27 June 2014

Catching Up

Ok. So, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. The last few weeks have been a bit crazy. The last time I blogged it was my second to last day in Europe. Now, it’s been five days that I’ve been home and I now find myself sitting in my very messy, overstuffed room in Los Alamitos.

I don’t even really know where to go with this post specifically—other than just catch everyone up on the last few weeks. I plan on writing at least a few more posts as I adjust to life back at home since that’s a big part of the study abroad experience as well.

So here goes. I got to spend my last night in Europe in Paris. It was very nice and a bit emotional. I got there in the late afternoon because the trains were striking. So, I walked around a bit. I got a nutella crêpe and an espresso in a café. Then, I headed over to Pont des Arts to put my lock on the lock bridge as I’d blogged about doing months ago! (I’ll probably do a separate post for this soon.) Then I treated myself to a nice last dinner before going back to my hostel and preparing for a 25 hour long day of travel to meet my mom and my sister in Costa Rica.

And yes. 25 hours straight. That included getting up and getting on a shuttle to Charles de Gaulle; chilling at the airport there; getting on a nine hour flight from Paris to Miami; stressing out having to go through luggage claims, customs, and security again in less than an hour so I could hug my mom and sister; having a 6 hour layover in Miami where it was the afternoon and it was around 1 AM in the time zone my body had been in (however, I sat on the floor of the terminal watching the world cup for a while so that was nice); then getting on a second two and a half hour flight to San José, Costa Rica; going through customs; getting a taxi; and arriving at the hotel where my mom and sister were. Yeah, it was a long day. I wasn’t too tired all things considered thanks to following probably some of the best travel advice I’ve gotten—being that rather than making yourself stay awake since it’ll be nighttime when you land or whatever, just sleep when you’re tired, eat when you’re hungry. You’ll have to adjust to the time change no matter what so just take care of yourself in the process.

Our week in Costa Rica was incredible! We stayed in a resort which was very nice. Multiple pools, really good food, access to the beach, zip lining, massages (which my shoulders really needed—that backpack I’d been carrying around shocked my family with how heavy it was), and lots of quality time with my mom and my sister! It was also incredibly hot and humid—something I’m definitely not used to. We all did pretty well with sunscreen and bug spray until about the last day where my mom and I got decently burnt.

Then, after a week of relaxing and getting to be with people I loved, it was time to start the journey home to the U.S. I was feeling really excited about getting to get home and see my dad at the airport and start seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a while. The flights seemed to take way longer that day. But it was nice having company for the first time in a while to travel with.

Being purely honest, however, and not trying to be a downer, pretty much from the moment the pilot announced our descent into L.A. until pulling up to my house—I fought tears and/or cried. Which I felt bad about doing with all of my family being so excited to see me and have me back. But the closer we got to actually landing the more real it was that my semester abroad was and is over. It was a bit overwhelming. I saw huge skyscraper buildings, the color brown everywhere, thousands of cars driving on multiple lane highways and freeways, advertisements all in English for American brands, traffic, smog… and I’m not trying to rip on LA but talk about a culture shock. If you’ve seen my pictures of Cannes where I’ve gotten used to flying into Nice over the Mediterranean Sea with pink and yellow houses that come into view in the little hills around the city—you can imagine, I’m sure, the stark difference. So that just really hit me all at once with it all coming into view.

And now I’m sitting here. It’s been a few days that I’ve had to be home. I’ve gotten to see some friends. I’ve eaten more cheeseburgers already than I think I did all semester abroad. I already had doctor and dentist appointments: fun fact, my teeth got healthier while I was gone. I did get to go line dancing at one of my favorite places on Wednesday night which was a blast. Yesterday night I got to see the new house my mom bought while I was gone and that she’s moving into next month.

I think the scary thing is that… things really do feel almost exactly the same. I kind of feel like I never left. Which I’m sure to family and friends seems outrageous. But truly, I’ve already shared lots of stories and told people about my trip and these things are so vivid in my head but they feel so far removed. It really does make me wonder at times if it all really did happen or if it was all some weird dream. And luckily I’ve got social media and friends from Cannes liking my photos. And I’ve got this blog. And I’ve got photos and videos. I know it happened. I think my biggest worry is just that I’ll go back to being exactly who I was before I left and that the person I got to be while I was gone will somehow just go away. And I know that’s not true. But it does leave me, and a lot of my AIFS friends as well, in this weird space of trying to incorporate a ton of new things about yourself into what really feels like an old way of life.


