i am writing from montblanc, in spain, in the montains! i am working on a farm this week through an organization called WWOOF, world wide organic farming... something like that! it is so relaxing being here, for the next week i will be living on the top of a mountain, helping run a guest house and taking care of animals and helping out in the garden. also i will only be speaking spanish! this is really fun, but i realize there are so many more things i want to say that i dont know how to say. i can get by pretty well so far though and i am learning more words everyday. it took me a while to remember how to speak spanish, but i think i am getting in a good groove. i wish i could post pictures! it is sooo beautiful here, there are just rolling hills and mountains of green and the air is fresh and its so beautiful and life is so simple. its all about food and people and maintaining the land. everything is run on solar power, i think, and we only use the amount of water we absolutely need. water here is sort of scarce, its a strange mix because it sort of feels tropical but at the same time it is a desert... i dont really get it yet how it all works!
barcelona was incredible. i met amazing people through couchsurfing, not to stay with them but just to hang out during the days. Andres from chile showed us around the city by bike, Rosita from sicily hung out and we spoke in spanish about sicily and barcelona and she took us to a cool place for dinner and we all had a lot of laughs all trying to speak spanish! We also hung out with kathryn´s sister rachel who is studying abroad in barcelona and she was so much fun! really sweet person. barcelona is a beautiful mix of the beach, gaudi´s architecture, interesting people, good food, and a ton of stuff to do, all night long! people go out til like 5am, we couldnt handle staying out that late but we did have some good times! it was a great experience and i am excited to wind down now and sink into the simple lifestyle of working on this farm! i am the only volunteer right now, so i bought a book which i currently forget the name of, and i have been journaling a lot, and there seem to be a million places to go on walks to explore. right now though i am so tired from barcelona that i have been napping in the hammock and not doing a whole lot!
this experience since my semester ended has been so special, everything seems to be culminating to the next thing... like there are so many things about these travels that only can happen because of something in my past that has led me here. it feels like destiny. it is really amazing, i have to go now! adios,
jodi
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
amazing.
the journey has begun. my semester ended, i got really sick the last few days, just made it to the kew gardens and then it was all packing and trying to rest after that! the kew gardens are beautiful though, amazing collections of all kinds of trees and flowers and cacti and other plants.
i dont have time for everything really... but i had an amazing time connecting with my relatives in glenluce scotland! where they live is beautiful and they were all soo kind to me for having not known i existed and all. i stayed on the street where my great, great (yes count em) grandfathers sister lived. she married a man who owned a grocery store, they had a daughter named Mattie. Mattie is my great grandfathers cousin. She is now 92 years old, and she lives on the same street where the grocery store was where my grandfather went to visit maybe 50 or 60 years ago! It was magical driving around scotland, i saw a castle and robert burns' cottage, and most importantly i was in the company of some really really sweet distant relatives who took such good care of me. it was mattie and her son and daughter George and Veda. I even saw my great great grandfathers sisters grave! i know its sort of ridiculously distant... but it was a great trip.
after scotland i stayed in keswick with another distant cousin named Nan and her husband Sam. they live in the lakes district. the view out of my window was of a mountain and a field of sheep below it. i also had a keyboard in my room with headphones so i could play music! we went to see wordsworths cottage in grasmere and i mainly just drank tea a lot and ate good food and read my book and relaxed! i did a hike on the last day and it was beautiful,cant wait to share pictures. i will have to have a picture party at this point when i get back because uploading will take forever.
after that i flew to Florence to stay with Rachael and it was sooo amazing!!! My first night there rach and i went to an open mic at Be Bop and played a bunch of songs together!! The next night we were giving out food to the homeless with ppl rach volunteers with and they took us out for a huge dinner and i practiced what little italian i knew with everyone and ate more than any human should! but it was sooo delicious. wednesday i went to see the david and the boboli gardens and we all went out later that night to go dancing. thursday i met up with Emily and Jamie from LC and got a tour of san lorenzo from rachaels friend carolina. then i climbed the duomo and ate the freshest mozzerella ever! the man was making it at a market and i almost died when i ate it, we got a huge ball of it and went to the park. i love italy.
i am in bologna now staying here for a night before i go fly to barcelona to meet up with spencer and chris (they rock they were on my london program)! today i ate the best pizza ever, they rolled the dough before my eyes and put it in the oven and put it right on my plate fresh out of the oven. it was incredible. then i ate the best gelato ever... and almost died again. instead i came back here to update you all. i miss everyone and i am looking forward to the rest of my travels. wish me luck! lots of love to all of you,
Jodi
i dont have time for everything really... but i had an amazing time connecting with my relatives in glenluce scotland! where they live is beautiful and they were all soo kind to me for having not known i existed and all. i stayed on the street where my great, great (yes count em) grandfathers sister lived. she married a man who owned a grocery store, they had a daughter named Mattie. Mattie is my great grandfathers cousin. She is now 92 years old, and she lives on the same street where the grocery store was where my grandfather went to visit maybe 50 or 60 years ago! It was magical driving around scotland, i saw a castle and robert burns' cottage, and most importantly i was in the company of some really really sweet distant relatives who took such good care of me. it was mattie and her son and daughter George and Veda. I even saw my great great grandfathers sisters grave! i know its sort of ridiculously distant... but it was a great trip.
after scotland i stayed in keswick with another distant cousin named Nan and her husband Sam. they live in the lakes district. the view out of my window was of a mountain and a field of sheep below it. i also had a keyboard in my room with headphones so i could play music! we went to see wordsworths cottage in grasmere and i mainly just drank tea a lot and ate good food and read my book and relaxed! i did a hike on the last day and it was beautiful,cant wait to share pictures. i will have to have a picture party at this point when i get back because uploading will take forever.
after that i flew to Florence to stay with Rachael and it was sooo amazing!!! My first night there rach and i went to an open mic at Be Bop and played a bunch of songs together!! The next night we were giving out food to the homeless with ppl rach volunteers with and they took us out for a huge dinner and i practiced what little italian i knew with everyone and ate more than any human should! but it was sooo delicious. wednesday i went to see the david and the boboli gardens and we all went out later that night to go dancing. thursday i met up with Emily and Jamie from LC and got a tour of san lorenzo from rachaels friend carolina. then i climbed the duomo and ate the freshest mozzerella ever! the man was making it at a market and i almost died when i ate it, we got a huge ball of it and went to the park. i love italy.
i am in bologna now staying here for a night before i go fly to barcelona to meet up with spencer and chris (they rock they were on my london program)! today i ate the best pizza ever, they rolled the dough before my eyes and put it in the oven and put it right on my plate fresh out of the oven. it was incredible. then i ate the best gelato ever... and almost died again. instead i came back here to update you all. i miss everyone and i am looking forward to the rest of my travels. wish me luck! lots of love to all of you,
Jodi
Monday, April 7, 2008
Whirlwind Week
The end is in sight and there's no slowing down! Last week I had lots of work due (for London studying standards) and this week we have finals! So on days where I didn't do as much, presumably I was working on papers and studying ;)
After my spontaneous trip to Wales where I got to sit on the beach and play guitar, and work on the train ride back, I worked on my paper for Matthew's class about feminism in musicology and practice. It was really interesting but I probably didn't give myself enough time to decently discuss everything in this 8 page research paper.
Wednesday night I ventured to the national theatre with Dylan and our LC visitor from the Munich program, Cathrine (spelling?) who is a lot of fun and we all went to see "The Hour We Knew Nothing of Eachother," which is an hour and 45 minutes long, with absolutely no dialogue, but plenty of interactions and so much content. It takes place on a city street as characters walk by and the whole thing was constantly interesting and really hilarious. So glad I got to see it.
Thursday we had 6 hours of theatre class, all presentations, including mine on Community Theatre which is this cool idea/practice founded by Ann Jellicoe where you get a community together who has never acted or necessarily been involved in theatre and put on a huge production involving hundreds of people in the community, with the help of a handful of professionals (the playwright, and some who teach acting skills, stagemanaging). It was interesting but really exhausting to sit there for 6 HOURS!
