it's a wild beautiful world

A week of many firsts

heliteli — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:20:35 +0100

The past 7 days have been full of many first for me…

First time I’d done academic work on a Thursday night (normally I’d been on a train, plane, or on my way to a hostel),

First Saturday I’ve spent all day doing nothing,

First midterm I’ve had since my sophomore year!

…And, first time I realized how much I miss seeing fall and the leaves changing in New England.

Done with my first round of midterms. Off to New York City!!

Pit Stop Venezuela

heliteli — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:49:54 +0100

[the hills that surround Maracay]

If you’ve been reading my last couple of posts, you’ve probably realized that my year abroad has come to an end - as has my summer. But, before returning back to my uni, I had to make an unexpected and last minute trip back to Venezuela, my homeland.

Long story short, I never got the equivalent of a social security number and for that reason I have not been able to renew my passport - which almost kept me from spending my last year abroad! As my sister had never gotten her’s either (they don’t issue them in Venezuela until you are 9 and I left when I was 6), my mom, my sister, and I hopped on a plane to go get them!

[Meeting up with old friends during our layover in Houston]

Last time I’d been to Venezuela was when I was 9, I remember a few details but most of it is hazy. The one thing I do remember clearly was that upon returning my dad asked me if I was still dying to move back and I responded with “NOOO!” When he asked me why, I listed silly reasons such as “they don’t have good cable!” So this time on my trip, I tried to keep my eyes open for other reasons why, after retuning, my 9-year old self never wanted to leave America - especially since about a year ago I was ecstatic to get out of this country.

For as long as I can remember, my mom has always complained about how cold Americans are, how unfriendly. The day we landed in Caracas, we were greeted by one of my aunts and one of my uncles who hugged us and kissed us nonstop. Once we got in the car, I passed out - it was 2 hour car drive to my grandma’s house. When we arrived, I was greeted by countless hugs and kisses! What a weird sensation. These were people that I knew I was related to, but had never really talked to; and yet, they were so thrilled to see me! This was what our first day in Venezuela was full of - greeting and seeing family relatives.

[One of my many cousins]

[My mom and ALL of her siblings!]

[My grandma and ALL of her grandchildren!]

The following morning (Monday), we woke up early and made our first of many trips to get our cédula (ssn equivalent). It was quite unsuccessful. After being told to wait in a line, surrounded by obnoxious 9-year old boys, for 6 hours, I was told that I was in the wrong line and that I had to return the following day to get my cédula. Sad and tired, we headed back to my grandma’s home.

[Day one…]

The next day, we met with the “right” people and they told us to just come back Wednesday. Regardless, in the afternoon we made a pit stop at an old friend’s house! It was so weird being back in a house that I remembered as being GINORMOUS and then realizing that it was just as big as all the other houses in the street…

[Reunited with old friends!]

Wednesday we came back and they told us to be patient and that if we were lucky and “nice” we could get them by Friday - the day before departed for the United States once more. Finally having a receive a more concret answer, we went off to stay at my other grandma’s house! This is the grandma that spent 6 months with us in California when I was a junior in college so it was so nice to see her again! This was also the day I passed out for about 4 hours in a hammock… It was pretty damn nice. All that was missing was a nice margarita…

[My cousins from my dad’s sides - ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT! THERE ARE MANY MORE!]

[My grandma, my cousin, my sis, and me!]

Thursday rolled around and we decided to go off to the beach! Ahh, my favorite! The smell of sea salt, sunshine, and happy times! I’d forgotten how warm the Caribbean sea is and how relaxing the ocean waves are! After a nice time at the beach, we headed back to my uncle’s house for some great homemade Venezuelan food!

[Take me to the beach, beach]

[I LOVE these mountains!]

[Coconut ice cream INSIDE a coconut shell! yumm]

Friday, was spent, once again trying to get my cédula! We went in the morning and they told us to come back in the afternoon. So in between, we got some DELICIOUS local food, did some shopping, and then came back just in time to get our cédulas! Oh joyous day!

[SUCCESS!]

[Pit stop: my old preschool! So many memories]

[Make sugar cane juice - quite tasty!]

Saturday rolled around and we got up painfully early so drive back to Caracas for our flight. We hada layover once again in Houston and then boarded for our flight back to California!