It may sound a bit dramatic. But I know the people that have traveled or have done something like study abroad can relate. And I know the people who’ve been consistently reading this blog, even if they can’t fully understand, can see what I mean when I say these sorts of things. So here we go, snapping back to reality a bit. Catching up.

13 June 2014

Lessons I've Learned Here



It’s my second to last day here in Europe which is pretty hard to believe! I’ve been in Rouen for the last few days staying with my friend Léa’s family which has been awesome! During the days I got to explore Rouen a bit on my own and do some shopping and then come home to a home and have dinner with them. Last night was probably my favorite because it just felt like such a French dinner. I got back from town around 7:30 PM. We had an aperitif and talked while dinner was being cooked, then ate dinner which was delicious, then had cheese, then had dessert which was a homemade tarte, and then continued to sit and talk until about 11:30. All in French. So, that was pretty incredible.

Today I took my time getting up and starting to get stuff ready to go to Paris tomorrow 
afternoon/night, have my last day here, and then get on a flight Sunday morning! I went into town to buy my train ticket. The trains are on strike tomorrow so the hours are more limited which is a bit of a bummer—I won’t have as much time in Paris as I was originally thinking but I also don’t want to make myself get up super early.

Anyways I ended up sitting at a café for a bit to journal. I’ve started making all of  these little lists, most of which I’ll most likely end up posting after I’m actually home and can reflect on everything a bit more. I actually jotted down 4-5 pages of all of the memories that popped into my head—there’s a LOT that’s happened here. But rather than harp on all that, I thought for now it would be fun to post this little list, so here goes, in no particular order other than how they popped into my head. 

Some of the Lessons I Learned in My Time Abroad:

1.       Goofy things always happen on crowded busses (people falling, luggage sliding places, etc.)
2.       You really don’t need too many things
3.       Hoodies and b-ball shorts are SUPER American, as are peanut butter and re-usable water bottles
4.       You’d be surprised at how many things you can fit into a backpack
5.       Europe’s wifi is incredible; so easy to find
6.       So is it’s public transportation system (besides maybe SNCF)
7.       NOT planning where you or things in your life will end up is one of the best things you can do
8.       However, when it comes to booking a hostel or a hotel, look for location first
9.       How much the country/region we live in impact our identity—more so than I thought before leaving my own
10.   Being humble and being afraid are two different things
11.   There are some peoples’ personalities that just don’t connect with yours, and that’s ok. There are also people you will meet that just immediately understand you, and you them, and that’s pretty magical.
12.   The French “bisous” is just about the cutest thing
13.   Always double check plane and/or train departure times
14.   Don’t pack stationary for studying abroad
15.   Buy a plethora of stamps for postcards so you don’t have to constantly go buy them one by one from the post office
16.   Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or to ask a question again until it’s clear—this can save you a lot of time and grief
17.   Have a well thought out backup plan if you don’t have a cell phone
18.   Don’t constantly convert how much money you’re spending on a trip like this…
19.   …But at the same time… BUDGET
20.   Don’t be scared to be weird. I probably met some of the weirdest but simultaneously coolest, best people here (and let’s face it, most people are pretty weird)
21.   Sometimes it’s fun to wander and fun to go somewhere you know nothing about
22.   Tours can feel lame and touristy but not knowing what things are = also lame.
23.   Be alone sometimes
24.   Take care of yourself
25.   Take time to do nothing
26.   Sunscreen
27.   Try new foods
28.   Talking to a stranger can be way more fun than sitting and listening to your ipod
29.   Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone is almost always scary but almost always worth it
30.   Try your hardest not to judge other people
31.   Try your hardest to truly love yourself
32.   Enjoy the little things

That’s all for now! I’m sure I’ll more to the list in the days and weeks and months and years… ok well, forever pretty much, to come. For now tonight we’re going out to dinner and seeing lights on the cathedral! Then, tomorrow, last day, ending in Paris. Then Sunday morning, it’s Au Revoir Europe and hello Costa Rica with my mom and sister who I cannot wait to see!

