Bus-tin' out.

I sit now, on a bus. Not just any bus - a MEGAbus.

okay, that was lame.

I'll admit, the bonus that I can wile away the hours to NY on my handy-dandy notebook is no small thing. Pew Pew Pew, I can shoot aliens in a game while sittin behind an absurdly tall man and in front of a pretty blonde.

Wonder if she's reading as I type. Hello, pretty blonde.

And yet, there remains a flaw in the plan. A four hour ride i have, but a four hour battery I have not. here I sit, with only 21 minutes left. Oh please stay alive, Mr. Mac.

shit. 20 minutes.

I'm heading down to NYC now, to spend the halloweekend with a change of costume and a change of scenery. It should be fun, and I'll be sure to write about it on Sunday or Monday.

Anyways, that's all I've got for now. I think i've got enough battery to check my twitter feed a few more times.

"May Your Organs Fail Before Your Dreams Fail You"

The title is the post is the key line to a song called "Little Maggots" by The Matches. There's a link to them performing it live, which of course ruins any sound quality whatsoever, but the point is there nonetheless.

It's funny to me how such a positive message, coupled with sharp vocals, questionable dialect and a fast paced punk rhythm, can sound almost sinister. It's essentially saying "May your dreams never die" - positive, optimistic, wistful even - but this rendition comes off sounding almost threatening. It reminds me of a culture, exactly which one escapes me, that uses "May You Lead an Interesting Life" as a condemnation.

Upon googling, it appears that I was thinking of the Chinese, and the exact quote is "May you Live in Interesting Times."

The point is, it really all comes down to presentation. No matter what you try to say, inflection will always surpass intention.

I still have a blog?

Hm... I guess I do.

Lets see... what can I update the dispersed masses about...

I can cook. Yeah, that seems pretty important. So far, my attempts at cooking have all been successful, including the Crock Pot Pot Roast! Wow, that looks redundant.

I'm in the process of a building a brand new website, despite my lack of website knowledge.

I'm also thoroughly enjoying my new apartment in cambridge.

Hm... that seems good, for now. I'll have to keep writing, I suppose.

Teeny Tiny Dogs.

I am NOT the first person to say this, but what the hell are these little tiny dogs? There's not even a whole ton to write on the subject - yes, they're adorable in the fact that they'd probably fit in my back pocket, but C'mon... seriously?

When your leash weighs more than your dog... it might be a gerbil.

When I moved to New York, I assumed I'd see rats. I just didn't expect so many on leashes.

The New York Subway - AKA, "The Normal Game".

Riding on the Subway this morning, I noticed a common behavior among everyone on their commute to work. As we collectively traveled to our monotonous downtown careers, it seems we got into step by the time we stepped onto the train. What I encounter every weekday for a 20 to 30 minutes is what I have now dubbed: The Normal Game. 

The rules are simple - seem normal. Granted, there are many strategies to the game, but the point is that you only have to seem normal, even if you aren't. 

Trust me, many people aren't. 

Anyways, onto the strategies. The first is one I personally indulge in - the ever helpful iPod. I turn on some music and ignore everyone else. Its pretty effective on the auditory front, but on the visual front, there lies yet another problem. Where exactly do you look? Many focus on reading the same ads that they've read over and over again, while others vainly stare at themselves in the reflections of glass against dark tunnel walls. In this way, they win the game because they seem normal.  But when you think about it, is there anything normal about staring at one spot for the entirety of a subway ride? Not really no. 

Strategy two - the visual distraction. A fortunate convenience is the free newspapers available to everyone. An unfortunate nuisance, on the other hand, is the free newspapers available to everyone. 

Should I explain? I should probably explain. 

When you take a relatively small space and fill it with a certain number of people, its only relatively comfortable. When you add in newspapers, a teeny tiny little "u-n" slips its way in there too. I'll let you figure out where, smarty pants. The fact is, with everyone trying to seem normal, they make an over-the-top effort not to invade anyone else's personal space. With a newspaper, its like a train full of linebackers. 

Which brings us to our last strategy of the Normal Game - don't affect anyone else. In short, many people take this to mean don't touch anyone and shudder at the thought of physical contact with anyone. 

Side note (you didn't think I'd get rid of these, did you?):

Many people, especially guys, will forfeit the game for personal gain - ie. The hot girl who has an empty seat next to her.  Rowrrr. 

To top it off, I've found that many people will apologize for even the littlest accidental touch. 

Oh, our elbows bumped? My Bad. 

Oh, our toes touched? Sorry!

Oh, my hand brushed your ass? Can I get your number? 

The point that I've failed to keep short is this - crowded subways are inherently awkward. Its a fact of life. 

But for the sake of tradition, lets keep playing the game... It's funny to see people lose. 

A month later...

Since my return to the land of the free, plenty has happened, and yet nothing has struck me as worth noting a blog. When traveling, I felt almost obligated to keep going to accompany my pictures, but without exciting photographs of distant lands, the drive just isn't there anymore. Nonetheless, a recap of the last month.

- Bamboozle Festival (May 3 and 4)
Amazing concert with amazing friends, certainly no complaint on this end.
- Internship at Interference Inc. (May 12-August 1st)
Working in New York City. Even if I wanted to, I don't think I'd be allowed to complain.
-Spending time with amazing, amazing friends (Ongoing)
Need I say more?


That said, I've decided to take an observational turn with this blog. Call it impersonal if you will, but the future is going to focus more on the latter half of the title.

Look out, "The World", I'm watching you.

The End of an Era, Pt. 2

Well, blogger decided to go all wonky, so here's part two of the same post. 

The next couple days were spent in London, but it was hard to really settle down before we flew back to Boston on friday. We arrived around 9:30 PM EST, meaning it was really 2:30 AM in our minds. I spent the weekend with old friends, the one's I hadn't seen for 3 months, knowing on Sunday I'd be flying back home and finally be situated.  

I also managed to find an apartment with Jacki, Billy and Mike, along with Aunt Roni and Uncle Marc who were very helpful! 

So here I am... a couch in America. It feels good to be home, but at the same time I'll miss the small town feel of the castle. Most of all, I think I miss the camaraderie that comes from living in a castle with 80 other students. Already i've seen the effect that we've had on each other, and I know everyone has grown over the semester. I only hope that we all stay close, but without the castle to physically hold us together, its clear that nothing is going to be the same. 

Nevertheless, we'll always be able to say

Hey, remember that time we biked to Germany?

Hey, remember that time we ran across Venice to catch a bus home?

Hey, remember that time we went to our first coffeeshop in Amsterdam? 

Hey, remember that time we lived in a Castle?

The End of an Era.

Here I sit, on a couch, in a living room, in a moderately sized white house, in a small state in a fairly large country known to many as America. 

This is home, and yet... this is no castle. 

The last 2 weeks in Europe were spent, for the most part, at the castle in Well. My Eurail pass had run out, so it was much less expensive to simply stay put. We traveled into Amsterdam for a day trip, but other than that it was a very local experience. Many others had the same idea, so the castle was far from lonely. 

Its funny how when you're left with nowhere else to go, you really get a chance to explore your environment. It's a shame that it took us 3 months to discover the magical hiding spots in Well. To be brief, many of us wished we had known sooner about the 50's style diner, the playground with an AWESOME zip line and of course, the ever amazing sand dunes. 

Sand dunes? in HOLLAND? you must be kidding me. 

Folks... I kid you not. 

The sand dunes are tucked away, about a 10 minutes walk from the castle. We were lucky enough to hear about them, but few of us actually visited until these last couple weeks. On our last weekend at the Castle, after exams were all finished we went out to the Dunes and had a bonfire, a mini-farewell for the castle students. We ran around the blazing glory, drinking our last dutch beers, and burning the papers we never again will need to read. 

