Leave Your F*cking Phone On

Classic story...never gets old...


Man backpacks through Europe for 2 weeks...girlfriend FORGETS he's leaving...girlfriends many attempts to get in touch with him during his trip!

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Really busy at work today (too busy to make a real post) so I'll leave you with this diddy for today. Planning on posting on the coonery of Real Housewives of Atlanta shortly (I will be doing extensive research and forcing myself to sit through the train-wreck). :)

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Sinnin or Winnin?

Officially putting myself back on the market as of today.

I’m tired of being single! It was fun while it lasted, but I was lying to myself!! I told myself… Southern…you like being single. You like having “options” and being able to just do "whatever" whenever. The problem was…I didn’t do “whatever” because I didn’t feel comfortable doing that while not in a relationship. Isnt that something?

Vegas was a real eye opener. Firstly, as I always do, I told myself I was going to have a great time. You’re going to meet some hot (and nice) guy and hang out, make a real connection, and maybe hook up. Now…here’s the real me. I don’t hook up with random guys- I’ve got too many body concerns and I’m afraid of STD’s. I don’t trust anyone with my life. Even when I’m BLACKOUT drunk…I still have the common sense not to go wandering off with some random guy.

Well…as I stated before…Vegas was an eye opener. I had told myself that I wouldn’t risk my life for the sake of fun and that, as long as I was cautious with who I spent my time with, I’d be fine. I’d have my brothers and a friend nearby so I’d definitely always be safe. The very first night…I ended up in a club by myself lol. I was ditched…probably for strippers or something like that... Worst part? I didn’t care! I wanted to be alone- maybe meet a guy- maybe go back to his room. ITS FUCKIN VEGAS! So here I am at the bar buying myself a shot when a guy comes up and pays for it for me. Cool…I’m thinking….this is a good start. I wander around the club dancing with this guy for a bit and then, of course, I have to pee. It takes me about 30 minutes to even GET TO the bathroom and then I wait in line for like 20 and when I finally come out…I can’t find that guy. Its way too crowded to try and wander around looking for him so I again just get on the dance floor and dance. I’m pleasantly tipsy by this point and I just don’t give a damn. I headed to the bar again on a lame song and decide to get a mixed drink instead of a shot. Another guy buys it and as we drink, we get to talking. Enjoying our convo (can’t tell you for the life of me what it was about now…lol) we head to the back of the club where there are booths to sit in. It was slightly awkward because his friends would appear every so often and gesture and make those goofy “OOOO You’re going to get some” faces and noises that they think girls are too stupid to know about. I’m tired so I tell him that I’m ready to go. As we near Harrah’s (where I stayed)…he smiles and says that this is also his hotel. Opportunity? Is that you? I opt out of doing anything this night…though I did insinuate that maaaaaaybe something could happen. We make a lunch and dinner date for the next day and I go to my room. Night 1 was fun!

I guess I’ll spoil it for you guys- I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THIS GUY!!! Lol! I could have…but I didn’t want to. I just didn’t feel right about it. The next day was the same guy, same situation. Out drinking and dancing...blah blah blah. He was really drunk and I had been picking on him all night so, as we were leaving, I said I’ll walk you back to your room to make sure YOU make it home tonight. That is so OBVIOUS but I thought I’d gauge his reaction. This is as close as I had come to wanting to hook up in years so…why not? Um…HELL NO! We grabbed some food and headed to his room. By the time we got there… PUKING. This guy was SICK! We walked in the door and he started puking all over the place. I went into… “mother” mode or something. Took off his clothes…dragged him to the toilet…patted him on the back and got him water while he puked. When it finally slowed down…I flopped him in his bed on his side (so he wouldn’t choke) and I sat there waiting for his friends to come back. I waited for about an hour…then…realizing that they’d see him on his bed half naked and assume stuff…I left! Ruined it for me. I probably might have done something with this guy. Needless to say…we didn’t hang out the next day or anything like that. I know…its not his fault…but I saw him half naked (didn’t want him to puke on his clothes) with upchuck all over him. Not a good vision.

The next day I went clubbing sans brothers and decided to get fucked up and find a new guy to chit chat with and have fun! I spent the night dancing with some random guy the entire night. We kept running to the bar and buying shots or drinks and got sooooo messed up that we couldn’t find the beat if we wanted to. THAT was fun. There was no one else there but me and him. Realizing that I might do something bad though…I parted ways and headed home. ANTICLIMATIC? I know!!! I’m so dumb sometimes!

