Ready for Some New Adventures

"I haven't been everywhere, but it is on my list."

It really is hard to believe that 2013 is at its close. When I am 80 years old and reflecting on the life that I have lived, I can guarantee that 2013 will be a year to stand out. After coming back from England and living through the bore of the summer, WKU's fall semester kicked off and it truly has been a crazy, hectic one. I took 18 hours of classes, worked 20-25 hours at my job and finally got involved within Kappa Delta and Panhellenic Greek life. 

I probably annoy my friends and family with the excessive talk of wanting to venture out but once the travel bug hits, its hard to avoid it. Just last night I was talking to my friend Hannah about traveling and I made the realization that without last fall's leap of faith and applying for Harlaxton, this love of travel would have never occurred. That thought is truly terrifying.  

I made it a goal to study abroad at least once a year while I was in college. I mean, I will probably never have this opportunity again in life. To leave everything behind, tell work that I need to be off for x amount of time and jump on a plane to go on a new adventure, so why not take advantage of it.

Freshman year = Ecuador

Sophomore year = Harlaxton

Junior year...are you ready for this? Am I ready for this?....CENTRAL EUROPE!

That's right, I am going back to Europe to study abroad. This time I will be living in the Czech Republic and visiting Poland, Austria and Hungary in the process! I am STOKED. After looking to two other programs, I have decided to do my Honor's thesis research while I am abroad and this trip will be right in line with my goals. I seriously can not wait!

Add going to Chicago, Atlanta and back to Washington D.C. (all during the spring semester) and 2014 looks to be one promising year. I have waited 6 long months to travel again and I am impatiently awaiting my next flight out. 

I'll be keeping this blog, mainly for my future self, updated with all my new adventures!

Ode to my Boots

Before my Harlaxton adventure came to a close I had an idea for this picture. These boots were a present from my Momma and I wore them nearly everywhere I went while studying abroad. Comfort was key and these bad boys held up, for the most part. We've all heard that saying, "If you walked a mile in my shoes..." well - these shoes walked a lot of miles...

-they roamed the corridors of the Manor 

-they skipped down Pond Street, over the Piran House to visit Kevin and Barbara

-they pranced on the grounds of Westminster Abbey 

-they led me through the streets of London

-they wandered through an 11th century Cathedral and castle in Lincoln

-they visited the grave of the fattest man in England in Stamford

-they ventured up and down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland

-they climbed the winding steps to kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland

-they skipped down the pier in Wales

-they tried to take a bath in the Roman Baths in Bath

-they strolled the grounds of Stonehenge

-they kept my feet warm in the small towns of the Lake District

-they marched down the Great Hall at the Harry Potter studios in London

-they tiptoed down the path at Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany

-they took a break in Venice

-they moseyed around the fairs in Florence

-and they nearly were left in Rome.

I was able to experience so, so much while wearing these shoes and if one picture could sum all these experiences up, it would the one at the top. So, ode to my boots and all the traveling they accomplished.

Anxious.

That is what I am feeling lately, anxious. It's a weird feeling if you think about it, and I think it's mainly because I can not pin point exactly what I am anxious about.

After a semester spent traveling Europe and experiencing new people, cultures and feelings daily I find it strange that I am anxious in such a familiar setting. Although Bowling Green sees minor changes all the time, I feel like it is the same old city that I grew up in. So why am I so anxious to start living here again?

Because really, it's not the same. And I am not the same. And both are such beautiful things. 

Peace.

It's hard to believe that I have been home for nearly two months, two busy months. I said time and time again while I lived in England that I was scared to come home. Although there are still days where I desperately miss my English home, I can now say that I am happy to be back to my old Kentucky home.

Harlaxton taught me countless lessons but one of my favorites was to be content, no matter your location. I was able to do what I thought was impossible - move 4,000 miles away from all things familiar, turn a strange house into a home and strange people into dear friends. But just as adventure was good for my soul, coming home to an old familiar place has been too.

I was so caught up with the idea of how much I would miss England, I forgot how much I truly longed to be home.
I missed the laughs with my best friends and was surprised to see them run out of the Kappa Delta house on my first day back.
I missed the heart to hearts with my Momma and I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to her advice while sitting on the front porch at night.
I missed the random hugs from my Daddy and I know he missed the desperate phone calls from me when my car breaks down. (This has already happened twice)
I missed my big brothers and have even found a new favorite hobby (kayaking) with them on the weekends.
I missed watching the sun set low over the fields while driving home after a long day at work.
I missed the rhythm of a familiar, weekly routine.
I missed my Potter Family Zoo and the newest editions that found a home while I was away.
I missed the way that Bowling Green settles in the summer, even if I find myself bored sometimes.
But then again, I missed the feeling of being bored and filling that time with things that I now love.

Although I met some incredible people and was able to see sights that no adjectives could ever describe, I finally feel at peace with being home.

My first attempt at reflecting.

 It really is hard to believe it has already been a week. I hope to eventually write more of a closure to my Harlaxton experience but this will do for the time being. I had all these great ideas of different blog posts I could create to summarize the experiences I had, but this past week has been challenging and I realized I need to process my thoughts more before I could fully give justice to the most incredible four months of my life. 

I wrote the following on the plane ride from Rome to London last Friday. 

