DUBLIN, IRELAND

Go raibh maith agat, Dublin

My weekend in Dublin was probably the best weekend I’ve had abroad so far. I’m not entirely sure if that’s because I was reunited with my best friends or because Dublin is actually an amazing city, but I’m going to say those two factors accentuated one another.

Lauren, Shayna and I spent our entire first day on a 12-hour trip to the opposite side of Ireland, actually. From our hostel in Dublin we hopped on a tour bus to see the Cliffs of Moher. The drive was incredible and we got to see beautiful sights of the countryside as well as the Western coast of Ireland. The only thing we didn’t REALLY get to see were the Cliffs themselves. When we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher our expectations were big, but the fog was bigger. It made for some hilarious pictures and videos though.

As you can see, well, you can’t. There was no view. But luckily for us we made a pit stop at the “mini Cliffs of Moher” a little further into our journey which were actually beautiful and left us imagining what the real cliffs must be like

 

That night we met up with Cari and headed to Bad Ass Cafe in Temple Bar, which fully showed us what life in Dublin was like. Live music, dancing Irish men, endless pints of beer and good food. Also a strange amount of bachelor parties seemed to be celebrating in Dublin for the weekend.

Our next day was spent almost entirely at the Guinness Storehouse, where all four of us got to pour our own first Guinness and drink them from the top floor with an amazing view overlooking Dublin. That night we met up with a group of Cari’s friends (most of whom went to USC and I had never met before – such a small world) and went out to a bar for the night. The next day was time for brunch and exploring the city, which were both fantastic.

Being back with Shayna, Lauren and Cari made it feel just like Columbia – which was constantly the topic of our conversations. It also made us realize how truly blessed we were, because right when you think “it doesn’t get any better than having the opportunity to travel Europe” well, it does when you can do it with your best friends.

So thank you (go raibh maith agat), Dublin, for an amazing weekend.
I will see you again someday!

FWOC

First week of classes, check.

(Almost).. I wanted to write another blog post before I leave for the weekend, but I do have one more class before my flight.

So far so good with my classes. Turns out there is at least one person I know in all of my classes except one, lucky for me. But that one class… As it turns out, I somehow wound up in a class of only Czech graduate students. I am the only international undergraduate in the room in an extremely complex course. Wonderful! The best part is that my professor decides to call on me for just about every question because it is an international strategies course and, what do you know, I am the only international student. Jokes aside, it is absolutely intimidating and forces me out of my comfort zone, but I think I’ll learn a ton so I’m looking forward to this course more than any others this semester.

  

Before classes started we took a hike to the mock Eiffel Tower of Prague. The view is incredible and it was the most beautiful sunny day we’ve had yet in Prague.

Last night we spent the night in an underground speakeasy bar called U Sudu. It’s such a cool place and you literally have to walk through cave-like tunnels to get around.  

<- SNOW!

Tomorrow I fly to Dublin to see Lauren, Shayna, and Cari. I guess traveling the world with your best friends is actually not as far-fetched as I always thought. Feeling #blessed tonight and always

Say No to Czech Yoga

If you ever find yourself in the Czech Republic with the urge to take a yoga class, don’t.

We (Lauren, Taylor and myself) thought it would be a good idea to go to a hot yoga class yesterday. We didn’t check how much it would cost or even how long the class was, we just saw that a hot yoga class was offered at 5:30 pm so we signed up.

When I think yoga, the words peaceful and rejuvenating come to mind. It’s a great time to take your mind off the stress of the outside world, right? Wrong. This yoga class was the least peaceful thing I’d ever experienced. It turns out we paid $13 to spend 1.5 hours (yes, 1.5 hours) being yelled at in Czech.

I really don’t think the instructor stopped speaking once. Not to catch a breath, not for a moment of silence, not ever. To make matters worse, we didn’t understand a word of it, other than the few English words she yelled in our direction (“Stop stretching!” or “Lay down!”) … After 45 minutes I started to count down, assuming I was in for another 15 minutes of hell. The minutes kept passing and passing, though, and I soon realized that this would be longer than an hour of my life. Ugh.

So like I said… when in the Czech Republic, say NO to yoga.

On a lighter note, some positives of the week:

• Weekend trip to Brussels & Amsterdam is booked
• I treated myself to a Valentines Day gift and am going to a Disclosure concert Sunday night (yes, the night before my first day of classes)
• I get to see Shayna Lauren and Cari in 5 days!!! Dublin here we come
• Classes are starting Monday, so I will actually have some sort of schedule
• The yoga place did have delicious freshly-made juices

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

So many interesting, hilarious things have happened to me in Prague since my last post. They’d take a while to describe, but I’ll sum them up as best I can:

1. Ikea was an EXPERIENCE. I took 3 different means of transportation to get there (a tram, metro, and then bus), couldn’t read a single sign/talk to anyone, and then I ended up sitting down and eating potatoes…. At Ikea. K.
2. My first night out in Prague I got off the wrong tram stop and was trying to figure out which tram to get back on when a friend found me. At 5 am. K again.
3. I tried to buy body lotion from the grocery store twice. Both times it was body wash. On my third try, I found lotion (after having to physically test it out in the store to be sure).
4. To celebrate the Super Bowl, we went to Hooters (how American of us) and stayed there until 3am because of the time difference.
5. Coincidentally ran into a friend from USC, Margaret, on the tram at 4 am.