Anyway…I’m gonna snag a man here in Atlanta. I’m tired of being single! Updates on that soon!
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Vegas Baby!

Well...

Back from Vegas and I have no idea where to begin! I had such a good time its not even funny!! I drank every night, partied, gambled...it was crazy. Jet lag is killing me now though...

Warning- this will probably be a little long and very haphazard as I have so much to say and so little time to do it (gotta catch up at work...). I'll make a more organized post on the fun stuff (clubbing/sexing/drama) later!

In preparation for my trip...I did some research. Looked up clubs that played my kind of music, looked up ideas on how much money to take, what to wear...everything. Most of those guides were slightly off though, so here's mine (pics included).

Initial Prep:

Dont believe the hype- several websites told me that $500 bucks would be enough for Vegas. I didn't plan on gambling, so that took away a big chunk of necessary cash. My hotel had a pretty cheap buffet and a McDonalds right downstairs, so that also helped. I was on a $100 dollar a day budget. I didnt need clothes nor do I ever buy souveniers! So you figure $50 to get in the club and buy two drinks, $50 to eat for the day. Sounds ok? Well...no. I mean I wasnt stupid, I brought $1000.00 instead but...uh...the hotel actually took a $400.00 deposit and I did indeed end up gambling Next time Im bringing $1400.00 for spending and $1000.00 for gambling. You live and learn.

FOOD/Drink

OMG! Vegas has some of the most amazing food available. Wolfgang Puck has like 5 restaurants (I was too poor to eat at any of them...maybe next time) and I saw at least one of Bobby Flays restaurants. The buffets though; amazing! The first day we got really drunk and headed over to the Rio hotel to hit up their world famous Carnival World buffet. DELICIOUS! Its $17 for lunch and $24 for dinner but you can stay and eat as long as you want. We went around lunch with the intent of staying through dinner. They had EVERYTHING. Its as long as a football field and has 10+ cuisines from around the world. Good eating!

My hotel (Harrah's) also had a pretty good buffet- Flavors. They had a nice mix of cuisine for a decent price (15 bucks I think). They also had this early morning special (1 a.m. to 6 a.m.) for Steak and eggs for 5.99! We did that every day after clubbing. In fact...most places had a cheap steak and egg or steak and shrimp/lobster deal going on daily! Be aware of that!

Also try the Paradise Buffet in Old Las Vegas. It was about $16.00 but sooooo good. Crab legs, shrimp, roast beef (so good!) and steaks cooked on a grill in front of you the way you like! Huge array of desserts as well as tons of meat and vegetables! Great place!

In terms of drinking...yea...there are several ways to beat the system here. One: find a liquor store (do NOT purchase in or near your hotel, they will rip you off). Get a bottle of cheap shit and make it last. Two: go play the penny slots. I won about $100.00 bucks in total and as long as you're gambling, people will bring you drinks! They are stronger in Old Las Vegas (Ill discuss later) so if you can get there, do it.

Partying

I'm into Hip Hop/Reggae/R&B/Reggaeton, so this is biased towards those. The first night, we couldn't figure out what we wanted to do. A friend didn't bring the right clothes for the club so he couldn't go. I ended up going to this club called Poetry which is in Caesars Palace (where Hangover was filmed!). It bills itself as *the* black club (in that they only play hip hop/R&B etc) and I had a good time. I got in for free because I put myself on the guest list (others paid $30...put yourself on guest lists!) and I met this nice guy who I hung out with over the course of the next few days. Its kind of small and very crowded but the music was good!

The next night we decided to go back to Poetry because T-Pain was supposed to be revealing a new artist there. They were giving women free champagne until midnight and so I had about 30 by then and was messed up. Jet lag kicked in at about 1 a.m. Vegas time so we all left and headed home! Never did find out if T-Pain actually showed!

The third night we were planning to head to Prive in Planet Hollywood because Lil Jon was going to be there but out of sheer laziness I headed across the street to the Mirage Hotel to try out Jet Nightclub. AMAZING! Probably one of my favorite clubs. They played a mix of music(a lot of Michael Jackson due to his passing) and while it was packed (at least 1000 ppl in there) there was room to walk and dance comfortably. It was just me and a friend and we bounced from corner to corner of the club. They have HUGE shots in there and we probably drank a little too much. Good times all around! They apparently have other rooms to party in but we were too drunk to care!



