Hello, it's me. Wondering what happened to 2017...

I realized today that it has been months since I posted on my blog. So much has happened and I have been busy with post-college life, which apparently means I lacked the time and thought to write. I will admit, I have tried to write several times but I never really liked the way it sounded. I suppose writing about my adventures this summer just did not compare to the excitement I had to share when I was abroad. However, that is no excuse for not writing at least something! On that note, here we go:

Final Semester of College: My final semester was fantastic. I had a light load course-wise, which I had not entirely expected to be able to do after studying abroad. I only had 12 hours and every hour was a class in which I was truly interested: Career Planning, Interethnic Communication, Cultural Awareness, Honors Research, and Ballroom Dancing. Career planning was a beneficial class to take my last semester, although I almost wished I had taken it sooner. There was some information that I feel should be more widely known for college students early in their career, but it was still helpful to get some job search, resume writing, and interviewing tips. I had been interested in taking ballroom dancing for years, but it never fit with my schedule until this semester. It was probably my favorite non-major class that I took in college! Interethnic communication and cultural awareness were two classes that looked at the same subject from a different viewpoint, both of which were interesting. They covered a wide variety of communication problems that arise between cultures and how to be aware of and avoid them.  Not to mention, these classes truly benefited my honors research to make it an absolutely phenomenal project to culminate my degree. I really enjoyed conducting my research and am truly proud of how it came out, although most people would find it mind-numbingly boring to read.

May 13^th: I graduated. Yes, I actually enjoyed my degree. Yes, I will be paying for it for years to come. No, I did not go on to grad school. No, I did not have a job ready to go when I finished. And no, I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up (I think I may know the answer to that question by the time I am ninety). My degree was part of the largest college on the campus (of course) so it took several hours, not including the time waiting in the gym downstairs so we graduates could crowd out onto the stadium floor. My aunt, uncle, grandparents, and godfather all came into town, which is always great. I had not seen my godfather in years, so it was amazing to spend the weekend with him and the rest of the family. Three cheers for the end of school, even though I actually enjoyed it!

Graduation with my favorite professor, 

Dr. Bisel. I took five of his classes.

May 29^th – June 1^st: Las Vegas. My friend and I treated ourselves to a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our graduation. Neither of us had ever been and I am not sure either of us will ever go back, but it was definitely an adventure. Not to say it was a bad trip, but it was not quite as amazing as we had hoped. We went to the Grand Canyon, saw a couple of shows, ate at some buffets, and had an overall pleasant time. The Grand Canyon was beautiful, although our trip was not as advertised. The shows were definitely the best part of the trip, which was not exactly surprising (other than gambling and drinking, they are the main reason to go to Vegas!). Oh, and the buffets were amazing, too. Expensive, but well worth the money considering how much food you had the option of eating (and I absolutely ate more than my fill). I will advise that you do not fly Allegiant if you go. Our plane was several hours late both going and coming, and they were not very forthcoming with the reasons why. But hey, that is one place to check off of my adventures list!

Grand Canyon 

La Reve

Summer: Several small adventures with Madison no one really wants to read about. A couple of wine walks, a trip to Turner Falls, and a misguided attempt to reignite our youth at a pumpkin farm overrun with children. Really, you do not want me to write about it. Nor do I want to write about it, for that matter. Oh, and I was job hunting during this time too, with not much success clearly.

Turner Falls

 Wine Walks

Misguided pumpkin farm

Summer Add-In: So I realized while finding my pictures that I did have a couple of more exciting adventures. I went to see Ed Sheeran's concert in Tulsa, which was fabulous. I also participated in GISHWHES (the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen). It consisted of doing either acts of kindness or crazy acts of weirdness to raise money for a non-profit organization started by the actor who started the scavenger hunt. I also went to the Kings of Leon concert with Jessica. Yay! Real summer adventures! Moving on. 

Ed Sheeran Concert

 GISHWHES Item: Symbol of Hope (for nerds) 

in your front yard

Kings of Leon Concert

November: New job. I found a job! Well, I think it might be more appropriate to say that a job found me, but still. I have a job! And never again will I believe someone when they tell me shopping is a waste of time, because that is how I found my job. Mom and I were checking out a new boutique in OKC. After talking with the manager for a few minutes, she started to ask me a few pointed questions about my experience and then gave me her husband’s number because he had a job opening that I might be interested in. One phone call and two interviews later, I had found my first job out of college as a customer service representative at Green Bay Packaging in Chickasha. Oh, and this makes two jobs now that I have found by going shopping! Also, Loki (my car) died, so we had to start car shopping this month. We did find one and started the financing paperwork before we left for Thanksgiving in Texas (this will be relevant soon, I promise).

