Barcelona

I had been to Barcelona before, but it is definitely a much different experience with friends. I was traveling with two other girls and two guys from my OSU program. We got there late wednesday night. so we just checked into our hostel (which was very nice) and passed out. We hadn't slept in a longgg time so luckily nobody set an alarm for the next morning. When we finally woke up and got ready, we found some much needed starbucks and were on our way. We took a VERY long walk to las ramblas which is the main street in barcelona with a ton of kiosks, restaurants, markets, etc. We bought some lunch and a had a little picnic while enjoying the nice weather. After that it was time to head to the beach. The nice sand was much better than the rocks on the beaches at Nice. That night we had a nice authentic spanish dinner (although i wasn't too fond of the seafood paella)

Friday we slept in again and went to see the Barcelona stadium which was very nice. We went to the sagrada familia, but the line was too long and we were too hungry, so we got some lunch and headed to the beach again. We ended up staying on the beach most of the day and having a yummy dinner on the boardwalk. That night we went to one of the big clubs on the beach and it was so much fun. We met a lot of americans and most everybody spoke english, so that was an added plus. In true spanish form, we didn't end up getting home until about 5. 

We slept in late again on saturday and decided to finish up all the touristy things we hadn't done yet. We went to the sagrada familia again and went inside this time. Although this was my second time seeing it, it was still very cool to see how much they had worked on it in the 2 years since i'd seen it last. Afterwards we went to the Guell park to see gaudi's works and to have an awesome view of the city. We had some good tapas for dinner and then got to bed early. this morning was very early (5:30) and i didn't get back to my hostel until 7:30 p.m. woof

This week we only have 3 days of classes and then a long weekend for bastille day. Can't believe i'll be home in less than two weeks!

Tours and Belgium

The following weekend (the 3rd of the program) my parents, brother, and my brother´s girlfriend (betty) came to france. they had been in paris for a bit and then came to Nantes to visit me. They took me and some of my friends out to dinner and we´re excited to see where i had been studying. That weekend we rented a car and drove through the Loire valley. This is the famous valley of the chateaus and we saw 4 of them. Including the one that inspired sleeping beauty and the beauty and the beast. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend where i could go to bed early and sleep in. That sunday I took a train to belgium. For part of our program, we were spending three days in Brussels seeing various parts of the European Union. I had been to brussels before, but it was a long time ago. The hotel we were all staying in was very nice and in a good location.

The first night we were was the 4th of july. needless to say, we needed to celebrate. there were about 50 americans staying at the hotel in brussels and almost all of us ended up at the same bar that night. it was called delirium (i think) and had over 2,000 beers and a very cool atmosphere. they played lots of american music for us to sing along to, and i´m pretty sure most people that weren´t american there hated us, but oh well. all in the name of ´¨murrica.

I could tell  you about what we did during the day (the european comission, council and parliament) but honestly i don´t remember much because it was all so boring (sorry EU). Overall it was a fun week and nice to have classes outside of Nantes, but i didn´t really learn much about the EU, which was probably the intended purpose.

Wednesday night we took a flight to barcelona and will be here until sunday. So far we´ve shopped, went to the beach, and had an authentic spanish meal complete with sangria. Today we´re going to la sagrada familia and to see the barcelona stadium. (and hopefully some more beach time!) I´ll update more on sunday when i get home and finally upload pics to facebook!

Nice

It´s been way too long since i´ve had a decent computer to write on or enough time to actually do it. so time to catch up

The week after paris we had our first test that thursday morning. it wasn´t very clear what our test was even on, but i studied as best as i could. unfortunatley there were things on there that im not sure we had ever even discussed in class, let alone known they would be on the test. Needless to say im not sure i did too well, but we dont have our grades back yet, so oh well. That night we took a train to paris and then a night train to Nice. I had been on a night train before to switzerland a couple years ago and i didn´t remember it being that bad. so i went in with a optimistic outlook. clearly the train we took to nice was not as nice as the one we took to switzerland. It was the smallest room ever (smaller than my cloest) which had two sets of bunk beds. but these bunks had 3 beds, not just 2. so it was myself and the three other girls i was traveling with and another french lady. very awkward

by the time we got to nice we were beyond exhausted but it was so worth it. I´ve been to tons of cities and countries, but nice is by far my favorite. theres a cute old part with buildings hundreds of years old and twisty turny walkways full of shops and restaurants. theres also a newer place with nice hotels and restuarants on the beach. speaking of the beach, i´m used to nice soft bermuda sand, so the rocks on the beaches of nice weren´t that fun, but it wasnt too bad. It was the birthday of the twins i was traveling with. so we definitely had a good night out for that. the train ride home on sunday was pretty crappy as i hadn´t slept much the night before. but as our fellow french friend said "when you´re dead you may sleep". clearly we´re teaching them helpful phrases.

Classes and Paris

So the first week of classes wasn't too bad, but it's going to take a while to get used to the French class schedule. We usually have class for 6 hours a day with only an hour or two for lunch break. Going from 9-1 straight is VERY exhausting, especially when some of the teachers' accents are hard to understand. This past Thursday we went out with all the French people in our classes and it was very fun. We went to this really fun club (one of the biggest in France) and didn't get home until 430. We had class the next morning at 9 so it was a very rough morning for all.