After class we raced to the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, which normally might take 45 minutes to get to but the Jubilee Line was closed--I read in the paper the next day there was a power failure and people were stuck on some trains for 3 hours! luckily i didn't leave sooner. I got separated from the group and asked a number of strangers who pointed me in the right direction so I made it just in time for the 15 minute late entrance into this awesome play about immigration into the UK and how challenging it is for people to go through this process with all the many cultural differences. It was SO good. Not to mention before we left, I made a dish inspired by Rachael-- pasta with meat sauce and garlic and deliciousness with red wine and dark chocolate with hazelnuts to follow (I had to indulge after 6 hours of class!).
Friday was beautiful outside! Tessa and I woke up early and I wore my sandals for the first time ever in London. It was also warm on thursday but i didn't get to go outside much. But yes we woke up early and made it 5th in line to buy front row tickets to see Hairspray the musical! We waited for almost 2 hours, and I wrote some letters to my long lost relatives in Scotland while we waited, and we got the tickets! then we bought picnic supplies and back to the flat to pick up my guitar, a few others, and some study materials and went to hyde park to the princess diana memorial with a sheet and laid in the sun and dipped our feet in the fountain and I took a nap and then played frisbee and guitar! It was SO NICE and WARM.
Saturday we took a trip to York, I had another picnic in the museum gardens there among some ruins near the river, and tasted some local brews at a pub, and then went to the open galleries all around town, one of which was in a guys house on Portland street, which was so fitting because it reminds me of first thursdays in portland where they open up all the galleries all over town late at night (except this was during the day). the art was really cool and interesting. i prefer small doses to the intense huge museums i've been going to everywhere! i ended the day going to evensong at the minster, which was a huge huge church, with a crazy painted organ, and a funny choir complete with a 9 year old girl picking her nose :).
Sunday... you won't believe this, but I woke up to HUGE snowflakes falling. In the morning I made a snowman, and went to see the olympic torch go by notting hill gate, and then ate delicious pizza at this italian pizza place in the area. THEN went back to make HOT COCOA to warm up... then we went to see more of the olympic torch, which was wild because the free tibet protests got soo intense they made the torch runner have to turn around and change his course. it was so chaotic with the protestors chanting, people cheering on the runner, police sirens going off, and churchbells of st pauls ringing in the distance, it was really overwhelming and incredible. after THIS dylan and i headed to the globe theatre to see an amazing mix of 5 minute scenes from shakespeare plays-- sooo good! we stood in the pit and it snowed again towards the end, it was absolutely freezing, but so amazing to see a performance in this space. and there's MORE, right after this performance we raced back to royal albert hall for a performance of british classical music. that building is soo beautiful, it was nice to be in big warm comfortable chairs after a day spent out in the cold. by the night the snow had melted, and now its sunny again but still cold.
talk about a weather shift! Today I've been getting some work done, and tonight we have a class performance where I'm going to sing a cappella with the group and maybe play a song on guitar. This is sort of the condensed version, can't wait to show pictures of the snow in hyde park! it was magical, and especially CRAZY considering i had been in sandals and a t-shirt two days prior to the snow!
OH one more thing -- My letters reached the relatives in Scotland and one has responded and is allowing me to stay with her for a night, I am soo excited to meet them! It is my grandfathers cousin and her daughter who I'll be visiting in SW Scotland. More on travel plans to come. I love you all, and think of you often,
Jodi
After my spontaneous trip to Wales where I got to sit on the beach and play guitar, and work on the train ride back, I worked on my paper for Matthew's class about feminism in musicology and practice. It was really interesting but I probably didn't give myself enough time to decently discuss everything in this 8 page research paper.
Wednesday night I ventured to the national theatre with Dylan and our LC visitor from the Munich program, Cathrine (spelling?) who is a lot of fun and we all went to see "The Hour We Knew Nothing of Eachother," which is an hour and 45 minutes long, with absolutely no dialogue, but plenty of interactions and so much content. It takes place on a city street as characters walk by and the whole thing was constantly interesting and really hilarious. So glad I got to see it.
Thursday we had 6 hours of theatre class, all presentations, including mine on Community Theatre which is this cool idea/practice founded by Ann Jellicoe where you get a community together who has never acted or necessarily been involved in theatre and put on a huge production involving hundreds of people in the community, with the help of a handful of professionals (the playwright, and some who teach acting skills, stagemanaging). It was interesting but really exhausting to sit there for 6 HOURS!
After class we raced to the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, which normally might take 45 minutes to get to but the Jubilee Line was closed--I read in the paper the next day there was a power failure and people were stuck on some trains for 3 hours! luckily i didn't leave sooner. I got separated from the group and asked a number of strangers who pointed me in the right direction so I made it just in time for the 15 minute late entrance into this awesome play about immigration into the UK and how challenging it is for people to go through this process with all the many cultural differences. It was SO good. Not to mention before we left, I made a dish inspired by Rachael-- pasta with meat sauce and garlic and deliciousness with red wine and dark chocolate with hazelnuts to follow (I had to indulge after 6 hours of class!).
Friday was beautiful outside! Tessa and I woke up early and I wore my sandals for the first time ever in London. It was also warm on thursday but i didn't get to go outside much. But yes we woke up early and made it 5th in line to buy front row tickets to see Hairspray the musical! We waited for almost 2 hours, and I wrote some letters to my long lost relatives in Scotland while we waited, and we got the tickets! then we bought picnic supplies and back to the flat to pick up my guitar, a few others, and some study materials and went to hyde park to the princess diana memorial with a sheet and laid in the sun and dipped our feet in the fountain and I took a nap and then played frisbee and guitar! It was SO NICE and WARM.
Saturday we took a trip to York, I had another picnic in the museum gardens there among some ruins near the river, and tasted some local brews at a pub, and then went to the open galleries all around town, one of which was in a guys house on Portland street, which was so fitting because it reminds me of first thursdays in portland where they open up all the galleries all over town late at night (except this was during the day). the art was really cool and interesting. i prefer small doses to the intense huge museums i've been going to everywhere! i ended the day going to evensong at the minster, which was a huge huge church, with a crazy painted organ, and a funny choir complete with a 9 year old girl picking her nose :).
Sunday... you won't believe this, but I woke up to HUGE snowflakes falling. In the morning I made a snowman, and went to see the olympic torch go by notting hill gate, and then ate delicious pizza at this italian pizza place in the area. THEN went back to make HOT COCOA to warm up... then we went to see more of the olympic torch, which was wild because the free tibet protests got soo intense they made the torch runner have to turn around and change his course. it was so chaotic with the protestors chanting, people cheering on the runner, police sirens going off, and churchbells of st pauls ringing in the distance, it was really overwhelming and incredible. after THIS dylan and i headed to the globe theatre to see an amazing mix of 5 minute scenes from shakespeare plays-- sooo good! we stood in the pit and it snowed again towards the end, it was absolutely freezing, but so amazing to see a performance in this space. and there's MORE, right after this performance we raced back to royal albert hall for a performance of british classical music. that building is soo beautiful, it was nice to be in big warm comfortable chairs after a day spent out in the cold. by the night the snow had melted, and now its sunny again but still cold.
talk about a weather shift! Today I've been getting some work done, and tonight we have a class performance where I'm going to sing a cappella with the group and maybe play a song on guitar. This is sort of the condensed version, can't wait to show pictures of the snow in hyde park! it was magical, and especially CRAZY considering i had been in sandals and a t-shirt two days prior to the snow!
OH one more thing -- My letters reached the relatives in Scotland and one has responded and is allowing me to stay with her for a night, I am soo excited to meet them! It is my grandfathers cousin and her daughter who I'll be visiting in SW Scotland. More on travel plans to come. I love you all, and think of you often,
Jodi
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Gotta Love the Irish
Hey everyone!
