Senior Year of College Oh My!

Where has the time gone? I am a Senior in college and I cannot believe it. Classes are going well, I only really have three classes but my senior capstone is independent study and I have not even started that and we are going into week four, crazy! Other than that just trying to have fun with everyone because next semester I will be student teaching and will not have as much free time.

Cooking has been going okay, I still have a lot of frozen already prepared food left in the freezer that is healthy, which is always good. Getting along with my housemates, which I knew I would. Other than that just enjoying my last year at Saint Michael's. I will keep you all updated on my life especially if anything exciting happens.

Love to all,

Monica

Summer 2010!

So I have been horrible about writing on this, I will try to do better but life is going to get busy again because classes start on August 30th, which is only a few days away. But here is a recap of summer 2010:

Came home from being abroad and was happy to be home to see everyone, but after seeing everyone I wanted to go back. If someone said do you want to go to Europe I would in a heartbeat, I wouldn't even have to think about it.

Started working at the Early Learning Center at SMC one week after I got home, I was nervous that the kids would not remember me, some were shy at first but they came around. I worked 40 hours a week there for most of the summer except for two weeks when I hung out with my neighbors daughters, which was a nice break from 2-3 year olds. So by the end of the week I was tired! Now I don't want you thinking that I did not have any fun because I did on the weekends, mostly the weekend nights!

When I was not working or having fun I was studying for the Praxis 2, which I mentioned in an earlier post and I just found out that I ... PASSED!!!! I was super excited and it was the perfect timing because I was just heading down to Boston to see a Red Sox game (which they won and it was Vermont day) and it put me in a great mood.

This week I have been packing up all my belongings, not just clothes, but dishes, pots and pans, photos etc because on Saturday I am moving to Saint Michael's for the last time ever, which is bittersweet because it is my Senior year and this time next year I could be teaching, Wow!

I still need to put a post up from my trip to Italy with my sister, but right now I do not have time to write it, so when I get some free time, who knows when that is going to be, I will write it.

Love to all,

Monica

Four girls, Three Countries, Four Cities and Twelve days!

Hello everyone!

So here is the long lost post on my last two weeks being abroad. If you read the post before this one you will understand why I have not written this one until now. So my family came to see me, which included my Mom, my sister and and my Aunt right when I was finishing up my semester. My Aunt had some troubles with flights so she didn't end up coming until a day later than my Mom and sister. We spent a few days in Bath, England so that they could see where and what I had been doing for the past four months. I think that they explored more in Bath then I had in the four months I was there, but that happens. While my family was visiting, ASE (Advanced Studies in England) the program I was with, had a final tea. It was great to see everyone one last time before everyone either headed home or traveled some more. Some of the people I will stay in touch in, but others I will not which is to be expected. Anyways after Bath we headed to London for a couple of days.

In London we stayed at a place called the Clink, which it used to be an old courthouse and jail, I thought it was cool but my mom and aunt were not to thrilled because the rooms were small and also it was more of a youth hostel than anything else. Now onto what we did on our first full day! We decided that it would be a good idea to take one of the sightseeing buses since London is so big and we did not have time to see everything in the a short amount of time we were there. Once we got off the bus we went to the London Eye, which I had already done with my dad when he came and visited me, yet I wanted to do it again. After we went on the River Thames Cruise, which runs right through London and we went to Tower of London and had a tour of it. It was interesting and I even saw some stuff that I did not see with my dad. We all decided just to take pictures of Tower Bridge instead of doing the tour and we went to Shakespeare's Globe instead. After that we went to see Grease the play, however we did get lost finding the place we were supposed to have dinner, but made it in time.

The next day, so Tuesday, we decided that we wanted to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, however it was not happening on that particular day because the Queen had to go to Parliament. I think that we saw something better than changing of the guards because we got to see the queen ride by in her carriage back into the palace. Once that was done we walked to Westminster Abbey and just took a picture of the Abbey since there was other things that we wanted to get done before leaving. Next we went to Convent Gardens where we walked around and had dinner.

Wednesday- Paris, France!!

I finally made it to Paris, France because that was one of the places that I wanted to visit while being in England since they are so close to one another. We took the chunnel from London to Paris, now I am glad that we took it however don't ask me about it because I ended up falling asleep for a majority of the journey. Once we got to Paris we found out that our reservation at the hotel was not going to work since their was four of us even though my mom wrote a note saying that we would need an extra bed. The reason it would not work was because the rooms are so small in the hotels and an extra bed would not work since the biggest room was already occupied. We were sent to a nicer hotel down the road and we were glad that they messed it up. Once all of the kinks were fixed we walked over to the Eiffel tower, which we could see from our bedroom window! All of us did go up to the top, but once we got up there it started to rain on and off. The view from the top was beautiful and breathtaking we could see all of the major landmarks from up there! Once we were done looking around we decided to get some dinner and then go on the Seine River to see a majority of Paris lit up at night, but it was cold and I was not dressed in the right clothes however I still fully enjoyed it.

Thursday:

My sister and I decided that it was a good idea to sleep in late today and that is just what we did, therefore we did not get to see as much, but we needed the sleep! What we did do was interesting: another bus tour and The Lourve! The bus tours are actually very useful when a person is only in one location for a short amount of time because the tours usually stop at all of the major attractions that tourists want to see. The Lourve was amazing and so big that I don't think we even saw a quarter of it. Guess that just means that I will have to go back another time to Paris, o Darn! Well after seeing part of the Lourve it was time to get some food so we got on the bus and headed towards Notre Dame. We were going to go up to the top but the line was so long we decided that we would come back on Friday. So instead we ate and went souvenir shopping, which I thought was a great idea.

Friday:

All four of us got back onto the bus and went to the Notre Dame, the line was not that long so we thought that going to get some breakfast would be a good idea and also finishing our souvenir shopping. However once we got back to the Notre Dame the line was long, go figure! But we waited anyways and I am glad that we did because again it was beautiful up there, I think the whole city is gorgeous anyways! Once we finished there we went to a place called Lafayette, now you may not have heard of it before and that is because it is not an attraction everyone goes to, but we would because it is a Huge shopping area with all of these individual designers from all over, some of them I had never heard of before. Unfortunately I did not go crazy in there because some things were expensive, I did not have the money and I did not have the space in my suitcase, trip number two sometime soon, I think yes!