It was nothing short of amazing.

Spain never sleeps, even though I do.

From Croatia, many of us traveled to Barcelona - It seems that when everyone was making plans to leave, someone found out about the cheap 30 euro flight to Barcelona and told the rest of the castle. In total, we had around 40 Emerson students on a single flight - some of whom were only flying to Barcelona in order to fly back to Italy.

Now, Geography class - If you were to fly to Italy from Croatia -a bordering country - why does it make sense to fly across europe twice? Because airlines hate making our lives easier.

Upon arriving in Barcelona around 6 PM, we took the metro to the Kabul Hostel and checked in - which, unfortunately, takes a LONG time with 20 people arriving at once. A group of us went out around 9 and explored the city at night, starting at La Rambla. Barcelona truly has a spirit of its own, unlike anything i've seen before. The party never seems to stop, and pop art decorates the streets everywhere. Whether its a giant statue of a lobster or a billboard-sized mural, The alternative style of Barcelona is clear anywhere you look.

Side note -  There was a point that I looked at a structure in Barcelona and remembered that I had seen it before - in a Tony Hawk game. It was an awesome realization and a little lame at the same time. 

We continued our walk, ending up at the beach, dancing on the sand. Something i've experienced over and over again is how amazing it is to be with your friends in a foreign country, doing the same things you would do anywhere else. Around 11 or 12, we arrived back at the hostel and crashed, ready for the next day of adventuring. 

Thursday consisted of lunch, fun in the sun,  and obscenely warm weather. Jacki, Deven and I traveled up to a park where Gaudi designed several statues and buildings in the morning, then got Paella on the way back to the beach. Squid ink is an AWESOME cooking tool. We lied out, then hung out at the hostel bar for a little, then went to a flamenco show. 

Friday involved more walking around in Barcelona, particularly in search of souvenirs before I hopped on a train to Madrid with Erin. We arrived in Madrid around 6 or 7 and headed straight to one of the fine art museums (for free, thanks to our student IDs), which promptly closed at 8 o'clock. From here, we walked onward to our hostels and met up again in Puerta del Sol - the city center.  Erin and I wandered in search of tapas, which ended up being cold meats and cheeses, but still pretty good. Afterward, we headed in early, planning to meet up again around 9 am. 

Now, thoughts on Madrid. I've been told that between Barcelona and Madrid, you like whichever city you go to first better than the second. I hate to fall into a trend, but it was true. However, Madrid certainly had its charm - its older and more conventional, but a beautiful city overall. I think its like comparing Washington DC to New York City - there's a distinct national feeling tying them together, but they remain completely separate entities. Neither can completely represent the country, but together they provide a nice overview.

 I had the Cliff Notes version of life in Spain.  

 

At 9, we met back up and headed to the museums again. We knew that we only had a few hours until we needed to meet up with another group of Emersonians at noon, so we didn't waste anytime. Unfortunately, we still got a little lost. As we made our way through what we thought was the botanical gardens, we realized we were not where we thought we were. 

wow, that was a doozy of a sentence to read. 

Anyways, we hit up the museum and the Botanical gardens, then walked back to Puerta del Sol to meet with Jake and Co. Then, after finding them we went BACK to where the museums were to a beautiful little pond/lake. They rented out row boats for 45 minutes, so we divvied up and rowed around. By the 30 minute mark, we were kinda just floating, soaking in the sun on the beautiful day. 

After Row-Row-Rowing around, we headed to the modern art museum, where i proceeded to overload on Picasso - seriously, some 200 hundred pieces by the guy in an exhibit is enough to drive anyone crazy. And of course, since I was now crazy, I moved on to my favorite painter - Dali. Ohhh Dali, how I love thee. 

From here, we all explored more of the city until around 9 pm when Jake and Co. went back to their hostel, while Erin and I played a game called "Kill 6 hours in Madrid!"

We spent the first half sleeping in her original hostel, since they were nice enough to let us hang out there for a couple hours. However, at 1 am we left and wandered the Spanish streets, which, if anything, were MORE alive than they had been at 9. The city truly never sleeps.

We wandered around, avoiding spending much money and at 3 am ended up back at Jake and Co.'s hostel, where we had planned to meet and taxi to the Airport. 

Fast forward about 5 hours and we landed in Frankfurt, Germany to find it SNOWING. Seriously Europe, get it together. Fast forward another 8 hours and we arrived at the castle, just in time to miss Dinner. Bummer. 

The Cursed Isle of Croatia

Now, before I begin, I don't fancy myself a geographer, so Croatia might not be an "Isle." In fact, I'm pretty sure that it isn't one.

Still, doesn't it sound cool that way?

So, as fun and exciting as Croatia was, it seemed to have something against emerson as a whole. It was reminiscent of LOST in the way that things just kept going wrong. Murphy's law was in full effect. 

If you read down this page, you'll recall that half of the things we had come to see were closed to the public for some reason or another. Nonetheless, that was the least of our problems. 

Saturday - After a night of partying, around 12 of us were jumped on isolated occasions by the same group of Croatian teenagers while walking back to our hotel. No one was badly injured, but I spent a couple hours in a Croatian hospital and then a Croatian Police Station. 

Time to cross those off my list of things to do before I die...

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: no one is badly hurt, including me. You can breathe, grandparents.

Sunday - During a day excursion to Bosnia, 5 people (out of 40) had forgotten their passports. After 2 hours or more of driving, the entire bus was forced to turn around at the border. Fortunately, I was NOT on the bus. However, the ones without the passports got the coolest souvenir ever - A rejection letter, telling them they were forbidden to enter Bosnia. 

Monday - Earthquake at 2 am, followed by a mysterious illness in one Emerson student and a less mysterious food poisoning incident in another. 

I wish I'd been awake for the Earthquake.

Tuesday - After swimming in the Adriatic sea, several students had their first encounter with sea urchins. Fortunately, I've got urchin-dodging skillz. Also, Caitlin got electrocuted. Seriously though, who electrifies a LADDER?

Wednesday - Since it was only a half day in Croatia, I don't think we had TIME for anything to go wrong. 

Anyways, despite Dubrovnik being deadly, everyone is OK and I actually really enjoyed our excursion. Mmm... lots of cheap ice cream. 

Also, Croatia's cool for putting a fish, a bird and a bear on their coins. 

From here, we journeyed onward to Barcelona - but more about that later...

Croatia, an Academia-Free Zone

Friday Morning - March 28th. 

 6 AM - Get up, grab your bag, go get some breakfast, Hop on a bus. 

 8 AM - Arrive at Dussledorf-Weeze Airport. Sit around for 4 hours. 

12 PM - Board Plane to Split, Croatia

12:15 PM - Listen to Jacki's hilariously bad joke about Croatia. 

  "Man, I hope our half gets there, 'cuz I hear the plane is going to Split!"

12:16 PM - Remember exactly why I love my future roommate.

1 PM - Arrive in Paradise. 

As soon as we arrived, it was clear that Croatia was not going to be an ordinary trip. It was beautiful from the minute we stepped off the plane, and even waiting in the airport to get through customs was better than normal. We spent the next 3 or 4 hours driving down the coast to Dubrovnik. We arrived at 10 PM, so clearly my times are a little confused, but you get the idea. 

After dropping our bags off in the rooms at the super-swanky Hotel Lero (and getting a free dinner courtesy of DJ Dulcia!), a few of us went out and explored. We were searching for a beach, which took us through the city center and to some rocks jutting out over the water instead. We sat and talked for a while, admiring the water and discussing plans for drunken hide-and-seek in Dubrovnik's city walls. 