On Sunday, we went to Pure which is also in Caesars. AMAZING. It is a huge and beautiful club. White furniture with color themed lighting and a beautiful rooftop view. Unfortunately for us, we got stuck on the rooftop because a Kardashian had rented out the bottom of the club for a birthday party or something. It was probably like 98+ degrees (at 10 p.m. lol) but it was good. We drank too much (paid for it the next day) but had a good time dancing and enjoying the view.




Beautiful huh?

On Monday half of us had spent the whole day in bed puking our guts up and nursing horrible headaches. We did not go out...Monday was not a good day...

Sightseeing

Things you have to do:

-Sirens of Treasure Island

-Bellagio Fountains
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-Fremont Street (Old Las Vegas) - amazing sights and sounds and good drinks. The gambling odds (I hear) are also better. My brothers and I were winning some nice dough [pic]. Pretty good when you think that I only put a dollar in to start!

-Walk the strip (wear tennis shoes)

Gambling

DO IT! Even if you don't think you will like it...you can play penny slots so you wont lose much money! I recommend Caesar's Palace or Golden Nugget (Old Las Vegas) as they have a pretty diverse amount of machines. Something for everyone in there! Also..find the Monopoly Super Grand Hotel Machine! Great fun !!

This was kind of haphazard because I have so much to say but so little space! Hopefully you get the jist of where I'm going here and I'll probably talk more about my trip and post my actual pictures (haven't uploaded yet!) in the coming days/weeks!

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VEGAS!!!!!!!

IN VEGAS BABY!



Well... I will be... tomorrow! My first time hittin' Sin City up! Should prove to be much fun! I will be there from the 25th to the 30th(last minute prep etc on 24th!) so...will not be posting for the next couple of days. Also may need a few days extra to post bail (lmao- hope not) and/or recover. <3>

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Stranger Things Have Happened

I have a way with people...



...a way with pissing them off without technically doing anything. Everywhere I go…I get into the most random or awkward situations without my prompting. For instance, I was in Italy for about 3 months…three damn months…and here is one of the many interesting situations that I was in…

-------Me v. The Stinky Feet Man-------




So a friend and I are on our way out to a club to meet up with the rest of our friends when I and a seemingly homeless man get into an altercation on the bus. We were running late because we got on the bus on the wrong side of the route and had to ride to the end of the route then stay on as it started over (meaning we'd be on for almost an hour!!). The bus REEKS…as if something has died and I look around to see what dead body the smell is leaking from. I then notice the source of the smell: this homeless guy has his shoes off and his dirty, crusty socks are airing out…I swear I could see that cartoonish green smoke rising up from the socks. My friend and I are so disgusted and sickened by the smell that I, who is on the other side of the bus and behind the guy, decide to open my window to let some fresh air in. A few minutes later the homeless man moves, which surprised me because he smelled dead, and looks around to see where the cool air is coming from. When he sees my window, he swiftly jumps up, closes it and heads back to his seat, as if he didn’t see my friend and I sitting there. I, still reeling from his scent hovering above me as he closed the window, open it back up. A few minutes later he again feels the air, gets up and closes it again, this time telling me something to the effect of leave it closed. I, being the self-righteous American that I am, look at him, shocked at his bravery, and basically say I’ll do whatever the hell I want and open it back up…this time putting a t-shirt or something in it to hold it open. He jumps up again, yanks the shirt out and throws it in my face, then closes the window.

Now, when he makes this aggressive move, I assume he’s going to hit me with his fists as this all happened in a matter of seconds. I’m sitting in the seat and at an obvious disadvantage if he does hit me, so I swing my fists up (technically an undercut) which shocks him and sends him reeling back to his seat. I open the window again and we begin cursing each other out in Italian (and some English because this is still early on in my trip and I don’t know all the words yet). These Africans, who spoke English, eventually intervene and tell us that he probably has a knife and could kill us – to which I reply if he was going to stab me he would have done so already…he’s not going to do shit (this is typical me and, yes I realize it will probably get me killed one day lol). The night ends with me and the Pazzo ('crazy man' in Italian) eventually laughing and joking. He even says goodnight on his way off the bus.