Saturday: Dublin, Ireland

This was the last city on our adventure, which was bittersweet, yet we were going to make the best of it. We arrived in Dublin early so we were excited that we were going to have a full day there, the taxi driver we had was so friendly actually everyone there was especially nice. Once we arrived at the apartment that we rented we found out that the night before there was a pipe that burst in the room we were going to be in, therefore, we were not able to stay there. So they put us up in a hotel and then the next two nights we were in a different apartment. On Saturday we did not do much because we were waiting to hear where we were going to be staying, so we just walked aimlessly around the city to try and get our bearings. However, we were able to do some shopping, which is always nice. For dinner that night we went to an Irish Pub, where all of the food was wonderful.

Sunday:

The four of us woke up early and went on a bus tour of Dublin, which as I said earlier is the best way to see a city in a short amount of time. The first place that we got off at was Trinity College, which is one of the oldest colleges in Dublin and perhaps in Ireland. At the college we got a tour, but it was not a full tour that people would get going on a campus visit. At Trinity College we saw the book of Kells, which I had no idea what it was until going there. After we finished at Trinity College all of us got back onto the bus and decided that we were going to have lunch at Temple Bar, which is located in an area that looks like it is from the medieval period. After eating we got back on the bus and headed to the Guinness Factory, that place is huge. The factory was a self guiding tour, but it showed the process of how the beer is made now and back a long time ago, old advertisements etc. Once you get to the top to the sky bar everyone that wants to can have a pint of Guinness, I opted out! However, from the top there is windows all around so you can see all of Dublin. Once we finished at Guinness we actually met up with some family that live in Dublin, I know I am related to them through my mom's side of the family but I am not sure how, anyways we had drinks at a pub and just talked about how everyone was doing, the normal thing, catching up! It was a nice way to end a vacation with family by also seeing family in another country. We now had the lovely task of packing to either go home or continue on European adventures. My mom and aunt headed back to the states on Monday June 1st 2010 and my sister and I headed to Italy for a week.

The twelve days went by fast, but a lot of memories were made, some were captured by pictures and others we will just have to remember. One theme throughout the entire trip was that we never stayed in the same room for all three nights, but that is what makes traveling interesting. I am so grateful that my family was able to come see me while I was in Europe and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my semester abroad.

This is really late!

Hello, everyone so I have been really slacking on this blog. A couple of reasons:

1. I have been studying for the Praxis 2 exam, which I had Saturday morning and in one month I will find out how I did.

2. I kind of forgot about my blog, I know bad Monica

3. I need to get everything in order from the last two weeks abroad before I finally start writing those entries.

4. I have been working a lot, which is typical for me, I like to stay busy!

5. No more legit reasons

I will try to be better, perhaps before school starts I will have this updated

Love to all,

Monica

Slacking

Okay, so it is late right now and I am in Paris. I will write about my last 2 weeks later on, just wanted to let everyone know that I am done school and I am traveling around with my family. We already went to Bath, London, now Paris and then Dublin. My sister and I will be going to Rome and Venice for a week, then back to the states. Longer update to come later!

Love to all,

Monica

Visit with my Dad

Okay so it has been a long time since I blogged so here it goes...

When my dad and I got back from London I took him to his place for the week and then made a pizza at my flat. The next day so Monday I had class until 130, so my dad was off on his own until then, but then we met up and went to a flower show that was happening at Royal Victoria Park, the show was good but we did not stay long. Then we decided to go to the Roman Bath's which is why Bath is here because of the hot springs, just google it if you want to know more. For dinner we went out to a pizza place that I enjoy in Bath. Tuesday I had to teach all day so my dad again was on his own, but we went to a pub for dinner and then did a walk called the Bizarre Bath Walk, which was so funny I would do it again. Wednesday I had class until 1120 but dad and I went on a canal tour and then later on went to another pub for dinner. Thursday we traveled to Amsterdam for the weekend.

Well, we got to the airport way to early and ended up being bored because there is not much to do in a small airport. However, we made it to Amsterdam and then managed to get to our hotel, which was in the high end section of town not like my dad at all! Since it was late we walked around a little bit and ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant, which I enjoyed! Friday we started our day at the Van Gogh museum, then went to a diamond museum unfortunately I did not get a souvenir there. After we wanted to go to a modern museum but it is closed until January for renovations. However we went and took a canal bus tour where you can ride the canal boat for twenty four hours and it stops at different spots, this was better than walking. Once on the boat we decided to go see Anne Frank's house which I thought was very interesting, yes I was the one that picked this out! After that we headed back to the canal boat to go back where we got on, we saw a pancake place so that is where we went for dinner. However, the pancakes were big but I thought that they were expensive. We walked back to our hotel and had an early night.

Saturday we went back to the canal bus and went to another museum, my dad really likes museums! Then we took the scenic tour around the city and it was great to see other parts of the city that we would not have walking around. We walked around central station and then took the canal bus back to where we started. After we walked to the flower market and I wanted to buy flowers but I didn't think that the flowers would get through customs. Then their was a bike race from Italy that we watched for a little while, don't ask me why they were in Amsterdam. Then we had an early dinner at an Italian restaurant and went back to the hotel since their was not a lot left to do in Amsterdam that interested us.

Sunday was the day we were leaving. Right next to our hotel was a concert hall so we did a tour of the hall and it was probably one of the better tours of a concert hall I have done. Then we took the tram to a square and I was able to buy my souvenirs. After we had some lunch then took the train to the airport and just hung around there until our plane took off. When we got back my dad and I came back to my flat so that I could put my winter clothes into his suitcase so I wouldn't have as much clothes going home, what a nice daddy!

Monday my dad left early in the morning and I said good-bye at the train station here in Bath, I did not cry but I was close to it. I had a great time with my dad here and I am grateful that he was able to come and spend some time with me in the place that I have been studying since February, plus we did some traveling too!