07 June 2014

Where in the World is Amanda Marcus?

Alright! So it’s been about a week since Cannes came to a close. It’s gone by very fast already, however. I figured I should sit down and spend some time filling everyone in on what I’ve been up to these days. There’s a lot!

I was writing the last post from Corsica, which was incredible! We were staying in this little town called Algajora, which none of us could figure out how to pronounce. I actually kind of fell in love with it though! There wasn’t much to do besides enjoy the beach. We went to this one café to use their wifi at least like 3 times. So basically got to vacation for 4-5 days with two awesome girl friends, Cassie and Elsa. 

Algajora!
Not too bad, eh?


Got a pretty good tan going so that’s always nice. 

We did take a day and go see Ile Rousse. There we walked around and grocery shopped. Probably one of my favorite nights was us cooking a meal at home! We bought pasta and Elsa whipped up this really fancy great little meal with pasta, pesto, peppers, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Plus, of course (of Corse! Ha! That’s the French word for Corsica.. sorry), we bought a fresh baguette which we had with cheese and snacked on while Elsa cooked. That night we went and sat on this rock overlooking the sea and talked and looked up at the stars.
Elsa's masterpiece.
View from the rock we ended up sitting on that last night.
The next day was my last day. We did our usual beach thing. Wanted to paddle board but it was way too windy. Then, I got on a train, said bye to my friends, and headed out on my own! Went and had dinner in Calvi which is where the port is. I took an overnight ferry and decided to invest in a cabin which was the best decision. I basically got on the boat, slept in a bed, and woke up at 7 AM in Nice!

Me being exhausted after making it to
the ferry in my very denim-y outfit.
That morning was very stressful because I just spent the first like 4 hours doing nothing but lugging around my 4 months’ worth of luggage—a pretty heavy suitcase, my backpack, and a big purse. It’s not too horrible but it does suck on travel days to be carrying approximately 80 pounds of stuff. Anyways I found a bus to go to the Nice Airport where I used the wifi, paid for lockers for my stuff, and so on. It all just took forever. I went and got a Starbucks at Cap3000, a mall right by the airport, before taking a bus into Nice to spend my last day on the Côte d’Azur!

I treated myself to the best lunch: moules frites (muscles and fries) with bread and coffee. I had brought my swimsuit and despite the fact that I had a flight later I had to go for a last swim in the sea. The water was just too blue and beautiful and I’m going to miss it a lot so I put stuff in a locker, laid on the rocky beach of Nice sans towel (which I forgot of course), swam a bit, then dried off. I got sunburnt though which wasn’t too fun. Also got some gelato. Then headed back to the Nice Airport to repack my stuff for the flight.  I was only allowed 20 kg of stuff in my checked bag and I had 30… I also met some American girls on the bus who I became friends with and who were on my flight and staying in my hostel! Made it through without having to pay more for all my luggage thanks to their help, too. Then, it was au revoir to the south of France, my home <3 I cried a bit when the plane took off, not gonna lie.

Nice!
But then.. I was back to one of my favorite countries: Ireland! I spent that night in Dublin. Then woke up too early the next day for a Game of Thrones Tour which was … pretty awesome. We drove up north and got to see some of the filming locations for Winterfell and other scenes in the show.

The bus.
This guy... He's the keeper of the place.
Everyone walking in their costumes.
Winterfell archery!!! Season 1 episode 1!


Then last night I was expecting to just go get some food and have a night in to watch the most recent GoT episode, and blog, and post photos… which if you’re my friend on Facebook you can guess didn’t happen yesterday and is taking place now instead. I went to this restaurant and pub called Celt’s where I sat at the bar (being alone and all). I met this guy named Ahmad, however, who’s half American and half Saudi Arabian and who was also staying at Isaac’s Hostel! So I ate and we got into a really good conversation. Before I knew it, the was the most adorable little Irish man playing guitar and singing! So I ended up staying there pretty late meeting Irish people, dancing, singing along to the songs I (like No, Nay, Never—one of my favs—and Alive-oh!). It was a pretty perfect night and I had a blast.