As we see him making his way into the bus station we notice that he has this HORRIBLE LIMP to the point where he can barely walk. My friend has always accused me of attacking a handicapped man…but I always defend myself in saying that he probably twisted his ankle when he got up while the bus was moving to attack me. He wasn’t too handicapped to attack me…and that’s all I have to say about that lol.


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Brazil, My Exotic Fantasy!

Don't ask me why, but ever since middle school Brazil has been my Dream Vacation Spot.

OH BRAZIL!

The People, The Geography, The Music, The Food! I've been given the impression that everything about Brazil is simply beautiful!  *dreamy sigh*

I'm aware that every nation has its challenges, but forget about that. When I visit I'm just going to be a tourist, and I can't imagine a better location to lose ALL my inhibitions and just go crazy, haha. I'm laughing just thinking about how much fun I'd have...

When I travel I like to take full advantage of unique opportunities offered by that country. I seek an emersion-esque experience. I don't know a great deal about Brazil, but I'd love to beach crawl, dance in the Scorching HOT afro-latino-portuguese outdoor & indoor clubs, stay up late listening to street drummers, "give a go" at some of the local martial arts, and of course take a CAUTIOUS trip into the rain forest.

Man, now I'm looking around at my albeit beautiful town and suddenly yearning for a tropical sensation. I want to feel the sun and warm rain fall lightly on my skin. I want to drink some exotic beverages and eat "strange" local cuisine. I want to be surrounded by lush vegetation and smiling foreign, yet familiar, faces.

Yeah, I think I'm being hit by the travel bug as I type. Too bad La Moneda has NOT hit my wallet recently, haha.

Oh well, I'll just shake my head for now and go back to living my everyday life. Presently, I'm just trying to fulfill my career dreams, and when I do, I suspect a trip, or frequent trips, to Brazil will definitely be in order.

I'm going out on a limb and stating, "Brazil, 2012! I'll be there!" Feel free to invite yourself, :-) .  You may have a hard time keeping up with me, though, haha. 

Be well,

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Where in the world...?!

I've only been to two other countries (not including layover areas)...Canada and China...multiple times...I mean Canada is huge and China (is as well) is more diverse than most people would suspect

But...I haven't really been anywhere else...I haven't even ventured off the east coast...farthest I've gone is Tennesee...woot flippin' woot.

I guess that's a lot more than a lot of people have visited...but there is so much more out there that I haven't seen.

EUROPE...That's definitely somewhere I want to be. To me, it's like China. Land anywhere and you can go anywhere else and everything is different from everything else even if you just cross a bridge to the next village/town/country border. (Well, China has certain restrictions on certain areas.)

AFRICA...If I wasn't such a succulent treat to mosquitoes, I would definitely try to make it over there at some point. While the decision to take African Studies classes in college was solely based on a guaranteed A/A-, I did learn some stuff and it's all really interesting. The professor didn't dwell on geography so much as the social studies aspect. And besides, PYRAMIDS!!!

THE REST OF THE USofA...I'd love to visit Cali and other spots around the country. I wouldn't mind revisiting Florida...ahhahaa

Other places I'd like to see...(but, sorry, second place to the areas above):

Anything south of the Tex-Mex border. There are some spots I'd like to hit up but I honestly don't know enough about central/south America and those terrible quality 80s and early 90s educational films didn't really make it appealing.

Australia/New Zealand...I heard it's BEAUTIFUL there. All these bad weekend adventure shows on the WB (like BEASTMASTER and THE LOST WORLD...who can forget XENA and HERCULES) were all shot in either Canada or New Zealand. Lord of the Rings was shot there, too! But I'm not much of an athlete..at all..so I'm not sure how well I'd fair there. hahahaha But it's a nice thought!

I don't see why I wouldn't return to China but definitely also on my list! And I guess when I'm there, I can visit other Asian countries as well but I have no deep desire to see any ONE in particular.

WOOOH..that's a full plate

If you've been to any of these places, lemme know about them!!!
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Traveling

Oh the places I'd go...



So… in continuation of our collaborative posts from a few weeks back where we talked about our travels...we were asked to discuss where we would go in the world if we could go anywhere no matter cost or anything like that. I went to Rome, Italy on my Language Study Abroad program, which is probably a lot of people’s top destination buuut…since I’ve been there…that doesn’t count.