Love to all,

Monica

London

I bet you can't guess where I was... I knew I could not fool you. Anyway I went to London this past weekend and when I arrived on Thursday afternoon I was met by someone at the train station, my dad!!! It was so nice to see him, he will actually be visiting me until May 10 so another seven days, yippee! Alright now onto London!

The first day, so Thursday, we walked around Greenwich since our hotel was right near Greenwich. We went to the observatory where the prime meridian is, so at one point my body was going east and west. After that we just walked around got some dinner then crashed early because my dad did not sleep on the plane (aka he was very tired from the time change) and I have a cold that I am trying to get rid of it, not very successfully.

The second day, Friday, we took the train into London Bridge and then did a tour of Tower Bridge which was interesting, perhaps this will be a repeat when I have other visitors come!!! Then we went to the Tower of London, where we spent a lot of time and even saw some of the queen's jewels! After we had enough of that we made our way towards a museum that my dad wanted to see the Tate Modern and I actually found some of it interesting and other pieces I was wondering how it could even be art, but that is just my opinion. We had dinner and decided where we wanted to go next, which was the London eye. This had to be my favorite part of the day because at the top the whole city can be seen, very cool. Once we got off Big Ben was going to strict, I tried to get a video but it did not work really well, but at least I saw it. Then my dad thought it would be a great idea just to walk around, which was fine, but then we ended up walking an hour back to the train station, London Bridge, to get our train back to our hotel. Let's just say I slept very well that night!!

On Saturday, which was my day, we saw the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and I got a perfect spot right in the front behind a barrier where the guards walk into the Palace. Even though the changing was long it did not matter because it was nice outside and it was something I really wanted to see. After we walked to Westminster Abbey, where a lot of people are buried, however no pictures were allowed in there, bummer. Then we went to the National Gallery where we only stayed for a short amount of time because my dad and I only wanted to see a certain time period. However, I saw painting by Monet, Degas, Van Gogh and others, which I liked. Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, but it was closed for tours, by this time it was only four p.m. and we had finished everything that we wanted to do in London but we did not want to head back and sit in the hotel for the rest of the night. So I suggested going to the Shakespeare Globe, but they were closed for tours and then it started to rain, so we went back to the Tate Modern which was nearby and then it down poured, but at least we were indoors. Once we thought it slowed down we made a dash to a pier where we were going to take a boat around the city, but we had to walk to the next pier since the closer one was closed, I got very wet even with my raincoat on. You are probably thinking why would we take a boat while it is raining, don't you worry it was enclosed, which was a great way to see the entire river in an hour. After that we headed back to our hotel, but first we got dinner at a Chinese Restaurant.

Sunday we woke up late and then leisurely made our way to Paddington station to take our train back to Bath Spa, however we had 3 hours to kill! What better way to waste three hours? Eating and that is just what we did, unfortunately that did not take three hours. We would of explored Paddington but first it was raining and second there is not much to do there from what I could tell. We finally made it to Bath and I walked my dad to the place he is staying for the week and then we walked around but all of the shops were closed so we bought a pizza since neither one of us was really hungry and cooked it back at my flat. I then said good-bye to my dad for the night and I guess we will see what we will do for the week. However, on Thursday we are heading to Amsterdam for the weekend, which will be exciting! That is all on my side of the pond for now.

Love to all,

Monica

Edinburgh, Scotland

Okay, so I went to Scotland a week and a half ago, but due to the fact that I had 3 papers due in a five day span I was unable to write, however here it goes.

We left on Thursday night from Bath on a train to Edinburgh, however, a few days earlier we noticed that we had a 6 hour stop over in Birmingham in the middle of the night therefore we got a hotel room for the night, I think I might have gotten 3.5 hours of sleep. Nonetheless I slept on the train from Birmingham to Edinburgh and we arrived there around 10 a.m. on Friday. We had trouble finding our hostel because we got off the wrong train station so we had to walk twice as far, but that was fine. Later that day we went on a free walking tour of the city, which was amazing. I don't think we would of found out some much about the city if we just wandered, but the tour was over 3 hours long and I just knew that I would sleep well that night. All of us then decided to go on a whiskey tour, which you go on this little ride and sit in a whiskey barrel and see how whiskey is made and then we tried whiskey which I found out that I do not enjoy. After we went to dinner and then went to the hostel and went to bed fairly early.

On Saturday, we walked along the Royal mile where there are a lot of shops and restaurants. We had lunch and then decided that we wanted to find Arthur's seat because we heard from one of our program advisor's that it was a must to do in Edinburgh, we walked to the end of the Royal mile and there it was.

Now this may not look like that bad of a walk, but I was out of breath at some points due to it being steep, but the view of the city that we got was breathtaking and I am glad that we did it. After that some of us went are different ways but met up later. I went to a thing called People's story where it talks about how people lived and worked in the city back in the 1800's to the 1960's. Then we all met up to go to Mary King's Close and a close is a narrow alleyway and this close was underneath the current city. We got to see how people lived during the plague and what their houses were like, it was very interesting. Later that night we went on a pub crawl, which was okay but I was rather tired so I went back to the hostel early in the night, however, other people in our room were rather loud therefore I did not get much sleep!

Sunday one of the girls and I went to the Royal Yacht Britannia while the other three girls went to the castle.

The Yacht was so interesting, plus the Royal family lived on it from time to time when they had to sail places. This picture is a model of the boat, since I was unable to get the whole boat in one picture. I think we walked around the boat for almost two hours with a self guided audio guide. After we grabbed something to eat in the food court since the boat was located right outside of the mall, fascinating! We then decided to go see a movie instead of being a tourist for the rest of the day and I believe that was a good decision. The day was coming to a close and we needed to get back to the hostel in order to get our stuff and get to the airport since taking the train would have been to long, however, we still did not back home, I guess Bath is my home now but only for a little over a month, until midnight. Overall it was a fun trip and I enjoyed myself.

Now onto other news! My dad is coming in a little over a week and I am super excited to see him and travel to London and Amsterdam with him. Also, my mom, sister and Aunt are coming in a month which is also very exciting. This is the perfect time for them to be coming since all of my papers are done and I am starting to get a little homesick but also mixed emotion about leaving Bath, but I still have time to enjoy it and that is just what I am going to do. Last night I booked my flights to Rome and Venice with my sister and we are going to be there for a week just the two of us. What a good way to end my semester abroad before I have to head back to the states and start working again. One little side note that I forgot to mention early was that I tried oranges over here for the first time (no I am not kidding) and I fell in love, I now have an orange every day, oh the things I am experience while I am abroad! I will write soon!!