Then today I had a train to Cork. I didn’t double check the time though and missed it. Then managed to lose my ticket on the way to the office to change it. So… that was just a comedy of errors and I was quite tired. But, managed to make it onto a train and now I’m in Cork! I got here and was starving. My hostel is really nice though. They get discounts at - pizza place that was right around the corner, so I put my stuff in my room, went and ate a whole pizza, and came back to shower and have my relaxing night in tonight. Then I’ll have lots of energy for a full day here tomorrow! I really like Cork so far though. I haven’t gone to the city center yet but it’s supposedly pretty small. It was only about a 10 minute walk from the train station to my hostel which was nice.

As far as the rest of my plans, I fly from Cork to Paris on Monday. Then I’m taking a train to Rouen to stay with my friend Léa which I’m actually SUPER excited about! I get to stay at her house and she said we can eat together and stuff at night, which seems like such a little thing but is going to be very fun for me to be in a really authentically French household. I’m expecting to speak a lot of French. I think it’s going to be the perfect way to round out the trip before leaving Europe! (Aw man typing that made me a bit sad.) I’ll probably take some trips during the day to explore Normandy, which I’ve just been really drawn to for a while. So, I definitely plan to go see Mont St. Michel and the beaches. Might go to Versailles just ‘cause I’ve never been. But might also just spend my days wandering and sitting in cafés and reading newspapers or journaling or whatever. We’ll see!

I do have to say, traveling alone so far is pretty great. I mean that’s the thing, I can have a plan or not have a plan and it doesn’t really matter. I can go get a pizza for myself at like 4:30 just because I’M hungry and it sounds good to me. Not that I don’t like traveling with others for that reason, but there’s just such a freedom in just getting to self-indulge a bit. To treat yourself. To decide how much you want to dish out for a nice meal or not. To rest when you want to rest. Do literally whatever you want without having to consult anyone else.

And I’ve managed to meet a lot of really awesome people! Which I considered would possibly happen, but I’ve been a little overwhelmed at just how easy it is to make friends. I think there’s also something to say for: 1. It being Ireland and everyone is so nice and I just love it here  for that reason. But 2. The people that are backpacking around Europe at my age tend to be pretty outgoing no matter what country they’re from. And there’s just an instant bond that’s created when you can talk about travel. When you meet someone else just as thirsty for the world as you. Someone who understands the huge life changing impact traveling can have, but also relates to the little struggles and the goofy things that happen when you’re doing so.

Other than that I’ve just had a lot of time to myself to listen to music or to think. I’m very thankful for that. And very thankful that I didn’t go straight home, because this travel has given me a good buffer between the culture shock of going home quite yet. I’ve gotten to drag out the goodbyes a bit and process things a bit more. I go back and forth between absolutely loving what I’m doing and then when things get difficult, starting to really want to be home. Maybe not even home home. But as incredible as this is, it’ll be nice to be in one place for a while I think. To not have to be living out of a suitcase. And dragging it around everywhere or worrying about where you’re leaving it.


Anyways. I’m very happy with how I’ve spent this time so far and looking forward to one more week, going back to France, and then meeting my mom and sister in Costa Rica on the 15th! Crazy! And, yes, trust me, I’m aware of how crazy that sentence is to be able to say.

02 June 2014

Au Revoir, Cannes

Well, I’ve officially left Cannes. Our semester abroad is over. I’m lucky enough to get to stay abroad for a few more weeks unlike many of my peers. So, I’m now sitting in a little apartment in Corsica, far removed from the goodbyes that took place two days ago. In all honesty, Cassie, Elsa, and I have all agreed that it does not feel like it’s over. We feel like we’re on another weekend trip. It just seems like soon we’ll be heading back home to Cannes again to see all of our friends and tell them all of our adventures… but we’re not.