This feeling...it's unexplainable. How do you take everything you've learned while being abroad for 4 months back home? The experiences, memories and feelings are just too big for any suitcase. How do you explain to someone the impact of seeing the sunrise atop of Arthur's Seat without them actually witnessing it too? No picture could ever capture the juxtaposition of the darkness falling and the sunlight rising. And adjectives such as beautiful, magnificent and incredible are simply not powerful enough to describe  a cathedral that was built over 1,000 years ago. Are friendships that haven't been put to the test by spending 12 hours, at night, in an airport and a train car, with no sleep, even worth it? That may seem like a silly question but it's something that truly bonded each of us together. And we can now even laugh at the fact that the underground was closed and we were literally thrown out in the unknown streets of London at 2 a.m., with no WiFi. I was able to solve some of life's greatest dilemmas - what street should we take or which path looks prettier - with the simple answer of "when in doubt, go left." And I mastered the art of packing, well sort of - if Italy didn't  count. There's no need for a change of clothes for every day...as long as you have clean underwear and socks then anything else you need can be bought. What about talking about the sense of community that us Harlaxton students shared? Although the refectory sucked at cooking, we still were able to look around and see all of our wonderful friend's faces every Monday morning , well lunch for me, but what's time anyway? Literally, time doesn't matter when your in the English countryside. If you need to escape reality for a while with your room mate to walk down by the canal and share life stories, you can because time is just some silly number. Right? Geez the concept of numbers really are a silly thing. I didn't care about the cost of that trip to Germany or to Ireland? It was on my bucket list and I needed to cross it off, so I did and spent so cash a long the way. Who cares though, you only Harlaxton once. Sharing these experiences will be hard and some people really won't understand, but I guess that's really the beauty of this experience. I've learned that I should not and do not have to please everyone else. As long as I'm happy, and I'm surrounding myself with people who are positive, then I know I will be perfectly fine. I've learned more than just dates, facts and figures in my classes here, I've learned to be my true self and I don't need or even have to fit that into any suitcase.

Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau, Germany

It's not about reconstructing the past, it's about remembering it.

Over the years I have realized that I am probably most passionate about education and I love school, reading, and experiencing life through what I have learned. During the summer between my junior and senior years of high school I was accepted to the Governor's Scholars Program in Kentucky. The program is a summer residential program for five weeks at one of three college campuses in Kentucky where students attend "intriguing" classes and meet other students from all over the state who share the same passion for learning. My focus class at GSP was Social Studies and Communication. We learned communication skills and then implemented what we learned through history. Our project was to interview WWII veterans and our interviews we sent to be apart of the Veterans History Project. This sparked my interest in WWII history and the lives of individuals who lived during the war. I was fortunate enough to interview Mr. Rose, a WWII veteran who help to liberate Dachau Concentration Camp and after interviewing him, I decided that I had to go there at some point in my life. 

Flash forward almost three years and that dream came true. After I was accepted to Harlaxton I knew that one of my weekend trips would be to Dachau. Originally I planned to go to Germany over the second long weekend to visit both Munich and Berlin but coming here with plans does not usually work. Therefore four of my friends and I skipped our last classes and the Valedictorian dinner and jet-setted to Germany for the last weekend. All semester I have talked about how important it was for me to visit Dachau and I am grateful that Erin, Haley, Bri and Jude went along with me to this special place.We stayed in London Stansted Airport on Wednesday night and caught an early flight on Thursday morning into Munich. None of us spoke any German and I was very anxious about how we were going find our way around a foreign country. As soon as we landed we had to buy subway tickets to get to the city center and our hostel. I walked up to the kiosk and everything was in German. Luckily, there was a option for English but I still did not know what we needed. A lady beside me must have noticed my confused demeanor and with her thick German accent she offered to help me, in English. That started my love for the beautiful city of Munich. 

After a 45 minute train ride we made it to our stop, Hauptbahnhof. (Good luck pronouncing that, I definitely couldn't) We finally found our hostel, Wombats, and dropped our stuff off until check in and headed to find the city center, Marienplatz. My second encounter with the German language happened in a little cafe and I tried ordering a pretzel pizza, once again I failed miserably. Exhaustion set in and we made our way back to the hostel and fell asleep until about seven. That night we went to Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Picture a LARGE beer hall with the traditional beer girls walking around selling pretzels and one LITER beer mugs being clanked together everywhere. It was what I pictured traditional Germany to be and we all had a lot of fun!!

Friday was the day that I anticipated most. A man named Gordon led tours of Dachau from our hostel and we went and met him in the lobby at 10:15. A short train and bus ride later and we were standing at the visitors center in front of the concentration camp. Gordon explained to us that he was not there to bash the Germans who worked there or the ones living around the camp. He made it clear that they lived in a time where there was no Facebook or Twitter and that individuals living in the city of Dachau knew there was a camp but many (truthfully) did not know what was happening behind those walls. I thought that the way Gordon opened up the tour was perfect. The misconception that all German people are Nazis, or that they are all bad, is terrible. Granted what some Nazi's did was horrific and in my eyes will never be forgiven, but we have to be reminded that not every German citizen supported their government. Just like not every American now supports our government almost 70 years later. Another concept that Gordon made sure we understood was that Dachau was no a place for REMEMBERING and not reconstructing. He explained that the Nazi regime is not glorified and that the museum is not about what they did during the years of the camp. The museum however is about the lives of the prisoners who lived in the camp. Pictures, first hand experiences and artifacts were everywhere. They did not want reconstruct every barrack and have the watch towers opened because they felt as if they would be reconstructing something terrible in the past instead of remembering the lives of those who were affected by Dachau.   

Dachau was the very first camp EVER built. It was built in 1933 and despite contrary belief ONLY housed German prisoners for the first 5 years of operation. We entered the camp, just like every officer, prisoner and eventually liberator did. The gates read, "Arbeit Macht Frei" translated roughly to Works means Freedom. This was just the first lie that every prisoner would read. The first sight was the massive roll call square that would have been in front of the barracks and behind the German maintenance building. It was there that the prisoners would stand, sometimes for hours, and be counted and given the names of those who were to be punished. While Dachau was a concentration camp the top of the maintenance building read "There is a path to freedom, its milestones are: Obedience, Honesty, Cleanliness, Sobriety, Hard Work, Discipline, Sacrifice, Truthfulness, Love of thy Fatherland." Those words were taken down after Dachau was liberated because the prisoners all knew it was a lie. We eventually made our way into the maintenance building where every prisoner was showered, given their new uniform and where the punishments would occur within the shower rooms.