So where would I, Southern Substance go? I’m not going to be all cliché and say Oo…I’d go to the Motherland (Mother Africa) and see my people blah blah blah. To be very blunt (and possibly semi-ignorant) I want very little to do with Africa. Not interested in seeing the motherland or “my people” at all for many reasons. One- since I can’t pinpoint where my family exactly came from due to slavery…I’m not going to claim a whole continent. My home is the USA…yea that realization sucks…but that’s the way it is. Again…not claiming a continent. Two- I just have no desire to be there at all. I’m not an outdoorsy person, I hate hot weather, I hate bugs and dirt. I’ve been spoiled by my life here – I want AC everywhere I go, clean water (or the ability to get to clean water asap), working plumbing, etc etc. Yes…I know that African countries have all of this but shit…looking at pictures of places my friends went and considered beautiful…no. Beautiful people…but not interested.

Where does that leave me? I really did enjoy Italy and am kicking myself because I didn’t travel around Europe while there. I’d probably go to Spain next. Hot guys, good music, good festivities and food, beautiful country. From pictures that I’ve seen it is a very colorful place (ding my artistic side is happy) and very lively (ding my party side is happy). I wouldn’t go during the running of the bulls though, because I hate animal abuse, and clearly I wouldn’t go and see a bullfight. Other than that- sign me up for anything! That Tomatina Tomato Fight, Carnival, and Flamenco shows- sign me up! I would of course do some research before going and maybe learn a little essential Spanish but yea.



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China Pt. 2 - "Poop on the Street"

At the suggestion of Southern Substance, I'm posting another entry from my Chinese study abroad journal. Setting: Shanghai, China. This time it was early morning, and I'd just walked two blocks from my apartment on my way to my Kung Fu lesson! Suddenly...

Shanghai might be a really modern and beautiful city, but I don't ever remember seeing a huge pile of human feces on a Beijing Sidewalk ...  The emotions I experienced in this instance:

...............................

*Was going to post something deep earlier today about how all people/s are the same (from observations I've made and such), but I don't feel like struggling with English right now, haha.  You have no idea how hard it's become for me to express my ideas clearly and succinctly.

Ah well

Okay, now I'm getting sad, lol. If only I could turn back the hands of time. Even after the China experience ended, life was so great. I had junior summer on campus with friends and a remarkably eventful senior year. I guess life is really how Anna Nalick wrote in that song a few years back, "Breathe (2am)."

"Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable and life's like an hourglass glued to the table. No one can find the rewind button girl, so cradle your head in your hands.
And breathe...just breathe"

Once again, Be well! Read more...

The RUNS in China...It's an Epic Sport

Chinese food doesn't agree with me...and I'm Chinese.

Well...I guess the difference would be my family is from southern China. We eat vegetables and fish. In the north, where I studied for 3 months, I didn't get a lot of vegetables or fish and everything I ate was GREASY.

gross.

Ok. My time in China...Priceless. Loved seeing my culture and my people's history!

But BOY did I have the runs for 3 months!!! UGH. And this is on top of food poisoning on a 2 week trip.

One thing I learned, is how to hold all that shit in. LITERALLY. I managed to avoid using the SQUATTERS except when I went up a mountain and had to ditch the group when I felt like I was going through menopause...hot one second, freezing the next. I found the ROW of public squatter restrooms I saw as I headed up the mountain. By the time I got to the restrooms, I felt better so I thought I would just pee. The smell as I stepped into the port-o-potty style holes in the ground was UGH!!! I thought, o well. But the second I closed the door the STENCH enveloped me and triggered stomach spasms. In other words: I hurled BIG time.

I have good aim with my projectile vomit. Everything ended up in the hole and I pressed the button on the side of the port-o-potty that moved the bag down like a diaper genie. Awesome.

Obviously there is more to my stay in China other than ughtastic bowel movement. I'll save the boring stuff for another post.

Let this story STEW for a little bit. YUM
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Qué Onda México?

GUEST COLUMN:

When I landed in Mexico, I was broke and without a cell phone. I lost my card running through the Houston airport terminal trying to make my flight and by the time I landed in Mexico, my cell phone had lost all service. I spent my first night with my home-stay family trying to explain how I needed to call America and order a replacement and that it was toll-free. Thank God the father of the house spoke some English and after 12 transfers and two hours later, my new card would be sent by next week. What a way to enter a foreign country right? My family however was more than understanding and helpful.

I would say from there it was smooth sailing but like life, there is never a clear path. Yet, there are all ways green patches.