Side Note: Drunken H+S never actually happened.  Bummer, it would've been crazy.

We got back to our Hotel by 1 am and promptly crashed, expecting a full day of activity to come.

We awoke around 8 am, went to breakfast, then had teacher-guided tours of Old Dubrovnik, similar to London. The only difference here was that no one, not even the teachers, knew much about Croatia. 

After the first tour of the City Wall, we disembarked for lunch. I saw a mass of pigeons that I could liken only to Hitchcock's The Birds - they sat in wait, flocked around and divebombed for food. 

It was Awesome. 

After this, the Renaissance Art class gathered and toured one of the local churches... Well, we tried to - turns out the planned adventure was based on misinformation and exhibits that should have been available to the public simply weren't.  This became a recurring trend all week, often followed by going to a cafe and bonding over a drink with the professor and going to the beaches to enjoy paradise. 

Really, Really Awesome. 

Truly, we were in bliss. That night we headed to a bar called Fresh, run by a Canadian-turned-Croatian, followed by dancing at Fuego, a latin dance club. It was a great time... 

But then we learned that Croatia has a dark side - something no one was ready for.

More to come...

Roamin' through Roma!

Onward to our mini-day in Rome. We arrived at our hostel around 1 or 2 PM and found that the beautiful weather we had in Venice decided to abandon us. Instead, we were left with grey skies, clouds and a constant drizzle. We made a stop for a quick lunch then  set out on our path to the Vatican. Something about the rain seemed to make everyone want to go into the great chapel, leaving us face to face with a line that went ALL the way around Vatican city. 

I think when I lost my foreskin, I also lost the urge to wait in line for an hour and a half to see shrines to Saint X, Y and Z. 

from the Vatican, we journeyed to the Spanish Steps which gave us a beautiful view over the streets and rooftops of Rome - its amazing how even here, over 1000 km away, I was reminded of the french rooftops that I had seen a month before in Paris. Then we moved onto the Pantheon - a Massive Roman temple converted for use in the christian faith. 

After these cultural experiences, we found a great restaurant where they offered us free wine. How could we resist? We enjoyed a delicious meal and headed to the Trevi Fountain, Rome's most romantic spot. 

Legend is that upon visiting the fountain, you are supposed to turn your back to the water and throw a coin over your shoulder while crossing your heart - Throwing one coin means that you will return to the fountain, throwing two means that you will fall in love at the fountain sometime in the future. Oh, and if you DON'T fall in love there before you die? You should have come back to the fountain at least one more time.

You can't make this stuff up. 

After the fountain, we wandered the streets, soaking wet as we ate Gelato and roasted chestnuts on our way back to the hostel. Once again, we sat in the lap of luxury and had a private room with a private bathroom. Never mind that the shower didn't have hot water until the morning, it was still pretty awesome. 

The next 2 days were spent at the Italian Farm stay, our foray into Agro-tourism. Though relaxing, it was a little frustrating that it rained all weekend. Most of the activities at the farm involve being outside and dry - something that simply did not work out for us. No less, we still had a good time and enjoyed the company of the other families at the farm - the meals were delicious, and Cait, Brian and I had a miserably wet adventure on saturday including the most awkward experience of our young lives! Still, very fun. By the time we left on Monday Morning we were sad to leave, and a little angry to watch the sun come out as soon as we hopped on our bus back to Rome. 

As we basked in the glow of the bright yellow sun, we hopped on a Metro and stopped by the Colosseum to see it in all it's glory. It's pretty massive, especially when considering the ancient Romans didn't have the tools and technology of today. After our hasty traipse around the magnificent structure, we hopped on our trains and planes and made our way back to the kasteel for a week of classes before our Croatian adventure. 

Oh man, we had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into...

Italy, for real this time! First stop, Venice.

Hey, remember that time I disappeared for 2 weeks and didn't write about my amazing adventures in Italy? 

Of course you do.

It all began Wednesday night, when the four of us (Kristen, Caitlin, Brian and Dan... me...) headed out to Venice. We arrived at the airport, took a brief bus ride, then waited for our shuttle car to drive us to the hostel. Upon arrival we found what looked less like a hostel and more like a 4-star hotel. Art on the walls, gold everywhere, it was, for lack of a better term, stunning. With our own private room and bathroom, we lived like royalty for the next two days - albeit a bus ride away from the city center. 

Venice was gorgeous, simple as that. The canals gleamed in the sunlight and the stone buildings seemed to grow straight out of the water. In the city center, in front of the HUGE church there was the famous pigeon gathering spot, so we spent almost an hour getting them to land on our hands. Surprisingly, it wasn't painful or even creepy to hold the pigeons - it reminded me of having a parakeet - a really big ugly parakeet with fleas. 

From here, we moved on and continued to explore Venice - we met up with more Emersonians for a nice Gondola ride followed by Gelato and dinner. Fast forward a little to 10:30, when realized we had half an hour to cross the entire city to make it back for our shuttle to the hostel. 

Damn, we were fast. 

 

We went back to the hostel, slept and got ready for our mini-day in Rome!

Italy

Alot happened in my 5 day Italy trip, but I'm a tool and didn't have time to write about it. 

I swear, I'll write about it ASAP!

leaving for croatia right now, then headed to spain!

Amsterdam, not to be confused with Hamsterdam.

Just for clarifications sake.

So I spent Thursday and Friday exploring Amsterdam on my own, since I had yet to actually spend any large amount of time there, despite only being 2 hours away. It's true what they say, you always seem to overlook the things right under your nose. 

Now, I personally think that Amsterdam gets a really bad reputation. Yes, prostitution is legal. Yes, Marijuana and other soft drugs are tolerated. Yes, they have urinals built into the streets. 

Yes, their flag has XXX in the middle of it. 

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it has earned its "bad boy" reputation. 

Still, Amsterdam is a gorgeous city. I came in thursday night around 9, dropped my stuff off at the hostel, and walked into the heart of the city. The city itself isn't particularly large, but its got a very strange arrangement as the streets work around the canals, which serve as rings expanding outward. Its surprisingly tricky to navigate on foot. Fortunately, Amsterdam has an incredible tram system, which makes getting around a little easier. 

But, I digress. I got some Donor Kebab for dinner and walked into the Dam Square, experiencing the Red Light District and the bar scene on my own for a while. 

Girls of the Red Light District... you know the ones I mean... they really work for your attention when you're alone. I walked down an alley once, and had girls tapping on glass from both sides. It would have been an ego-boost, if they wanted me and not just my money.

Side Note: Come to think of it, I'll pretend they really wanted me. Damn, I'm sexy.   

After wandering for an hour or so, I stopped into a coffee shop and partook in some of the local culture, so to speak. Afterward, I made my way back to the hostel... it took a long time, I got pretty lost. 

The next day, I met Kristen for lunch, then we walked around in the beautiful weather for a while. Around 3 we split, and she went to a meeting while I checked out the Van Gogh Museum. 

It was pretty amazing, but my favorite pieces weren't even Van Gogh's! There was an exhibition of Millais, who did the famous Ophelia painting. I turned on my iPod, listened to some indie music and wandered for hours through those halls.

 

Afterward, I headed to the Bols museum, which is actually a huge marketing tool for Bols liquor. I don't care, it was really cool. I even met with the marketing director to discuss international marketing plans! I swear, it happened.

Finally, as I walked home through the streets of Amsterdam, I realized how great the city really is. Only here is there such a vivid contrast of Night and Day, comfortably tucked into a small circular city. Amsterdam is the Batman of International Cities. 

Oh, and I went to the Sex Museum.

I'll be sure to come back to Amsterdam in April, especially when the tulips are in bloom. 