Love to all,

Monica

Spring Break in Morocco and Spain

This post will explain day by day what I did on my spring break

Saturday- Day 1- We arrived in Marrakesh around 4 p.m. Moroccan time. In the airport I changed my money to Durham which the exchange rate is really good like 12 Durham is 1 pound. All six of us got into a little taxi and the taxi driver took us to our place, once we got let out there was a man waiting to take our luggage and walk it to the place we needed to go, but we could do it on our own. Where the taxi driver dropped us off we still needed to walk a ways, but a man showed us the way to the hostel. Once we got to the hostel he came inside and demanded 20 Durham from each of us, it is a cultural thing, that was a little nerve racking and we were scared, but we paid him and he went away. After we walked to the market which was huge and beautiful, but none of us bought anything, which was fine. Then we went back to the hostel since we wanted to know a good place to go eat dinner was and the lady that ran the hostel called a guy and he showed us the way. The food was amazing I had chicken with vegetables and bread, which is always good no matter what. Then we walked around the market a little more, but it was getting late so we headed back to the hostel.

Sunday- Day 2- We took a taxi to the place we had to be picked us to go on our tour, then a van came and picked us up and brought us to the market, which we could of walked to, oh well. All 6 of us did not know how long the bus ride was going to be, but it took 8+ hours of driving to get to the place where the camels were, long time in a mini bus. We did stop along the way, once to get something for breakfast around 9 and then again just to stretch our legs, we stopped for lunch where I had eggs with tomatoes in them, with of course bread. After we walked across the street to a couple of little shops and I bought a pictures with camels on it, which was made out of tea and saffron. We drove through mountains and around them, sometimes I thought we were going to go off the cliff or hit a car when we were passing them. We finally made it to the camels around 730 p.m. and then it took about an hour and a half to get to the campsite, my legs were sore but it was well worth it! We had a tradition dinner which was chicken, veggies, bread and mint tea. After we listened and danced to music around a bonfire, which was a nice way to end the day.

Monday- Day 3- Woke up to the sound of the camels around 645 a.m. and we had bread with strawberry jam and I had coffee with milk and a cube of sugar it in. Then we got back on to the camels and rode 45 minutes to the mini van and then it was another 8+ hours back to Marrakesh, which we did not stop as much this time since we wanted to get back early. Once we got back to Marrakesh we had to find a different hostel since the one we were staying at before was booked for that night. We asked a police officer where to go and since none of us really spoke French it was difficult to understand the directions. We ended up going the wrong way too many times it took us over an hour when it should of taken 10 minutes from where we were. Finally we asked a man at a money exchange place and he took us to the hostel, I don't know what we would have done if he did not show us, we were thinking about just going to the airport and sleeping there for the night. We even tried calling the hostel but no one picked up! Anyways we got there and we were all so hungry, tired, smelly, so we decided that we should eat some food. We went to a nice restaurant and had more bread, chicken and veggies. There was a belly dancer and some people playing music, which was nice. After that we decided to do some shopping but by this time it was really late, I don't even know what time it was, but most of the stores were closed, but I did get some things. After we went back to the hostel and I took one of the best showers ever! By the time I went to bed I think it was like midnight and we had to wake up at 4 in order to get to the airport in time for our 705 flight to Madrid. Lets just say that I was really tired.

Tuesday- Day 4- Madrid here we come! As stated above getting up was rather difficult, but the four of us managed to do it. The night before the person that runs the hostel called us a cab, so we would not have to worry about trying to find one in the morning, which was great! Everything at both airports went fine and I even slept on the plane which was wonderful! We found a cab and they brought us right to the hostel. Once we were settled we walked around and got some food to eat, I got eggs with ham on top of French fries, it was so good especially since I did not have breakfast. We were all so tired that we came back to the hostel and took a nap, which was nice. After we asked where some good places to go around the city so we went to the palace, the gardens and the temple and decided to do other stuff the next day. We ended up walking for a long time and we even came across where Jennifer Aniston and Gerald Butler were going to be for there new movie, but we could not see anything and by that time it was already 830, so we went to dinner near our hostel and the food was good and cheap. I even got desert, which was a chocolate torte, yummy, you know me with chocolate deserts!!! We came back to the hostel and just hung out the rest of the night with people that were here.

Wednesday- Day 5- More of Madrid! I finally got to sleep in, which was so nice since this is supposed to be a vacation. We had a late start, but we all needed to get some sleep, we walked the opposite way of where we were on Tuesday and we went to the Prado museum which is so big, it was kind of overwhelming. After we went to the botanical gardens, where I took a lot of pictures of the flowers. We then walked towards a fountain which was beautiful and then since it was around 330 we decided to get some food, we all got Kebabs and they were so good and I got baklava, which I was craving. Then we came back to the hostel and I took a nap and then we did some walking around and had dinner with 5 other people from the program who just came into Madrid.

Thursday- Day 8- Barcelona! One of my flatmates and I just walked around the city and the Ramblas, which is one of the main streets with shops, hotels and restaurants on both sides of the street. We did not do a lot because we were waiting for another one of our flatmates to arrive and we didn't want to do anything without her. So it was a relaxing day, but we also explored!

Friday- Day 7- Woke up and had breakfast at the hostel for free which has not happened at any of the other hostels so far, we then went on the metro to a park which was beautiful it had a view of the whole city and on the benches there were mosaics that were beautiful also. After that we back on the metro to a cathedral, but the line was so long we decided not to go see it but we are going back the next day. After that we came back and walked around the Ramblas again and we tried to find Segways, but we could not find them so instead we took bikes out for about an hour and half, just riding around the city. After that I did some shopping, for myself and others. Then we went out to dinner and had Tepas and I tried fried Calamari and fried eggplant, yeah for trying new things!

