandered around Geneva a bit more before heading back to Catherine's apartment. At which point we may or may not have harassed the National Scholarship Coordinator in the Honors College via Skype chat. He said something to the effect of, "I can only imagine the trouble you three have gotten yourselves into." Great to know people back home have faith in us. =D
We talked more about taking over the world. We made dinner. We watched CSI: Miami. The next day we ate the leftovers from dinner, because 2.2 pounds of pasta is a LOT. Back in town we went to a little store that had all kinds of American products that you can't get in Europe: Kraft Mac & Cheese, Betty Crocker, root beer, Mountain Dew, Reese's... it was amazing. And it made us happy. Even though it was a little expensive, but hey. You do what you have to do. We walked to the lake and got ice cream. Met up with two of Carolyn's friends from RVA. Walked around the lake to the massive water jet they have there. Sat in Starbucks with Catherine for another hour and some change after Carolyn left.
Pretty awesome two days. Solidified the fact that I am a nerd and I love it. :) And I love my friends. (Awwwww.)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Lazy lazy lazy
Wooooot. Today is made of win because I'm not doing anything. For starters, I slept until 12:30 and it was glorious. Why? Because in the span of a week I had 10 exams, plus a paper.
The paper was 10 pages long, and a comparison of Camus' L'Etranger (The Stranger) and Balzac's Le Père Goriot. Lee, Veronica, and I wrote the paper together, but it was a pain in the butt to do. Père Goriot was 270 pages of text. Period. No chapters or anything, just continuous story. Ugh. The entire thing was an ordeal, but we got a 14/20, so no one's complaining. I know it looks bad, but it's a B.
The French grade on a scale of 1-20. 10 is average/passing. 18-20 are impossible to get. So 16-17 is A, 14-15 is B, 12-13 C, 10-11 D if you equate it to the American system. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get 16-17 too. So while the honors kid in me is frustrated over having gotten a B, the exchange student in me is glee-ing over having gotten a 14.
Oh, god. Completely unrelated, but I'm looking at Facebook where people are talking about unpacking all their dorm stuff and cleaning their rooms at home and I just realized I'm going to have to do that too. Oh, fail.
Anyway, yeah. 10 exams? Not fun. 6 between Tue-Thu of last week. Two each this past Monday and Tuesday. One I know I got a 15 on. That excites me because it was an oral exam too. Hee. Some of them I think I did well on, some I'm not so sure. I can find out my grades starting May 25, and I will defintely do so.
I have two more classes tomorrow and an exam Monday and then I am DONE. And then I will hopefully catch up on the traveling I never did this semester. D: For now, I'm settling for being lazy and cleaning my room. Kinda contradicting, I know, but my room is a mess and I didn't have time to clean it while I was having an aneurysm over all of my finals. So cleaning my room = less stress = me being more chill. Word.
The paper was 10 pages long, and a comparison of Camus' L'Etranger (The Stranger) and Balzac's Le Père Goriot. Lee, Veronica, and I wrote the paper together, but it was a pain in the butt to do. Père Goriot was 270 pages of text. Period. No chapters or anything, just continuous story. Ugh. The entire thing was an ordeal, but we got a 14/20, so no one's complaining. I know it looks bad, but it's a B.
The French grade on a scale of 1-20. 10 is average/passing. 18-20 are impossible to get. So 16-17 is A, 14-15 is B, 12-13 C, 10-11 D if you equate it to the American system. I'm pretty sure it's impossible to get 16-17 too. So while the honors kid in me is frustrated over having gotten a B, the exchange student in me is glee-ing over having gotten a 14.
Oh, god. Completely unrelated, but I'm looking at Facebook where people are talking about unpacking all their dorm stuff and cleaning their rooms at home and I just realized I'm going to have to do that too. Oh, fail.
Anyway, yeah. 10 exams? Not fun. 6 between Tue-Thu of last week. Two each this past Monday and Tuesday. One I know I got a 15 on. That excites me because it was an oral exam too. Hee. Some of them I think I did well on, some I'm not so sure. I can find out my grades starting May 25, and I will defintely do so.