I spent three months in Puebla, Mexico, from January to March, studying Spanish language and culture through my school's study abroad program. It wasn't like the Mexico that is portrayed in America. Some of the people in Mexico are well-to-do; I mean really well to do. They have their 1% of wealth just like in America. I went to college with kids wearing Burberry handbags, and Gucci and Prada flip-flops.

Besides the classes, I liked spending time and talking with my family the most. I wish I would have spent more time with them. The mother cooked me anything I wanted even though I didn't want much. The father loved talking politics, and the grandson was one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. They taught me so much about the Mexican dynamics of family and how much people loved Barack Obama better than Bush.

Through my program, I climbed pyramids and visited ancient cities like Teohucan where the Aztecs lived. I've walked through a coffee plantation, witnessed the production of chocolate in the form we know it as, and saw how much effort goes into making a rug. I bought a really nice one! Soccer games have more edge to them in Mexico. I learned some colorful new vocabulary that day. On a more dangerous note, I learned old Mexican horses and mountains don't mix, but it may be worth it to see a waterfall.

Too me it felt like I had celebrity status in Mexico, but after a while the staring got boring. Due to Mexico's homogenous population, people started at me, asked me about my hair and how it could be braided, and even took pictures with some of my black friends. Later we learned that a deep-seeded prejudice against Afro-Mexicans exist and those Afro-Mexicans have been exiled. But you wouldn't know it just by asking someone. There is also prejudice against the Native people of Mexico. Looks like Mexico and America have more in common than what they thought.

All in all, I would not trade my experiences in Mexico for the world! I think everyone should at some point in their lives leave their home countries and go exploring. Not on some touristic, happy camera snapping exploring, but more so on a profound culturist approach. I miss the family I stayed with and the people I met their A LOT!! Especially this homosexual guy named Martin, who only spoke in English and loved everything European and the word "Wetback." Problematic, I know, but he was great fun. Oh yeah, one of the best parts was visiting a market that sold silver jewelry at damn near free prices.

-Shayla Mars

Shayla Mars is orignially from the southside of Chicago,IL but now currently goes to school in the wilderness known as Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. She is a Spanish minor and Cultural Studies major.

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ROMA BABY!!

Ciao Roma! Sei stati Belissima! Mi Manca Sempre!



(Goodbye Rome! You were beautiful! I will miss you forever!)

In order to meet my foreign language requirement at Dartmouth, I decided to take Italian rather than Spanish and it was one of the best decisions I have EVER made! After excelling in my courses and getting a better picture of what Rome meant outside of Gladiators and Pasta (mmm PASTA!)…I couldn’t turn down a chance to go see some of the most beautiful architecture, art, sculptures, and of course, men in the world.




I expected a lot from this trip: I wanted to meet a hot Italian guy to show me around the city and teach me the language (/wink), I wanted to eat some of the best food in the world and see some of the greatest art out there, I wanted to make friends with people on my trip, I wanted to have a great time and try new and amazing things.

I got most of my wishes…minus the Italian boytoy lol. Turns out all the guys in Italy are 5’4 LOL. I was sooo nervous about making friends as I knew NONE of the people who happened to be on my trip but it wasn’t a problem at all. The first day after class, I expressed my interest in finding a bar to celebrate and 6 others on my trip wanted to too. Everyone else wanted to go sight seeing (NERDS! We had 3 months to do that :P). There were five main partiers (known on the trip as Le Cinque or The Five) and we made the most of it. First week we got kicked out of a few clubs because one of our buds was drunk and almost fighting. Pretty much every day for the first month we came to class hungover or still drunk. Good times. Especially since I still got better grades than most of the people who stayed home and studied every day!

Found an amazing eatery right by the school which was cheap as well as an internet café where we could go and eat/drink after class while studying together. Also…a gelateria (if you don’t know what this is…your life isn’t complete yet!). Our school was also nestled in among some of the most beautiful and amazing places: Foro Romano, Coliseum, Parthenon (Temple of Athena!) etc etc! Amazing! Of course I also paid a visit to the Vatican (though I'm not Catholic)!