Sorry its been a while since I've blogged, as you can guess I've been very busy living and traveling. I actually just took a trip to Wales VERY last minute to spend the night at what I planned to be a bed and breakfast by the sea, but I'm in a cheap hotel instead. The plus side is I'm sitting in the lounge/bar downstairs with wireless internet listening to these men play some beautiful jazz music with some wonderful saxaphone tones. Our program allowed for 75 pounds to go towards sleeping accommodation IF we stay in the UK, and since the republic of Ireland is technically part of europe, my hostels there won't be reimbursed -- SO I decided to take a little getaway trip by myself to a little town called Llandudno (double L = Cl sound, and I don't know about the "dn" part) and stay the night here compliments of LC. The train ride was beautiful and surprisingly packed, I lucked out when a man missed his train and so i could take his reserved seat at a table and do some work on my papers.
I'm in Northern Wales just north of snowdonia national park, I'm going to see if I can at least train my way back through the park tomorrow.
I guess it's almost been TWO weeks. Two weeks ago I had a crazy week. For the past two months I've had extremely irritated itchy skin, esp at night, and after seeing many doctors I found out that I had scabies--tiny mites that burrow into your skin and lay eggs. So Thursday night after seeing a wonderfully bizarre play called the Homecoming (about a truly odd family, but with very good acting), my entire flat had to be treated for scabies (I live with 18 other people). Luckily my friends here are incredibly awesome, and we sort of turned it into a party. You have to cover your skin in a creamy lotion and leave it on for 24 hours. So "operation drunk and creamy" was taken on, whether or not people drank-- it was really nice of everyone to take this potentially awkward uncomfortable circumstance and make it a celebration! Since the treatment I've been doing much better. I think we've all bonded a lot as well since that! I was upset with doctors i'd seen for not catching what I had sooner, I was thinking of spreading scabies awareness so no one has to endure such terrible itchiness as I did! Thats for another time though.
Saturday morning I left way early in the morning for Ireland. Spencer and I took a bus to find Rachael Maddox at her hostel in Dublin, and the three of us wondered the streets and met lots of nice dubliners. Then we met up with Tessa and Kelsey and the amazing guy they were couchsurfing with -- Eric! He took us to a 2pm pillowfight just at the top of Grafton Street (where Once was filmed). I participated in a much larger pillowfight in Portland my freshmen year, and they've been spreading around the world. Complete strangers meet in a specified place and at 2pm a horn blows and they pull pillows out of their bags and hit eachother with pillows! It was a little intense but really fun. Then the police broke it up, guess they didn't like the pillowfight idea.
Eric showed us all around Dublin, we got the best chips in town, saw lots of cathedrals and the castle there and Trinity college, and ended at one of the oldest pubs in town for a half-pint of guinness. We all liked him so much that Spence, Rach and I asked if we could stay at his place on Tuesday night after we went to Galway and the west coast of Ireland, and he agreed! That night we went to the famous Temple Bar and Rach and I danced a lot and met strangers, and the night ended with live street performers and dancing in the streets! I have some video :) It was very hippy and amazing. We slept on Dylan's friends floor that night, which was unbearably COLD and we all woke up shivering! I moved to a tiny couch and fell back asleep all crouched in a ball. Not ideal! but free.
Sunday morning (Easter!) we spent on a bus going to Galway, slept most of the way, and checked into a hostel there. In honor of bakeries being closed for Easter, there were people giving away fresh baked bread that was going to get thrown away, so we ended up walking around with this loaf of bread for a while! Theres a lovely river that goes through town, and we walked along there... returned to the hostel for a nap, got Doner Kebabs! And ate our fresh bread with Nutella. That night we went out to a pub which ended up being really amazing, fun music, followed by LIVE amazingly talented performers doing mostly cover songs ranging from The Who, to Rage Against the Machine, to Muse. It was really really good though! And we were right up close. Galway seemed like a pretty welcoming city. Pretty diverse and seemed pretty gay-friendly as well from what I could tell.
That night we had a experience I probably shouldn't write about because people will fear for the rest of my travels! We stayed in a mixed hostel with 12 bunks, and at 4 in the morning we wake up to some guy yelling at this other guy... then i hear a stream of piss, and quickly dash to the foot of my bed to gather my coat from the floor, fearing that there is someone peeing on the floor. But its WORSE, my clothes were fine, but this guy had gotten out of bed, and PEED on this other girls bed, like on her hair and pillow and everything! It was absolutely disgusting. I felt sooo bad for this girl. The guy got kicked out of the hostel and they changed her mattress and sheets and mopped the floor and she took a shower, and we all fell back asleep. SO bizzarre and gross. Needless to say I'll be sleeping on the TOP bunk from now on, just in case. And female dorms are much more preferrable as well! eesh.
The next morning we caught another bus South to Killarney National Park. We found a nice cheap hostel with nice people in our rooms and no troubles. It was raining when we arrived and sort of cloudy but after walking to the tourist info center, we found out the national park was within walking distance and there was a bike rental place across the street! So we rented bikes for the afternoon, and the lady said we could return them in the morning. This transformed the whole day into magic. We rode to these beautiful glacial lakes alongside mountains and castles, and walked out on some rocks and took in the peacefulness of the water. The sun even came out a few times!
That night we made the best burrito/fajitas (fajitos?) They were delicious!! we got groceries at the store, and they lasted us for dinner that night and lunch the next day. That night we crashed and went to bed really early so we could wake up early for more bike riding. We made it to this waterfall called Torc waterfall, and ate lunch there and then rode back, it was really exhilirating and a little challenging but mostly beautiful and wonderful. I love riding bikes! Esp in such a beautiful place. I need to buy a bike for Portland this summer.
After bike riding we got a bus back to Dublin and met up with Kelsey, Tessa, and Dylan and the two friends they made. They went to Northern Ireland when we went West, and they had a really good time, it was fun exchanging stories. That night we went to a pub with some singer songwriters, and had to hurry back to catch the last bus to Eric's flat 15 minutes outside of Dublin with a perfect view of the city. He took us in and made us tea and hung out for a while, and we all slept so soundly on the floor with matress pads, and woke up to the sun pouring in through these floor to ceiling windows (I love waking up to the sun on my face!) And we had breakfast there and he left for class and we cleaned up his livingroom/kitchen and did all his dishes and left a thank you note! He was really really sweet, made me feel better about the whole couchsurfing idea. If you don't know, couchsurfing is a website where you can sign up and have a profile and find peoples couches to sleep on while traveling for a night or two. They get reviews from ppl who have stayed with them, and pass some security clearences. I know it sounds dangerous and maybe it could be, but it also opens up doors for a really cool way to get to know a stranger and a new place. In this case it turned out wonderfully.
Wednesday morning we went back to town and ate at a cafe and then went to the Guinness Store Factory. I didn't know what to expect but it was really cool, you learn all about how beer is made, and you walk up 7 stories of the store house til you get to the top with an amazing view. We even got to pull our own pint of guinness, and I got a little award for "pulling the perfect pint" I tried to make a shamrock in the foam but it didn't turn out too well! Then we drank the beer with a 360 view of Dublin. Not bad! Rach and I even met some scottish guys celebrating a birthday and talked to them for a while. It was really fun! That afternoon we flew back to London (an hour long flight! really quick). And Rach came back to London a few hours after me with Tessa and Kelsey.
Thursday Rach and I walked through the Kensington Gardens and over to Hyde Park and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It was nice to walk through there because theres so much of the gardens I haven't even seen yet. It was a wonderful day out too. Some friends from Lewis & Clark are spending their spring break here so thursday night we all went out to this Gay club called "The Ghetto" which was really interesting. I'd never been to one before, its completely different not having guys seeking after you, it ended up being a lot of fun.
Friday I did a little work in the library and then we all went to the Tate Modern Art Gallery. That night rach and I went to see this really awesome live performance of A Brief Encounter. The actors sang and played instruments as we walked in the theatre, mostly 1950's standards, and that music was the backdrop of the play, which mixed film with live performance really well! I was so impressed and pleased on so many levels. I think the film originally primeired at the same theatre that we saw the live performance, so that was really cool too!