We left Friday after class for Paris, unfortunately our train was delayed for 2 hours so that was a bummer. We eventually got in around midnight and we were all starving. Luckily in Paris you can find food whenever. We woke up relatively early Saturday and wandered around our hostel (north Paris). Unfortunatkey we ended up getting quite lost....we almost were off the map. Lucky somebody who spoke English pointed us in the right direction. Saturday afternoon we did some more wandering and saw the louvre and the notre-dame. It was my 3rd time in Paris and seeing everything, but I still enjoyed them a lot. After all that walking, we were exhausted, so we had a very nice Italian dinner complete with good wine. Afterwards, we walked to the Eiffel tower and saw the light show which was very cool. Afterwards we were practically dead so we went home. Sunday we saw the arc de triumphe and the champs-elysees and walked around.we got back to Nantes late last night and I was happy to be home.

Today we met another new professor who is from Texas and a UT alum. Needless to say, she's very charismatic and says y'all so I love her. This weekend we'll be in Nice, so I'm hoping for some good weather!

Nantes!!

After the longest trip ever, I was so excited to finally get to Nantes and it was well worth it. I'd list a bunch of useless facts about the city but the most important things are that it's in the western loire valley of France, relatively near the coast, and beautiful. I'm living with a host family relatively close to the main downtown area and a 10 minute tram ride to audencia (the business school where we take classes). I have a mom, dad, 12-year old girl 21 and 23 year old boys and a 25-year old girl. But the 12-year old is the only sibling here all the time. I also have another OSU girl staying here too. Typical French house with insanely high ceilings, small bedrooms, and weird bathrooms. But its very cute!

Since being here I've had spinnach, tons of cheese, duck, and some other stuff I don't want to know, but all of the food is delicious. My host mom is a great cook. We had a bank holiday on Monday, so I took that time to wander around Nantes a bit. Little did i know, our school had already arranged a tour for Tuesday. The official tour was way more thorough and informative than mine and I learned a lot about the city. Tuesday night, all of the Americans in the program (including OSU, UC, BG, and some other random schools) and some of the French people from audencia all went out together. Drinks here are VERY expensive, but very good. The bar was mostly our group, but it was a good way of getting to know everybody.

Today was an early morning (730) after last night, so I definitely learned I need to head in a bit earlier on week nights. We had class for three hours, then a 2 hour lunch break, then three more hours of class. It was NOT fun at all. Everybody was very tired and it was extremey hard to stay awake. Hopefully that gets better with time. We're going to Paris this weekend and I can't wait to go back to one of my favorite cities!

Getting to France aka the adventure of a lifetime

So since I already had a blog from my Greek leadership class this past spring, I thought I could keep it going while I survive europe for the next month and a half.

Back to the beginning: Saturday morning I woke up with no phone, no wallet, and quite the headache. The previous night I was convinced to join in the festivities of my friends 21st birthday-not the best decision ever. Long story short, my purse got locked in somebody's room who then proceeded to fall asleep quite soundly. So i went home with nothing that night telling myself I'd wake up early the next day to get it back. I wasn't feeling the best when my alarm went off the next morning at 8. We thought it'd be a good idea to have a slumber party on the informal room floor and my back hurt like hell. I also realized I hadn't packed at all and needed to leave by 11:30 for my flight. Woof. Finally I was getting everything together (including my bag) and then my suitcase handle decided not to work. We tried for a solid 10 minutes and I was near my breaking point. Eventually I unpacked, fixed the handle and then shoved everything back in and left. I finally got through security in Columbus and thought I was good to go. Then I got a text from continental saying my flight from Newark to Paris was 5 hours late. I was in the middle of chilis having a panic attack about missing my train to Nantes. Not okay. Eventually my parents were able to rebook my train ticket and the rest of my trip went relatively smoothly (besides my 6 hour layover in Newark). I finally got to Nantes and it was well worth it!

Roundup gets rowdy

Roundup at UT. if you're from Texas, you've heard of it, been to it, or know people who have. It's basically one massive party for all the fraternities at UT. Picture massive amounts of people, incredible performers, and neon fanny packs everywhere. everybody in Greek life goes there, and often high schoolers who know they're not only headed to Austin the following year but also into Greek life attend. sometimes even fellow Greeks from other schools in Texas attend. As you can imagine, all these people (mostly intoxicated) can cause issues. According to the Daily Texan, this past year there were reports of a woman getting assaulted and apparently racist intentions behind it. The article also references other racist incidences that have occurred in the past. This was definitely something new to me. I had always viewed it as one big party, although now it's evident that even things with the purest intentions can end up bad. As a Greek community we cannot tolerate this behavior. If we expect the community outside Greek life to respect us, we must not allow things like this to occur. Eventually the administration will cut down on any and all events which could produce these types of offenses.

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2011/04/13/racial-conflicts-tarnish-history-roundup


some pictures from roundup this past year