December 4^th – 8^th: Racine, WI. One week at my new job and I was already on a business trip. I was sent to Racine, WI, to learn about the corrugated business and see an idea of how my GM wants to grow our plant. I spent time learning about everything that goes into a box, from the design and production to testing and sales. The whole process is a constant war between thinking “I didn’t know this much went into creating a box” and “This is such a straightforward process, why am I here”. Honestly, it was both fascinating and fascinatingly boring to learn about. On the bright side, I learned a lot and ate even more. I was seriously well-fed on this trip and I got to see Milwaukee as well, which is a really beautiful city. Actually, Wisconsin was just a beautiful state.

December 11^th –14^th: Green Bay, WI. Back-to-back trips! This trip was to the original facility in Green Bay, which is a huge production. Not only is it where our corporate offices are located, there is also a paper mill, a corrugator, a sheet plant, a folding carton plant and several warehouses (I know you do not know what this is, but just to give an idea of size). The corrugator and paper mill were really fascinating to see, especially after learning about how boxes are made. However, I am fairly certain that the men at this plant had no idea what to do with me. I was sort of shunted from department to department, with no one really knowing why I was there and what they were supposed to do with me. More of a lesson in what we do not want to do at our plant, but it was a really cool and modern production to see compared to our tiny facility in Chickasha. Oh, and it snowed while I was there! I actually got to see snow for the Christmas holiday, even if it was not actually in Oklahoma.

December 16^th: Car buying. A month later, I finally got to sign the paperwork on my new car, a 2017 VW Passat. The finance department at Fowler Volkswagen in Norman is absolutely useless. We had an amazing experience with our salesperson. He was very helpful and knowledgeable, without ever giving off the sleazy cars salesman vibe or pressuring us once we had walked away. However, after we started dealing with the finance department, it all went to hell. They would not answer phone calls, would not get their paperwork in order, and they were going to send someone to Chickasha for me to sign the paperwork (since I was leaving for WI) and they never showed up or called me! When we finally managed to get a hold of them and tell them we were coming to sign the paperwork, they told us the finance manager had to be there (which he was not) because he had our paperwork (for some reason) and we had to come the following day. Even when we went, we never saw the finance manager and they were reprinting all of our paperwork, so clearly he was not necessary to the process (Mom thinks it’s because we were labeled problem customers and he needed to be there in case we cause problems).  Seriously, it was like they did not want me to buy the freaking car. And even after we finished the paperwork, I had to go back twice more because they forgot things! Hopefully, my future car buying experiences will go better. They definitely are not on my recommendation list, which is unfortunate since I would absolutely recommend my salesman.

So there it is. The adventures that I have had this year all wrapped up in one pretty bow. I will try to be better about writing, but I am not seeing any big (or small) adventures in my near future. We will just have to wait and see. Happy New Year, everyone! May your resolutions… go up in smoke because mine already have.

A Lesson in Flying

Or maybe it should be a lesson in falling.  I suppose it depends on how you look at it. 

I had the opportunity to try the indoor skydiving place in OKC, iFly, and it was so much fun!!! A friend of mine took me up there on New Year’s Eve and I got to try my hand at skydiving for the first time.  I honestly expected to be a little underwhelmed with the whole thing, but I wasn’t! You have to arrive an hour before your actual skydiving time, which I think is mostly so you can watch the other groups and pay more money.  However, it was incredibly entertaining to watch the other groups, especially the little kids.  It was like watching swim lessons in a lot of ways, especially with the way that they flail around, practically kicking the instructors in the back of the head every five seconds. 

Anyway, after watching the other people fly for half an hour, we went through a short little video “training” session, which teaches the proper form for skydiving and the hand signals that the instructors use in the tunnel since they can’t exactly talk. Next, we got dressed in our “flight suits,” complete with earplugs, helmets, and some awesome goggles. And then we stood around some more.  Honestly, I think they make time so that you can watch all the fun things you can do if you spend more money.  However, once we were finally allowed into the seating area inside the tunnel, it was great. 

