Yes, I've been getting around....

London the weekend before, Amsterdam this past weekend and now on to Stonehenge this weekend- whew! I love it though. Went out with the house the other night which was a lot of fun. So, now that I'm taking a moment to update (and breathe haha), here are the highlights:

London: We saw and did so much in London so quickly. Less than 48 hours! It was good, just so much. I think the worst part was just getting there so late, boarding a double decker bus, then being confined to said bus when a fight broke out due to some racist comments. Can't say I was amused. Overall though, a good time. A few of the sites we saw were the London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the London Underground which is how we got around everywhere, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Abbey Road, Millenium Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and St. Paul's Cathedral.

Buckingham Palace

Silly as it may seem, I think Green Park was my favorite. It's the park right by Buckingham Palace. It was just a nice day, the sun came out (!!) and it was mellow. I'm one of those mellow people who just meandering and absorbing all the people and scenery is fun for me.

Big Ben

Amsterdam: I enjoyed the city, I'm glad I went- don't see myself going back. It's quite easy to see in one weekend. The one thing I did quite like about it was how laid-back and mellow it was- go figure haha. For those who don't know, Amsterdam is known primarily for it's legalization of weed and the Red Light district where prostitution is also legal. 

The canal- we did a cruise which was very nice

We saw the Anne Frank museum, the Van Gogh museum (which also had pieces of Picasso's as well), and the Sex museum. The Anne Frank museum was by far my favorite. It was the very house where her family hid. Extremely moving and worth the entire trip in my opinion.

A picture of the Anne Frank museum

Sorry it took so long to update. I'm trying though! I'm extremely excited because my friend Jay is coming to visit in 3 weeks!! Also, my family is for sure coming to Europe the last week of April which just makes everything that much better too. It occurred to me the other day that it'd be a lot easier to leave if people didn't love me so much- and vice versa. Wouldn't change that for the world though.

Stonehenge this weekend- and I'll post sooner. Pinky promise haha. Ciao!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I think Valentine's day does more often than not reminds singles that they are well, single. But that's not it. I think love in general is such an amazing and powerful thing and I think today is just another day which we should use to tell everyone how much we love them. This day is just a little more pink, red and fluffy than some others. I don't the words "I love you" can ever be used too much- try and prove me wrong.

So from me to you:

eye (London eye)

love

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's day and I'll be posting about my London adventure here soon. Stay tuned!

I found avocadoes!!!

Yes, three exclamation points were required. For those of you know me all too well, homemade guacamole is my specialty and also my favorite. Unfortunately this need of mine seemed it could be a need no longer as there were no ripe avocados to be found. Until this afternoon. Score!

Thus I was able to make yummy fajitas with yellow and red peppers, onions, guacamole and then had sour cream, salsa and cheese. Of course haha. A taste of back home.

I think the best part was sharing it though. Well that and people enjoying it haha. I made dinner for my friend Nicole and I as she's been a doll to make me a meal or two. My housemates Caroline, Owen and Hayley all helped us out with finishing it.

I'm headed to London tomorrow for a short weekend trip. I had the most ironic notion today. I reached for a shirt to wear and realized that I picked out the exact shirt I wore my first day in London when I arrived. Gosh that was nearly 2 years ago now.

Not to obsess about food (or torture those who are starving) but I had my first try at Indian food the other night. The girls came over so we could plan our trip to Paris so we ordered in. It was good, I quite liked it. I must say though, I think I'm good for the next month haha. Too many spices to have it too often.

Well I'm off to pack. I'll talk more when I have much more to say- after London haha. Have a good weekend!!

More Late Nights... or early mornings I guess you could say

I'm not so sure what I can blame these late nights on. I didn't get to sleep until 6 am Saturday morning (which was still Friday night for me) and then last night I didn't get to sleep until 7 am (or this morning more accurately). Running on three hours of sleep is not doing wonders for me. And unfortunately I don't think jet lag occurs three weeks after your arrival... This situation will be fixed though.

A non sequitur to say the least, but I went to the pub/bar Friday night and saw my first rugby game. I must admit, I think I'm much more a rugby girl than a football game. There's more consecutive play, it's not as long, and it's easier to understand.

This particular match was quite intense as it was Wales vs England. Although I'm in Wales, there were probably an equal amount of both supporters just because not everyone here is from Wales. The most interesting thing I heard about rugby was that every now and again if England scored or whatever, then the fans would start singing "Swing Lo Sweet Chariot"- now here's the story. Apparently a player for England lost his mom right before a huge match. The day after her death he still played and he not only that but he played amazingly and after the game he sang this song.

The following night was a movie night- Pocahontas, Robin Hood (which I had never seen) and Watership Down (which I had certainly never seen). The first two were Disney, and that's how we ended up watching the last one. Apparently it is a well-known British kids film. Goodness I sound British now saying film haha. Anyway, supposedly it's popular and usually played around Christmastime and a British friend thought it was Disney. Here's the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi1xJVs2aWM

Just by looking at the trailer you should be able to tell 1. It's not Disney animation and 2. It's far too sketchy, gory and depressing to be Disney related. I found it creepy and a tad disturbing and I'm 21 so take that as you will.