I have two more classes tomorrow and an exam Monday and then I am DONE. And then I will hopefully catch up on the traveling I never did this semester. D: For now, I'm settling for being lazy and cleaning my room. Kinda contradicting, I know, but my room is a mess and I didn't have time to clean it while I was having an aneurysm over all of my finals. So cleaning my room = less stress = me being more chill. Word.
Friday, May 1, 2009
BRB, MOROCCO
Holy god. I'm shaking right now. I could just die. But that would be counterproductive. Oh my god seriously though.
I'm going to Morocco next year. I'm studying at Al Akhawayn Univsersity in Ifrane.
And the US Government is paying for it.
Oh. My. GOD.
There are no words to describe how I feel right now. No. Words.
In January I applied for the NSEP/Boren undergraduate scholarship, which pays up to $20,000 for students to go somewhere and learn a language that is critical to national security. It was ridiculous and frustrating and I've been waiting since February to hear about it. I got an email at the beginning of April saying "Hey we're still considering your application!" and that they'd announce the winners in May 1st. So needless to say I didn't sleep a whole lot last night and I've been up since 9 am going absolutely nuts: refreshing my inbox, refreshing the page with last year's winners on it, refreshing my inbox again, having a heart attack when I got a new but unrelated email... it's been bad. Being 6 hours ahead is just painful.
So Mom Skyped me and we were talking about it and both just being "omg i can has email plz?" And then she was looking at my Turkey pictures and I refreshed my email and almost died. I stopped, stared at it, and went "YES!" and then froze again. And nearly bounced off my chair. It was ridiculous. I just kept laughing and almost crying. And shaking. There was lots of shaking. I can't believe it. I'm grinning like a fool but omg. There were 896 applications for this thing. I don't know how many they actually gave out but OH MY GOD.
This is absolutely ridiculous. So ridiculous. Ahhhh. I was trying so hard not to just assume that I would get it. So hard. I'd applied for two other things to do over this summer but didn't get either of them and if I didn't get this I would have died, I think. I'm still about to die, but in a good way.
This is very quickly going to dissolve into ramblings, so I'm just going to stop now. I'll post the link to the website once they update with this year's winners. MY NAME IS GOING TO BE ON IT. AHHHHH.
I'm going to Morocco next year. I'm studying at Al Akhawayn Univsersity in Ifrane.
And the US Government is paying for it.
Oh. My. GOD.
There are no words to describe how I feel right now. No. Words.
In January I applied for the NSEP/Boren undergraduate scholarship, which pays up to $20,000 for students to go somewhere and learn a language that is critical to national security. It was ridiculous and frustrating and I've been waiting since February to hear about it. I got an email at the beginning of April saying "Hey we're still considering your application!" and that they'd announce the winners in May 1st. So needless to say I didn't sleep a whole lot last night and I've been up since 9 am going absolutely nuts: refreshing my inbox, refreshing the page with last year's winners on it, refreshing my inbox again, having a heart attack when I got a new but unrelated email... it's been bad. Being 6 hours ahead is just painful.
So Mom Skyped me and we were talking about it and both just being "omg i can has email plz?" And then she was looking at my Turkey pictures and I refreshed my email and almost died. I stopped, stared at it, and went "YES!" and then froze again. And nearly bounced off my chair. It was ridiculous. I just kept laughing and almost crying. And shaking. There was lots of shaking. I can't believe it. I'm grinning like a fool but omg. There were 896 applications for this thing. I don't know how many they actually gave out but OH MY GOD.
This is absolutely ridiculous. So ridiculous. Ahhhh. I was trying so hard not to just assume that I would get it. So hard. I'd applied for two other things to do over this summer but didn't get either of them and if I didn't get this I would have died, I think. I'm still about to die, but in a good way.
This is very quickly going to dissolve into ramblings, so I'm just going to stop now. I'll post the link to the website once they update with this year's winners. MY NAME IS GOING TO BE ON IT. AHHHHH.
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