I have so many wonderful memories from the trip…I guess I’ll share:

- Trip to Florence – was an amazing trip! Went down just for a weekend for a “project” but ended up partying our asses off. Stayed in this horrible hostel which had these strict rules. The doors locked at 3 a.m. and they wouldn’t let anyone back in until 8 a.m. aaaaand to top it off…they cleaned the place at 10 a.m. and kicked EVERYONE out until 2 p.m. We had found some amazing club and stayed there until like 5 a.m. and then found some open air party and chilled there for a bit. When we finally got back in the hostel and passed out we were awoken and kicked out for several hours. At that point…I and one friend managed to be not hung over enough to go and see the Statue of David and steal a few pics. Everyone else was too sick to go. That’s how hard we partied!

- Got an almost two week vacation in the middle of the trip (the day after my 21st bday!!!) and me and Le Cinque +2 decided to head South. We went to Sicily for most of that vacation and rented out an apartment right near the beach. AMAZING!!!! We just stocked up on food and liquor and partied for the entire time!!!!! Our apartment was gorgeous and the view was sooo beautiful! We stopped by Pompeii on our way down and visited Positano and Capri as well (GORGEOUS).

- Fammi! One of Le Cinque’s host moms! She was AMAZING- fun, knew where all the parties were, and was rarely home. We crashed at her place a lot after hard nights of partying, even playing drinking games with her. She was AMAZING – I liked her a lot!

I so desperately want to go back but it won’t be the same without those people I went with. It was such an amazing trip and we all cried when we realized that it had to end and we had to go back to the States!! Kept in touch with most of the kids when I got back to school- partying with them and recreating our dinners together- but those things always seem to fade. I kind of wish I could go back to that term and do it all over again though! Che bellissima Viaggia (What a beautiful trip!). Read more...

Hope You Have the Time of Your Life

Traveling abroad was by far the highlight of my college career. I spent a good chunk of time in China, including a 3 month stint living alone and working in Shanghai, China. Here's an excerpt from my journal that I wrote at the time. China was a funny, exciting, challenging, phenomenal place!

One interesting story:

So today, after scoping out two apartments, one of which I've since accepted, I hailed a taxi to take me back to Mike's place. Of course I had no success finding a taxi on the main road, so I had to walk down an abandoned residential street to find one. I get in, and ask "Ni zhidao Hongchao Shanghai Cheng ma?," my destination. The driver responds "Yes. You speak Chinese very well!" (of course he does this in Chinese). So, I get in and after he starts driving, I take notice of the driver's ID picture that is displayed on the dashboard. To my dismay, the picture and the driver sitting next to me look NOTHING alike...very sketchy. Almost immediately the driver says "You are young, maybe 20 years old." I respond by asking "what makes you think that?" His answer, "the skin on your hands is very smooth and taught."!!!! I begin to silently panic. My driver is getting creepier and creepier.

The next thing I notice is that this particular taxi driver is VERY ANIMATED, as in he uses his hands A LOT when speaking. Okay, there's no way to adequately describe his gesticulations or speech, but, basically, the guy was the most FLAMING MAINLAND homosexual I had yet come across in China, haha (Those who know me know that I have nothing against homosexuals).

He and I begin talking about a lot of stuff including why I'm in China, how long, where i've been, the "Japanese devils," friends, salaries, etc. All of a sudden he passes me a white glove and tells me to wipe off the side view mirror. I do so, but as I hand him back the glove, I can't help but think he wanted my fingerprints on it so he could later frame me for the murder of the cab's true driver (need I remind you of the dashboard ID picture!!) No matter, I dismiss the thought....

We continue talking, and I laugh out loud about something. As I do so, I look over at him and he smiles giddily saying "I like you." Once again I am creeped out, because Chinese taxi drivers never behave in this manner...ever! He then proceeds to ask me where I am coming from, and rather than giving him the location of the apartment I'd just agreed to rent, I mention a different one (just didn't want to have worry about walking outside my future apartment one morning and seeing him waiting there for me, haha). So yada yada yada, we talk for a long time, and he ultimately requests that I join him for dinner one night at his rich friend's restaurant. He pulls out the business card for this restaurant, writes down his name and cell number, and gives it to me. WHAT! Mind you he still hadn't explained the picture or what became of the real taxi driver...

*later found out that my driver was covering for the actual cab owner who had called in sick.

Ultimately, I ended up paying 35 kuai for a trip that should have only been 15. The driver got so caught up talking to me and asking me weird questions that he drove at about 10 mph the entire time and missed all the right turns. I really liked the guy, but I was a little pissed about the cost. On the bright side, I got a lot of speaking practice.

Okay, enough and goodnight

I Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane. Isn't nostalgia the best?

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