After that, I had 3 days to pack up my entire life, again, and head off to uni!

How does it feel to be back after so long?

heliteli — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:44:00 +0100

My first few days back all I did was sleep, and sleep, and sleep. My body seemed to be trying to make up for all the lack of sleep it had gotten in the past year and a half (the summer before I went abroad I worked 60-75 hours a week so that I could afford all my shenanigans).

Originally, I thought I would have a huge culture shock coming back to America. Professors at my university had told me that a year in Europe would make me very European. When I first arrived to London, I didn’t think it was possible. But, as I boarded my flight home, I could see what they meant. I no longer said “why figh,” but “wee fee” like the French. I used the words “vacay,” “uni,” “off,” and many others like the British. I ate small food portions, shopped with caution, and rarely used my phone. As I sat waiting for my flight to depart, I thought of everything that makes America, America and compared it to what I had grown used to. Fear slowly sunk in. Would I ever fit in again?

Once I was back in California, I had ten days to relax before my summer internship started. All I did was sleep, eat, and watch tv. Well, I tried to watch tv, but after six months without a television, I felt like I couldn’t sit still nor pay attention long enough to understand the plot lines of the shows I was watching. During this entire time, I felt like I had never left America - which made me relax. I thought, maybe it won’t be so bad.

Then my crazy, time-consuming internship began. One night, back in Geneva, at about 2 am, as I was scanning the idealist website, I came across an internship in San Jose, CA. San Jose is about 2 hours away from where I live, but it had a link to its national website - Breakthrough Collaborative. It was a teaching internship. I remember when I was six years old, telling my mom I wanted to be a teacher. Over time, I lost sight of this and moved on to a bijillion other potential careers. My first instinct was to forget about this internship and moved on. But then I remembered two things: 1) the US is in the midst of an economic crisis so I should feel blessed if I find an internship and 2) teaching involves interacting with children, which is what I want to dedicate the rest of my life to - to helping children in some way or other. So I applied.

Two months later I got a job offered, accepted it, and had absolutely no idea what I had gotten myself into.

Breakthrough was intense. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been tested as much as I have this summer. I’ve also never felt so old in my life. I was teaching literature to 8th graders. As an English Literature and International Relations double major, I was overjoyed to be teaching literature! But, it was much harder than I thought - especially since I had been abroad for so long. Not that I’m normally the type of girl who’s up to date with everything that’s “in” and “hot,” but teaching these students made me feel like I had been long dead. They brought up shows, movies, books, and songs that I had never heard of.

As the summer slowly progressed, I realized that I was no longer interested in the same things. In the past, I would have gone home and researched the shows, movies, books, and songs that my students would have brought up - but this time I honestly didn’t care.

Interacting with my fellow faculty did start to bring on the culture shock. The first time I said “wee fee” instead of “why figh” caused an uproar of laughter. Everyone in my academic department stared at me like I was crazy. Then I explained, “but that’s how the Europeans pronounce it!”

Then there was the day I saw a girl from another program (we shared the campus with a summer camp as well), I made a comment on her clothing and got the biggest stares ever. My standards for fashion had risen. I paid way too much attention to what people where wearing. My other interests had also shifted. In the past watching the news drove me to boredom, but now whenever I see the news I feel like an alcoholic having her first sip of alcohol in years. My eyes get locked in and my brain inhales the information.

All in all, I think my nine and a half months in Europe have made me what I never truly wanted to be - a grown up. I feel mature. I feel responsible. I feel like I can conquer anything and everything.

You would think I’d be glad to feel this way. Especially since I year from now I will be in the real world, but in the back of my head there lies a small fear that after this past year I will never be as satisfied, as impressed, nor as excited ever again for anything. Yet, at the same time, as I type those words I realize that I am a fool. I am twenty-one years young. I have an entire life ahead of me. There will always be things that satisfy, impress, and excite me like Europe did. I just have to keep my eyes open and find them.

Back in the USA... but only momentarily!

heliteli — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 20:55:50 +0100

Spent my summer interning at Breathrough Collaborative. Intense, time-consuming, and fun! The summer was almost as bad as Colgate on finals week - BUT on repeat.

It was a nice transition back into the American culture because at first I didn’t feel a culture shock but as the summer progressed it slowly dawned on me the differences and the things that had changed.

