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