In front of the maintenance building is now a sculpture created by Nando Gild, a concentration camp survivor. Bodies are intertwined in what looks like barbed wire within the sculpture. It is a visual representation what happened at Dachau. 

After liberation, all the barracks were leveled but the museum did reconstruct two to give a representation of the three stages of prisoner life. It was unreal to see the living conditions that the prisoners slept in. In the last room where there were only slabs of "bunks" we could not even go in. Per regulations now in Germany the room is to cramped for visitors to walk inside. Now imagine 500 prisoners all sleeping in that room. We then walked the path down towards the end of the camp and that image is the very first picture of this blog. It was then that I went into a deep thought. I have studied so much of WWII history and even Dachau but nothing could prepare me for those feelings that I felt in that moment. I realized that I was walking down a path that so many others had but many did not survive.

There was a crematorium at Dachau but it was completely separate from the main camp. Today there is a bridge that connects the two so visitors can see what the crematorium looked like. You have to remember that most of the buildings at Dachau are original and the crematorium was one of them. I walked into a place that had a history of so much death. One could not help but get emotional here. On the wall was a plaque dedicated to 4 British female soldiers who were hung there. It read, "But the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and there shall no torment touch them." That saying was one of the most powerful ones that stayed with me throughout the day. Gordon then led us out the back and towards a path. He told us that we were basically standing on a large burial ground and to take a walk through the path. Along the way were plaques where boxes of ashes were buried. It was unbelievable to be walking through such lively trees with birds singing and the sun shining but where so much death had occurred. It really set in that Dachau was a place to remember those who perished or lived through such an ordeal and not just a place where such horrific things happened.

The last part of the tour ended at the end of the path. There was a lone statue of a man. Gordon told us that the statute had been there since the 50's when the average age of a surviving prisoner was 25. The statue reads, "To honor the dead and to warn the living." Dachau was such an incredible experience for me to have. Not only did my academics come full circle but I was able to pay my respects to the prisoners and dead of WWII. I will never forget what I saw and felt at that place.

We got back to Munich after Dachau and headed towards the city center again. We tried to see the clock figures dance at 6 but they never came out. We then decided to climb another clock tower to see views of the city. It was breathtaking and I think I fell in love then. Earlier in the day Jude had asked Gordon where the English Gardens were and he told us that we would have to take a subway there because it was a far walk. While we were on top of the clock though we spotted the gardens and decided to walk there. We laughed, told stories and truly enjoyed each other's company on our way there. Yeah, it was a long walk and yeah my feet were really sore after we eventually got back to the hostel but we were able to see a lot of Munich and I loved it!

                                     

I am so thankful that I was able to go to the one place that I so desperately wanted to go during my Harlaxton experience. Munich, Dachau and the journey in itself will be memories that I will forever look back on and smile at. 

Jumbled thoughts, nerves and excitement.

Golly geez, I only have EIGHT days left in this beautiful country! I return back to the states THREE weeks from yesterday, but the other days will be filled venturing through Germany and Italy. When people tell you that time flies when you're having fun they really are not lying. It is unreal to think that I have been here for 13 weeks...it seems like it was yesterday that I rode up the manor drive for the first time.

The feeling of  being in the front car of an emotional roller coaster could not have been avoided throughout these past few weeks. Although I am so excited to go back home to my family and friends, I am scared to leave behind my English home. I have had so much individual growth here and I am scared to see what being stagnate in a place will do to that. Don't get me wrong I love my hometown but I have been conditioned to prepare for an new adventure every weekend, and I don't think my work, nor my wallet, will allow for that.

And how do you form words to describe such amazing experiences to people who did not experience them with you? No, it's not your fault that you weren't there and I'd never rub that into your face, but don't be surprised when they only way I can describe England is by saying, IT'S AMAZING/INCREDIBLE/THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!! I'm just not sure how to explain the beauty of a sunrise on Arthur's Seat, the sight of a rainbow in Ireland, the view of London at night, the quietness of Harlaxton's woods or the view from my balcony at any part of the day. For a person who is quick to talk and share as much possible, the word formation that should be spewing from my mouth but won't, will be hard to deal with.

As the last week at Harlaxton fast approaches, I want to do so much! Is it possible to walk around the quaint village and meet each British individual living in the homes? I mean Rose Cottage and The Old School House look absolutely beautiful, do you think I could just knock on their door and ask for a tour? And what about the woods surrounding this beautiful place? I feel like I could walk blindfolded through the woods back home but the woods here still seem foreign and I need to explore more. And the manor, it's so big! There is no way that I have covered every part of this place. And the people...I know that I did not get to meet everyone and just simple fact alone is enough to scare me. Why didn't I take more advantage of the incredible opportunity that I have been placed in? I have tried to do so much, but four months is not enough, nor would any amount of time be enough, in this incredible place!

My feelings are so anxious. Thinking about everything that I have done, everything that I still want to do and the realization that I will not be able to do everything is hurting my heart tonight. I want to bring my home home here to my new home. Everyone that I love should be able to experience this feeling. The feeling or pure joy, happiness, growth, exploration, comfort and love.

England has been a place of closure, of healing, of digging deeper inside of myself to learn who I really am. My hearts seems to beat a bit differently as it awaits the next unknown journey that lies ahead.

Fan girl.

Be prepared, long blog but if you want to hear about a weekend full of magic, adventures and some self discovery then I suggest that you bear with me and my rambles!