I’ll post later in detail, but right now I’m in VENEZUELA!

(Sorry for the delay!)

Interning in Geneva

heliteli — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:40:43 +0100

The final component of my spring program involved the completion of a 5-week internship. I interned with a small non profit organization that worked towards promoting and protecting human rights in Latin America. For the majority of my internship, I researched and wrote an article about the CERD and Convention 169 of the ILO. But, the BEST part of my internship was lobbying/attending the Universal Periodic Review on Ecuador at the United Nations!

I always thought I would make it to the UN, but I never thought it would be the one in Geneva. Throughout the semester, in one of our course, we learned the flaws that exist in international organizations - despite how great they sound. Our professor especially emphasized the fact that the UN is one of the organizations that receives the most funding and who’s employees get paid the most. Regardless of all of this, I thought it was REALLY cool.

[The 3-legged chair outside the UN. It’s suppose to symbolizes opposition to land-mines]

[Peacocks roam the lawns of the palace!]

[Another intern and myself inside the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilization Room]

[UPR of Ecuador]

[The ceiling of the room! Decorated by Miquel Barcelò]

[Me infront of the globe!]

[The Flag entrance to the UN (the main entrance)]

[The “side” entrance. The one I had to take :( ]

[Ghandi! The statue reads “My life is my message.”]

Despite the highs and lows of my internship, I am glad I completed it. I learned two very important things: 1. international law is not for me, and 2. Cuba is REALLY interesting. The first point is based on the fact that although you can work with groups from latin america and delegates of the UN, at the end of the day, the Human Rights Council can make all the f*cking recommendations it wants, but if it can’t force the nation-state to incorporate these recommendations, then it’s all pointless. Nothing will change. The rights of those will continue to be violated. That is the flaw of the United Nations. It does not have a method in which it can force nation-states to change their ways, nor does it have a way to punish them for failing to adhere to these recommendations.

As for the second point, at my internship there was a an intern from Cuba! He left Cuba about a year ago and is working towards finishing his Master in Human Right at a University in France. He was interning because it is required as part of his program. The stories that he told us, about growing up in Cuba, were so weird! It sounded like they were stories from a Kurt Vonnegut novel! So ridiculous! Just hearing him tell me about how hard it was to adjust to society when he first arrived to Europe made me realize how I take my life for granted - WAY too much. It also reinforced the whole idea of “want” vs “need” - a constant theme throughout my entire time abroad. Hearing him tell me the things he didn’t now how to use - like sensor activated sinks and doors - just blew my mind. The things he had the most trouble adjusting to were items that I utilize on practically a regular basis - stuff that I do without even thinking about. Meeting him was probably one of the most eye-opening experiences I had abroad and for that reason, I am so glad I got to intern with this organization - despite the not so pleasant bosses.

Through this internship, an idea that has always existed in the back of my head was reaffirmed: traveling and exploring new places does change you, but so do the stories of the people that you meet.

Last Night in Geneva...

heliteli — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:24:32 +0100

Shit son. Where has time gone??

Off to Amsterdam to hang out with my dad for the day and then off to AMERICAAAAA.

Even though my time abroad is coming to an end and I am...

heliteli — Thu, 31 May 2012 23:52:00 +0100

Even though my time abroad is coming to an end and I am desperate to get home, this video reminds me of how much I love traveling.

Eastern Trip: The Beginning of the End

heliteli — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:28:00 +0100

As part of our program, our group partakes in two 10 day trips to visit NGOs. Our first trip was done in early march and our second was done mid April. We spent the second trip traveling throughout Eastern Europe making a some stops in: Berlin, Prague, Auschwitz, Vienna, and Budapest.

Berlin was literally America in Europe. No joke. It totally makes sense since during WWII it was bombed, so the city had to be rebuilt once the Cold War was over.

[Me, Maham, and Phan in front of the Reichstag]

[Entering the “American” zone of Berlin]

[Phan and Maham posing in front of a fountain]

[Part of the Berlin Wall]

[Another part of the Berlin Wall]

Prague was amazing. Just as great as the first time I went, but this time it was warm and sunny out!

[Sarah, me, Maham, Kristina, and Sam in front of the Astronomical Clock]

[Deltas by the river with Prague Castle in the background!]

[Maham and I with the John Lennon Wall]

[Me playing with a stray dog]

[Prague from above!]