I went into the tunnel with a trust fall, quite literally.  You put your hands up and then just fall forward so the instructor can catch you and kind of balance you while you adjust to hovering over the ground/giant fan. Once I adjusted to the weightlessness and balancing, it was actually a lot like swimming! It was rather difficult since I had to keep my hips forward, my legs out and spread, but not too straight or too bent, and my arms out and slightly bent as well.  And I had to keep my head up because if you put it down, you start going up higher since there’s more surface area for the wind.  Anyway, during my few turns, I had an incredible time! Once I kind of got the hang of it, the instructor had me doing turns and moving back and forth across the tunnel, which I wasn't fantastic at, but at least I tried! And had a blast doing it!

While the whole thing is rather pricey to do, I would definitely recommend doing it at least once. If you have ever wished that you could fly or have ever wanted to go skydiving without the threat of smashing into the ground, you should definitely try some indoor skydiving!

Adieu to Kalamazoo

My cousin, Teri, got married recently and it made for one fast weekend. We left Oklahoma at about 10 o’clock in the morning, after taking Sherlock for a ride because we found him climbing in the front window of the Jetta.  Clearly, he did not like that he was being left behind. We drove pretty much straight through to St. Louis, stopping for a couple potty breaks along the way before stopping for dinner at the Hard Rock Café.  All I could do was compare it to the ones in Europe, since that was my only experience with the HRCs.  It was small, and didn’t have as much memorabilia as the one in Florence.  However, it was very similar to the one I ate at in Barcelona, so there’s that.  The food was fantastic regardless!

We made it all the way to Bloomington, Illinois before we stopped for the night.  We stayed at a Double Tree Hotel and walked what felt like a mile to get to our room.  I’m pretty sure we went down three full length hallways before we even got to ours.  And the elevator was on the other end of the hotel from our room, which definitely made the stay interesting.

The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast at Panera Bread, and hit the road to Kalamazoo. Thankfully, we were only about 4 hours away at this point, which was nice.  And the people on the road were averaging about 90 mph, even though the speed limit was 55, so we made great time. Unfortunately, we also had to drive through construction on the outskirts of Chicago, so 4 hours got to be a little longer.  We finally got to the hotel at about 4 pm (Oklahoma time) and dad got in line to check in. It was a very busy weekend for the hotel. 

They had 900 people check out that morning and 250 were checking in.  Half of the rooms weren’t even clean yet.  However, we had to give it to the staff as they were doing a great job considering the circumstances.  The valets were running from place to place, trying to make sure everyone was covered and got a cart for their luggage and whatnot.  By the time we got up to the room, it was 430 (still in Oklahoma time) and we thought we had some time to sit down before we had to be at the rehearsal dinner.  However, then we realized there was a time change.  It was 530pm Kalamazoo time and the dinner started at 6.  No sitting down for us.

We were fashionably late to the rehearsal dinner, but so was most everyone else.  It was in a dueling pianos bar near the hotel and was filled with people by the end of the night.  It was really great to see the family again, although I didn’t really get the chance to talk to Teri, the cousin who was getting married.  The drinks were great, the food was fantastic, and the company was alright (it was awesome). We talked, we laughed, I met my uncle for the second time, and then I was exhausted.  Two days of driving made for a very tired family.  We went back to the hotel and I worked on some homework before we went to bed for the night. 

Here's that uncle I mentioned.

The next day dawned wedding day.  Thankfully, it wasn’t until 3pm, so we slept in and then went to the nearby mall to walk around and get our legs moving.  We had a light lunch at Olive Garden and had the most amazing waiter.  He kept our drinks full, checked on us frequently, and had a fantastic personality.  Definitely wish we could have more of those back here in Oklahoma. 

The Hindu wedding ceremony came first, which was on the roof of a building, in the 50 degree, windy Michigan weather.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and no clouds, but it was definitely a shock after leaving 90+ degree Oklahoma. Thankfully, I was smart enough to wear some fleece lined legging with my dress and to bring a jacket with me to the ceremony.  Most of the other girls there were not quite so smart.  There were many girls in their short dresses and high heels and little lace shawls trying to huddle together on the roof to keep warm.  I was relatively comfortable though!