Friday morning was filled with chaos. I awoke to my alarm at 7:00 a.m. snoozed it and had the internal debate of "if I sleep 10 more minutes then I will have to take a quick shower...10 more minutes and I will have to skip breakfast...10 more minutes and I will have to scrunch my hair instead of straightening it" but those extra 30 minutes would prove to be the best decision to get me through the adventurous day that lied ahead. The day called for: missing the Harlaxton shuttle, forgetting confirmation tickets, Bri leaving her camera, Bri and Elloit missing the train, realizing Haley and I did not know where our hostel was, searching for addresses, directions and underground stops on the 15 minutes of free WiFi that the train offers, taking on the tube station completely on our own, running up the Underground steps and arriving to the next train before anyone else. All before 1:00 p.m.!!

I've looked forward to this weekend since the beginning of the semester. Dubbed the "Harry Potter" weekend, my friends and I planned to go to the Harry Potter studios to relive our childhood "classic" series to the fullest. I remember the anticipation felt all over the world as each book and film were released. The first book was released in 1997 (I was 5 years old) and the first move in 2001. When it comes to books, my childhood memories will be filled with thoughts of a far off, magical world...yes I know it's fictional but I mean I do live in a castle, well almost!
The studio taught me that:
1. The sets where the scenes of the Great Hall, Gryffindor Common Room, boys dormitory, Snape's potion class, the Burrow and Professor Dumbledore's office are smaller in real life than they appear on screen.
2. The Great Hall floor is actually stone and the room does not have a full ceiling.
3. The posters hanging on the walls of the common room are actual drawings from the child cast.
4. Hagrid is played by two people, one being a ex-rugby player who is 6'10".
5. The books in Dumbledore's office are British telephone books covered in leather.
6. The wand boxes in Olivander's Wand Shop are hand painted with the cast and crews names on the outside.
7. There were full time animal trainers staffed for the creatures department...think Hedwig, Fang, Scabbers, and Crookshanks!
8. The stone sculpture in lobby of the Ministry of Magic was HAND CARVED!!
9. The castle is really a (large) model that fits in a room.
10. and my personal favorite, there is a box of Cheri-Owls on the Burrow shelf.

There were people of all ages, from all over the world that came to visit this studio. It goes to prove that J.K. Rowling knew what she was doing when the idea of a young boy finding out that he was a wizard came to life.

Out front

 

Recognize these?

 

 

After reluctantly leaving "Harry Potter World," Haley and I decided that we wanted to visit Trafalgar Square since neither of us were able to the first weekend that we were in London. This is where this trip started to inch towards one of my favorite parts of my Harlaxton experience. We decided to get off the tube at a station near Trafalgar and then walk where ever we felt inclined. After realizing Trafalgar Square was roped off for a concert later that night, we decided to find Big Ben...a 180 turn and we saw him dominating in the skyline and headed that way. We eventually made it to Big Ben and wandered around Parliament, the London Eye and the walking bridge cuts over the Thames River. While walking, Haley and I laughed about how we were conquering London all on our own. Dubbed the "Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb" of the group, most of the time we let the others decide where to go and just follow. In fact, Jenny looked quite shocked when we told her we were going to find our hostel by ourselves earlier in the day. We kept talking about the feeling of independence that we felt had grown inside ourselves since leaving good ole' Bowling Green less than three months ago. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would be conquering the streets, the tube system, finding a hostel and simply loving a big city like London!

We eventually made our way back to our hostel, the London Backpackers. We wanted to have an early start the next day and were exhausted from all the traveling that day. We got checked in and headed up to what would be the sketchiest hostel room that we have stayed at thus far. We flipped the lights on to see 5 sets of 3 tiered bunked beds...that's right a maximum of 15 people could stay in our room, oh and it was mixed gender. I claimed the top most bunk (since I'm used to it anyway) and carried ALL my stuff up with. While I was changing in the bathroom down the hall, the guy on our bottom tier asked Haley for cigarette papers before leaving a stash of weed just sitting on his bed. I was very uncomfortable sleeping in this room but luckily it was only for one night. I mean, everyone has to have some sort of sketchy hostel experience while studying abroad...right?

The next morning we had plans of heading to Portobello Market but a downpour made us rethink our plans. We decided to head to Oxford Street's Primark. Think Forever21 on STEROIDS. I have never been in a store with more clothing options/people in my life. I was wondering why I kept seeing people trying on clothes over top of their clothes throughout the store until we got up to the dressing room line...it was at least 30 people deep and completely robotic. The workers stuck a number plate into the wall, typed how many clothing items you were trying on in and then counted everything when you came out of the room. It was definitely an experience and after about an hour and half of being in the store, Haley walked out with TWO items. I was just to overwhelmed to even buy anything!

We eventually headed towards our second main goal of this London trip, a boat tour headed for Greenwich which houses a museum for the prime meridian of the world. When I went to Ecuador last winter I was able to visit the equator and straddle the northern and southern hemispheres and after finding out the prime meridian cut through England, I had to visit there. I mean who doesn't want to say they have straddled all the hemispheres of the world! The boat tour itself was very interesting. We were able to see many of the big sites of the city from the view of the Thames River.

Greenwich is a wonderful little city...from what we saw at least. Haley and I high tailed it to the museum because we thought we were running behind on time. The slope started to increase and before long we were running up a hill, much like Western's! Let's just say we were both heaving at the top. We didn't look through the museum as much as some, but took some fun pictures straddling the line. Fun fact: there is a green laser that beams a light out along the line for up to 15 miles!

Top two are from the prime meridian & bottom two are from equator.

 

We were both exhausted on the train ride home but the weekend was one of reflection. The English countryside, from the view of a train window, is something that I will never forget. I looked out to see men walking through their fields, church spires lining the skyline, a rainbow stretching across the horizon, terraced houses that are filled with the love of an unknown family, the bluest of skies littered with puffy, white clouds and the greenest of grass as spring nears everyday. I really can not believe how much I already feel like I have grown as a person since being here. I can't wait to go home and take this independent spirit and make plans to travel to places all across the U.S. Seeing beautiful sights throughout Europe is making me wonder what I am missing that might be in my backyard...well you know what I mean. 