[The gang]

[TOURIST PHOTO!]

Auschwitz was depressing as fuck, but that’s what I had expected. Didn’t take any photos because i didn’t feel like it was appropriate. Sorries.

Vienna was gorgeous! I wish we could have spent more time there! Definitely a city I recommend visiting!

[Sarah, Me, Maham, and Eddie sitting on bench at a park]

[Posing by fountain!]

Budapest was even better the second time around!! My camera, unfortunately, died by this point so there are no pictures from my second time in Budapest…sorry!

Where Europe meets Asia

heliteli — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:18:31 +0100

Soooo since I’ve been in Europe and I’ve been studying International Relations, Turkey has come up in lots of our classes - especially in terms of the EU. Turkey submitted its application to the EU and bagan talks about accession in 2005. Many Europeans - such as Sarkozy - argue that Turkey is not Europe, that its culture is VERY different from that of Europeans. And, to be completely honest, it is.

After visiting Venice, Florence, and Rome, my friend Maham and I took off for Istanbul! As I’ve heard sooo many cool things about Istanbul in the past, I took the opportunity to visit it while I was abroad. The flight there, I must admit, was a HUGE splurge, but it was worth every penny!

We arrived on Friday night and had thought we booked our return flight for Sunday afternoon - it turned out it was for Monday afternoon. So we had 2 full days in Istanbul! We were staying near Istiklal Street - which is this HUGE shopping street that underscores the Westernization that Istanbul has undertaken in recent years.

While we were there, we visited EVERYTHING - the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sofia, the Theodosian Walls, Tokapi Palace, Egypt Bazaar, Basilica Cistern, Hippodrome, the Million, Gülhane Park, Grand Bazaar, Galata Tower, and Taksim Square.

[First Mosque we saw]

[Egyptian Bazaar (Spice Bazaar)]

[Entering Old Town]

[Inside the Blue Mosque]

[Hagia Sofia]

[Outside the Hagia Sofia in the pouring rain]

[Tulips!]

[Kitty!]

[Outside the Hagia Sofia, but this time in the sunshine]

[Flags]

[In the sunshine with the Blue Mosque in the background]

[Pretty fountain!]

We also ate a LOT of kebab! And Turkish delight! We also tried Turkish Coffee and Turkish Tea.

[first kebab of the trip!]

[Turkish Delight!]

[Me with Turkish tea]

[Turkish tea!]

[KEBAB!]

[MORE KEBAB]

[Kebab with tomato sauce - you know, just to switch things up a bit…]

[Freshly squeeze juice]

[Last kebab in Istanbul]

I REALLY REALLY enjoyed Istanbul! It was sooo different from any other place I’d gone! I left wanting to learn more and more about Islam - especially after visiting the Blue Mosque with my friend Maham who is Muslim. Istanbul was sooo different, but it wasn’t. When you left the Old Town, you could see how it had been more modernized and made more to replicate Western Culture. But Old Town did not give off that vibe - especially not during the call to prayer - which is ALWAYS in Arabic, even if it’s not that country’s native tongue.

So, for anyone going to Europe anytime soon - for travel or study abroad or pleasure - I definitely recommend you make a trip out to Istanbul if possible! I felt like I was in the Middle East, but not at the same time.

Hi, we saw you are studying abroad! We are StudentsGoneGlobal, a cool new blogging platform for the study abroad community. We would love to have you blog with us while are you abroad. We just launched so check out our homepage as we would like it to be great for study abroaders hoping to connect & gain followers!

Sun, 20 May 2012 19:30:23 +0100

i would love to! but i only have 2 weeks left abroad…

Roma!

heliteli — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:22:20 +0100

[First group photo in Rome!]

[Overlooking Rome!]

[Sarah and I attempting to imitate the statue…]

[Roma!]

[Group photo!]

[Maham and I]

[The Spanish Steps]

[Trevi fountain!]

[Trevi fountain with Sarah]

[Pensive photo…]

[Colosseum!]

[Group photo at the Colosseum]

[see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil!]

[Roma roma roma!]

[Chilling by the fountain]

[Vatican City]

[GF Margarita Pizza!]

[SO GOOD]

[Creme Brule with berries! yum!!]