It was a beautiful ceremony, although the Hindu priest was rather clueless, along with the rest of the wedding party.  He didn’t show up in Michigan until the morning of, and even the Indian people present said that he was rather scattered throughout the ceremony.  Dad (mine, not hers) got to walk the bride down the aisle.  Apparently it’s some sort of tradition that no one knew about beforehand. Dad was certainly surprised!  My cousin didn’t even get to see her wedding sari until she was putting it on, but it was absolutely gorgeous.  I have no idea what was happening in the ceremony, but it was still fun to watch.

After the Hindu ceremony was over, we headed across the street for a cocktail hour while the bride and groom got changed.  I’m pretty sure the poor bartenders served a couple hundred Moscow Mules, as that was Teri’s favorite drink.  I’m really surprised they didn’t run out of ginger beer and vodka!  They also had some fantastic little snacks going around during this, which was both good and bad.  The snacks themselves were delicious and authentic Indian foods, for the most part.  However, they were so good and in such easy supply that I definitely ate more of them than I should have.  No regrets, though!

Next, we went upstairs for the Christian ceremony and reception.  Again, Teri’s dress was absolutely gorgeous and the food was amazing.  At that point, it was more or less like almost every wedding reception.  There was an open bar, an ice cream bar, and a late-night mac-and-cheese bar, although we left before the mac-and-cheese bar got set up.  I was so full at that point, though, that I’m not sure I could have eaten any more food!

The Wedding Party

They had also set up a really cool photo booth for the guests, along with a bunch or hats and decorations for people to use when taking the pictures.  People would leave one half for the bride and groom and take the other half for themselves, which I thought was a great idea.  Oh, and my cousin Tommy put on one of those blow-up T-rex costumes and started wreaking havoc, including tearing down a string of lights.  At that point, we left since we had to drive all the way back to Oklahoma the next day, but we heard that the party lasted until at least two in the morning, travelling to a couple different bars along the way.

Guess which one's my cousin Tommy!

We ate breakfast with the family the next morning before hitting the road, which was an adventure unto itself with the Moses clan.  People bustling this way and that trying to get the food on the buffet, get everyone drinks, take care of the trash, make coffee and mimosas, and just generally getting things done and getting in the way at the same time.  It wouldn’t be an event with the Moses family without a little chaos! 

Unfortunately, after breakfast, we had to start our 14 hour drive back home so I could get to class for my presentation the next day.  And work on homework in the car along the way. And try to make sure my group members were doing their part.  Oh, and work on my part of the presentation. It honestly wasn’t that bad of a drive on the way home.  It felt shorter than on the way up, so that was nice.  Especially considering we drove straight through. 

The happily married couple at another 

ceremony the next day!

Small Rant

The last movie that my family and I went to see had a preview for a new World War II film entitled Dunkirk.  Now, I’ve never been the biggest history buff, but I like to think I know at least the important events in our history.  However, after watching this preview, it started to dawn on me how little the American education teaches us about anything that occurs after the Civil War.  As a matter of fact, the only thing I ever learned in school about either of the World Wars was about the Holocaust and that was in English, not history.  I do vaguely remember learning about the Victory Gardens, but I’m not even sure that was in school.  We were never taught about the World Wars, not even about Pearl Harbor.  Most of what people my age know about these wars has either been from movies or from parents who are history buffs.  

To be honest, this realization started while I was in Italy.  Not only was I taking classes in the subject, but I picked up a copy of the Monuments Men book (because it was one of the few that were in English). Between these two sources, I was rather surprised by how much I didn't know.  Pretty much the entirety of Italian history that we learned focused on how the wars affected their country and culture.  Now, I know that it is a much bigger deal for the European countries because the wars were actually fought on their soil, but America was still a major force in the World Wars.  I just don’t understand why our history education essentially stops with the Civil War.  Even my Government class didn’t really go into modern day.  In four months, I learned more about the World Wars and America’s role in them than I did in the last 15 years.  The saying goes that “those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.”  What does that say about the future of our generation?