I'm so glad that I was able to share this AMAZING weekend with Haley too. We have gotten closer throughout this trip and I can now say that she is a very good friend of mine and our journey's will hopefully not end when we get back to home soil.

The most fun you will EVER have while being completely miserable.

Lake District.

It became a National Park in 1951, was the home to William Wordsworth (Daffodil poem - worth reading), covers over 885 squares and became a T3 favorite place of mine this past weekend!

Ambleside

On Thursday, after some an afternoon filled with roomie bonding, I loaded up on the top of a double decker coach and headed to the most anticipated trip of the semester. In November I tried booking this trip but overlooked which box I checked and ended up #10 on the waiting list once I landed in England. I was very upset but luck was on my side (again) and about a month ago they opened the trip up to more people. Double decker coaches just aren't my thing - they sway like no one business and the noise that is contained with the aisle drives me inanse. We finally pulled into our hostel driveway at 1:00 a.m.ish after a long trip of wrong turns  but we were finally there and able to get off the coach. I stayed with Carly, Erin and Jackie and we crashed shortly after check in.

On Friday morning we rode the bus into Ambleside (one of the many towns in the Lake District) and headed towards the tourist information center in search of hiking maps. Everywhere in the Lake District is an opportunity to hike and see BEAUTIFUL sights. Erin, Carly, Jackie and I decided to window shop a bit before we left for the trail. Our minds were set on hiking so we soon took off for the waterfall trail. The path along the waterfall was amazing (there's not enough adjectives to describe it)! At the top we ran into a little piece of art, knitting, hanging from a tree...just a little reminder of the hidden beauty that surrounds us. We frolicked around the trail and took plenty of pictures! This was also where I first fell into a river and soaked on leg up to my knee. Staying soaking wet was a common theme to this weekend!

Art in the most unusual places. 

 

Waterfall hike.

 

 We went back to Ambleside and continued our window shopping. I finally found a journal for my Momma: I plan on starting a journal that will go back and worth between us because I want to have the stories that have been told since childhood written down. We stopped and ate bagels and cheese outside of Tesco before going to a little cafe to enjoy Baileys and hot chocolate. That time in the cafe, sharing stories and discussing what we missed about home and what we were going to miss about Harlaxton, definitely warmed my heart. That night 16 of us decided to cook spaghetti in the hostel. It was so much fun chopping vegetables, singing songs and cooking with everyone. We even invited some random people who happened to be in the kitchen to eat with us. I'll never forget every one's laughter as dinner cooked and smiles as those who did dishes snapped each other with towels.

 

Two lane roads that were more like American one lane roads that the double decker coach handled like a pro.

 

Saturday was the single GREATEST day I've had since being at Harlaxton (well that's debatable but it was definitely T3)! At about 9:30ish we all arrived at our excursion garage and dressed in wet suits, helmets and buoyancy aids (life jackets). We really didn't know what to expect, but excitment was radiating throughout the garage. I, along with Erin, Carly, and 16 other Harlaxtoners, followed our guide towards a gyhll. A gyhll is basically a waterfall along a creek, and we were going to climb it! I have never been more excited to freeze my butt off! It is hard to describe how cold the water truly was, my feet screamed in pain when I first stepped in but I tried to keep the smile on my face. I stepped without knowing where my foot would go next, slipped and fell countless times, laughed out loud, encouraged others, others encouraged me and had an absolute blast climbing up that waterfall. My favorite part was when we got to a pool of clear water that seemed to be pretty deep. I climbed out onto the edge of a rock and our guide pushed me backwards into it. Picture trust falling into 30 something degree water. It filled my wet suit, soaked my face and leaked down from my hair onto the back of my neck. It was completely exhilarating!!! I even faced my fears and scaled the side of a slippery rock facing with no harness or anything. When we climbed out of the gyhll my feet were so numb I could not feel the next steps that I was taking, but they kept going forward so I at least knew I was moving.


I stayed in my wet suit through lunch, bundled back up after eating and headed for the lake that afternoon. Kayaking was the next adventure on the list for me. Reluctantly, because quite honestly I was frozen to the bone, I waded out into the water and jumped into the kayak. With frozen hands, face and toes I rowed and rowed to keep warm. We played "tag" in the boats and went from one "orange blob" to the next in the lake. Rain was hitting my face and water was splashing on me from the oars but the scenery was breathtaking.

I'm so bummed I didn't get any pictures of these adventures. I did not trust the whole LifeProof case on my iPhone. The mental images (which are going to be so much better than any picture I could have possibly taken) will have to do.

However, I have never been more thankful for dry clothing in my whole life. My fingertips were white and ached with every movement and my toes felt like they would break off. We made it back the garage and I dressed in the warmest attire that I had left. On the drive back to the hostel I thought about how much fun I had just had. I was COMPLETELY MISERABLE, yet ached for more and more. Adventures within the snow capped mountains and the calm lake was the most perfect "spring break" that I could have ever had.

The whole weekend Erin, Jackie, Carly and I had many bonding moments. I am truly blessed to have made these friends. All three of them are from Kansas and it blows my mind to think that without Harlaxton I would not have met them. We shared childhood stories, ambitions, truths and laughter all weekend long. I will truly miss these ladies when home calls my name in April.

Today was spent traveling back to my temporary "home" here. We stopped in Windmere for lunch and ate at Bryson's. Probably my favorite restaurant thus far. I can't wait to make "bangers and mash" (mashed potatoes, sausage and onion gravy) when I get back home to the states, I have to keep the English traditions going somehow. Windmere was set on the banks of one of the lakes in the Lake District and we got to see boats docked, swans and ducks swimming and about 20 ice cream shops. Such a quaint little place.