Prahahaha

See, it's funny because it's actually called "Praha," not Prague. I don't get why they had to anglicize it either. 

Might as well laugh, otherwise it'll just be awkward.

...

...

...

Too late.

So this weekend I traveled with Cait, Kristen and the newly recruited Nick to Prague for the weekend. We headed out around 7 to our overnight train, which departed around 9 or 10. We had a 4 person compartment, complete with beds for us to sleep in. It was pretty claustrophobic, but we got over it and actually enjoyed ourselves. We arrived in Prague and were STILL exhausted, so we dropped off our bags and crashed for an hour or two. 

Side note:

We've been having incredible luck with Hostels! So far there's only been one hostel that left me feeling uncomfortable, and even that one wasn't so bad. GO EUROPE! 

Anyways, we left the hostel around Noon and began our exploration. The weather turned quite nice, and we had a great day out, seeing the sights and taking in the culture. Around 5 we divided so that Cait and Nick could see a classical music concert for their musical theatre class, while Kristen and I had a "date."  We actually decided to go to a show of our own, so at 8 o'clock we paid for cheap tickets, then snuck down to the better seats toward the front. 

I'm ashamed to say that I started to nod off during the music. However, what I heard, I really enjoyed. After this, we went back to the hostel, got ready and went to the biggest club in Prague, standing 6 stories tall with 5 different dance floors. 

Now, allow me to inform the public about clubs.

CLUBS SUCK.

There, I hope things have been clarified a little bit more.   It's not that I had a bad time, it's just the pretentious nature of clubs - constantly judging each other based of appearance since its too loud to attempt to have a conversation with anyone - It's ridiculous. Still, put a couple free drinks in my hand and I guess I can't complain. 

The next day, after arriving home in the wee hours of the morning, the 4 of us got off to a late start. We decided to check out New Town, since we had spent the day before in Old Town. 

Whereas I loved the historic beauty of Old Prague, New Town felt very commercial and turned out to be a lot harder to enjoy. Still, it was nice enough. Cait and I took off around 7 o'clock to see our Blacklight Theatre show at 8 O'clock. 

Blacklight theatre shows are normal stage shows with blacklit background and props - its actually very interesting to watch - actors hidden in all black ninja costumes move the bright green and orange props around to interact with the characters on stage. It looks amazing on stage - so simple, yet so engaging. 

After this, we headed back to the hostel, but Cait and I stopped in at a jazz club for about an hour, chatting over drinks dubbed "Hot Mango" and "Hot Apple". We expected tea, but instead got something so much better. From what I could tell, they steamed real fruit juice and added cinnamon sticks for flavor at the bottom. The drinks were amazing and I can't wait to try to make one of my own! 

Finally, we went to bed, only to spend the next 13 hours on trains getting delayed on our way home. Oh well, at least we tried. 

Prahahahaha. Get it?!

What do Mirrors do? They Reflect.

So, I've been in Europe for around a month and a half now, which leaves me with just under 2 months left. Plus, seeing as I stayed around the castle this weekend to save money and prepare for midterms, there's not much to report about this weekend. I did, however, bike to Germany, which sounds much more epic than it really is.  Next weekend I'll be in prague though, so I'll have plenty to talk about then. 

Onward unto reflections. 

 

Being here, living in a small town for the first time has been an experience all in itself - Saying hello to complete strangers as we passed on the sidewalk was almost jarring at first, but it comes quite naturally now. The funny thing is that all of the natives can point out the Castle Dwellers, not because we look American but because they've simply never seen us before - in such a small town, it must be hard not to notice someone new. 

On top of that, Its been really amazing seeing all these beautiful cities, experiencing all the different cultures, but at the same time, it's been bittersweet. Yes, I love seeing all these cities, but the thing I hate is playing tourist everywhere - there's never enough time to truly assimilate into the culture. There have been a couple cities where I've said "hey, enjoyed it, don't need to come back," (See Budapest, Geneva) but others like Paris and London have left me longing for more.

One assumption I held before my arrival in Europe was that America was hated worldwide, but I've actually found the people I've encountered to be very friendly and accommodating, even after finding out I am American. It certainly was a relief, knowing that many people recognize that we aren't entirely accountable for the poor decisions of our president. Plus, we've made some friends along the way, like our british and belgian friends! 

I'd like to say I'm totally different after living in Europe, but I don't feel particularly different... I'm pretty sure I'm still the same Dan. Maybe I know a little more dutch, but that's it. 

Anyways, Its only the first week of March, and I've got 2 more months to live it up, Euro-style. 

Paris, Where God's Love costs 15 bucks.

Hey, remember that time I completely forgot to finish my story?

Anyways, from Dublin I traveled solo to Paris to meet up with a whole mess of people at the Woodstock hostel - I even ran into some other Emersonians on the flight!  After touching down around 10, we took a bus out from the tiiiiiny little airport to Paris, and then navigated the winding vines that make up the Parisian Metro System.  I found my way to Rue De Rodier with only a few minor complications like, oh I don't know, my lack of speaking ANY french. 

 "Parlay Voo Ing-Lay"  became my Mantra for the weekend. 

Now, don't get me wrong - there's a feeling of validation that comes from being able to communicate with someone in another country - but sometimes its just alot easier to label yourself an outsider and get the answers you need. If its any consolation, I can order a baguette or a sandwich with moderate success! 

Anyways, I arrived at the hostel and met up with everyone. The next day we walked around Paris, starting with the  Sacre Care (or whatever its called),

Quick Side note: Why Don't the jerks with the string bracelets take "no" for an answer? Wait... you don't know about these guys? This is no longer just a side note!

So, in front of the Sacre Care is a HUGE grass hill with stone stairs leading up to it. See the flickr for pictures of this, I took several. Anyways, at the stairs there are several black guys with yarn in hand. They literally block off the stairs and confront tourists. Now, if you're not careful, they'll grab your wrist and start braiding a bracelet on you - If they do this, they'll start telling you that you owe them 10 Euros. 

Needless to say, its pretty messed up. 

Anyways, I successfully dodged them a couple times - it helps to look very angry and physically pull your wrist away when they reach for it. The following was an actual dialogue between me and them:

Obnoxious Guy: Hey, Do you have love for God?

Me: Yea, sure. (attempting to walk past without altercation)

Hey, stop, we want to give you some of God's love

Trust me, I've got plenty

You could always use more! (He and 2 others block my path, grabs my wrist)

Listen, I gotta go... (Pulls wrist away)

That's what everyone says!

Yea? Well I mean it. (Push through the 2 guys physically and run over to my friends)

From here we walked the Champs-Elysees, then made our way to the Louvre. It actually was very impressive - and since we're young we got in for free by saying we were under 18! Seeing all these magnificent art pieces together after days of museums in London left me a little burned out as far as art is concerned. Nonetheless, I made sure to see the pieces we've been covering in class, and of course the infamous Mona Lisa. 

Honestly? I don't see what's so great about her. She's just another chick with a smirk. 

Anyways, at this point we all headed home to the hostel and cooked ourselves some pasta dinner to save money. Along with our bottles of 2 Euro wine, we had a great time! That night we headed over to the Red Light District of Paris, which is like Amsterdam-Lite. Still, we had a great time. Shannon even got hit on by a creepy crepe maker! (Note to the reader - if you're a cute girl, never offer a kiss for a free crepe. It's going to go very, very badly.)

On Saturday, we divided in half - Kyle, Zander, Shannon and I headed to the Musee Rodin, which was full of amazing sculptures. Afterward, we wandered around Paris some more, eventually ending up at Luxemburg Park. It was gorgeous, and truly a chance to experience a non-tourist environment. It was a beautiful day and we happily spent almost an hour soaking it all in. 