I think a lot of this has to do with outdated curriculum requirements.  Just look at all of the things that people NEED to know to live as adults that they are never taught.  Very few schools even offer classes like Home Ec., and when they do it’s a complete waste of time.  Schools need to be teaching us some of those basic life skills like how to sew on a button, how to write a check, and how to do our taxes, but that is clearly less important than taking X number of classes so we can get into college.  In fact, we’re expected to decide the course of our lives by picking a major when we still have to raise our hands to go to the bathroom.  How is that a good idea?  Schools preach that they are preparing us for the real world, but how? We don’t know our history, we don’t know basic life skills, and the next generation is even worse off than mine is. 

Sorry for the rant, but I felt the need to share.  It has definitely pushed me to start picking up books on certain topics, like Dunkirk.  Movies are great and all, but very few of them are accurate and for people in my generation, most of the documentaries are extremely boring and dull.  However, there are other outlets like history blogs and books that make it a little more tolerable.  Or don’t listen to me.  Either way is fine.  

The Curious Case of the Stone Lion

The Stone Lion Inn Bed and Breakfast

Well, it’s been a little longer than a month since my last post, but life got a little crazy all of a sudden and I’m not even sure what with.  I started my summer class, but that only takes two hours out of my day and the rest is filled with… something.  I don’t know if the rest is full of errands, day dreaming, or chores, but I’m even finding it hard to get my readings done for my class! Although, considering most college students don’t even bother to try to do the readings, I’m probably a little ahead to begin with. 

Anyway, a few weeks ago, my friend Madison took me to the Murder Mystery Dinner at the Stone Lion Inn located in Guthrie.  We were given characters to dress up as and to ‘act out’ (which we were rather horrible at doing). Unfortunately (sort of), when we called to make our reservation they thought that I was a Michael not a Michaela, so we were given a male and a female character.  Madison’s character was Katie LaFemme, an airheaded hostess at the Stone Lion Inn who was having an affair with Roger Worthington (alongside just about every female character at the party).  I was Benjamin Cohen, a student at Boston College who was an absolutely terrible waiter but was kept on the staff as a ‘service to the community’.  Or so we were told…

 Of course, we had to find clothing to fit the decade (the year for the party was 1948).  Madison actually already had a dress and a pair of heels that were pretty perfect for the decade, she just needed a pair of tights and the right hairstyle and she was set.  I, on the other hand, had to find men’s clothes that fit the decade, which was actually surprisingly easy.  I found a pair of men’s wool dress pants at Nearly New that fit pretty perfectly.  Madison and I went shopping for a white button up and a fedora, both of which we found on sale at JCP, so again, a pretty easy costume.  I already had a pair of ‘oxford’ booties that would work and I was ready to party like it was 1948!

We got there a little earlier than most of the guests because we were staying the night (which I definitely would NOT recommend).  Don’t get me wrong, the inn is lovely, but there are no actually locks on the doors, just a hook that you can only ‘lock’ once you are inside of the room.  Not to mention, all the staff disappears immediately after the dinner and we didn’t have towels in our room, so that wasn’t exactly great.  Regardless, we got ready in our room before going downstairs.  Madison ripped her tights as she was putting them on, and not just a little bit either.  She practically ripped them in half, so we had to run up the street to CVS to get another pair… or three.  By the time we got back and finished getting ready, it was time to go downstairs and begin the cocktail party.  Madison didn’t want to go down the stairs in her heels and couldn’t easily bend over to put the ankle straps on, so we stood in the middle of the living room while I hooked her ankle straps.  There was a lovely older woman who commented that she needed a friend like that.  What are friends for, right?!

Before the cocktail party began, we were given little slips of paper that included more information about our characters that we were not supposed to share with anyone.  They also contained clues that we would be reading out later in the evening when were given the information that could potentially lead us to the killer, although no one had died just yet.  We had little hints we were supposed to drop during the cocktail party as well, but Madison and I were horrible at this.  Clearly we are not meant to be actors!

The Parlor

Next came dinner, which was absolutely delicious.  We had a small salad, a green chile bisque, and for our main course we had half of a pheasant with mashed potatoes and vegetables (I think, I can’t really remember, but it was delicious!).  At the beginning of the meal, I had a small part to play, which pretty much just entailed me being a really horrible waiter and getting fired, which was pretty fun.  Madison and I were sat at a table with a mother and daughter from Texas who were doing a mini road trip.  We were supposed to stay in character throughout dinner, but that’s a really long time to talk about history and my story was close enough to that of my character anyway.  Half way through our dinner, the killer struck.  The victim stumbled out into the hallway and face planted onto the ground.  Now, this was another guest, not one of the workers, so he just made the decision to commit to the character and risk injury.  Although, I have to admit he was pretty plastered before the cocktail party even started, so he probably didn’t even feel it.  I had another part to play once this happened, which was to run out of the room because I was ‘afraid of dead bodies’.  Like, I had to run past the dead body to do this, so I’m not really sure why that was part of the script, but whatever.  Madison was the only one to notice anyway.