I’m never good with goodbyes. And I know that. I know that the actual goodbyes are the hardest. But as those last few days came up I think we all pretended a bit that it wasn’t actually happening. And maybe it sounds a bit overdramatic, but the thing is, this study abroad experience has been something we’ve dreamt about and prepared for for months if not years. And it was all coming to an end. We did it. And there’s pride and joy in that. And speaking for myself, there’s nothing more I felt I needed to do. Nothing I regret. Nothing I think I missed out on. I just genuinely was so happy here. (There, I guess now.) I think for a lot of us, that was the most free we’ve ever been. Free to be whoever we wanted. To do what we wanted. It was, in a weird way, a time to play and enjoy life, which most of us, as college students, haven’t done in such a long time. So, it’s hard to let that go.

And more than that. It’s very hard to let go of the people you did it with. In four months, I made friends that I know will last a lifetime. Who know more about me than maybe even most of my friends back at home in California. Who’ve seen me at my best and worst moments here. Who’ve heard all of my stories. I’ve met people here that have changed my life. Young women that I admire and respect so much and who’ve taught me so much. People that have loved and accepted me in a way that you don’t get in normal day-to-day life. It’s not to say I’m not loved or accepted at home, because I am. Overwhelmingly so. But it’s different here.

And then there’s the place. Cannes. With the stunning blue sea that gives it it’s place on the Côte d’Azur. The little streets. The old port with one of my favorite little pubs where we sang karaoke every Wednesday night. The Suquet—probably one of my favorite streets in the world. Rue Meynadier where all the cheap shops were. And Rue d’Antibes and La Croisette and the Hôtel de Ville. The clubs. The Palais where just a few weeks ago the most fabulous people walked the red carpet. The Carlton. The islands just off the coast. All these things I sat and stared out at from the Musée de la Castre on my last night. Just me, alone. And I cried. Just looking out at this incredible little town. Seeing every which way I had walked or stumbled in my heels after long nights of walking. Seeing all the nooks and crannies of the town we’d discovered in the four months. All the places that we as a group, lived and laughed and loved. Cliché, sure. But it’s true.

That night we had almost everyone out on the beach. Just sitting and talking and laughing. Reminiscing. Pushing off the goodbyes until the morning. Enjoying each other’s company, some of us, maybe for the last time in our lives. I never wanted to leave. But eventually, needed to get some sleep said some goodbyes to AIFS friends as well as local friends (shout-out to Louie who I know read my last blog and who came that night to say goodbye!).

Then. The morning came. No matter how much we didn’t want it to. I woke up and watched the sun-rise with London, David, and Rachel. Some of my closest friends here who I wrote about in the Barcelona trip—our first weekend trip. We had bonded so much and traveled so many places together. And again, I expected us to wake up early and sit on the beach and cry. I didn’t feel the need to.

But then, I came back to my room. My roommate Sky had already left at 5 AM. I will see her at Chapman in a few months so that wasn’t too hard. I began to pack the rest of my things and broke down. I know London was doing the same in the room next to me. We ended up talking and crying together as the time we would have together began to really wind down. From there, the waterworks pretty much didn’t end. I saw a big group of people off, including London and Margaret. And we just bawled and kept hugging until the cars actually drove away. Me and Rachel especially. It’s one thing to leave your family and friends at home and cry and say “see you in 4 and a half months…” but entirely different when people who you see every day and are so close to are leaving, and you really don’t know when you’ll see them, even if you plan to.

I was the next group to leave. So I shared lots of sad hugs. Cried more. Got my deposit back for my key. Then, we walked under the archway of the college waving a last goodbye and left. Simple as that. But it felt very surreal. And it still hasn’t fully hit me that I’m not going back.
And now, multiple bus rides, a confusing ferry ride, a crazy taxi-ish ride to an apartment with no wifi, and 2 days in Corsica later, here I am.

I’m sure I’ll have more final thoughts after reflecting a bit more. But all I can say for now, is despite how hard it was to say goodbye, I think it just goes to show what an incredible experience I had. I’m sad to say goodbye. But I think part of all of the tears was an overwhelming happiness that it happened. The experience was worth whatever sadness or culture shock is to come a thousand times over. I think my roommate Grace said it best that most of us, I think, found what we were looking for here. I know I did.


And now I get to adventure for a few more weeks!! So I’m loving Corsica and excited for what will come out of the next few weeks. The chapter is closed on Cannes for now in some ways, but now I get to be in another different but equally exciting time of my life.