That night, we went over to Billy's Aunt and Uncle's and had ANOTHER dinner party. This time, of course, we had a real kitchen which made everything that much better. Afterward we headed out to the Eiffel Tower for a fantastic night basking in its glow. We picnicked on the lawn underneath with wine and gummy bears, and everyone had a great night. 

On Sunday, before we headed home, Kyle and I headed up to the top of the Eiffel Tower - the pictures are available on your right, but it was truly amazing. Afterward we headed home, and my 10 day, 3 city adventure ended.

Upon arrival, we ALL, all 80 of us, crashed. 

Fact: Dan Loves Irish Girls.

Onward to Dublin!

I arrived along with many other Emerson students, Including Jacki, Darylle (not a boy's name), Lippi, Deven and the wonderful Cait and Kristen. JDLD and I went out to chinese dinner and called it an early night. The next morning we had an excellent Irish breakfast at the hostel and then headed out unto the city. JDLD went to find a Jail, and CK and I went to explore Dublin. We walked over to Trinity College and the Temple Bar area and I fell in love - I don't know if you're aware, but Dan is in love with irish accents on a girl.

 Seriously, when Caitlin was on Heroes, I was a very, very happy man. 

Anyways, after spending time on the campus of Trinity College (and briefly considering transfering...), We went to the guinness storehouse where we ran into - who else? Jacki, Deven and Lippi. Darylle had gone off on her own for a little while, but we had planned to meet for dinner and the ghost tour at 8. After Guiness, JDL and I went to get some amazing food at a little shop called the Queen of Tarts. It was phenomenal - Sweet Potato Bisque followed by dessert... ohhh so good. See the pics on Flickr. ----->

After this, we met up with Darylle again and went on a "GhostBus Tour" of Dublin. They took a double deckered bus and a navigator guided us around the city, showing us the most haunted spots of Dublin for a couple hours. Well worth the 20 Euros we spent, we all had a great time. Afterward we went back to Temple Bar to find a good place for a drink. We took in the local flavor at a pub with live music and around 12 headed back to our hostel. 

The next day, I bid adieu to everyone and spent a few hours on my own in Dublin before heading to the airport. Then  I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited and got on my flight and arrived at my hostel in Paris around midnight. 

But more about that later....

Trust me, It'd be impossible to tell you everything.

From Feb 15th to Feb 25th, We went on our first "Travel Break." Essentially we had 5 days as a group in London, and 5 days on our own to find our way home. I chose to go to Dublin for a couple of days, then to Paris for the next couple days. 

As a result, there's no way to tell you everything I did. Thus, I ask that you look at the pictures in my Flickr Account and allow me to simply tell you the most memorable memories. Think of it as that wild drunk night that you can barely remember - it was fun and amazing and all you can really pick out were those bright flashes of recollections. 

Note to family: The above was a metaphor - It may be legal to drink, but i'm still responsible.

Note to Future Employers: The above was a metaphor - aren't you glad I can use metaphors?

Thursday Night- arrive at the County Hotel. Randomly assigned rooms - they are all tiny and we share communal bathrooms on each floor. Emerson really went all out for us... 

*FLASH*

Friday: Museum visits, Buckingham palace and Donor Kabob. All quite nice. But the real fun was at night, when I saw We Will Rock You - a London-based musical centered around the music of Queen. Who saw the lead guitarist of queen play the solo to Bohemian Rhapsody? THIS GUY. 

The story itself was horrible, but the music and choreography was great. 300 years in the future when music is banned is just a horrible, horrible premise. 

*FLASH* 

Saturday Night: Dropkick Murphys concert with Jacki, Deven, Lippi and Linnea. SO GOOD. One of the greatest concerts i've been to - London has a huge punk scene. 

*FLASH*

Sunday: The Tate Modern - saw some amazing pieces and others that shouldn't be considered art. I'm sorry, but a 8 foot by 10 foot canvas painted all one shade of grey is not artistic. Neither is a single florescent light bulb hanging on a wall. They are simple decoration, at best. 

*Blur of fun and excitement*

Monday: Some amazing indian food, and later a walking tour of London's SoHo - we saw Paul McCartney's Assistant! Or... well, whoever works the front desk at his office. Also saw where Jimi Hendrix played his last show.

Tuesday: The British Library, home of the Magna Carta and various other amazing documents. Last time i got this excited for a Library, i was 7 and checking out over a dozen "young adult" novels at a time.  Then we hopped on a plane and flew to Dublin...

but more about that tomorrow. It's getting pretty late. 

Hungary Hungary Hippos

I can't believe puns have become a common trend in this blog. I apologize to the few readers I have.

Allow me to preface this post with 3 (three) rumors I was told about going to Budapest. 

1.Everything in Budapest is really dirty and they aren't very technologically advanced.

2. The Hungarian Forint is 175:1 with the dollar, so everything will be really cheap. 

3. Gypsies will throw babies at you so you catch the baby, then little children will steal all your money from your pockets. 

  And now, Dan's Journey into Eastern Europe. 

We started around 7, leaving Well for Nijmegen and hopping on a train to Frankfurt. Well... that was the plan. We found out that it was going to be 95 Euros, so we decided to go to Cologne instead for 45. Both had a bus to the Frankfurt-Hahn airport leaving at 2:30 in the morning, so it didn't matter either way. We arrived in Cologne around 10 or 11 and realized 

Hey, Cologne is AWESOME!

so we spent the next few hours hanging out in Germany - seeing some of the sights within a couple blocks, and just having a good time overall. 

We finally got to the budapest around 9 am the next day, after a lot of traveling and waiting to travel. Kristen, Cait and I traveled to our hostel, planning to meet up with Billy, Sara, Jen, Zander and Emma later that day or over the course of the week. We checked into our hostel, which was a beautiful, renovated flat, and passed out. We were exhausted. We got up a few hours later and walked around in search of a place to get some dinner. We settled on a Hungarian/Italian place, which was pretty good. We only paid 12 dollars each and really had a great time. 

From here we just spent the night exploring and taking it easy - we knew we had 3 days, and didn't want to wear ourselves out. We made plans to meet the others on Saturday, but then we got lost and they got lost and our phones were dead and ... well it didn't work out.  So once again, we set off to explore some more.  We've never been much for the touristy stuff, but we had heard good things about the Hot Baths, so we headed to one nearby and relaxed for a couple hours. 

Rumor #1-  False. Budapest was a beautiful city (mostly). There were plenty of advanced public transportation systems and everything was fairly modernized.

Now, Cait and Kristen will tell you that the baths were creepy and gross, but honestly, they were pretty nice - the main problem was the prominence of all the old guys. There were alot of old guys. However, it was a beautiful place and we enjoyed it. After the baths we headed out to the Labyrinth in hopes of meeting up with the others again, but that didn't work out either. So, the three of us journeyed underground and explored the ancient caverns. 

They were overrated. 

We went to dinner at a nice little cafe and then headed back to the hostel to clean up and relax a little before going out to the clubs. When we got there, we met our new british friends at the hostel - Tom, Joe, Scott, Martin and Adam. We ended up going out to the club with them, which was really quite fun. There was a place called Mammoth, which turned out to be a shopping mall that gets transformed after 10 pm into a HUGE party. There were PLENTY of hot hungarian women. Mish Mish! One downside, the club was free for girls but 3000 forints for guys. 

Rumor #2 - False. Hungary is NOT cheap.  

after getting back at 4 am, we crashed, then woke up again in 4 or 5 hours to go to a different hot bath with the guys. 