We were in Rome for approximately 5 days - so we saw pretty much everything! the Colosseum, the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, we roamed the streets of Rome, ATE MORE GELATO, went to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps, explored a park, and I GOT TO EAT GF PIZZA! Mi amore!

It was pretty awesome! We stayed at a pretty centrally located hostel, so we dished out quite a bit of money! But oh well. We walked a TON - even though the metro was only €1! But it was just soooo pretty out! Rome was great! Wish I was back there…

Firenze!

heliteli — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:41:26 +0100

[the duomo]

[church near our friend’s apartment]

[GF nutella crepe!]

[dinner with Rachel and Jen!]

[STRAWBERRY RISOTTO!]

[BLUEBERRY STEAK!!!]

[The david!]

[THE BEST GELATO EVER]

Florence was amazing! There were two Colgate students studying abroad there - Rachel and Jen! We met up with them and they showed us around Florence. We hit up the famous leather market where we all splurged and got a couple nice leather goods… we couldn’t go inside the Duomo because it was closed for Easter :/ but we did eat TONS of gelato! I also found this AWESOME GF restaurant where I ate a GF lasagna and crepe and cheesecake! Sooo great! We were in Florence for two days and then headed out to Rome!

looking forward to passing these on the way back to geneva!

heliteli — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:37:57 +0100

looking forward to passing these on the way back to geneva!

Venezia!

heliteli — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:18:02 +0100

For our second spring break, I took off to explore Italy! We started out in Venice and worked our way down to Florence and Rome.

[On the train to Venice - the Swiss got our reservation dates wrong so we had no seats :/]

[One sad heli]

[Helping out some locals with their English homework]

Venice was absolutely gorgeous! A bit colder than what we all expected, but still so beautiful! It’s the perfect city to spend a day in, since you can see just about everything in a day. We wandered around the city until we found the Grand Canal. Once it was found, we hunted for a decently priced gondola! We had read online that they tend to rip you off, so my friends and I went into negotiations with a set price. Since there was 5 of us, it ended up being €20 each - which we thought was a good prince, especially because the gondola man gave us some historic facts and sang!

[Me, Sam, Sarah, and Maham in front of one of hundreds of canals in Venice]

[goregeous!]

[Delta pic!]

[Gondola man!]

[Pretty!]

[Rando canal while on the tour]

After the gondola ride, we continued to wander the streets. We ran into several small markets and TONS of gelato! The entire city is just absolutely gorgeous! Definitely worth going!

[Grand Canal]

[Sarah, me, and Maham in front of the Grand Canal]

Pesh like a pancake, buda like a... bump ?

heliteli — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:36:58 +0100

So I know I’m super behind on posts, but I’m trying to catch up!

I’m about a month of travel behind… so these posts will be short (text-wise) and sweet (picture-wise).

The third weekend in March, I decided to do a solo trip to Budapesh! I had been told that we would be headed there for part of our group trips, but our professor couldn’t guarantee for how long we would be there. After our 17 hour experience in Paris, I decided that a solo trip would be worth it, just in case we got zero free time in Budapesh.

I took my first overnight train there. I was in a six-person female couchette and none of the others spoke English. Trying to communicate was quite difficult, but it worked out. The women were quite friendly and attempted to communicate the important information with me.

Since I was traveling solo, I splurged and got a single at a hostel. My hostel ended up being a three bedroom apartment that had been converted into a hostel. I honestly didn’t mind. After spending so much time with my study group, I was feeling a little bit anti social. I got into Budapesh at about 11 am on Friday. I dropped my stuff at the hostel and went in search of food. The first thing I found was this placed called “Bombay Express.” Since I looooooove Indian food, I couldn’t resist. I spent under $5 on lunch! What a great deal! I then set off to walk around. The hostel had told me about a free walking tour that was meeting at 2pm, so I wandered until then.

[Opera House I passed by on my way to the Walking Tour]

[Danube River]

My walking tour was actually quite good and insightful. The guy leading it was a local and knew his stuff. We started out at St Stephen’s Basilica, crossed the Chain Bridge, climbed the hill up to Prague Castle, saw the National Gallery and Royal Palace, and finally concluded at Matthias Church.

[St Stephen’s Basilica]

[Instead of over a bridge, these locks were just in a park…still cute!]