Saturday Rach and I went to Brighton, which is a beach town on the south coast of England. I expected it to be different and smaller than it was, but it was still really beautiful. the beach is covered in pebbles instead of sand. it was really cold out, but we walked around and ate some food on the pebble beach next to raging waves and then found a cafe to hang out in and write postcards and journal. When we returned there was a sign on our door that said "Earth Hour, please turn off your lights from 8-9pm") SO of course we participated, and all gathered around ONE candle and with some of the a cappella singers visiting from LC we sang and later played guitar and had many sing a longs and it was sooo soo nice! I missed singing with everyone so much. Rach had to leave at 3 in the morning (because of the time change!) to catch her flight back to Italia, but it was so nice being able to spend spring break with my best friend from home. Now I'm in Wales! I want to get a start on my papers but I almost feel like resting and waking up early tomorrow.
Pictures are still coming... I have a lot to post! If worse comes to worse I will make an amazing slide show and have a party in MD and then in Portland and invite you guys to come see everything, I'll pick out highlights, though there are so many!
I'm planning my after-the-program travels. My studies end April 15th!! which is very soon! Right now I'm planning to go back to scotland and try to meet my distant relatives there, and then go to Florence to visit Rach, possibly go to Switzerland, and then Barcelona and then Tunisia to visit a friend, and end in Sicily to hopefully be with relatives. IF you have travel advices for areas close to the ones I'll be in, please email me! Or if theres any friends of friends I could stay with, let me know!
Thanks!! Have a great week,
Jo
Sorry its been a while since I've blogged, as you can guess I've been very busy living and traveling. I actually just took a trip to Wales VERY last minute to spend the night at what I planned to be a bed and breakfast by the sea, but I'm in a cheap hotel instead. The plus side is I'm sitting in the lounge/bar downstairs with wireless internet listening to these men play some beautiful jazz music with some wonderful saxaphone tones. Our program allowed for 75 pounds to go towards sleeping accommodation IF we stay in the UK, and since the republic of Ireland is technically part of europe, my hostels there won't be reimbursed -- SO I decided to take a little getaway trip by myself to a little town called Llandudno (double L = Cl sound, and I don't know about the "dn" part) and stay the night here compliments of LC. The train ride was beautiful and surprisingly packed, I lucked out when a man missed his train and so i could take his reserved seat at a table and do some work on my papers.
I'm in Northern Wales just north of snowdonia national park, I'm going to see if I can at least train my way back through the park tomorrow.
I guess it's almost been TWO weeks. Two weeks ago I had a crazy week. For the past two months I've had extremely irritated itchy skin, esp at night, and after seeing many doctors I found out that I had scabies--tiny mites that burrow into your skin and lay eggs. So Thursday night after seeing a wonderfully bizarre play called the Homecoming (about a truly odd family, but with very good acting), my entire flat had to be treated for scabies (I live with 18 other people). Luckily my friends here are incredibly awesome, and we sort of turned it into a party. You have to cover your skin in a creamy lotion and leave it on for 24 hours. So "operation drunk and creamy" was taken on, whether or not people drank-- it was really nice of everyone to take this potentially awkward uncomfortable circumstance and make it a celebration! Since the treatment I've been doing much better. I think we've all bonded a lot as well since that! I was upset with doctors i'd seen for not catching what I had sooner, I was thinking of spreading scabies awareness so no one has to endure such terrible itchiness as I did! Thats for another time though.
Saturday morning I left way early in the morning for Ireland. Spencer and I took a bus to find Rachael Maddox at her hostel in Dublin, and the three of us wondered the streets and met lots of nice dubliners. Then we met up with Tessa and Kelsey and the amazing guy they were couchsurfing with -- Eric! He took us to a 2pm pillowfight just at the top of Grafton Street (where Once was filmed). I participated in a much larger pillowfight in Portland my freshmen year, and they've been spreading around the world. Complete strangers meet in a specified place and at 2pm a horn blows and they pull pillows out of their bags and hit eachother with pillows! It was a little intense but really fun. Then the police broke it up, guess they didn't like the pillowfight idea.
Eric showed us all around Dublin, we got the best chips in town, saw lots of cathedrals and the castle there and Trinity college, and ended at one of the oldest pubs in town for a half-pint of guinness. We all liked him so much that Spence, Rach and I asked if we could stay at his place on Tuesday night after we went to Galway and the west coast of Ireland, and he agreed! That night we went to the famous Temple Bar and Rach and I danced a lot and met strangers, and the night ended with live street performers and dancing in the streets! I have some video :) It was very hippy and amazing. We slept on Dylan's friends floor that night, which was unbearably COLD and we all woke up shivering! I moved to a tiny couch and fell back asleep all crouched in a ball. Not ideal! but free.
Sunday morning (Easter!) we spent on a bus going to Galway, slept most of the way, and checked into a hostel there. In honor of bakeries being closed for Easter, there were people giving away fresh baked bread that was going to get thrown away, so we ended up walking around with this loaf of bread for a while! Theres a lovely river that goes through town, and we walked along there... returned to the hostel for a nap, got Doner Kebabs! And ate our fresh bread with Nutella. That night we went out to a pub which ended up being really amazing, fun music, followed by LIVE amazingly talented performers doing mostly cover songs ranging from The Who, to Rage Against the Machine, to Muse. It was really really good though! And we were right up close. Galway seemed like a pretty welcoming city. Pretty diverse and seemed pretty gay-friendly as well from what I could tell.
That night we had a experience I probably shouldn't write about because people will fear for the rest of my travels! We stayed in a mixed hostel with 12 bunks, and at 4 in the morning we wake up to some guy yelling at this other guy... then i hear a stream of piss, and quickly dash to the foot of my bed to gather my coat from the floor, fearing that there is someone peeing on the floor. But its WORSE, my clothes were fine, but this guy had gotten out of bed, and PEED on this other girls bed, like on her hair and pillow and everything! It was absolutely disgusting. I felt sooo bad for this girl. The guy got kicked out of the hostel and they changed her mattress and sheets and mopped the floor and she took a shower, and we all fell back asleep. SO bizzarre and gross. Needless to say I'll be sleeping on the TOP bunk from now on, just in case. And female dorms are much more preferrable as well! eesh.
The next morning we caught another bus South to Killarney National Park. We found a nice cheap hostel with nice people in our rooms and no troubles. It was raining when we arrived and sort of cloudy but after walking to the tourist info center, we found out the national park was within walking distance and there was a bike rental place across the street! So we rented bikes for the afternoon, and the lady said we could return them in the morning. This transformed the whole day into magic. We rode to these beautiful glacial lakes alongside mountains and castles, and walked out on some rocks and took in the peacefulness of the water. The sun even came out a few times!
That night we made the best burrito/fajitas (fajitos?) They were delicious!! we got groceries at the store, and they lasted us for dinner that night and lunch the next day. That night we crashed and went to bed really early so we could wake up early for more bike riding. We made it to this waterfall called Torc waterfall, and ate lunch there and then rode back, it was really exhilirating and a little challenging but mostly beautiful and wonderful. I love riding bikes! Esp in such a beautiful place. I need to buy a bike for Portland this summer.
After bike riding we got a bus back to Dublin and met up with Kelsey, Tessa, and Dylan and the two friends they made. They went to Northern Ireland when we went West, and they had a really good time, it was fun exchanging stories. That night we went to a pub with some singer songwriters, and had to hurry back to catch the last bus to Eric's flat 15 minutes outside of Dublin with a perfect view of the city. He took us in and made us tea and hung out for a while, and we all slept so soundly on the floor with matress pads, and woke up to the sun pouring in through these floor to ceiling windows (I love waking up to the sun on my face!) And we had breakfast there and he left for class and we cleaned up his livingroom/kitchen and did all his dishes and left a thank you note! He was really really sweet, made me feel better about the whole couchsurfing idea. If you don't know, couchsurfing is a website where you can sign up and have a profile and find peoples couches to sleep on while traveling for a night or two. They get reviews from ppl who have stayed with them, and pass some security clearences. I know it sounds dangerous and maybe it could be, but it also opens up doors for a really cool way to get to know a stranger and a new place. In this case it turned out wonderfully.