Ok, i take my previous statement back - this Bath was sooo much better. there were over a dozen different rooms, each with baths of different temperatures and sizes - plus there were a few that were outside. Yes, despite a lack of photographic evidence, we spent part of our sunday in our bathing suits out in Budapest in the middle of winter.  On top of all that, there were multiple saunas and steam rooms. It was awesome, and this bath put the other one from saturday to shame. 

only 5 baths? Please. 

After a few hours, we bid farewell to our new friends and got some lunch at a hungarian marketplace.  Which reminds me...

Rumor #3 - FALSE. There was no baby throwing, no thieving children. However, one guy did ask me for a piece of my lunch. I nodded yes because that's just how I am.

 Then we went back to our Hostel and crashed - sleep was a must. Our last afternoon was very relaxing - we made some new friends, got some cheap chinese food for dinner, and went to sleep, knowing we'd have to get up early. 

We traveled to the airport around 6 am and got back to the castle around 6 pm just in time for dinner, which we ate with gusto. Fresh food was such a nice change, and we really appreciated having fruits and veggies again. Note - Hungarian produce looked really nasty. Their diet consists of carbs and packaged goods.  Viva the Fresh stuff!

And with that, our weekend came to a close. Tomorrow we'll be going to London for 5 days, then we'll have independent travel. I'll be in Dublin for 2 days, followed by another 2 in Paris - I'm very excited, and you'll hear all about it when I get back. 

Wow, I'm awesome.  

"Many Of You Have Never Opened Chardonnay Under Fire..."

Geneva,  Switzerland. Land of cheese, chocolate and choppy-chops (knives).

Ok, so we left on thursday night, taking an overnight train to Switzerland. We had a few transfers, but when we finally got to Switzerland it was about 9 am. 

  

 - Hold on, I'm leaving something out. OH YEAH!

It's Carnival here, and that means drunken debauchery among the locals. On the way to Geneva, we had an hour layover in Cologne, Germany. If I tried to count all the drunken people in wild outfits... well I would've needed one of those clicker-things. 

107 *Click* 108 *Click*

anyways, it was a little funny to see - halloween in the middle of winter, in the train station. There was music, and old people making out, and laughs all around. Then of course, they followed us onto the train... all million of them. We sat in the dining car for a little while, then I moved up to first class since 2nd was all filled up - Gen and Jenna were less than willing to join me, thinking I'd get kicked out. 

I Did NOT get kicked out. (Victory!)

Anyways, back to Geneva. We wandered the streets for a while after checking into our hostel, Seeing the UN, a couple museums, some sandwich shops, etc.  

Then we realized we'd done more than half of what could be done in Geneva. In 4 hours. 

Anyway, knowing that we'd be staying a whole 'nother day, we decided to take it easy and explore the streets. We found some cool cathedrals, winding streets and basically we enjoyed our days out. The next day we went into the older part of the city and explored more, before Jenna and I had to get back to Amsterdam for a special Sunday edition of my Visual Society class. 

For Class, we went to Amsterdam's photo-museum, FOAM - where they were exhibiting the works of two american photographers - Taryn Simon and Wee Gee. Wee Gee was a prominent photojournalist from the 30's and 40's, specializing in crime scenes - his name derived from his almost paranormal ability to get to the murder scene, often as soon as the cops did. His pictures were pretty amazing - but personally I preferred Taryn's. She did a collection of photos of places across america that were hidden or forbidden to enter. Among many others, she took pictures of the CIA headquarters, a nuclear test site in Nevada, and a Zoo where they had an inbred white tiger. There was even a letter from Disneyland politely declining her entry to the underground tunnels, stating that they wished to preserve the magic for everyone.  Furthermore, her photos were so vibrant, so colorful and full of life... it was truly impressive. 

to see more of her work, go Here

From here we traveled unto the coveted "Red Light District" of Amsterdam, learning about prostitution at a center devoted to education about the sex workers industry. No Dad, it was NOT first hand experience. 

From here, I took a train back to the castle and arrived around 8 o'clock, just in time to go out again for carnival at the linden. I was dressed in a costume of my own, of course, and I looked damned good. 

Overall, another successful weekend. 

Don't forget, Dan's adventures in Hungary next week - same Dan Time, same Dan Channel. 

(Time and Channel subject to change.)

 

Don't forget to comment!

"Brew-Jehzz" "Brooj" or "Breh-heh"

Soooooo Part 2 - Bruges. See above for possible pronunciations, depending on your dialect. 

We took a lazy morning for ourselves on Saturday, getting up around 9, going out at 10. For those of you giggling at the idea of 10 am being a lazy morning for yours truly... Shush. 

We started by walking around, snapping photos and playing tourist - we went to the Market square and the Burg, another open area nearby. We used one of our hostel maps to find the oldest bar in Bruges, dating back to the 16th century, but they were closed for holiday until february. (Frowny Face) still, we found a decent place for lunch, Only 1 euro for a bowl of soup and about 6 for a HUGE bowl of spaghetti bolognese.  I wasn't hungry, so the soup and a coke was all i needed. 

Side note - There's NO way to get a free drink in europe. Seriously, they don't do the American free glass of water thing. It's pretty frustrating for a poor college kid. 

Anyways, from here Cait, Kristen and I decided to try to rent some bikes to see more of the city. Thaaaaat didn't work out. We ended up walking for half an hour to a place that was closed. From there we blew off the idea of bikes and walked through a nice little park area. We ended up in a residential area and suddenly thought

 "Hm! Waffles would be awesome right now!"

So we whipped out our trusty map and followed it to De Straat, where there were supposed to be many waffle stands. They claimed the smell wafted into the open air a block away. So away we went. On our journey, we stopped at a little bakery, got some pastries. I know, pastries on the way to waffles? we laughed too.  We moved onward to find a cool looking cathedral being renovated. We went inside, and got weirded out by some room in the back that looked like it came from the Da Vinci Code. They had several strings hanging from ceiling to floor with white feathers attached to them, and some sort of diagram of a face and numbers and regions of the face in the front of the room - overall, very strange. From here we left, stopped again at a little fruit stand where we found some AWESOME apples - Pink Lady and Kanzi, I believe. When we finally got to our destination, we found that we had been deceived. there were NO stands to be found. 

We did, however, find a place called "Sweet Bruges." For the record, never ever ever ever go to a restaurant with the name of the city you're in and expect something authentic. The place was full of tourists, we were ushered to a table and given menus. The waffles were twice as expensive and when we finally got them, they were nowhere near as good as the first waffles we had purchased.

 The metaphor that best fits is that the first waffles we had were like true love - it was authentic and left me with a warm feeling inside. Meanwhile, these waffles were like watching a chick flick - the "Love" was crunchy, overdone, and halfway through, I only kept going out of an obligation to the money I had spent. 

After our Lame-ffles, we met back up for dinner at 6 with Jenna and Genny. We ended up at a sorta-italian place, the food wasn't too bad. After all this we decided to go back to the hostel for a little, because we heard the nightlife didn't really get going until about 11.

At around 10, we headed out to some of the bar/clubs near Market Square. We ended up having a great time at one called Cathedraak, which had 2 levels, semi-gothic decorations and was clearly sponsored by Bacardi. Our numbers grew as we found more emerson people, but dwindled again later. Eventually around 2 we headed back to the hostel and went to sleep. 

We woke up on sunday, got some breakfast at a very nice (but overpriced), authentic place. I got some crepes, but the waffles were really, really good. Not as good as brussels, but very good nonetheless. Afterward we hopped on our trains/busses and made our way home by 4. 

Overall, it was a great weekend and we're all looking forward to more adventures. Next week I'll be headed to Geneva, Switzerland!