[More of the Danube. You can see the Hungarian Parliament - which is designed after the British Parliament]

[Me on Castle Hill with the Royal Palace in the background]

[The Buda side of Budapesh]

[Budapesh’s official penis.. ?]

[Matthias Church]

After the tour, I headed back home. Since Bombay Express was literally around the corner from my hostel, I dropped in to get some food. The lady who had served my food earlier was still on her shift, so I guiltily got my food as take away and ate it in my room! After an overnight train, and approximately 6 hours of straight walking, I called it a night.

The following day, I woke up early to check out the Great Market. After several hours of shopping, I continued walking around and then headed back to my hostel. At my hostel, I had a quick bite to eat, changed, and then headed out for a bath house! One of my friends on my study group had told me about how amazing the baths were, and he was completely right! I felt soooo relaxed afterwards! It was exactly what I needed mid-way through the spring semester - and 7 months into being abroad.

[Entrance to the Market!]

[Inside the Market!]

[The Market from the outside]

[Heroes’ Square - I passed it on my way to the Bath house]

[Close up of Heroes’ Square]

After my relaxing afternoon at the bath house, I headed back to my hostel where I packed all my belongings up and jumped into bed. The following morning I jumped on a 7am train and headed back to Genève!

Back from spring break!

heliteli — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 06:27:11 +0100

I have SOOOO many posts to put up! but I also have a paper due on thursday - which is also the day we leave for our eastern Europe trip…. eep!

SPRING BREAAAAAAAK

heliteli — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:15:36 +0100

just finished my paper!

now all that’s left is packing

…and then jumping on a train to:

VENICE - FLORENCE - ROME - ISTANBUL!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

also, my facebook will be back at some point during the next 10 days!

xoxo

heli

AMSTERDAM!

heliteli — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:30:31 +0100

***This semester is quickly catching up with me! …which is why my posts have been significantly lacking! So from now on, my posts will be quite short and mainly focused on the pictures that I’ll be putting up!***

Two weekends ago, part of my Geneva Study Group decided to head off to Amsterdam. Half of us arrived on Thursday while the other half arrived on Friday. Practically everyone that went was there until Saturday morning - when they all left for Sensation in Belgium. Since Maham and I didn’t feel like dishing out €55 to be around drunk/high people, we decided to stay in Amsterdam for an extra day!

[Maham excited about her Manor pizza] The first day there, we visited the Anne Frank Museum, which was incredibly depressing. Afterwards, we went and got Dutch pancakes (being gluten-intolerant, I got an omelet). Following our scrumptious meal, we met up with the other half of our group. From there, we headed off to the Van Gogh Museum! I was quite surprised by how crowded the museum was, especially since it was a weekday and during off-peak tourist season. At night, Maham and I decided to go explore the Red Light District. It was… interesting. Very surreal.

[Anne Frank Museum]

[One of hundreds of canals]

[The Royal Palace]

[Dam Square]

Saturday, Maham and I got up early and dropped off our bags at the train station. One of our classmates had told us that Amsterdam was small enough to walk around, so we spent the majority of the day exploring. Around noon, we jumped on a boat cruise and saw Amsterdam from its canal! Following that, we walked to a gorgeous park - where we got a completely different glimpse of Amsterdam and Dutch culture. To our surprised, the Dutch seemed pretty healthy. We saw soooo many people either running or biking through this park. Due to the fact that Maham has a fear of dogs, after about an hour we left to go meet up with one of our classmates.

[Flower market we stumbled upon as we roamed the streets]

[Maham and I on our boat tour]

[More from our boat tour]

[…and more]

[Entrance to the park]

Once we met up with Caitlin, we hung out with her, Drew, and her boyfriend - Zak. Since our hostel for the night was 20 miles out of Amsterdam, after a quick Wok to Go dinner, we headed out to eventually go to bed. The following morning we woke up and made the trip back down to Genève.

THEY HAVE THESE ALL THROUGHOUT FRANCE! I MISS THEM!! (sorry...

heliteli — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 23:02:29 +0100

THEY HAVE THESE ALL THROUGHOUT FRANCE!

I MISS THEM!!

(sorry for the lack of posts, tons of paper + sucky wifi = zero posts from me :[ )

Just got back from Amsterdam yesterday, off to Budapest on Thursday.

heliteli — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:57:47 +0000

But until then, I am busy working on my first paper. eeek!