On another note, I’ve gotten a lot done and figured my way around here pretty well. I made a friend in my program, Lauren, and we got gym memberships together to stay on top of things. This weekend I’m going on a trip to a small Czech town with my program and then next weekend is Dublin, Ireland!

Some photos for my loyal viewers (@grandparents) (@parents)

The Prague Castle and its view:

Goulash soup

Lastly, here is my room. It’s actually bigger than it looks (but yes, I know it’s very boring… workin’ on it)

Move-in day

PRAGUE. I made it.

The first two nights I had to stay in a ‘hotel’ attached to my dorm building because I requested to move in two days early. All of the traveling was getting to me, so I wanted to get settled as fast as possible.

My exchange program sets each foreign student up with a local “buddy” that helps us adjust to life in Prague. Today I met my buddy, named Vlad, and found out that he’s actually from Russia but has lived in Prague for the past 5 years while he’s attended school.

Vlad is incredibly helpful. He picked me up from the airport, helped me set up a Czech phone number, brought me to get my public transportation pass for the month, translates nearly everything for me, and has taken me out to authentic Czech meals twice already. He’s been an amazing tour guide as well, taking me through the city center and to the Prague Castle. Needless to say, my days have been much easier having him as a personal tour guide.

This morning I got to move into my dorm room. I got very lucky with my accommodation – I have my own room with a huge desk, closet, mirror, storage cabinets, balcony and of course my bed. Outside of my actual bedroom is a small kitchen and bathroom area. I’ll share these with another roommate (who hasn’t moved in yet). It’s going to be interesting cooking meals here, as I don’t have an oven or a microwave. I tackled my first experience at a grocery store today too, which was much more different than I would’ve imagined. Since everything was in Czech I definitely guessed on the majority of what I bought.

Now I’m trying to figure out where to find clothes hangers and bathroom towels. Vlad suggested IKEA which I originally laughed at, but he hasn’t let me astray yet, so off to IKEA I go. Maybe I’ll find something to decorate my room with too, since it’s looking pretty boring at the moment.

Also, I would like to send a special happy birthday shoutout to Rachel Bandman today. I am thinking of you and your family always, and I hope you are celebrating accordingly up there today. Rest in peace to the sweetest girl.  “ΧΩ ever after, we’ll remember you”

PARIS, FRANCE

“It’s little me, back from Parí”

It was incredible, as Paris is. Although I have heard that if you want an authentic French feel, Paris is not the place to go and you should go to the smaller towns/cities where tourists aren’t running rampant, but regardless it should be on everyone’s bucket list.

I went to Paris with my friend Mike, his three roommates, and three other girls. All of them were great and easy to be around. On the last day I also got to meet up with Lauren who was coincidentally in Paris that weekend :’) So in the 12 days so far that I’ve been in Europe I got to see all three of my USC roommates from this year, which is absolutely incredible.

For sight-seeing: We toured the Musee de Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower (of course), Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, and a ton more. The Sacré-Cœur Basilica was actually in the backyard of our hostel, which made for a fun 4:30 am adventure to see an incredible view of Paris.

We also went out to a few bars and one club that was right on the water. Very fun but I wouldn’t say the nightlife here was anything to write home about. One night we went to the top of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Paris, onto the 34th floor, and had an unbelievable view of Paris. We had some cosmos and watched the sun set and the Eiffel Tower light up. It was easily one of my favorite moments of the weekend.

For French foods, I stepped outside my comfort zone a bit and tried the following:

• Escargot
• Foie gras ravioli (duck liver) – considered a delicacy in France
• Frog legs
• Crepes, of course

It definitely sounds pretty gross, but the ravioli I had was delicious. I wish I didn’t know what I was eating, but regardless I enjoyed myself.

On the last day we booked our train tickets back to Barcelona. What should have been a 6.5-hour train ride with amazing views through the French countryside turned into an 8-hour train ride in the rain and then an early darkness. Mike and I could barely keep our eyes open, despite a girl named Clementine blasting horrible music right across from us, but it was all for the ~experience~ I suppose. Next time I think we’ll join our friends on the flight.

We got back to Barcelona at 9:30 pm and I headed to Shayna’s from there. Tomorrow I depart for my new home – Prague!