Belgians really know Waffles

This weekend marked our first weekend out in Europe. Technically, our weekend started on Wednesday with American Night at one of the nearby bars. We got the chance to hang out, drink (responsibly) and really bond as a group. Then, after my one class on thursday and dinner at 6, Kristen, Cait, Genevieve, Jenna and I hopped onto a bus to Venlo, and then a train to Brussels. After arriving at 12:30 am, we realized that their "Tram" was no longer running. After being pursued by a crazy lady -  "Is Capital, Is Capital!" - we ran up the escalator and hailed a couple cabs nearby. One spoke english, so we had the other driver follow him and we arrived at our first hostel around 1. The 5 of us shared a room, but unfortunately there had been a 6th guy asleep when we arrived. We got ready all stealth-like, but no one could have anticipated the super squeaky bed frames. poor sleeping guy. 

Fast Forward to the next morning.

We went into the city pretty early, walked around and experienced the culture. We went to see the Manikin Pis (Peeing Boy) Fountain, which is exactly what it sounds like. The legend is a man lost his child in a crowd, only to find him peeing on a fire at the city walls. Supposedly it was set to burn the entire city, but in putting it out, the boy was a hero. It's a pretty awesome story, even though I doubt its truth. 

But the best part of this street was right next door, at a little waffle stand, where I tasted the most amazing Waffle ever. Really, it was like heaven - Warm and crispy and soft and fluffy inside.... ooh so good. From here we continued to walk around, we gazed at the Grand Palace, which is now a super-ritzy hotel, and eventually got some overpriced sandwiches for lunch. 

Later, we headed to the chocolate museum for 4 euros - it was pretty interesting, definitely worth the money, and we even got some free chocolate out of it. We spoke to a chocolatier who taught us how she makes pralines. Yum.

Anyyyways, we walked some more, saw a few cathedrals, and then headed to the Atomium - a giant Atom built for the world fair in the 50's - be sure to check out the photos to see it, as well as the view from the top. 

From here we took the train out to Brugges and checked into our hostel. We were all very hungry, and eventually settled on an amazing Greek place called "El Greco." Oh man... so good. I almost want to go to greece JUST for the food. Afterward, we went out to a bar, tried a belgian beer, then called it an early night around 12:30. 

To Be Continued.

In the Bathroom, European.

It's the first monday after arriving the Castle, and already I can happily say that everything is amazing.

Now, a quick recap - On Thursday I woke up in my swanky boston hotel room at 4 AM, after passing out after a small soup and pita chips dinner at 6 the night before. I chilled, talked to Kirk since he was the only one online at the time, and eventually got up and ready for everything. A little before 9, I lugged my 100+ pounds of bags to the lobby of Emerson's Little Building. 

    "Luggage" finally makes sense to me. 

Anyways, from here, we sat around hearing about what exactly was going to happen in the next 24 hours. Then we got a 90 minutes to take care of some last minute things, so I decided to walk around boston a bit. I stopped in for lunch at a place called B. Goode, a specialty hamburger place on Newbury street. Everything is handmade, and it was pretty good, although I don't think I'd get that particular burger again. It certainly wasn't as good as 5 Guys. 

After that, we had a brief time-killer lecture about Anne Frank and Edie... Edie something. The name escapes me and Google isn't helping right now.  Anyways, then we went to the airport, got on the plane, where I promptly fell asleep. Thank god I was still on Israeli time, it saved me from jet lag. 

After another 3 hour bus ride, we arrived at the Castle gates and it finally hit me - I'm in Europe! 

The last few days have been a mix of orientation, meeting people/socializing, getting accustomed to our new home. It's a freakin' castle. When I got here, I didn't quite know what to expect, but its truly amazing. I think I'll go take some pictures between my classes tomorrow, just to capture the essence of the Kasteel in all its glory. 

Oh right! Today we had our first classes. I woke up at 9, got showered, got a small breakfast and went to Art History: Renaissance at 10. It's amazing how Duckers (the Duke) is able to make it all so clear and engaging at the same time.  Then after lunch at 11:30, it was time for Literary Foundations with Karen Lindsay - another very cool teacher. She clearly knows what she's talking about and loves her job and what she teaches, which is always awesome to see. Then after a 15 minute break, it was time for Intercultural Communication with Chester Lee. This class seems interesting, but I don't feel like Chester is as knowledgeable as Rob and Karen were. Still, the class isn't pointless.  My only other NEW class is Visual society, which I have for 3 and a half hours tomorrow - fortunately there's a break for dinner from 6:15 - 7:00. 

So that's my life right now. American Dan is ready to see the world. 

Jews should stick to EATING chinese food.

Our final day was spent in Tel Aviv. Most memorably, Adam, Steph and I took some time and wandered the streets and the open air markets. They were pretty impressive, and we got some fantastic deals. Steph got a skirt for $7, I got some pomegranate seeds for a dollar or two, and adam snagged some jerusalem bread for a couple shekels. Overall, a great experience. 

Untilllllll...

Dinner was at a chinese food restaurant, run entirely by white jews. This is not a good idea. See, just because you ENJOY a certain kind of food, doesn't mean  you can make it well. That said, after our lame Chinese food experience and Steph's allergic reaction to the pineapple in her dessert, we went back to the hotel and talked about our feelings about this trip. Everyone was very positive, and it was a great way to end the excursion. About half-way through I started feeling uncomfortable, and by the time I made it back to my room I passed out in exhaustion and stomach pains. Adam woke me back up a few times, finally getting me up long enough to pack my bags. Then at 2 am I fell asleep again. I woke up at 7 the next morning feeling much better and we all went to breakfast. Then we left for the airport and got onto a 12 hour flight to NYC. 

CamelCamelCamelCaramelCamelCamel

After we woke up at the Bedouin campsite, we got some breakfast, then rode on camels. oh yes, you read correctly. CAMELS. C-to-the-A-to-the-M-E-L, CAMELS. 

side note - Camel is just a weird word when you read it over and over again. CamelCamelCamel.

also, Caramel Camels would be an awesome candy. Get on that, Willy Wonka. 

From here, we drove out, took a hike to a "secluded desert pool" which was more or less just a tiny body of water. The hike was pretty fun though, we even got to do some rock climbing! 

Drive drive drive, look around out the windows, rappel down a crater...

Oh right. We rappelled into a crater! It only took a couple of minutes, and we only could go 3 or so at a time, but it was an amazing view. 

Finally, we drove the last leg to Tel Aviv. It was pretty late, and we were all exhausted so getting to the hotel rooms became our priority. Then after everyone showered and rested up, several of us went out on the town. After a little bit of bar-hopping, a few of us came back at around 12:30. Then it was bed time before our final day in Israel. 

I Guess the Bedouins make their own Kool-Aid...

Today,  we started our day waaaaay too early, around 4:30, and drove about an hour to ascend Masada. Without a doubt, this was the most exercise I had gotten all week - by the end of the trek I was sufficiently sweaty, but not entirely exhausted. From the top, we did a little exploring, along with some education about the history of Masada. I won't lie, I got much more out of walking around the rocky stairways and looking out over the canyon than I did from the history lesson.

From here, we had a quick lunch, then traveled onward to David Ben Gurion's burial site. I actually found this history lesson to be much more interesting! Ben Gurion really was a fascinating person, someone I could see myself looking to for inspiration. 

From here we drove to the Negev Desert to experience life with the nomadic Bedouins. After an introductory speech from one of the Bedouin men running the campsite, we had a feast of chicken, pita, rice, hummus and deliciousness. Oddly enough, the drinks they served us were reminiscent of Kool-Aid, but what do I know?

