orangescarface asked: I had a crazy dream about you last night that we were at the high school and you gave me piggy back rides through the school and then i gave you one around the softball field. Crazy.

hahaha that is awesome! sounds like something that would actually happen! high school memories that didn’t happen! haha

being home

I guess I never realized how lucky I was that I got to study in another country for a whole semester.  I missed home while I was there, don’t get me wrong, but being back makes me miss that part of my life so much more.  I keep seeing pictures of all of my friends from there and I just want to be back.  It’s such a bittersweet feeling since I missed all my family and friends from home while I was in italy, but now I feel the same exact way about everyone in italy.  While I was living there  I guess i didn’t think about how I was walking the streets of Florence. Florence, Italy. What the hell was I thinking.  I mean I obviously didn’t take it for granted, because i cherished every moment of my trip.  I really did.  But everything lately reminds me of it, and the worst part is, that no one can really relate to it.  I feel bad always saying “in italy” because i feel like i’m being annoying, but there is no other way to explain it.  I mean it’s like saying “when i was in NY” or just another part of my story, but almost all of my stories have something to do with italy.  Everything reminds me of it. Things people say, pictures, the study abroad people that keep coming into my classes and making it worse. It’s been a little over a month since I left Italy. I want to go back. I wish I had the Luxury and money to go whenever I wanted… wouldn’t that be the life.

one day.

My Last Thoughts

Right now I’m sitting on my ten hour plane ride trying to figure out how to sum up the last four months of my life. I knew going into this experience that I would come out having wonderful memories, but I didn’t know I would leave with such amazing friends that I will have for the rest of my life.  Studying abroad doesn’t only give you the opportunity to live in another country, it allows you to get the perspective of how others live and their culture. I don’t want to have to sum up the last four months of my life, because that would mean that it’s over. Although I know some things don’t last forever, I wish this experience could. It has changed the way I look at the world and other people.  I got to live in a country whose language was not English (even though most people in the center spoke it).  I got to be with my Italian friends who took me around to parts of Italy I wouldn’t have gotten to see without them.  I experienced real Italian meals with Jennifer and Lorenzo’s families. Although Italy and Chicago are thousands of miles away, I felt at home.  I now have two homes and unfortunately they aren’t close together.  I know that one day I’ll be back, and hopefully that day is sooner than it is later.  I love Italy and every experience I had there.  It is something that I think every student should experience, even if it’s only for two weeks. It gives you a different outlook on others way of life, their culture and traditions.  I’m really sad that this had to end so quickly, even though I am excited to go home and see everyone but leaving was a bittersweet feeling. Italy will something that will always be on my mind, even when I have no one to reference it with, I’m sure I’ll have something that reminds me of it and I’ll bring it up.  I will never forget my travels here and the wonderful time I had.

Learning Languages

I may or may not have talked about this before but I feel that it is pretty important.  I don’t think that Americans realize how lucky they are that almost all of the rest of the world speak English or incorporate it in their schools.  I remember taking Spanish as a kid and hating it because I didn’t think that I needed to know it.  Well maybe if it was mandatory every day of the week I could have a little bit better knowledge of Spanish.  Maybe if I really tried to learn Italian in high school I could have ended up fluent.  I used to get upset when people in America didn’t speak English and I couldn’t understand them.  Now, I don’t see it that way at all.  We are lucky that when Americans travel around the world the second language is English and we don’t have to worry about it, but what about the other countries who come to America and their language is disregarded.  I just think some Americans are selfish when it comes to learning other languages.  I can’t tell you how many people I met in Europe who could speak for than two languages.  More than two, half the people in America aren’t bilingual(I don’t actually know the statistic).  I just think that we should pay more attention to languages, make it mandatory earlier in school more days a week, Spanish especially because the Spanish speaking population keeps growing.  I for one wish I was bilingual, but instead I can speak one and a half languages.  So I just wanted to put that out there, and next time you get upset for someone not speaking English, think about how you can’t speak their language either and how difficult it might be for them here.  

leaving.

Tomorrow I’m leaving for Rome. It’s my last night in Florence and I’m really sad. Four months passed so quickly. I don’t want to leave. Tomorrow I start my journey with a taxi. I have to take a taxi to the train station, then take a four hour train to Rome. Then a taxi or train to the airport and sleep there ALLLLLL night long in the airport. So excited. Well apparently there are huge storms in Zurich (which is where my layover is) and flights have been canceled. THIS BETTER NOT MESS UP MY FLIGHT. So if I am not around for awhile it’s because I’m living in an airport.  Hope everyone is doing well! I’ll keep you posted!

&&peace

Maggs

The countdown continues

6 days! omg. what a bittersweet feeling.  I had two finals today and I have 3 more left.  That’s all that’s keeping me from chicago. Well that, and the fact that there are train and plane strikes. I might freak out if that affects me. But i guess I just have to hope it doesn’t and continue on if it does.