Wednesday morning we went back to town and ate at a cafe and then went to the Guinness Store Factory. I didn't know what to expect but it was really cool, you learn all about how beer is made, and you walk up 7 stories of the store house til you get to the top with an amazing view. We even got to pull our own pint of guinness, and I got a little award for "pulling the perfect pint" I tried to make a shamrock in the foam but it didn't turn out too well! Then we drank the beer with a 360 view of Dublin. Not bad! Rach and I even met some scottish guys celebrating a birthday and talked to them for a while. It was really fun! That afternoon we flew back to London (an hour long flight! really quick). And Rach came back to London a few hours after me with Tessa and Kelsey.
Thursday Rach and I walked through the Kensington Gardens and over to Hyde Park and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It was nice to walk through there because theres so much of the gardens I haven't even seen yet. It was a wonderful day out too. Some friends from Lewis & Clark are spending their spring break here so thursday night we all went out to this Gay club called "The Ghetto" which was really interesting. I'd never been to one before, its completely different not having guys seeking after you, it ended up being a lot of fun.
Friday I did a little work in the library and then we all went to the Tate Modern Art Gallery. That night rach and I went to see this really awesome live performance of A Brief Encounter. The actors sang and played instruments as we walked in the theatre, mostly 1950's standards, and that music was the backdrop of the play, which mixed film with live performance really well! I was so impressed and pleased on so many levels. I think the film originally primeired at the same theatre that we saw the live performance, so that was really cool too!
Saturday Rach and I went to Brighton, which is a beach town on the south coast of England. I expected it to be different and smaller than it was, but it was still really beautiful. the beach is covered in pebbles instead of sand. it was really cold out, but we walked around and ate some food on the pebble beach next to raging waves and then found a cafe to hang out in and write postcards and journal. When we returned there was a sign on our door that said "Earth Hour, please turn off your lights from 8-9pm") SO of course we participated, and all gathered around ONE candle and with some of the a cappella singers visiting from LC we sang and later played guitar and had many sing a longs and it was sooo soo nice! I missed singing with everyone so much. Rach had to leave at 3 in the morning (because of the time change!) to catch her flight back to Italia, but it was so nice being able to spend spring break with my best friend from home. Now I'm in Wales! I want to get a start on my papers but I almost feel like resting and waking up early tomorrow.
Pictures are still coming... I have a lot to post! If worse comes to worse I will make an amazing slide show and have a party in MD and then in Portland and invite you guys to come see everything, I'll pick out highlights, though there are so many!
I'm planning my after-the-program travels. My studies end April 15th!! which is very soon! Right now I'm planning to go back to scotland and try to meet my distant relatives there, and then go to Florence to visit Rach, possibly go to Switzerland, and then Barcelona and then Tunisia to visit a friend, and end in Sicily to hopefully be with relatives. IF you have travel advices for areas close to the ones I'll be in, please email me! Or if theres any friends of friends I could stay with, let me know!
Thanks!! Have a great week,
Jo
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Staring over the Atlantic
This weekend I had the pleasure of going to St. Ives for two days, and it was so incredibly fantastic. Before I get there, let me recap a tiny bit.
Wednesday night we went to see "Sarajevo" which was a really cool intimate play, one of my favorites so far. they used technology and live video recording to show "skype" conversations and I thought it was a really cool view into the ways and problems of communication in long distance relationships. it also showed how fragile of a "long distance" relationship we have with the war and violence that goes on in places like Sarajevo, the cast was a good entry of everyday peoples interaction with such a huge issue abroad.
Thursday we got a tour of the National Theatre, which fit perfectly with the research I had just been doing for a paper about when plays used to be censored by the Lord Chamberlain. We've come a long way, the National Theatre is 40% subsidized by the government and there is no censorship from the people providing funds. So the opportunities are endless! Which I think is important for theatre. We also go to see rehearsals going on in the three different theatres, and that was REALLY cool. To have a directer say "cut!" and then tell people to do things differently changed the experience of watching theatre in such a professional arena a lot. Thursday night we rode the tube for an hour and a half to the 'burbs of London to watch a comedy called "Relatively Speaking" which was about an affair, but it played out really ridiculously, and kind of reminded me of the Importance of Being Earnest, where misunderstandings rely on the tiniest most particular phrases.
Friday I got some work done and then we all went out for Tessa's Birthday! Her birthday was on friday, but we sort of half celebrated my birthday too because that was on tuesday. We went late night bowling, and I had a lot of fun and met some cool people there! I woke up somehow at 6 the next morning and packed my bags for St. Ives.
Ah, St. Ives was SO perfect and relaxing. It's on the south west coast of England, and its simply BEAUTIFUL. Seeing the ocean filled me up inside. I spend lots of time walking on the shore, hiking up big hills, climbing on rocks, and staring into the endless opportunities of my life as seen as the ocean. I had a lot of good time to myself, and I even got to go to the ocean at night and lay on the sand and look up at the stars. Sunday I decided to go to another coastal town called Penzance for a few hours before catching the train back home. I came back from this trip so well rested, and I even made use of the 7 hour train ride by doing homework!
Last night Dylan and I went to see Harder They Come, a reggae musical, and it was SO AMAZING! This is the first non-upper-middle-class-white audience I've seen. It was a complete mix up of cultures and ages. And by the end of this incredible musical everyone in the Barbican, including myself of course, were singing and dancing in the stalls. I can't express how wonderful this was! I've been to so much theatre this semester but this really united the audience and changed things up from the standard, sit, recieve play, applaud, get up, go, way of things. Now I've got some work on my hands, but I still have lots and lots of pictures, they will come soon. Lots of love to all of you back home,
Jodi
Wednesday night we went to see "Sarajevo" which was a really cool intimate play, one of my favorites so far. they used technology and live video recording to show "skype" conversations and I thought it was a really cool view into the ways and problems of communication in long distance relationships. it also showed how fragile of a "long distance" relationship we have with the war and violence that goes on in places like Sarajevo, the cast was a good entry of everyday peoples interaction with such a huge issue abroad.
Thursday we got a tour of the National Theatre, which fit perfectly with the research I had just been doing for a paper about when plays used to be censored by the Lord Chamberlain. We've come a long way, the National Theatre is 40% subsidized by the government and there is no censorship from the people providing funds. So the opportunities are endless! Which I think is important for theatre. We also go to see rehearsals going on in the three different theatres, and that was REALLY cool. To have a directer say "cut!" and then tell people to do things differently changed the experience of watching theatre in such a professional arena a lot. Thursday night we rode the tube for an hour and a half to the 'burbs of London to watch a comedy called "Relatively Speaking" which was about an affair, but it played out really ridiculously, and kind of reminded me of the Importance of Being Earnest, where misunderstandings rely on the tiniest most particular phrases.
Friday I got some work done and then we all went out for Tessa's Birthday! Her birthday was on friday, but we sort of half celebrated my birthday too because that was on tuesday. We went late night bowling, and I had a lot of fun and met some cool people there! I woke up somehow at 6 the next morning and packed my bags for St. Ives.
Ah, St. Ives was SO perfect and relaxing. It's on the south west coast of England, and its simply BEAUTIFUL. Seeing the ocean filled me up inside. I spend lots of time walking on the shore, hiking up big hills, climbing on rocks, and staring into the endless opportunities of my life as seen as the ocean. I had a lot of good time to myself, and I even got to go to the ocean at night and lay on the sand and look up at the stars. Sunday I decided to go to another coastal town called Penzance for a few hours before catching the train back home. I came back from this trip so well rested, and I even made use of the 7 hour train ride by doing homework!
Last night Dylan and I went to see Harder They Come, a reggae musical, and it was SO AMAZING! This is the first non-upper-middle-class-white audience I've seen. It was a complete mix up of cultures and ages. And by the end of this incredible musical everyone in the Barbican, including myself of course, were singing and dancing in the stalls. I can't express how wonderful this was! I've been to so much theatre this semester but this really united the audience and changed things up from the standard, sit, recieve play, applaud, get up, go, way of things. Now I've got some work on my hands, but I still have lots and lots of pictures, they will come soon. Lots of love to all of you back home,
Jodi
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
parle vou espanol?