The next part of the evening consisted of returning to the parlor to read out the clues that we had been given that would, in theory, lead us to the killer.  Pretty much every character at the party had motive, but only a few had opportunity.  After the clues were read, we divided into the sexes to discuss the clues and come up with an individual who had motive, means, and opportunity.  Since my character was male, I was put with the men as well, most of whom were too drunk for true reasoning, but that just made it that much more fun.  Now, since I’m not sure if they use the same story every time, and you think that you may do this dinner in the near future (which I would highly recommend) please skip this next paragraph so I don’t ruin the fun for you:

The man who was murdered was Roger Worthington, a rich man who was more than a bit of a womanizer.  Pretty much every woman at the party had slept with him or wanted to sleep with him for one reason or another.  He was poisoned with curare which was taken from Uta, the hostess/inn owner’s apartment during the day.  Since he had bleeding stomach ulcers, it was able to get into his blood stream. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have killed him.  Now, only about 7 people had access to the apartment (including my twin brother who decided not to show up to the party apparently).  We were given the clue that Roger was very picky about everything in life, to the point that the inn only served him a specific water when he came and only the staff would know this.  That narrowed the list of suspects down to five: Uta and Yvonne, both of whom own the place, me and my absentee brother, and Katie, aka Madison.  I had a strong suspicion who the killer was, but when we divided into groups to discuss the clues, the men were set on their suspect and who was I to argue! Although, in all fairness, I had information that they did not.  My little slip of paper told me that I was not actually a student or a waiter, but that I was a Nazi hunter who was looking for the couple who killed my father during the war in Paris.  Earlier that week, me and my twin had killed the man, but we were still looking for his girlfriend.  Little did everyone else know, Uta was the girlfriend and it was her we were trying to kill.  Roger had taken Uta’s place at the dinner table so he had drank her water, which was laced with curare.  Funnily enough, even if she had been the one to drink the water, it wouldn’t have killed her because it has to enter the blood stream.  So, not only was I a terrible waiter, I couldn’t even commit murder properly!

Anyway, when the groups returned to the parlor, the spokesperson of the group had to stand up and declare who their suspect was and how/why they had committed murder.  While the groups had different suspects, neither were right and the killer got away! Although, it would have taken some intense concentration during the clue reading and some serious thinking to actually come up with the right killer, and some paying attention during the dinner. 

All in all, it was actually a lot of fun to do!  The people were great, the food was great, and it was pretty funny watching all the men staying in character despite being drunk. I would definitely recommend going to it, and there are usually Groupons that pop up every now and then that make it super affordable.  However, don’t bother staying the night.  It’s a little pricey and totally not worth it.  The website says that the event will last until about midnight, if not later, which is why we chose to stay the night.  It ended at 9pm and we didn’t bring books or games or anything.  There was no television or internet either and most of the people were quite a bit older than us, not to mention they left to go to the bar as soon as the even was over anyway.  DO the dinner, DON’T stay the night!

One Long Month Later

I can’t believe it has already been a month since I left Italy.  It’s funny how quickly things revert to normal, especially after spending 4 months on my own in a foreign country.  However, I have noticed some things that are a little off now.  

Our food is horrible.  Not just tasting, but for you.  My first week or two after coming home, I had a horrible tummy ache.  I didn’t really want to eat anything because it all tasted funky and it made me feel sick.  The funny thing is that mom and dad noticed it too and they only spent a 10 days out of the country.  Clearly America is doing something wrong with our food that 10 days away makes it readily apparent.  Not to mention all the salt, sugar, and overwhelming amounts of disgusting cheese on everything.  Honestly, I knew our food was horrible for us, but after 4 months of eating really good and healthy food, it’s much worse.  Just looking at the ingredients lists between the two countries shows how significant the difference is.  In Italy, their version of Cheetos have 5 ingredients.  FIVE INGREDIENTS.  In America, there are over 20 ingredients.  Why do we feel the need to throw in a ton of unnecessary ingredients when it tastes just fine with only 5?! Anyway, enough ranting.  I’ll move on now. 