In other news, I received my first letter Saturday which just made my life so much brighter. It was a card that became a bouquet from my family back home. So sweet. Made me realize how much I miss them. I'm a lucky girl.

Well that's all for now. After all, you can only expect so much from the girl running on three hours worth of sleep. Take care!

15 Fun Facts- well, for the most part

1. "Isn't Texas scary?"
     This is the question I was faced with after explaining to my housemate where Oklahoma is (on top of Texas). It took me by surprise and made me giggle before asking where on earth she got that idea. Her next question was "don't people carry guns there?" I had to explain to her that guns are just part of our culture over there. It's amazing how much the idea terrifies them, yet we don't really think about it because it's become so mundane to us.

2. Classes = Success
     I'm taking two classes: Propaganda and Strategy, Marketing, and Media. The first meets Monday and the other Thursday...which means I have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday off!! Apart from the amazing schedule, I'm also just excited because I think the classes themselves will be interesting.

3. Sammy
    I miss my little girl so much! I miss Squirt too, but I think I miss Sammy worse just because you see dogs out and about with their owners so much here. It's gotten to where I wince a little bit when I see dogs. That's definitely the biggest drawback so far is being without my animals.

4. I felt productive yesterday!
    I signed up for the trip to Amsterdam, sent off letters, and went to class. Yea I was a productive Rachael yesterday =)

5. My room feels a bit more homey now

     I got a new duvet cover and a clock which I was pleased to find is battery operated so I can use it at home too :)

6. Why yes, I do have glow in the dark stars on my wall...

    Thank you for noticing. Don't lie- you're a bit jealous.

7. 8. The number 15 is my favorite so we'll make it there, just you know, being efficient here 

9. Owen had squid for dinner

     Yea... that's about all I have to say about that. They're really tiny though. Like the length of my pinky. He said they tasted very "squid-y" for the record. I know you all were wondering

10. He's one of my housemates. There are ten of us total.

      5 girls, 5 boys. No living room. Yea that baffles me as well. Most seem to just hang out in the kitchen which is just so weird if you're not eating. But I like them all. They're sweet.

11. My cute little car that got left behind

      If you know me at all, you should have known that my car would come into play here somewhere. They have them here too. Except they aren't called Honda Fit. It's Honda Jazz. I'm considering changing it's name upon my return 

12. 13. Shopping!

    Of course, I love shopping. It's not nearly as terribly priced as I thought it would be either which could be a bad thing, not gonna lie. However, where as back home I can toss my purchases in the backseat, here I'm lugging everything back to the house with me- on the bus. Makes you think a little bit more about how much you really do want what you think you like haha.

14. Speaking of shopping- I was shocked to hear there are American food stores around

     Now you may ask why there are specific American grocery stores. Apparently because these are foods that are too high in fat to legally be sold in ordinary grocery stores around. "Magical" charms (aka Lucky Charms)? There. Reese's peanut butter cups? They've got them there. Yea, crazy.

15. This never fails to make my day

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3NPNM4xgo

I hope you enjoyed these facts brought to you today by none other than the random thoughts of yours truly. And feel free to check my Facebook for more photos! Til next time, Ciao

A Whole New World

Yes, my very first blog is named after a Disney song- deal with it.

Stepping off the plane, it truly felt like a whole new world though. For those of you who don't know, Heathrow airport is more or less the size of my hometown. Yea....a tad intimidating to say the least. Especially to a solitary girl who's traveled 4,626 miles, left her home, family, and friends behind, to travel to a place she's never been. Mhmm, intimidating. That was the word of the day.

I left Friday afternoon. I was a mess at the airport, an absolute mess. My family and I are extremely close, so as much as I am against crying in public, I knew that rule would definitely be broken. It would be a lot easier if we weren't so close, but I never ever in a million years would wish away my relationship with my family. Them. Them and my cat and dog. Those are things I miss the most. Apart from my car.

By the time I arrived at my destination (Hendrefoelan Student village, Swansea, Wales) I had been traveling for about 24 hours. Give or take haha. But of course it felt longer.

Hitting the fast forward button here as I saw that inconspicuous yawn... I'm now starting my third week here. Since I've been here, I took the orientation course with other fellow Americanteers (yea just coined that phrase, don't steal it). The course was British culture and politics and I quite enjoyed it. I've also made friends over the past few weeks, people from the class as well as my housemates.

I'm a lucky girl. I have an amazing family as well as friends back home, jobs I love, pets I miss, and I lead a life I love. I was granted this amazing opportunity which I know will change me in ways I can't even understand until the plane ride home. I hope my words didn't leave you bored and you'll continue to check back in with me as I tell you about this fascinating, beautiful whole new world.