Saturday- Day 8- We went to the cathedral and the outside is beautiful but I don't know if it was worth 10 euros to go inside of it since they are still building it, o well. Next we went to the Picasso Museum and then the chocolate museum, where they have sculptures made out of chocolate. After we went to a market where any food a person would need is sold there, the market is covered and if you wanted fruits or veggies all of the stands are in the same general area, which makes shopping easier. We came back to the hostel packed up our stuff and then went out for our last dinner in Barcelona, which was delicious.

Sunday- Day 9- Heading "home" to England. It was nice to be back in Bath where I was familiar with my surroundings, but I really did enjoy my spring break and it will be something that I will not forget.

Tonight I am heading to Scotland on an overnight train, which it will be the first time for me and I will be back Sunday night!

Love to all,

Monica

Oxford!

So I think that the title says it all, I was in Oxford before Spring break so two weeks ago now and it was amazing! When we first arrived at University College we were shown to our rooms and I had one of the biggest rooms with a piano in it, plus a double bed which I think few people had. After getting settled in our rooms we had a tour of Oxford, which was nice to know our bearings around the city. Then we had the afternoon to ourselves to do whatever we wanted, so five of us went to a sandwich place and got dinner, which was good. Then we went to a disco in the college's pub and it was great, we danced to some American music and the director of the program put on a wig and was dancing around, so funny.

On Sunday I went to Christ Church for a religious service and it was different than I was used to, but I did enjoy it. Later we went punting which is a flat boat with a long pole to push you along the river, luckily no one fell in, but I did get the metal pole dropped on my head, which hurt.

Monday I had two classes, but I did do some exploring of Oxford, which it is such a beautiful city. On Tuesday, I had a tour of Christ Church where they filmed part of Harry Potter, I am getting to see all these places where the movie was filmed. For dinner that night most of the program went to an Indian Restaurant, which I found out that I like Indian food, I hope I can find a place back in the states that will have good Indian food, that will be one of my missions when I come back in 2 months!!

On to Wednesday I had class in the morning and then I did more exploring of the city and this time I brought my camera to take some pictures, I also did some shopping for me and others, some great presents for people! Thursday I went to Saint Mary Tower and I got a view of the entire city which was breathtaking. As a group we went to the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum, which had some interesting things inside of it like shrunken heads and those were in the Harry Potter movies too. We all came back and we were going to go to the Botanical Gardens but of course it started to rain!

So instead I decided to take a nap, however I spent until 725 p.m. Now that does not sound bad, but I had to be at a formal dinner at 730 and I wanted to take a shower, as you may guess I did not shower but I got ready in like 5 minutes and I was not even late to the dinner, now that is impressive I thought! The food was so good I ate goat cheese with roasted figs, then the main course was a rump of beef with rosti potatoes and leeks then for dessert was pear and frangipane tarte with vanilla clotted cream, it was so yummy. I did try everything however some things I liked more than others, but at least I tried it! So Thursday was our last night in Oxford some of us went out and I enjoyed myself, but I probably could of used the sleep however no regrets.

Friday we got up earlier and then drove to Blenheim Palace, however some people left early to start spring break, but my flight was not until Saturday morning. The Palace was built in 1704 and it had beautiful gardens and even a maze to go through, we got lost a little but eventually we made it out of the maze. The Palace is so big that it has a little train that will take you from the Palace to the gardens and maze, which was a lot of fun especially since the train pulled us backwards. We arrived back in Bath around 4 p.m. and I had to do laundry and get ready for Spring Break in Morocco and Spain!

To come soon...

I have started to write a post on Oxford since I was there last week, but I need to go pack for Spring Break so that post might not be up until after my spring break. I just think packing and sleeping is more important at this moment, but there will be posts on Oxford and my Spring Break which is Morocco and Spain. Plus, I get to ride a camel in Morocco through the desert, which I am just a little okay I mean very excited for. Time to finish packing and go to bed since it is 1100 p.m. here, don't you fret there will be post on Oxford and Spring Break soon.

Love to all,

Monica

Cardiff Wales and more

Here is my post that I promised and it is before the weekend even better! So Saturday I and a flatmate, Maggie, went to Cardiff, Wales for the day as noted below. It was a great day, not to cold and when the sun came out it was even nice enough to take our coats off. When we arrived in Cardiff we went to the tourist center, but it was no where near when the train or bus station was, which it would make sense to have it there. Any who we found out some things to do and then we were off to a National History museum of Cardiff, which was a little bit away from the city. The museum was an open air one (outside) which had buildings from long ago all in this one area, it was nice. I bought myself a present, fudge, it was so good, but I did actually buy myself something, a spoon for my collection, I hope to get a lot of spoons while I am traveling! After we left there we went back into the city and went to Cardiff Castle, but we did not want to pay 9 pounds to go on a tour, instead we walked around the outside of the castle. Then Maggie and I decided that we wanted to go shopping, which of course we did! By the time we were done shopping it was time for dinner, therefore we went to a pub and I got a steak which I have not had since leaving the states, lets just say I was in heaven while eating it! Then it was buy one dessert and get one free I bet you can guess that we got dessert. If anyone knows me well enough they would not be surprised that I got a 5 layer chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, that was just as good as the steak. Enough talking about my yummy food, after that we went on a ghost tour in a Llandaff!

As soon as Maggie and I got there we latched arms and I said to her we were going to get to know each other very well tonight, which was true we did not let go the whole night! During the ghost tour I did not feel any ghost present, but in certain areas of the tour it got colder and we were not even near water one time, interesting! After the tour we headed back into the city and took the train back to Bath, by the time we got home, it is starting to feel like my home now, it was 1130 p.m., we were both so tired. I slept very well that night.

Cardiff Castle

On another note:

These past two weeks have been busy with school work, I have been writing papers, well two of them were English type papers for Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf and I have not written that kind of paper since high school so it was a little difficult, but I got through it and that is all that matters! I also had an education paper, but that was a little more interesting to me than the other two, but now that my papers are done I decided to treat myself, which only means that I went Shopping!!! I purchased some clothes, which now I have more of a variety in my limited wardrobe. Since I went shopping today I did not get a lot of work done, but I have this weekend since I only have one more class for the week!!

