back by popular demand

So I guess it’s been a while since I wrote about my experiences here in Europe. So much has happened, and I’m starting the second-half of my experience abroad. So far I’ve traveled far and wide across Europe: Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, London, Grenoble, Barcelona. Well, I guess that doesn’t seem like a lot, but these places have been truly awesome. London was a great weekend getaway; I got to meet up with my family for my uncle’s birthday. For spring break a bunch of us rented an apartment in Amsterdam for the first weekend, with every intention of traveling around afterwards. As a result of all of my stuff being stolen (i.e. my coat, wallet, and cell phone), I had a total allotment of 400 euros (including travel and accommodation), and found that it just doesn’t last that long. Kim stayed with me the whole week, where we had so much fun trying to budget our money with days of nothing but peanut butter and baguette, weighing the pros and cons of paying for a hostel. Well, we survived the week, and managed to make it back to Brussels for our last night before a 7am flight to Grenoble from an airport an hour outside of Brussels. Belgium was awesome, and instead of spending the night in the train station, we decided to explore the bars that never close in Belgium. Luckily, we found a bar willing to store our bags in the kitchen until the wee hours that we had to leave to catch our flight. I have so many memories of that week, as people came in and out of Amsterdam in waves, and Kim and I got to hang out with them all.

A few weeks later, I had another bit of a spring break. Abby came over to visit me and we had a ridiculously awesome time, just kind of hanging out and meeting all sorts of people. We played guitar and ate baguettes in front of the Eiffel tower on a beautiful afternoon, drank a bit of wine at night at Sacré Coeur with three red-haired brothers, and walked all over Paris. In Grenoble we had a crazy night with Swedes and Americans, watched the sunset at the Bastille, cooked a delicious meal, and missed a train. Our hostel in Barcelona put us right on the beach, close to all the Gaudí architecture and a killer bar scene where we drank Guinness with New Zealanders and Irishmen alike. After sending Abby back to Colorado, I stayed another night with Amy, a girl from USC studying in Barcelona. Good times, good times.

The reason I haven’t been keeping up with my blog is that I’ve been really busy trying to figure out what I want to do this summer. I know, I know, I should just be enjoying my time here in Grenoble, but all of the things I was interested in doing seemed to have had deadline dates towards the beginning of summer. I put a lot of work into applying for a certain scholarship, as well as a job leading trips for teens, possibly going to Africa for AIDS education, and applying for a stipend from my church to pay for the trip to Africa. Well, all’s well that ends well. I was accepted to Africa, and even received a nice stipend from my church, but I still didn’t feel right spending so much money going to Africa, when I can do that another time in my life. After an exhaustive application process for the job with Wilderness Ventures, I heard word that my phone interview (at 10 o’clock at night) was well received and learned last night that I’d been hired. Not for just any job, but I was asked to be a director for an incredible trip: Costa Rica Community Service! I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am! Not only do I get to lead an all inclusive backpacking, camping, whitewater rafting, sea kayaking, zip line through the jungle, volcano exploring, surfing trip, but I also get to engage in helping the Costa Rican community by helping with schools and children and rehabilitating sea turtle habitats—and helping teens do it too! I couldn’t ask for a greater opportunity, and I’m getting paid a decent amount considering that I will be the director for the trip! Now I just have to brush up on my Spanish…quite a feat when I’m in France. If you’d like to check out the trip I’ll be leading, go here:

http://www.wildernessventures.com/summer_programs/trip.php?id=57&cat_id=6

I’ll be in Costa Rica all summer long, leading two trips. I just can’t wait!

So, back to my adventures in France… We have our second spring break coming up in about, oh, 3 days, and I feel like I’m the only one without plans. I’d really like to go to Italy, but our program director is driving to Barcelona with my friends, and I might as well get in on the ride. Though I’ve been to Barcelona, it will still be great, and I’ll get to practice my Spanish, and hopefully not get confused with the Catalan spoken in the background.

France is great, I’m definitely getting used to it. I was speaking with my friend Amy who is studying in Barcelona, and we were just realizing the adaptability that we have been required to exude. It’s really cool to look back and realize all of the qualms I had with the French culture and all of the cultures I’ve encountered in my travels, and know that I’ve been very open to them. There are still some things that I can’t get used to, like the fact that all of Europe smells like a toilet, and that few Europeans have a problem with the fact that there is never a toilet seat at your disposal, or soap in the public bathrooms. It’s like hygiene was invented when Columbus crossed the ocean. Nah, just kidding. But seriously. And l still don’t understand why dogs don’t even have to decency to do their business outside of the sidewalk. And I still don’t understand why everyone feels the need to suck his or her lover’s face off in the middle of a McDonalds line. Really? You feel the need to show fast food restaurants your undying passion? It makes me want to lose my milkshake. And I still don’t… well, you get the point. There are many more cultural differences, but they don’t bother me like they used to. Except that laundry costs more than 7 dollars a load—that, I will never appreciate.

Well, I will try to keep up the blogging, thanks for being interested in my life abroad. I just needed a jump-start, I didn’t think that I could everything, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Much love to you all,
Gabby