This weekend was so incredible! Yesterday was my birthday, and in celebration I took the Eurostar to Paris--which takes you UNDER the English Channel, and pops you up on land in paris france in just 2.5 hours. I will begin at the beginning, and this could be long so skim around for things that interest you.
I arrived on Friday, after sleeping maybe 1 or 2 hours the night before, waking up at 330am to catch a 4am bus and the 530am eurostar. i arrived in paris and was immediately greeted by Ru at the train station with a giant hug! She sort of snuck up on me so it was nice to be almost tackled while i was opening my bags. Quickly--Ru is our friend Rach, Judy, and I met on our last adventure, the Road Trip to New Orleans. We met her at a hostel in Atlanta, went out to eat, and immediately connected, and recently we found out she will be studying in France. She is Croatian, studying English and French, and she's amazing! So positive and fun. OK-- so Ru and I get on the metro and come out at the river looking across at Notre Dame, which was beautiful! And we walked through there, and on our way to the hostel to meet with Rachael Maddox and her friend Anna! Background: Rachael is my best friend from home and she's studying in Florence and she is AMAZING! Anna is her friend from Florence program.
That day was joyous, just knocking on Rach's door at the hostel and having her open it, and then talking and wondering the city together was really really perfect.
We walked along the river and stopped at a little cafe and got a carafe (sp?) of red wine, vins rouge. which seemed to come out of a tap, right into this ceramic container, and it was sooo delicious! Then we made out way to the Musee de Orsay, with impressionist pieces, Manet, Monet, sculpture and more. It is a beautiful museum and relatively easy to get around, not too big. Then we ate paun formagge (cheesy bread) and pizza outside of the Louvre and made our way in. It was free on Fri night for under 25s, but it was SOOO crowded. The building is magnificent, but i've truly never seen a museum so large in my life! I was really exhausted by this point in time and we decided only to spend an hour at the Louvre, seeing things we really wanted to see and then leaving. SO in the rush I got lost in the museum and really stressed out! but i made it to the mona lisa and virgin on the rocks by da vinci, and saw some other pieces i recognized from art history class which was really cool -- and after getting lost again trying to make it to another section of the building i gave up and went to the front to meet everyone! and had a conversation with an older frenchmen about art and music and following dreams, which relaxed me after the stressful art-hunt.
after THIS we returned to the hostel and got CREPES! which were SO GOOD! i got one with nutella and banana, and almost died it was so good. freshly poured (crepe) and melted (nutella) and sliced (bananas) to perfection. we decided to celebrate my birthday early and met some argentinian men at the hostel and a woman from costa rica, and bought a few bottles of french wine and drank them downstairs in the kitchen. It was really fun to speak to our new friends in spanish and they sung happy birthday in english, spanish, and portuguese throughout the night! Then i somehow made it out to a bar nearby with great music and danced the night away, met some cute french boys who couldn't speak english, and called it a night at 3am! it was pretty insane that i stayed awake that long but very well worth it. and i definitely practiced my spanish, even if it was in france.
Saturday we were all pretty worn out, but we met Ru for all you can eat pasta lunch (only 2.80!) which was perfect, and then we split our ways and went to Montemarte, a city on a huge hill in Paris that overlooks the entire city with a giant beautiful church at the top. So we meditated/basically fell asleep in the church prayer area, and then walked to see artists painting in this square and got icecream, and eventually headed back to the hostel for a NAP! That night we got sushi and then went to the Eiffel Tower at night! IT was SOOO BEAUTIFUL! i didn't expect to freak out seeing this monument, but i felt so happy inside. it was also womens day in europe that day so the three of us felt wonderful, drinking a little wine in the grass by the eiffel tower, talking, laughing, having a great night. we had SUCH a great night that we missed the last metro at midnight, and had to catch a cab home. but it wasnt too expensive. we managed to eat another crepe before they closed up around 1 or 2am, and then called it a night.
Sunday it was pouring down rain, anna had to leave at 12, we sat in a cafe and ate food (mozzerella melted with tomato and ham) and drank coffee. the rain was probably perfect for rachael and i because it gave us an excuse to sit and talk for 3 hours! she had to leave around 4pm to catch her flight. and by that time the sun had come out again and i walked around the city and took pictures and stumbled upon beautiful gardens and an incredible mosque. when i got back to the hostel my hostel-roommate Kristen from Boston was home and we discussed travel plans (she had just been to ireland, i'm going in 2 weeks) and talked about our weekends, and then we decided to get dinner together at a little french restaurant, which was delicious and i tried Es Cargo! the waiter gave us a free caraf of wine (i know.. more wine, but it was too good in france to pass up!)
Monday I was really on my own and it was pouring down rain. kristen left in the morning and i checked out after breakfast (which was a croissant and baguette--the all carb diet of france). i decided to take the metro to a museum which happened to be closed when i arrived! so desperate to get out of the rain i walked around and saw a store that said "Musique" and I went in expecting to find CDs or something but it was a music store with hundreds of acoustic guitars just waiting to be played. this was perfect for me. i just sat down and played various guitars for a whole hour, the shop was pretty empty so it was okay, and the owner of the shop said what i think in french meant "you play the guitar beautifully"...or maybe i just made that up! after an hour had passed the museum was open. its the Pompidue, modern art museum. it cost a lot to get in but it was well worth it! There was an exhibit by Louis Burgeious, this amazing french woman who moved to new york city and made really cool art exploring identity, mixing of sexual symbols, and dealing with other life difficulties through sculpture and art. she had a series of "cells" where you could look in which represented memories of childhood. modern art is always a little crazy, but i liked this because it had enough explanations for me to feel like i could grasp or have an idea of what was going on for her in creating these pieces, rather than just being completely puzzled. i liked this.
in the afternoon i met with Ru to go to spanish class (in france!) i felt like i learned more french than spanish! but i got to practice spanish and we even listened to manu chao "me gustas tu" and read the lyrics and i love that song! so it was really fun. Ru and i got cheap dinner at her school, and she took me to the train station!
Last story -- I got off the tube on my way home, and this homeless man asks me for change. here i'll type the exchange
H: Hello with the beautiful face, could you spare any change tonight?
M: eh, no sorry!
H: don't be sorry, just have a really good night tonight! and don't get lost!
M: (walking away), okay thanks!
H: do you want this pizza? do you live with a lot of people?
M: (thinking i do live with 19 people) pizza?
H: yeah i don't want it, just take it
(there is a giant pizza, bigger than i've ever seen in a pizza box on the ground. he slides it over).
M:I can't take pizza from YOU, you should save it for later.
H:I get food all the time, I know I'm fat but I can't eat this much pizza, just take it!
M: Ok... (holding the pizza box) well what do you want? you want money?
H:I'd love some money!
M: what do you want to buy with it?
H: I want some beer, love!
M: well i have a pound, is that ok?
H: a pounds great!
... i walk out of the station with a giant pizza, ppl at the bus station approach me saying "is that a pizza? thats the biggest pizza i've ever seen!" and we all ate it when i got back to the flat, and we're still alive! it was really tasty.
thats my story of when i get pizza from a bum in the undergound.
my birthday was fun, but really busy with class and stuff, spencers parents took us out for belgian beer and a belgian brewery. it was tasty, i talked to my parents and called it a night! i need to go to class, i hope you enjoyed what you read! i'll post pictures and you can just see the weekend that way if reading takes to long! :) lots of love to all of you,
I'm now 21 years old! pretty strange, but good!
adios,
jodi
I arrived on Friday, after sleeping maybe 1 or 2 hours the night before, waking up at 330am to catch a 4am bus and the 530am eurostar. i arrived in paris and was immediately greeted by Ru at the train station with a giant hug! She sort of snuck up on me so it was nice to be almost tackled while i was opening my bags. Quickly--Ru is our friend Rach, Judy, and I met on our last adventure, the Road Trip to New Orleans. We met her at a hostel in Atlanta, went out to eat, and immediately connected, and recently we found out she will be studying in France. She is Croatian, studying English and French, and she's amazing! So positive and fun. OK-- so Ru and I get on the metro and come out at the river looking across at Notre Dame, which was beautiful! And we walked through there, and on our way to the hostel to meet with Rachael Maddox and her friend Anna! Background: Rachael is my best friend from home and she's studying in Florence and she is AMAZING! Anna is her friend from Florence program.