On the horizon for me: Oxford on Saturday, oh gosh I need to pack but laundry first, and then Spring Break thank goodness it is going to be a blast, plus all of my hostels are booked which is a relief to know that is done now. I can't wait to go to Morocco and Spain and of course do some shopping while there

Love to all,

Monica

Traveling!!!

Hello All, I am writing to inform you that I will be leaving England for the first time tomorrow, which I am so excited about. I am not going to far only about an hour train ride to Cardiff, Wales for the day. Some may say that I am not really leaving the country, but I say yes I am and that is all that matters. I am going with one of my flatmates and we are catching a 830 am train and then just traveling around Cardiff then at night we are going to go on a ghost tour, which I have heard was good (some flatmates went last Saturday) but they said it was cold, so I am going to bring layers.

Sometime this coming week I will inform you all about my trip to Wales and I will post pictures too, I promise it will be before the weekend. On the other hand, I am one week away from going to Oxford. The whole program goes to Oxford for almost a week. We live in the dorms and we have breakfast and lunch prepared for us, which will be a nice change from having to cook all the time. However, we have to eat out for dinner every night except for one, where we get dressed up and eat in the great room. Of course I will have a lot to post on this week too. Perhaps I will even get some presents for people at home since I have not bought anything for myself or anyone else since I have arrived, wait I bought a scarf for myself, but I swear that is it.

The week after Oxford, so two weeks and one day from today, I will be on a plane to MOROCCO!!!!! You might have guessed that I am extremely excited to go there and SPAIN! Which I hope to use some of the Spanish I have learned, I will let you know how that goes. A lot of pictures will be taken, but I will probably post all of them on facebook and I am planning on bringing a journal (thanks to my mom) with me so I can record what I did and how I felt so that I will be able to remember years later what I did.

Well I have one more paper to write for Monday that I need to start like now, so I am off to the library to start research and start writing. Don't worry I will not work to hard and if I do then the dinner that I have planned for tonight will be even better, Pizza and strawberry cheesecake and no I did not make either one of those, but it will still be great.

Love to all,

Monica

School Visit & so much more

This past week I had to go to my school placement twice, I usually only go once a week. Now you may be thinking why is Monica writing a post on her school placement visit, big deal. Well this week I was in the classroom on Tuesday which is my normal day to visit and Friday (today). However, I was only in classroom for part of the day today and then I went to another part of the school, the Margaret Coates Center, which is a place for Autism children to go to school. I have never really worked with special needs children or with children that have Autism, but I LOVED it!

The children are so kind and actually very smart. At the centre there are 14 children from 4 years to 10 years and the centre teaches the students like they were in a regular school. However, the centre teaches the students life skills like manners, how to care for their bodies, respect other people and a bunch of other things. Which I think is great because then once this children are not in school they will be able to care for themselves.

One of the students became attached to me early on in the day. He kept saying Monica Monica come with me and would come get me and hold my hand to bring me where he wanted to go outside. On Friday's at my school placement the entire school including the autism centre go for a run around the school property. This child said to me Monica I want you to run with me, so I did even though I was in my clogs. How could I say no to him? I couldn't. Once we ran for half a mile he let go off my hand and said he was going to run by himself, which was fine with me. These children just have so much heart and are so kind. I just wanted to have the day be longer so that I could spend more time with them. Unfortunately, today was the only day I was in the centre, but I may try to visit again before my school placement is over.I feel like I did not do a good job explaining what went on today and how I was feeling, but the experience opened my eyes to alternative education for students that may not fit into the mainstream school.

Since arriving in Bath a little over a month ago I can see that I have changed. Now you may think how much could a person change so much in one month? It is possible because I feel comfortable walking around a big city like Bath, which has 90,000 plus people, I feel comfortable taking the public bus to my school placement every week, plus I feel like I have learned a lot about myself. So don't think that when I come back to the states you are not going to recognize me because I have changed on the inside and become more confident with myself, but I am still going to look the same on the outside, white as ever!

When I arrive back home I hope that people will recognize me as Monica, but will understand that since being abroad I have changed due to my experiences. I guess I never really thought I would change when I went abroad, but it is happening and I am actually enjoying it. This experience has been good for me to figure out who I am and for me to become more independent. I know a lot of people say that they become more independent, but being abroad I have had to cook for myself, which then means I have to shop and buy my own food. I have also had to do my own laundry, which thanks to my mum I have not had to do ever even while I was at SMC. Thanks Mom!

I believe that my experience abroad will make me a better person and get me prepared for my life to come when I cannot always rely on other people to support me fully, especially financially. Yes I know if I ever needed something I would be able to get assistance from my loved ones, but it has been nice not to depend on that.

Well, I have two papers that I need to write this weekend, which I am not looking forward to, but I have to do it. So that is what my weekend is going to consist of, no traveling for this girl this weekend, Boo. However, if it is nice perhaps I will take a walk around Bath as a writing break, which I am keeping my figures crossed that it is nice!

Love to all,

Monica

Where does time go?

One month I have been across the pond, One month since I left home until June, One month since I said my goodbyes to my loved ones, ONE MONTH! Where has the time gone?

However, I also feel like the time has gone by so slowly too. Sometimes the days go by so slowly but the weeks go by fast.

So since my last post some things have changed in my life, well that is partly due to the fact that my post was over a week ago, a lot can happen in a week!

So I went to my first Rugby game, and Bath Rugby won, yeah!

Here I am with some of my flatmates and the programs student helper.

After the Rugby game, which by the way it was really cold. I had two pairs of pants on, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt and the jersey and I was still cold. Anyways, we went to an Italian pizzeria place for dinner and it was so good, then we went next door to an Italian Gelato place, where I had a Nutella and banana crepe with chocolate and hazelnut gelato on the side, so good. That is a place I will go be going to again! (Mom and Andrea perhaps we can go)

I also since my last post have booked my spring break trip and you will never guess where I am going, no it is not Ireland, even though that is on my list of places to go. I am going to Africa, well actually Morocco, I never thought that I would be going there for Spring Break but I am super excited. I will be in Morocco for 4 days and then I am going to Spain for 5 days. In Morocco I will be in Marrakesh, which I believe we, meaning 5 other people and I are going to do a one night, two day trip in the desert. The best part is we get to ride camels while watching the sunset and then ride the camels again when the sun rises! I CAN'T WAIT!