I’m in no way looking to my trip home though.  I’ve been homeless once in Dublin and it was not that great.  This time I’m going to have like 3 times the luggage and be alone in the Rome airport. SO EXCITED. not.  I guess I just need to look at it that once that’s over I’ll be at home with my family and the ones that i love. I am so excited for that! 

Last night I had a dream about my family and it made me miss them even more. Well like I said before, I won’t go in to details about my feelings until I actually leave because I don’t want to be sad. So on that note, I’ll keep you waiting :)

keep ya posted

&&peace

Maggs

1 week

Today starts the day of my last week in Italy. 7 days. I can’t even believe how it went by so fast. Next week at this time I’ll be an hour away from Chicago and exhausted. I mean I’ll be home, but I’ll probably be dead tired. there will be more posts and conclusions on my trip here, but I’ll save that sappy post for another day. And again, as samaura would say… 7 daysssss

I’ll keep you posted
&& peace
Maggs

Amsterdam! and Den Haag

So I should start off by saying that Amsterdam is in no way how everyone thinks of it.  When people think of smoking weed they say “you have to go to Amsterdam” because there it’s legal and everyone does it.  Well let me tell you, Amsterdam is so much more than that. You can go there and have nothing to do with weed, it’s not the main focus of the city at all.  I went there and fell in love with the city. Everything I did there was a new experience.  We started off by going to the Anne Frank Museum which was their hideout when the Germans invaded the Netherlands.  We got to see their hideout, the rooms and even go to the exact places they stayed.  It was really sad, especially at the end when it showed the order of when they died.  Her father was the only one that survived, and there were interviews with him that really made you think.  It was definitely an overwhelming experience that gave me insight i could never have gained from just being in a lecture in class.  If I ever got the opportunity it would be a excellent experience to visit a concentration camp to really see what went on.  

After the Anne Frank house we walked around a little bit, saw some more of Amsterdam .  Later in the day we met up with our friends emily and jaclyn and went to the Heineken Museum.  My camera died right when we got inside! I was so mad, but the tour was so fun! It wasn’t a boring one, it was interactive and helpful! It taught you how to drink and pour a beer, gave the history on Heineken and how the beer is made.  Of course I didn’t drink it, I’m not 21 yet ;).  We went out that night and had a pretty good time, the city is so pretty at night!

On the last day we went to a small town Den Haag.  It was definitely a very “rich” town. Ben and Anne-Lise brought us to a Panorama Museum, which was a painting of a scene in this dome like structure but all around you.  I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, but maybe snuck one or two.  The last thing we saw in Den Haag was a Peace Palace, it wasn’t much but a pretty sight to see.  

We went home after that and had a little time before our flight at 8pm.  Ben made us a CD of pictures and Anne-Lise made us dinner.  Guess what we had? Reindeer. Yes I ate Reindeer.  Actually you can’t find reindeer in the Netherlands, but Anne-Lise is from Norway so she had brought it back from the last time she was there.  It was actually better than i expected, a softer meat but good.  I feel like being here I have tried so many different foods that I would not have eaten at home. I’m so cultured. (: Well back on topic, I loved the Netherlands, such a beautiful country, and all of the people were so nice, not to mention all of the food Ben and Anne-Lise made us was so yummy!  I hope you enjoyed reading this! I’ll post pictures soon!

&& peace

Maggs

My Wonderful Trip to the Netherlands.DELFT

Alright, so I know that everyone is dying to hear about all of my trips.  Last week for Ireland my video didn’t work, so this week I decided I’d actually write to you about my trip.  Let me start off by saying this was one of the best trips I’ve been on.  I went with my roommate Sarah (who goes to Eastern with me) So Sarah has some family that live in the Netherlands that we stayed with, Ben and Annalise.  They made me feel so at home, like I had a 3^rd set of grandparents.  They were the sweetest people ever! 

We arrived early Thursday and started sightseeing right away.  They took us to Delft, the blue and white city that is known for their blue and white pottery.  The whole time I was there I could only think of my Grandma Frank because I know she loves that stuff.  They took us to the museum where we got to see the history of Royal Delft pottery, how they made it and how painted it.  I’m pretty sure I took a good 150 pictures on the first day.  I loved it there.  After that, they drove us around the town and took us to see a church where all the royals are married and buried etc.  There wasn’t much to the church except that royals, but it was still a pretty sight.  We walked more around the town and then they took us to the Vermeer museum. I’m not usually one for art, but I really enjoyed looking at his stuff and reading it.  I also must comment on how beautiful Delft was.  The architecture and the Canals are just beautiful.  It’s a little quaint town, but there is so much to it. I could sit there forever and just hang out.  Might I also mention that EVERYONE, and i mean everyone rides bikes in the Netherlands, to the point where there is a separate painted bike like on all of the streets for the bikes.  Kinda cool if you ask me. Anyways, I really enjoyed my first day there we went back to the house after and Annalise cooked us some delicious food.  It’s always nice to have a home cooked meal. (:  Well that was delft

I’ll keep you posted!

&&peace

Maggs