That day was joyous, just knocking on Rach's door at the hostel and having her open it, and then talking and wondering the city together was really really perfect.
We walked along the river and stopped at a little cafe and got a carafe (sp?) of red wine, vins rouge. which seemed to come out of a tap, right into this ceramic container, and it was sooo delicious! Then we made out way to the Musee de Orsay, with impressionist pieces, Manet, Monet, sculpture and more. It is a beautiful museum and relatively easy to get around, not too big. Then we ate paun formagge (cheesy bread) and pizza outside of the Louvre and made our way in. It was free on Fri night for under 25s, but it was SOOO crowded. The building is magnificent, but i've truly never seen a museum so large in my life! I was really exhausted by this point in time and we decided only to spend an hour at the Louvre, seeing things we really wanted to see and then leaving. SO in the rush I got lost in the museum and really stressed out! but i made it to the mona lisa and virgin on the rocks by da vinci, and saw some other pieces i recognized from art history class which was really cool -- and after getting lost again trying to make it to another section of the building i gave up and went to the front to meet everyone! and had a conversation with an older frenchmen about art and music and following dreams, which relaxed me after the stressful art-hunt.
after THIS we returned to the hostel and got CREPES! which were SO GOOD! i got one with nutella and banana, and almost died it was so good. freshly poured (crepe) and melted (nutella) and sliced (bananas) to perfection. we decided to celebrate my birthday early and met some argentinian men at the hostel and a woman from costa rica, and bought a few bottles of french wine and drank them downstairs in the kitchen. It was really fun to speak to our new friends in spanish and they sung happy birthday in english, spanish, and portuguese throughout the night! Then i somehow made it out to a bar nearby with great music and danced the night away, met some cute french boys who couldn't speak english, and called it a night at 3am! it was pretty insane that i stayed awake that long but very well worth it. and i definitely practiced my spanish, even if it was in france.
Saturday we were all pretty worn out, but we met Ru for all you can eat pasta lunch (only 2.80!) which was perfect, and then we split our ways and went to Montemarte, a city on a huge hill in Paris that overlooks the entire city with a giant beautiful church at the top. So we meditated/basically fell asleep in the church prayer area, and then walked to see artists painting in this square and got icecream, and eventually headed back to the hostel for a NAP! That night we got sushi and then went to the Eiffel Tower at night! IT was SOOO BEAUTIFUL! i didn't expect to freak out seeing this monument, but i felt so happy inside. it was also womens day in europe that day so the three of us felt wonderful, drinking a little wine in the grass by the eiffel tower, talking, laughing, having a great night. we had SUCH a great night that we missed the last metro at midnight, and had to catch a cab home. but it wasnt too expensive. we managed to eat another crepe before they closed up around 1 or 2am, and then called it a night.
Sunday it was pouring down rain, anna had to leave at 12, we sat in a cafe and ate food (mozzerella melted with tomato and ham) and drank coffee. the rain was probably perfect for rachael and i because it gave us an excuse to sit and talk for 3 hours! she had to leave around 4pm to catch her flight. and by that time the sun had come out again and i walked around the city and took pictures and stumbled upon beautiful gardens and an incredible mosque. when i got back to the hostel my hostel-roommate Kristen from Boston was home and we discussed travel plans (she had just been to ireland, i'm going in 2 weeks) and talked about our weekends, and then we decided to get dinner together at a little french restaurant, which was delicious and i tried Es Cargo! the waiter gave us a free caraf of wine (i know.. more wine, but it was too good in france to pass up!)
Monday I was really on my own and it was pouring down rain. kristen left in the morning and i checked out after breakfast (which was a croissant and baguette--the all carb diet of france). i decided to take the metro to a museum which happened to be closed when i arrived! so desperate to get out of the rain i walked around and saw a store that said "Musique" and I went in expecting to find CDs or something but it was a music store with hundreds of acoustic guitars just waiting to be played. this was perfect for me. i just sat down and played various guitars for a whole hour, the shop was pretty empty so it was okay, and the owner of the shop said what i think in french meant "you play the guitar beautifully"...or maybe i just made that up! after an hour had passed the museum was open. its the Pompidue, modern art museum. it cost a lot to get in but it was well worth it! There was an exhibit by Louis Burgeious, this amazing french woman who moved to new york city and made really cool art exploring identity, mixing of sexual symbols, and dealing with other life difficulties through sculpture and art. she had a series of "cells" where you could look in which represented memories of childhood. modern art is always a little crazy, but i liked this because it had enough explanations for me to feel like i could grasp or have an idea of what was going on for her in creating these pieces, rather than just being completely puzzled. i liked this.
in the afternoon i met with Ru to go to spanish class (in france!) i felt like i learned more french than spanish! but i got to practice spanish and we even listened to manu chao "me gustas tu" and read the lyrics and i love that song! so it was really fun. Ru and i got cheap dinner at her school, and she took me to the train station!
Last story -- I got off the tube on my way home, and this homeless man asks me for change. here i'll type the exchange
H: Hello with the beautiful face, could you spare any change tonight?
M: eh, no sorry!
H: don't be sorry, just have a really good night tonight! and don't get lost!
M: (walking away), okay thanks!
H: do you want this pizza? do you live with a lot of people?
M: (thinking i do live with 19 people) pizza?
H: yeah i don't want it, just take it
(there is a giant pizza, bigger than i've ever seen in a pizza box on the ground. he slides it over).
M:I can't take pizza from YOU, you should save it for later.
H:I get food all the time, I know I'm fat but I can't eat this much pizza, just take it!
M: Ok... (holding the pizza box) well what do you want? you want money?
H:I'd love some money!
M: what do you want to buy with it?
H: I want some beer, love!
M: well i have a pound, is that ok?
H: a pounds great!
... i walk out of the station with a giant pizza, ppl at the bus station approach me saying "is that a pizza? thats the biggest pizza i've ever seen!" and we all ate it when i got back to the flat, and we're still alive! it was really tasty.
thats my story of when i get pizza from a bum in the undergound.
my birthday was fun, but really busy with class and stuff, spencers parents took us out for belgian beer and a belgian brewery. it was tasty, i talked to my parents and called it a night! i need to go to class, i hope you enjoyed what you read! i'll post pictures and you can just see the weekend that way if reading takes to long! :) lots of love to all of you,
I'm now 21 years old! pretty strange, but good!
adios,
jodi
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Weekend Exploration
This weekend was so jam-packed. Saturday we went up to Cambridge and had a tour and then wondered around for a while, and ended the night with evensong in the amazingly beautiful Kings Cross Cathedral. Its one of those places you walk into and just say "wow" and continue to stare up into the height and intricacies of the ceiling and the beautiful colored stained glass. Their boys choir was incredible as well, thats something I didn't realize was such a big deal here in London -- Boys Choirs, you get these 12 year old sopranos singing sooo high. The choir is so skilled though and the way their voices echo in that space is just magical. We stayed for a Messaein organ recital, but it was really bizarre and hard to enjoy, he's on the verge of atonality and so for me I have to step back from it and just sort of observe the strangeness of the compositions.
After that long day, we woke up early the next morning and drove to Stonehenge. It was pretty cool! We all got audio tours which were sort of ridiculous. I mean, very informative, but comical in the way you communicate with this speaking voice box. So there were some good laughs and try-to-be-original photos taken in front of this prehistoric mystery. parts of the past our ancestors left behind. They recently found a body buried near there that was 2,500 years old. pretty crazy! After stonehenge we made our way to Bath and I paid my 9 pounds to see the Roman Baths. It was pretty cool! Its one of the few remains of when romans used to rule what is now England. Basically this sweet hot spring has been pumping millions of gallons of water out of the ground for hundreds of years, so Romans used it to make all these baths, and people from all around came and formed the town of "bath" around these baths, and the spring still flows today. it was pretty amazing!