After the feast, we had a bonfire which turned into a bunch of American and Israeli jews gathering to sing pop songs from the 80's and 90's. I can't complain, it was actually very nice. 

Finally, it was bed time, where we all gathered into a giant tent and slept together. (wink wink)

 

Israel's not all Fun and Falafel

Today we went to "Har Herzl", a famous Israeli cemetery. We walked around and saw the graves of political figures and war heroes, but it wasn't until we got to the military graves that everything really hit me. Everyone in Israel has to serve for 3 years after they turn 18, so there were plenty of graves marking 18, 19, and 20 year olds. It was a little hard to think about, considering how many graves there were, but we got through it. The soldiers were pretty visibly shaken, but they seemed to be doing alright by lunch time.

On a positive note, it was a really awesome looking graveyard - lots of great floral decorations and interesting architecture.

Anyways, from there we went to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum.

Side Note - This was NOT a happy day.

walking around the museum, seeing everything they had, it was a little, well, alot overwhelming. There was just so much to see, so many testimonials, I wish we'd had more than 2 hours. Maybe someday I'll get a chance to go back, or I could just go to the one in DC.

better yet, no more museums for a while.

Spell Check doesn't work on Transliterations

The Last couple days have been spent in Jerusalem, living in the beautiful Shalom Hotel. On the first morning in Jerusalem, we met 6 soldiers from various factions of the Israeli army. Together we all went to an open marketplace to buy food for our picnic lunch. With Maya, one of the soldiers, in my ear, I was able to order some Jerusalem bread and pita from a vendor! Its hard not to feel accomplished when people can understand you in a foreign language. 

From here, we drove to Old City Jerusalem, doing a walking tour and eventually ending up at the Western Wall. It was actually a pretty amazing experience, being at the wall, even in the rain. Unfortunately there were a few over-zealous orthodox jews pestering our group for tzedakah and "suggesting" we wear teffilin. (damn you, spell check!) I had hoped for a strong religious experience, but it was hard to focus when in the corner of my eye I could see my friends being poked and prodded by the "men in black."

Afterward we headed back to the hotel, celebrated shabbat with a nice dinner and a short service. Then, since it was only 8 or 9 PM, we were left to do... well, to do whatever college kids do in foreign countries with a lowered drinking age. 

On Shabbat we got to sleep in and went out into the city around 11 or 12 on a walking tour. It felt weird being a large group walking through these quiet neighborhoods, especially with Adam and Kenny talking about figuring out the scores from the football games the night before. Still though, it was humbling to experience an entirely different culture just in seeing how much shuts down on the Sabbath. We came back to the hotel for a havdallah service and then all left for Jerusalem. 

Shwarma. Oh My God, Shwarma is potentially the greatest food ever. Kenny had been talking about it for days, and when Adam and I, Shwarma virgins, finally had it... wow. We were truly amazed. It occurs to me that we didn't get any pictures of the Shwarma, but they wouldn't have done it justice. I love Shwarma. 

Shwarma - thin slices of hot lamb on top of lettuce, hummus, cucumber, and french fries, all wrapped in a pita. AMAZING. 

After our culinary experience, we wandered the streets and spent time soaking in the culture. It got pretty cold, and by 11 we were ready to head back to the hotel when the bus arrived to take us there. 

Not every day earns a witty title.

We started off the day in Tzfat, the birthplace of Jewish Mysticism. Walking the stone streets, visiting the old, small synagogues, seeing the awesome candles in the candle shop - it was all pretty awesome. I learned that to the mystics, blue is a protective color and as a result its painted onto everything. Seriously - EVERYTHING. There was blue cement on some of the stone walls!

From here we went to the village of Peki'in, walked around a little and went to a Druze tent for lunch. The Druze are a subset of christianity and judaism, following the teachings of Jericho, but i'll be honest - that didn't really matter to me. Fact of the matter is, they made an AMAZING lunch. hummus, pita, sliced beef, chicken, wild rice, vegetables - it was a feast, and we loved every bite. 

Of course, all good things must end, so after the feast we drove to Jerusalem for the birthright Mega Event. 

I'll keep this part short - after a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived just in time. It was about 50,000 birthright participants from all over the world gathering in this auditorium, screaming and shouting, hootin' and hollerin'. 

It was a little overwhelming. 

Still Though, a decent event, but we were all ready to crash when it was over. We drove out to our hotel, waited in the lobby to get our room keys, then went upstairs to sleep. 

Day 3, DONE.

"Eifo Ha Sherutim"

After a much needed sleep, we got up around 7 for breakfast at the hostel. Eggs, toast, Cream Cheese, Cereal, nothing out of the ordinary, except for the cold fish. Eww. Someone said that it was probably herring, all I know is it was NOT yummy. 

From here, we hopped onto the bus for our second hike. On the way there, Yuval taught us our phrase of the day, as seen in the title, which means "where is the bathroom?"

  This hike  started at the top of a look-out, and after a brief history lesson regard the 6 day war and the Yom Kippur War, we descended down along a canyon - incredible views and actually a pretty solid hike. 

Fast Forward after lunch, and we traveled to the Yarden Winery - a world class, award winning winery in the Golan Heights. After a brief film and a tour, we had a tasting. Then several of us bought bottles of wine as gifts for our parents... or ourselves. More about that later. 

After the winery, we went to a hot spring - everyone went swimming, relaxed in what can only be described as a big, smelly hot tub.  Turns out the hot spring is heated by sulfur. Smelly, Smelly Sulfur. 

At this point, we went back to the hostel and spent the night relaxing and bonding as a group. Some of the gift bottles of wine didn't make it back to the states, but everyone had a great night. 

Overall, the whole group really bonded and it was great to see everyone getting along so easily.  Its true what they say about jews - we just don't seem to hesitate when it comes to making new friends. 

Sleeping Pills Don't Work

Read the title, because if there's anything I learned today, that's it. 

We left for Newark from Steph's house around 8 AM, arriving at the airport and meeting our group around 10. From there we waited in line, went through customs/security and got some food before the flight. 

 Side Note - Israeli Customs loves to ask strange questions. "What was the name of your Synagogue?" Ok, I guess its sorta relevant.

So after a brief ice-breaking name game to pass the time before we boarded our flight, we walked onto what turned out to be the coolest plane I've ever been on. In seat TVs with On Demand style movies, TV shows, Music and Video Games is AWESOME for a 10 hour flight. We even figured out how to make seat-to-seat calls, which would have been cooler if Adam and Steph weren't right next to me. Adam and I were able to play against each other in Tetris though, which made everything even better.  About an hour into the flight, we popped our Over-The-Counter sleeping pills and I sat back with The Simpsons Movie in hopes of sleep. 

No Such Luck. 

What ended up happening was the three of us couldn't get comfortable enough to stay asleep for more than 30 minutes. Trying to fall asleep is almost exhausting by itself.

At 7 AM Israeli time (Midnight in Maryland), we touched down and got on a bus. We drove out to a beautiful hostel in Northern Israel, near the Golan Heights. We went to our rooms, cleaned up, and had lunch until about 2 pm.

From here we went on a hike down a mountain, which was great until around 5 pm when being awake for 24 hours started to catch up with me. Adam will vouch that Dan says some weird things and stops making sense when he's exhausted. 

We drove home at this point and I passed out on my bed until 7, when we had dinner. Then we all met for a brief discussion about being Jewish in Israel, what we hoped to get out of the trip, What it meant to be Jewish in general, etc. It was interesting to get so many different perspectives, and there seemed to be some common bonds connecting all of us together. 

After this, it was about 9 PM, about 10 of us went down to the convenience store/bar at the hostel, had a beer and went to sleep. 

Day 1 was looooooong, but a great start to the trip.