The first shower I took once I got home was a bit of a wake up, although not in a bad way.  As soon as I stepped under the spray, I felt like I was going to be blasted through the floor from the water pressure.  I also forgot that most showers in the States don’t give you the option of turning down the water pressure, which Italy does. That wasn’t always a welcome option in Italy when you had a tiny shower and every time you moved you were turning the water off, but still.  Those first few days back home it would have been nice not to feel like my skin was about to be blasted off!

The most welcome change from Italy to the States (although that may be unique to the south, I can’t remember) is having people smile at you when you make eye contact walking down the street.  In Italy, people just stare.  And if you try to smile and nod, they look at you like you are completely insane! You may not really realize it, but (at least for me) those little acknowledgments kind of make your day a little better, even if it’s just a courtesy smile.  And not being stared at like you’re a freak of nature is nice too.

Within days of being home, I missed the easy access to the country that Italy has. Between the trains and the ability to walk everywhere, life was just so much easier. Not to mention, you get in much better shape.  I averaged between 10- and 15,000 steps every day, even when I was just walking between class and home.  And there was always a hill between you and your destination in Italy, so you definitely got some cardio in.  On top of that, you can’t buy a bunch of food and snacks at the grocery store because you then have to carry it up the hill back home.  Who wants to lug a bunch of crappy snacks and drinks up the hill when you can easily go without by drinking water and eating the fruit at home? 

For now, those are my few little problems with returning home.  Although, to be honest, I’m starting to go a little stir crazy now.  Not having new experiences every few days or weeks is driving me insane.  I’ve already completely purged and reorganized my room, my linen closet, and the kitchen pantry.  There are only so many things to keep me busy around the house right now.  I didn’t realize how much I relied on work and school.  They may not have provided NEW experiences, but they always kept my brain busy and thinking which I am sorely missing right now.  If anyone has any ideas of what I can be doing, please let me know.  I’m currently job hunting, but I need something to fill the time!

I'm going to try to post something at least once a month, especially in relation to exciting things to do or places to go here in Oklahoma.  I'm not sure how long those exciting things will last around here, but I'll try!

The Final Week, More or Less

The semester finally ended and boy was it a long, drawn out, exhausting end.  Just these past few weeks, we’ve had assignment after assignment due, on top of a trip to Barcelona that we planned before spring break. We had a ten page Italian film paper, an 8-10 page Renaissance art paper and a 10 minute presentation, a five page evolution paper and a 15-20 minute presentation, and three finals.  I really wish this stuff had been spaced out a little more or that they had warned us that we would have this much due alongside a free weekend, but whatever. 

I managed to get through all of this to be able to meet mom and dad in La Spezia this past Wednesday, which was really nice.  They had an amazing B&B in La Spezia with absolutely fantastic hosts.  Once I got there, we pretty much just had dinner and relaxed in the apartment.  The next day, we hopped the train down to Montarosso al Mare, the last town of Cinque Terre.  It was a very beautiful city, although at this point all of the Italian cities start to look the same.  Apparently the only way to truly see the beauty of the Cinque Terre is by ferry, but the waters were too rough for the ferries to be running. 

We walked around the city, stopping in the souvenir shops to look at the shirts and whatnot along the way.  We eventually wandered back down to the beach just in time to watch a group of kids trying to jump across the water to a rock that was about 3 feet away from the dry part of the beach.  Several of the kids hesitated a little too much and got their feet wet while a few others just weren’t paying attention and got wet up to the knees.  After we walked a little further down the beach, we saw two other ladies encounter the same problem.  See, the beach had a slight hill that the water almost never crested.  However, every once and a while, a large enough wave would come up and rush over that hill and soak anyone who was standing there.  Apparently it happened to mom the first day that she was there and she had to walk around in wet tennis shoes!

The day after we went to Montarosso, it was time to head back towards Arezzo to pick up our suitcases, say goodbye, and head to Florence.  Unfortunately, we were stuck on a train with some EXTREMELY annoying Italian middle schoolers that were screeching and kicking chairs the entire time.  They were being very rude and very loud, but it seems to be a very common theme amongst the younger Italians. 