Windmere.

 

 

The Lake District was just what my soul needed. A hostel about a mile from the nearest town and overlooking a lake with snow capped mountains as its backdrop. No cell phone signal and no internet to keep me pre-occupied with things from back home. I was able to live in the moment and to enjoy every single minute of it. The memories I made from this trip will be near and dear to my heart forever.

Such beautiful days for such beautiful moods!

Although everyone at Harlaxton experiences homesickness at some point, from missing our families and friends to some missing their significant others, it is hard to go a day without feeling a sense of happiness surrounding you. We live in a beautiful manor house, in the countryside of England, a mile off the main road with some pretty awesome new friends.

One day this past week I woke up with that sinking feeling that the day was going to suck. I was running late to class, overwhelmed by the amount of homework that was piling up and missing my family. However, I opened my mail box up after lunch and had a card from my Mom. She is definitely a first grade teacher...with stickers decorating the outside and everything. The card wasn't much but it was a reminder that they were thinking about me. It instantly brigthened my day and was reminder that there is always a positive in each day.

The following day I woke up and had no choice but the be productive, I had a paper due by 5:00 and still had some major tweaks to adjust. I sat in the floor of my room (on a blanket fort), with the window opened and jammed to some country music. I am still unsure how those ideas flowed out of my fingers but I finished the paper in no time and I feel fairly confident about it!

My room mate, Carly, came in at a perfect time and we decided to go on a walk. There was about an hour before dinner and it was such a pretty day outside. The weather was cool but the sun was shining and the sky was crisp blue. It has become habit to check our mailbox sometime after lunch in hopes of some kind of snail mail communication. I wasn't expecting anything particular but was stoked to see a package slip in box 76.

I went up to the receptionist and received my package from an unknown source. I opened it to the funniest card with a picture of horse smiling and a small present from Jalyen Lee. She bought and sent me a gift without even spilling the beans about it, something that I could literally never do. The gift was a bracelet with a charm of St. Christopher (the patron saint of travel) on it. Little did she know how important St. Christopher is to my family. My dad wears one around his neck (whenever the chain is not broken but that happens a lot) from my Mom. This act of complete kindness for Jalyen was again a little reminder that people back home were thinking about me.

This whole positive outlook continued yesterday when I agreed to bike into Grantham instead of riding the shuttle. Granted, Grantham is not very far away from the manor, but for me this was big thing to do. Carly, Jackie, Jake and I jumped on the bikes after lunch and headed towards the canal. It was such a pretty ride next to the flowing water against the brightness of the day. I of course huffed and puffed the whole time, the whole out of shape thing has hit a new level, but I made it. We ventured around Grantham - going into book shops, to the knitting store for me and to ASDA before returning back to the manor. The trip altogether was 8.2 miles but I felt great after the ride! Last night us girls had a movie night and lots of laughs were shared while watching "Friends with Benefits". It is great to be blessed by so many new friends!

Harlaxton is giving me so much more than just an international experience filled with school and travel. This place is teaching me to see the beauty in every day, and to love each and every situation that I am placed in. I hope to continue this PMA (positive mental attitude, thanks Carly for getting this stuck in my head) once I go back home in 2 months. Yeah, 2 months. How insane is that!

IRELAND!! Maybe a little late.

Yeah well once again I am late on blogging. Finding time to jot down all my thoughts in one place is becoming nearly impossible. Between the notes in my phone, text messages to my friends, the occasional FaceTime session with my family and my agenda, my thoughts are scattered everywhere. I have been overwhelmed with my school obligations here lately. Taking 12 hours is nothing compared to what I tackle at home with work, school and KD, but adding in traveling makes this journey a different one.

So the best thing that I know to do is to fill in the missing weeks that I have forgotten to keep updated. Here it goes...

I got back to the manor after Scotland and left again 3 days later on Wednesday night. Jenny, Olivia (two of my KD sisters) and Haley started our adventures to Ireland with trying to figure out our train tickets to London Stansted Airport. After 4 trains and some complete confusion we made it to the airport at 11ish and scouted a place out to sleep that night. Our flight left at 6:50 the next morning so we settled into an area of benches in the open. At 3 a.m. we were awoken by the voices of about 30 Spanish speaking teenagers. I am not sure why they felt the need to have full blown conversations at that time but it was rather annoying. We woke (well I had fallen asleep and the others did not seem to get as much as I did) and boarded our plane to Dublin. We arrived in Dublin to a dreary, dreary day. Some exploration occurred, by ourselves because we missed the New Europe Tour (very bummed about that). Dublin was not what I imagined it to be. The phrase concrete jungle could be used to describe it and I was eager to see the green grass that I imagined for Ireland. That night though was a lot of fun. We ended up going to a pub called O'Shea's and we danced to traditional Irish music with the group of the cutest older people!
                                              
                       Everything I took fit in that bad boy!            Irish Dancing with this man!

On Friday morning we, along with a lot of other Harlaxton students, boarded the Paddy Wagon bus and headed west across the country. It is kind of weird to think, driving four hours from Dublin can get you across the ENTIRE country. Four hours from home is Gatlinburg, not another coast. This day was my favorite of the trip. The green grass was definitely in Ireland. From the very back of the bus I was able to look out the absolute beauty of the country. We traveled on the highway for a while but then took a turn and ended up going on little two lane roads for the rest of the day.

Our first stop was in a town called Cong. It is going to be very hard to capture the beauty of this town in words. Think of the smallest town you can think of. Comparable to where my Momma works, Adairville, and then divide that in half. There was a river that cut through Cong and the ruins of an Abbey from so long ago. Us girls took this opportunity to have a photo shoot in the ruins and along the river. We were only there for an hour but it was magnificent.