Sunday night you can imagine the tiredness. Regardless of that though -- Monday I headstarted my day walking around London with Dylan looking for a good deal on theatre shows we're both interested to see. I don't have tons of money to spare on shows, and fate must have wanted us to do otherwise because the one show "Speed the Plow" featuring Kevin Spacey, is sold out completely, and the Magic Flute South African style offers no student discounts! We agreed to reconvene at 6:30pm for Speed the Plow to see if there were any return tickets, and if not, have an adventure. On the way to the theatre, we pick up the free London Paper (which are handed out on every corner and littered in every tube train)--and under tonights events were two things of interest -- 1 BOYZ 2 MEN, yes i almost dropped everything and paid 33 pounds to have my heart stolen by those lovely, now very old romantic men. and the other thing was Jimmy Eat World. So speed the plow rejected us again, and on a whim we took the tube to the station where the jimmy eat world concert was. sure enough we are immediately approached by scalpers with tickets to the show. tickets were supposed to be 18.50, but since we dont have tons of money AND this whole concert idea was so spur of the moment, we walked away from a 15 pound ticket offer, and somehow managed to get tickets for 12 pounds each! So I went to a concert that night and it was really fun! A band from Belgium called "Styrafoam" opened with drums, synthesizer, and guitar --some dancey good songs remniscent of The Postal Service, but a little rockier. And Jimmy Eat world was a blast! The venue was great! Its called the Roundhouse and its completely round so you can circle around and get pretty close.
There's London for ya-- full of surprises. Tuesday I had art class in the Tate Britain, which I really really loved. They had neoclassical sculptures including the three graces, and they were all so delicate and beautifully carved in milky marble making it seem so pure and perfect. I also fell in love with the William Blake room which had lots of his paintings and sketches and a few original books (but not the "Innocence and Experience" books--i wonder where those are!). His paintings are very spiritual and imaginative, people used to think he was crazy but theres some cool stuff in his paintings that you just don't find in the formal paintings of his contemporaries. Above all else, he's a poet, but its cool to see this stuff as part of his life occupation being a creative artist. Tuesday night we headed off to Rational Rec -- the interarts monthly event led by our music teacher Matthew. His 3 dance pieces were featured and they also did screen printing and we contributed to making a book all in one night! It was pretty cool, esp the dance party at the end with some fun techno music.
And today, we had class with matthew and guest speakers who were german performers from last night's performance who talked to us about composing and mixing styles/genres of dance, music, and how to write scores that are different than traditional scores. it was a cool class! tonight we went to see our first ballet, which i really really liked a lot. the body can do so many amazing things! they also opened up with a really thoughtful performance which integrated video projections and audio recorded voices of the dancers themselves talking about what its like to be on stage, and then the performance really gets going... there was this one american guy dancer who was so beautiful and captivating. his body just flowed, it was like magic! Later there were pieces done by whole orchestras, the music alone was beautiful (Chopin, Debussy), but the dancing with it added such life! I really enjoyed the ballet. It was in the Royal Opera House which is SO FANCY its not even funny! We're going to see Salome there tomorrow night and dressing up. And THEN this weekend I'm off to FRANCE to meet Rachael and our friend from previous travels in the US, Ru who is a wonderful woman from Croatia studying English and French currently studying in Paris! I'll be there Friday-Monday, getting back to London just in time for my 21st Birthday on March 11th. :) So there is a lot going on!
I hope you all are having wonderful weeks and not getting too jealous of this crazy experience I'm having, I appreciate your love and support and miss lots of you from back home. Take care,
Jodi
After that long day, we woke up early the next morning and drove to Stonehenge. It was pretty cool! We all got audio tours which were sort of ridiculous. I mean, very informative, but comical in the way you communicate with this speaking voice box. So there were some good laughs and try-to-be-original photos taken in front of this prehistoric mystery. parts of the past our ancestors left behind. They recently found a body buried near there that was 2,500 years old. pretty crazy! After stonehenge we made our way to Bath and I paid my 9 pounds to see the Roman Baths. It was pretty cool! Its one of the few remains of when romans used to rule what is now England. Basically this sweet hot spring has been pumping millions of gallons of water out of the ground for hundreds of years, so Romans used it to make all these baths, and people from all around came and formed the town of "bath" around these baths, and the spring still flows today. it was pretty amazing!
Sunday night you can imagine the tiredness. Regardless of that though -- Monday I headstarted my day walking around London with Dylan looking for a good deal on theatre shows we're both interested to see. I don't have tons of money to spare on shows, and fate must have wanted us to do otherwise because the one show "Speed the Plow" featuring Kevin Spacey, is sold out completely, and the Magic Flute South African style offers no student discounts! We agreed to reconvene at 6:30pm for Speed the Plow to see if there were any return tickets, and if not, have an adventure. On the way to the theatre, we pick up the free London Paper (which are handed out on every corner and littered in every tube train)--and under tonights events were two things of interest -- 1 BOYZ 2 MEN, yes i almost dropped everything and paid 33 pounds to have my heart stolen by those lovely, now very old romantic men. and the other thing was Jimmy Eat World. So speed the plow rejected us again, and on a whim we took the tube to the station where the jimmy eat world concert was. sure enough we are immediately approached by scalpers with tickets to the show. tickets were supposed to be 18.50, but since we dont have tons of money AND this whole concert idea was so spur of the moment, we walked away from a 15 pound ticket offer, and somehow managed to get tickets for 12 pounds each! So I went to a concert that night and it was really fun! A band from Belgium called "Styrafoam" opened with drums, synthesizer, and guitar --some dancey good songs remniscent of The Postal Service, but a little rockier. And Jimmy Eat world was a blast! The venue was great! Its called the Roundhouse and its completely round so you can circle around and get pretty close.
There's London for ya-- full of surprises. Tuesday I had art class in the Tate Britain, which I really really loved. They had neoclassical sculptures including the three graces, and they were all so delicate and beautifully carved in milky marble making it seem so pure and perfect. I also fell in love with the William Blake room which had lots of his paintings and sketches and a few original books (but not the "Innocence and Experience" books--i wonder where those are!). His paintings are very spiritual and imaginative, people used to think he was crazy but theres some cool stuff in his paintings that you just don't find in the formal paintings of his contemporaries. Above all else, he's a poet, but its cool to see this stuff as part of his life occupation being a creative artist. Tuesday night we headed off to Rational Rec -- the interarts monthly event led by our music teacher Matthew. His 3 dance pieces were featured and they also did screen printing and we contributed to making a book all in one night! It was pretty cool, esp the dance party at the end with some fun techno music.
And today, we had class with matthew and guest speakers who were german performers from last night's performance who talked to us about composing and mixing styles/genres of dance, music, and how to write scores that are different than traditional scores. it was a cool class! tonight we went to see our first ballet, which i really really liked a lot. the body can do so many amazing things! they also opened up with a really thoughtful performance which integrated video projections and audio recorded voices of the dancers themselves talking about what its like to be on stage, and then the performance really gets going... there was this one american guy dancer who was so beautiful and captivating. his body just flowed, it was like magic! Later there were pieces done by whole orchestras, the music alone was beautiful (Chopin, Debussy), but the dancing with it added such life! I really enjoyed the ballet. It was in the Royal Opera House which is SO FANCY its not even funny! We're going to see Salome there tomorrow night and dressing up. And THEN this weekend I'm off to FRANCE to meet Rachael and our friend from previous travels in the US, Ru who is a wonderful woman from Croatia studying English and French currently studying in Paris! I'll be there Friday-Monday, getting back to London just in time for my 21st Birthday on March 11th. :) So there is a lot going on!
I hope you all are having wonderful weeks and not getting too jealous of this crazy experience I'm having, I appreciate your love and support and miss lots of you from back home. Take care,
Jodi
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