In Spain, we are visiting Madrid for two days and then Barcelona for 3 days, I am not sure what we are doing there, but I bet we will find something to do. One thing I want to do is go to a beach, which I don't think anyone will object to!! I was shocked on how much cheaper it is here to travel, the amount of money I spent on tickets for Spring Break I do not think I could get the same kind of deal in the states. Therefore, I can spend more money on things for myself, sounds great to me!

On Friday, I went on a trip that the program sponsored to the Cotswolds. We first went to Broadway tower, which has no purpose expect that from the top you can see fourteen counties, but since it was a cloudy day we did not see that many. Then we took a 45 min walk down into town, just to let you know if was not a clean walk, we walked through the countryside where it was really muddy and I only have my sneakers on, not a good idea! Once we got into town we got back on the bus and went to another town, I do not remember the name of it, sorry. Then we went to a garden, now you might think why would someone plan a trip to go to a garden in February, but the flowers we saw only are around in the winter they are called snow droplets, I took pictures but I have not uploaded them yet, yes I know bad me! Then we came home, it was a nice trip and I got to see areas that I would probably not see on my own, plus it was nice to just do a day trip.

Well, now that I have updated you on my life in the past week I think I should go write some papers since I have two of them due next week and I want to enjoy my weekend. I promise that I will write more often and I am feeling much better living in England now. I think it helped that I wrote how I was feeling down and also the loving support I have received from everyone. I do believe that this is a place I should be now in my life it just took me some time to realize that. Plus, now I know that I have to keep myself busy so that I do not fall into that cycle every time I am not doing something. This does not mean that I do not miss everyone and that I am going to hold back my tears because I now I will have my days when I just have to let it all out. Okay well this is not getting my papers done, but I would rather be writing on my blog then doing papers, hehe!

Love to all,

Monica

Rain and Tears

In England it has been raining, snowing and cold, which I thought I left at home, but I guess the weather followed me here.

So since the Olympics are going on I have been wanting to watch them, but of course there is a EIGHT hour time difference, however, since I do not have classes on Friday's I decided that I wanted to see some figure skating last night. The downside to that was that it was on at 330 a.m. England time, but I took a nap from 100 a.m. until 330 a.m. with 3 of my other flatmates. It was great to see USA take Gold in Men's Figure Skating, however, it did not end until 5 a.m. England time, so I was rather tried today.

Today, I did some work, which I needed to get done and then I went to the Guild Hall, which is an inside market where vendors can sell their products like used books, sewing and knitting supplies, fresh fruits and veggies, coffee or tea, and various other things. I was going to walk around the city and go into some of the shops but it was to cold, but I think some of us are going out of Sunday around the city and perhaps to a museum.

You are probably wondering why the title of this post is rain and tears, well it is because I have been sad recently. It only hits me when I have free time and alone, like tonight, since I finished a majority of my work. I am trying not for this to hinder my fun that I am having in Bath because I am having a blast, but sometimes I just want to go home to something that I am familiar and comfortable with and be with my loved ones. However, I know that this is normal and most people go through this same thing at some point while being abroad so I just have to stick it out. I am going to try and stay strong, but I know those moments of tears running down my white face are going to happen. I hope the frequency of my tears will subside as my time in England progresses, but time will tell.

On a more exciting note I booked a trip to SCOTLAND with 4 other flatmates in April, which I am excited about. Plus, my dad is coming to visit me at the end of April into May, which will be nice. Then later in May I believe my mom and sister are coming to visit too, but I am not sure how long they are going to stay, however, I know they will be here to help me pack all my stuff up to move out of my flat. I hope I will be able to fit everything in my suitcases, but I do not need to think of that now because I have plenty of time left in England!

So tomorrow, Saturday, I will be attending my first Rugby game, which in the UK is a big thing. I will take pictures and of course write a post of my experience. Plus at the game I need to show off my new Bath Rugby shirt, so I bet you will see a lot of pictures of me in my shirt and everyone else that has the same shirt.

Well, I better get some rest tonight because well I need it, plus it is going to be a busy day tomorrow.

Love to all,

Monica

A Busy week

A lot has happened in the last week, therefore, I think a new post needed to be written so here it goes...

On Sunday 2-7-2010 we went to Stonehedge, Salisbury and Lacock and I took a lot of pictures all of them are on facebook, but I will put some on here.

This is the house where Harry Potter lived when he was a boy, therefore, I needed to get a picture in front of it. This is in Lacock.

I am in front of Stonehedge, which is a pile of rocks that have a lot of meaning, but I do not remember the story that well. It was really cold that day too, like 38 F, which is cold over here for this time of year. At the end of the day we went to a restaurant where we had a traditional England Roast Dinner. I had a chicken breast stuffed with stuffing and then it was wrapped in bacon, along with my dinner was roasted potatoes and some steamed vegetables. As for my dessert, which most people know I LOVE, I had a chocolate torte with homemade whip cream, it was so delicious, yummy! After we headed home and it was now time to get ready for the first day of classes!

My first day of classes went well I have two classes on Monday, my Education class and Jane Austen, so I am done by 130. On Tuesday, I went to the Elementary School, which I am going to love working at for the rest of the semester, plus I get to teach two lesson while I am over here, which will be nice. Wednesday I have one class, which is Virginia Woolf and I am done at 1120. Thursday I also just have one class which is my other education class and I am done at 1120 again, therefore my weekend starts at 1120 every Thursday.

On Thursday it took me almost four hours to do my laundry, which I only had two loads, but the washing machine likes to take an hour and half just to wash my clothes, I guess that means my clothes are really clean. Thursday night we all went out to a club called XL and it was a lot bigger than I am used to in the States. There was two floors, three places to dance, and four bars, it was big. I have also noticed that people in Bath go out on Thursday nights, rest Friday night and then go out Saturday night, therefore my flatmates and I have started to follow the same rules.