It was a long day of travel, but it was really great to see the Bruschis one last time.  They were an amazing host family that definitely made Italy a home away from home.  Federica and Francesca were extremely helpful and Stefania was absolutely amazing.  She definitely filled in any time I was missing mom! It was a hard goodbye, but hopefully I’ll see them again. 

By the time that we finally got to Florence, we were all exhausted.  It’s funny how sitting on your butt all day can wear you out so much.  Our B&B host in Florence was a bit of a sleaze ball and the apartment wasn’t great, but the view from the tower was absolutely spectacular.  I’d seen the Duomo quite a few times at this point, but this was the best way to see it.  Not only were we right up on the dome, but the nighttime lighting was perfect at this level.  I would highly recommend it!

 

Our first real day in Florence was one crazy adventure.  We started out with the plan to buy our Firenze cards to be able to have an expedited entry into the various museums.  Unfortunately, our first stop to get the cards (the Uffizi) was a bit of a bust, so we headed next door to get one at the Palazzo Vecchio, which is where the fun really began:

I was walking in the lead, trying to see where the entrance to the ticket office was, and dad was apparently following right behind me.  Mom, being mom, wasn’t watching where her feet were and fell into a hole instead of walking on the level ground between the pillar and the dropped floor like dad and I had.  She had a very spectacular fall and scraped up and bruised her knee, in addition to further injuring her hip.  Every time she starts to feel better, she has another fall!

After a bit of recovery time, we continued with our plans for the day, which included the Uffizi Gallery, lunch near the Duomo, dad and I climbing the Duomo, and the leather market.  The Duomo wasn’t nearly as crowded this time around, which was really nice.  We only had to squeeze past people once or twice, which was much better than standing chest to chest with people like we did before, waiting for the path to clear.  On the way back down the stairs, we had a very funny American gentlemen who was cracking jokes the entire way down.  By the time we go to the bottom and went to get mom out of our decidedly not-so-great B&B, mom was asleep and her knee was stiff again. 

Once we got her moving, we headed towards the leather market, where I finally bought a purse.  I’d been looking all semester, but I’d never found one that I really liked.  Thankfully, I found one!  We had dinner right there at the leather market in the Mercato Centrale, which is absolutely delicious.  It’s built into an old warehouse with the bottom floor as a sort of merchant’s area and the top floor for us hungry people.  It’s kind of like that one wall of Whole Foods with the pizza and sandwiches and whatnot, but it’s the entire top floor of the building.  We had some amazing hamburgers and chips before heading back towards the B&B for the night. 

Sunday was our last day in Florence and pretty much our last day in Italy.  We got up early and went to see the David at the Galleria dell'Academia and to the Capella Medici, which is the burial grounds of several Medici family members.  Mom had been wanting to see something specifically Medici (despite the fact that Florence is basically the Medici family) so this was a perfect site that wasn’t too far from the B&B.  Afterwards, we had to drag our luggage to the train station for storage since we couldn’t get a late check out and it was quite the trek.  Normally, it’s only about a 10 minute walk from the Duomo to the train station, but dragging 5 suitcases and 3 backpacks along with us made it horrendous.  Not to mention, there was a 10K race running around the Duomo, so we had to push our way through the crowds, which made it even worse. 

Next, we headed back towards the Duomo to visit the Baptistery and the Museo del Opera, which is the buildings works commission of the Duomo.  The Baptistery was gorgeous, with very Gothic frescoes all over the ceilings and an intricate design on the marble floors.  It was definitely a sight to behold.  The Museo holds most of the original sculptures from the façade of the Duomo and even some from the Bell Tower.  The best part was that there were benches throughout the museum, which was very nice on our poor tired feet. 

By the time we finished the museum, it was sprinkling outside so we shot across the backside of the Duomo to Magnums, where we made a custom Magnum bar.  Thankfully, we only got one to split because it was incredibly rich, but also really delicious.  We got vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate coating, and pistachio, almond, and honey comb toppings. We sat there, enjoying our Magnum bar while watching the rain come down.  Eventually we headed towards the train station to catch our train to Rome for the night.

Our official day in Italy was an exhausting whirlwind, but it was amazing. We saw the last few highlights of Florence, had some good food, and enjoyed some down time.