 

 

 

We loaded the bus once again and headed for Connemara. Here we stopped for lunch at this breathtaking place. Built within the mountain side was Killmore Abbey, a castle like building that overlooked a lake.

Words really do not do justice to this BEAUTIFUL day.

We traveled to Galway that night and were surprised with a stay in Aaron's Bed and Breakfast instead of a hostel. You should have seen me and Haley's faces when we entered our room. A full and twin bed, our own bathroom with hot water AND towels provided. You would have thought we were in heaven. Sleep that night was wonderful and I was even able to go back early and have nice conversation with Jenny.

The next day was a bit dreary but not rainy like I thought it would eventually get. As we were driving to see the Cliffs of Moher (along the coast line) we had to stop a few times for the sheep and cows that roamed freely to get out of the road so we could pass. I loved seeing the farm life, that's for sure. As we were closing in on the Mini Cliffs, a rainbow came out of no where out in the ocean. You could imagine my excitement: I was able to see a REAL rainbow IN Ireland! I'm surprised the bus didn't flip with everyone moving to one side to catch a glimpse.

The Mini Cliffs were another favorite of this trip. We all got off the bus and ran straight for them. Unlike the Cliffs of Moher with railings everywhere, these cliffs literally ended with a drop off to the ocean. We climbed, explored and beat near death experiences trying to capture the most perfect shots. It was so much fun and of course we were the last ones to board the bus.

We finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher about mid afternoon. I was in awe of the grandness of these cliffs. They seemed to go on forever and were an amazing sight to see. We hiked to the left (see Scotland post...when it doubt GO LEFT) and took so many pictures. However, pictures really do not capture the feelings that I had there!

We stayed in Killarney that night..in a hostel but after the stay in Galway I was pretty happy. Our bus driver on Saturday got sick so we had our bus driver from Friday, Barry, again on Sunday and he reused the history lecture as he drove. I thoroughly enjoyed the mini lectures throughout the day. The snippet of information that I learned in those three days will forever be in my mind. We made our way towards Blarney and the Blarney Castle. Legend says that if you kiss the Blarney Stone (blue stone set in the castle walls, very high up) that you will be given eloquence. I of course kissed the Blarney Stone, so we shall see.

Kissing the stone!

 

Poison Garden...what what!

 

 

We visited Ireland's largest gift shop...I definitely should have stayed away from that place! On the way back to the airport that day we were able to see the sunset. It was an awesome feeling flying into Ireland with the sunrise and leaving with the sunset. The beauty of this world is blowing me out of the water every single day, and I find myself in absolute ah.

Traveling that night was definitely one of the worst experiences I have ever had, however it was something that I am glad happened. We left Dublin and arrived in London before midnight. However, Grantham train station closes at some point in the night so we were supposed to take a night train to London's King Cross...well apparently the underground closes too. We were hurried out of one train station into the street of London, while it was snowing. I had never felt so helpless. I was freezing cold in such a strange place. Luckily a taxi was there and we took it to King's Cross Station. We ended up staying in a glass sided Starbucks for 3 hours...completely frozen until the station opened up at 5 a.m. We finally made it back to the manor at 7:30 and class was at 8:30. I'm not one to function on no sleep so I used one of my skip days that morning.

Sorry to throw so much at my readers. It has just been so hard to find time to blog between the adventures and school work. Hopefully I will get better at this going into the second part of this semester. That's right, the SECOND PART OF THIS SEMESTER!! It's already half way over with :(

Two roads diverged into one... and we took the one less traveled.

"Where the stone doth lie, the Scots will rule."

Warning: This WILL be a long post. (If you don't want to read it all then at least read the part about Saturday - my FAVORITE day!) This past weekend was one of the best in my entire life. A couple weeks ago I thought "Abby, why not go to all the countries in the UK? I mean you have plans to go to Ireland and Wales so why not book one to Scotland too?" Haley, Bri, Jenny, Erin, Erica, Carly and I took off for this new place. Little did I know booking a trip to a place that I knew very little about would so incredible! I am going to write this post as if I were writing in a journal, just to keep things straight for you and to keep events straight for me when I look back on this in the future. Here goes trying to put this experience into words...

Friday - February 1, 2013
What a wonderful way to start a new month than to jump on my first ever train ride and head 4 hours (well via train) north to another country. (From Bowling Green, I can jump into my car and drive four hours to Cincinnati, or to Knoxville and maybe even to St. Louis, but I am no where near 4 hours to another country. That in itself was amazing!) If you know me at all, then you know that if I am in moving transportation for an extended period of time I will knocked out. Well, nothings new. I fell fast asleep and unfortunately missed the countryside until about an hour outside of Edinburgh when a gentleman came and sat beside me. Talk about one nervous man...he stood up a few dozen times and fiddled with what looked like to be presentation notes. Poor guy - hope he had some luck on his side that day!

Sign on the door in our hostel.

We were met in Edinburgh with grey skies but our adventurous minds were far from dreary. We checked into this hip looking hostel called, St. Christopher's Inn. Our room was a female dorm of 10 and the most interesting room mate we had was a young woman from Australia who has backpacking through England. She has already been to the States before and drove a car from California to New York...she's seen more of the U.S. than I have and I am from there!

We dropped our stuff off in the room and headed to find a vegetarian restaurant called Henderson's. In the group of 7 girls, 3 were vegetarians. Again if you know me then you know I am a meat and potatoes kind of gal. I grew up hating pretty much every vegetable but corn and potatoes...healthy right? But hey, I am experiencing new things so why not add vegetarian list to this also. I ordered some kind of lasagna packed full of veggies and two salads that were nothing like I am used to. Surprisingly I loved this restaurant and all my friends were amazed that I even tried it...yum!