Cheddar Cheese yummy! That is where my flat and I took a trip on Friday. The town was called Cheddar and we went and saw the process of how cheese is made. This place is the only place that makes cheddar cheese in the town of Cheddar, it was a great day tasting all the different kinds of cheese. I actually bought two kinds of cheese that I hope will last me awhile, I got a vintage cheese which is the strongest tasting cheese and the other cheese was a smoked cheese, which was also good, okay all of the cheeses were yummy.

Today, I went to the grocery store, which is a far walk from my flat, but I hope that the food will last me for a week and half. I guess I will find out soon...

Okay well I should probably start some reading or just watch TV instead.

Love to all,

Monica

Learning experiences

Week 1- Orientation Week

These past couple of days have been busy, but that is a good thing. On Wednesday, I traveled by Bus, well bus 14 to be exact, to the school that I will be in for the rest of the semester on Tuesdays. Once I boarded the bus I was unsure of where I had to get off but I told the driver where I needed to go and he helped me, which was great. I arrived to the school early, but that was fine because I looked at the handbook. After some time had passed two fifth year students gave me a tour of the building, however, I did not get to meet the teacher I will be working with, but I found out that I had to be there at 8 a.m. even though school does not start until almost 9.

After leaving the school I had to get Bus 14 back to the bus station near my flat. What I did was cross the street to the other bus stop and looked to see if Bus 14 was on that list, but it was not. I then asked someone where I had to go to catch Bus 14 to go towards Bath Bus Station and they said around the corner and across the street. I did that but then another person told me to go cross the street and around the corner. Now this might not seem difficult, but where they were telling me to cross and go around the corner was a round about, so I did not know which way to go. To make this a shorter story I ended up walking downhill for about 45 minutes trying to find the bus stop and I ended at the Bath Bus Station. Let's just say my feet were killing me! I now know where I have to get Bus 14, the same place it dropped me off. Oh goodness!!

On Thursday, as a group we all went to the Bath Abbey, which is beautiful and has amazing history, just like everything else in Bath. I did post pictures on facebook, so please take a look. Friday was more of a relaxing day, and I think this is when my jet lag caught up with me, therefore, I took two naps! Friday night was the first of three formals we have throughout the semester. The formal was at the Victorian Art gallery and this is where we met our tudors, which are professors in the U.S. This was good because now I can put a face to a name and I feel a little more comfortable going into classes starting Monday. After the reception was over all of my flatmates (8 including me) decided to go to a club, to say the least it is a lot different than at home. A lot less clothing on the woman and the males wear button down shirts and travel in packs and yes the males dance with one another. At the club there was Karaoke, so five of us decided to do it, but while we were waiting we met a local university male and when he found out we were Americans, he got really excited and dedicate a song to us. Some people are just so friendly.

Today, Saturday, nothing to much went on. A group of us went to go play football, or soccer and I got to play goalkeeper, which is not my cup of tea, but I did it anyway. One shot was hit pretty hard at my stomach, and I was more shocked than anything, but it still did hurt. Tomorrow we go on our first day trip, to Stonehedge, than to Salisbury where there is a Cathedral and then to Lacock for a traditional England Sunday Roast Dinner. Some point we get to see where part of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Don't worry I will be taking pictures and posting them for everyone to see. Also to come is pictures and/or video of my flat. Questions/Comments are welcome.

Love to all,

Monica

I MADE IT!

I am now in England it was a long journey, but I made it. It was hard at the airport to say good-bye to my loved ones, but I know that I had to do it. The first plane was fine and I arrived at Washington Dulles and only had a little bit of time before I had to board my first international flight. I tried getting on email but of course I had to pay for internet, therefore I did not pay. My flight to Heathrow, London was okay I did not sleep much, but I hope tonight that I can sleep.

When I arrived in Heathrow I tried looking for my roommate, but the airport is big and we did not do a good job of communicating with one another. To make a long story short, I got lost in the airport, tried to ask a man how to get to Bath (which is where my school is), he did not know and said that I should know this information. I then asked him for directions to another train station and that is where I finally got on a Coach bus, the same in the USA. The bus ride was about two hours long and gratefully I fell asleep for a little while. However, when I arrived at the Bath Bus station I did not see anyone, so I had to take out my laptop and figure out where I was supposed to meet everyone. Because of the delay of getting on the Coach Bus I was one of the last two people here at the program.

I came to my house (flat) and everyone, so seven other people were all waiting in the living room if that is what they call it in England. The flat is set up nicely, the kitchen, dining room, and full bathroom are in the basement, on the ground level is a single room and the living room, the 1st floor is two double bedrooms and two half bathrooms, the 2nd floor has a double bedroom and a single bedroom, with a bathroom with no toilet, don't ask me why.

A person from ASE came to the house to show us how to use the house, like running the washing machine, dryer, turning on the showers and other basic things that you would think would be the same as the U.S. but they are very different. After the orientation with the house we all decided that we were going to go out to dinner, because there is not a lot of food in the house for tonight and tomorrow. However, I still needed to unpack, but I got most of it done before dinner. We went to pub, but first we had to find a place that was open because it seems like a lot of places close early. At the pub this gentlemen in his 50's just started talking to all eight of us about random things but we all laughed even though we were so hungry. The last stop on our journey was a small grocery store.

Tomorrow will be the start of orientation and the school has us doing a lot in the next couple of days, so I am going to say so long for now because I need to catch some rest and start being on ENGLAND time. Pictures and perhaps a video of my flat to come soon, of course when I have free time.

Love you all,

Monica

Packing and saying Good-bye's

Today I have a lot to do, I mean I really have a long list for the next couple of days before I get on a plane and fly to England. It still does not seem real to me that I am leaving for over four months on Sunday Jan. 31 2010. I still have to pack all of my belongings, which in itself is going to be difficult.

I have to say good-bye to my loved ones, which I keep putting off because I know that it is going to be hard and I am not ready to do it. However, I am going to have some incredible memories before I go to England with some of my close friends this weekend.

As for other people it is going to be extremely difficult to say good-bye or see you later because of the bond that I have made with them in such a short amount of time, but I hope that both of us will make it through as stronger people.

Well, I better start the packing and start crossing things off my to do this.

With love,

Monica