We walked out of the restaurant and spotted the COAST down the street. I begged and begged to walk there but was talked out of it. It was probably a good idea because by this point we were all exhausted from the trip and week prior. We wandered around that side of Edinburgh and eventually made our back to the hostel to plan our next two days and collect our thoughts. The hostel had an awesome pub downstairs and we ate for dinner some of the best burgers that I ever had. Although we all crashed before 9 p.m. our first day in the city was pretty great!

Saturday - February 2, 2013
This was the GREATEST day! We woke up at the "butt crack of dawn" (a phrase that my family jokingly says at home and that I taught Erin - who completely laughs at the "country" things that I do and say). We layered up our clothing and wandered down to Royal Mile towards what is known of as Arthur's Seat. Basically a "hill" that is 822 feet tall and overlooks the city. Our goal was to CLIMB that sucker! We couldn't find the foot of the hill for the longest time (kind of crazy to think we couldn't find the looming mass in the darkness!). We made it to the bottom of Royal Mile and ran into a gentleman who we asked. He simply said "Look that way!" We did, and there appeared a great MASS of land. It was here, at 5:45 A.M. that we realized we didn't have a flashlight and none of us had eaten breakfast...oops!

We made our way to the mass of land and had our first challenge...take the left or right path? We choose right (this is an important fact for the day) and made our way up what I now refer to as mini mountain. We all thought that we were making our way up Arthur's Seat...that was until we reached the top and started our way down. We FINALLY found a path at the bottom of mini mountain that started the climb up to the top Arthur's Seat. About half way up I told the group, "Hey guys, I am afraid of heights." Probably should have mentioned that before the climb, but oh well!! After walking in darkness, up a mountain, without a flashlight, in a foreign country, and me being afraid of heights we made it to the top as the sun was rising. I have never experienced such a beautiful sight! The view was breathtaking. I looked out and saw the city of Edinburgh and to the coast that borders it! I had about 30 minutes to myself at the top and was able to think about the absolutely beautiful the world is. I really am just one tiny weeny small part of this great big world!

 

After we ventured down the mountain (of course we found a MUCH easier way to climb down and if we went left, as previously stated, we would have been at the top in no time - oh well, I will forever cherish those hilarious memories) we stopped at a Starbucks to warm our freezing bodies. That hour or so in Starbucks was another one of my favorite moments. I was with the people I am closest to at Harlaxton laughing, retelling childhood memories and basking in the beauty of the day. It was an amazing feeling!

That afternoon we joined a New Europe free walking tour with our tour guide Eoin (pronounced Owen). To sum this walking tour up in a sentence: IT WAS AMAZING!!! We did not have to pay for this tour (hence free walking tour) because the guides solely work off of tips, therefore their tours have to be good or they have wasted an afternoon walking around showing tourists random buildings. We ventured all over the city in 3.5 hours. From the  St. Giles Cathedral where Jenny Geddes threw a stool in protest of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer to Greyfriar Cemetery where the most loyal dog, Bobby is buried. Wandering around a city filled with so much history seemed like heaven to me. It was freezing cold that day but no one in our group complained (well too much) because viewing the city from a local's perspective gave us a  greater understanding of Edinburgh.

 

 

 

Bobby the Dog (statue form of course)

 

Sunday - February 3, 2013

Our main goal for this day was to experience Edinburgh Castle. We checked out of the hostel and walked up Royal Mile for the last time and ended at the gates of the magnificent castle. The castle is built on top of Castle Hill (duh) and overlooks the city. We made it just in time for a free tour (we tend to like anything "free" in the title) and was pointed in the direction of the many structures that lie within the fortified walls.

There are two different war museums, an old firehouse (taking water up the Castle Hill was no an option during those times in case of a fire, so they just built their own firehouse up top), barracks of the British Army who currently live there today, a church and my favorite - a memorial to all of the Scottish war veterans who have died in combat. I walked into the memorial and opened up a book to read off the names of a few veterans who gave their lives fighting in the Iraq War, a war that has defined much of my childhood in the states. I had never even thought that about the individuals from other countries were also loosing their life to protect my freedom at home. Definitely a humbling experience.

View looking at Arthur's Seat from Castle Hill

Another amazing thing about the castle was that the crown jewels of Scotland are held there AND the famous STONE OF DESTINY. Carly had talked about the Stone of Destiny since we got to Scotland but honestly I had never even heard about the stone before this. We started up a conversation with the security guard in the heavily vaulted room and he told us the background history of the stone. Apparently Edward I took the Stone of Destiny from Scotland during his reign and placed it under the coronation throne in England. (Hence the beginning line) It laid there until 1950 when a group of college students broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the stone on Christmas Eve and brought it back to Scotland. It stayed there for four months and then returned to England. In 1996 Elizabeth I presented Scotland with the stone once more with the promise that it would only be returned to England when a new king would be crowned. Pretty neat that I was able to see this in real life huh?

Another favorite memory of the trip happened that afternoon. We went to a cafe called the White Elephant. Ring a bell? Well, this is the cafe that J.K. Rowling sat in and created Harry Potter. WHOA!! (insert fan girl scream!!) We ate some delicious food and was even lucky enough to sit in the window which overlooked Edinburgh Castle and gave the inspiration for Hogwarts! After lunch we ventured into Greyfriar Cemetery and found the graves of Thomas Riddle, Moodie and McGonagall!!

The infamous seat!!

 

 

I was not ready to leave this beautiful place and getting on the train was a bittersweet moment. I was ready to go back home (yes the manor has become my "home") but I did not want to leave such an amazing place. Scotland has been my favorite country I have ever visited. I ventured around a breathtaking city, walked in a castle filled with history, climbed a mountain to watch the sunrise, ate at a strictly vegetarian restaurant and made some incredible memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. Let's just say, I have left a piece of my heart in Scotland and I will be back someday.