I love Ireland

After a delightful flight on Aer Lingus (their seat cushions have words printed all over them) I was greeted in the Dublin airport by Sammi, holding a sign with "Carter" written on it (I felt special!). We took a bus to City Center and walked back to her flat.

Although illegal, I stayed on her couch (if she gets caught, it's an 80 euro fine. which is incredibly more expensive than staying in a hostel.) She has 3 room mates (one of whom is french) and her program provides them with a computer (which i'm using now) and a tv. YES. All of that. TV with american shows (we're gonna watch the OC). They have a washer and dryer (it's an all-in-one kinda thing).

On Monday we walked around all the shops in City Centre. Dublin has some really cool stores. In a way, it's good I don't have the capacity to transport lots of stuff back to Italy and back home because it curbs my spending, but there's definitely not a lack of cute potential purchases here.

I've been most obsessed with the supermarket/drug stores. They are big. There's lots of food and it all looks so normal. I've made ham & cheese sandwiches (with mayo, mind you) and cool ranch chips (not dorito brand though). So delicious!!

Monday night we saw an independent film near Temple Sqaure called "Melinda and Melinda" with Chloe Sevigny, Will Ferrel (he was great)and this one woman who had lesbian tendencies in "Mulholland Drive". It was a story within a story. And that short man with the weird voice from "Princess Bride" was sitting at a cafe with friend debating whether life is a comedy or a tragedy. Proponents of each side tell how they see a story, and this is where all the people come in. Some people are in each version, while parallel characters also appear. I personally liked the comedic version with Will Ferrel much better than the tragedy (but that's because Chloe Sevigny was on the tragedy side and she just annoyes me).

Tuesday we slept in (something I haven't done is very long) and then took the subway to Dundrum shopping center. It's brand new and some stores aren't even open yet. It has big dept. stores (Penneys, Marks & Spencer, Zara, H&M). They had tons of clothes, but they were of the skimpy hoochie mamma variety... so I passed on the short skirts and skimpy tank tops. But I did get a cool multicolored bracelet and fun dangly earrings.

I've continued my unhealthy obsession with chocolate on this trip. Even though my Rocher candy bars are far from me, I've become addicted to Cadbury chocolate bars. They're just so creamy!! Cadbury vending machines were even set up in the underground stations in London! I can't wait for food in Paris (like crepes!) although I hear it's incredibly expensive.

Wednesday we went to the National Museum and National Gallery. The gallery had tons of very pretty portraits and interesting art (although sammi pointed out ireland isn't known for too much artwork, so anyone with an irish connection is put on display despite a lack of true irishness). We had delicious chocolate muffins and ice cream at a fast food place called Supermacs. I stocked up on snacks for my trip to Paris Thursday. Now my backpack is really heavy but i will not go hungry.

Sammi's French roommate Auralie (i apologize if i've completely butchered her name) made crepes for us today. Homemade crepes from a frenchwoman. Fabulous!!! She made the largest stack I have ever seen...so I tried crepes with raspberry jam, nutella (chocolate and hazelnuts), lemon juice and sugar... they were all delicious. She doesn't make them very often because it takes awhile, so I feel very special she made the lovely treat.

Tonight we're headed to an Irish pub. I will pass on the Guniness. I tried some last night and it was revolting.

The British really aren't that great. Even with accents.

My first Ryanair experience was interesting. Ryanair is a budget airline based in the UK and offers very cheap flights to popular cities. The downsides include airports far away from the city and questionable equipment. luckily kaufman (who i flew to italy with) sat by each other in a very dinky plane (you pay for water, and you watch them close the plane door two feet away from you. ah!) For some reason rows 3 and 4 were blocked off so noone could sit there...but they never explained why.

We arrived in London at 11:30 but waited in line an hour at customs/passport control. my lady was particularly skeptical of my answers...i will be leaving monday. i am here for holiday. i am staying in london (but london is a very big place. where abouts are you staying?) a hostel. (do you know the name). international student house. (what is the address?) WHY didn't she just ask me for an address instead of all this backwards crap?

anywhoo...i had to take a bus into central london. it cost 10£ and lasted 1 hour 40 minutes. so it's about 2 am and i'm in the middle of this bus station trying to figure out how i am going to get to my hostel. i thought 2 am on a friday would mean tons of taxis about but NO. i wondered around a bit (and of course one passed me because i didn-t know what they looked like...) and finally i flagged one down across the street. it cost a freaking 11£ to go to my hostel, but i had no other choice since the subways closed at midnight.

once i got to my hostel (which i think is a dorm for international students as well as a hostel for travelers) i couldn't unpack or anything since my roommates were sleeping and i didn't know where the light was. i kept the door to the hallway open long enough to find the free bed and crawl up. i slept horribly. some woman was snoring. of course i thought it was a man until i realized it was a girl's dorm.

saturday i went to westminster abbey and waited in line forever, but had a nice view of big ben (clock tower), london eye (ferris wheel) and parliament. afterwards i went to trafalgar square, the national gallery (van gogh, renoir, monet) and looked for shops. i couldn't find anything until late afternoon, but i had to head back to the hostel to get ready for the play.

"we will rock you" was extremely disappointing. they don't give you playbills like NYC, but instead have programs (which cost 3£ or 10£). i thought a program would be a worthy investment but it turned out to be photos and bios of the cast. not even a song list or scene directory. what a waste!

at intermission i thought it was over and was ready to leave. i almost fell asleep towards the end. there was lots of british humor i couldn't understand and it was hard to hear with the sound system.

sunday i woke up early to head to westminster abbey for easter service. unfortunately, we had daylight savings these week (i think you guys do next week. weird?) so i got even less sleep. i was one of the first 10 people in line and waited 90 minutes before they opened the doors (i had no idea what the turnout would be for a westminster abbey service and i thought i might be arriving a little late). i sat in the front section of rows. very very close. if i hadn't known better, i would've thought it was a catholic service.

after that i had to go back to my hostel, get my bag, and go to hostel number 2. of course none of these places are close so it takes a while to ride the underground between them (of course i have to change lines, and trek throughout each station for a new train). i dropped my bag off at ace hotel in kensington and headed to the lion king. it was so cool. the costumes were amazing. but all the crying and talking children were a bit distracting.

i went to see buckingham palace afterwards (although it was closed so i just took pictures of the outside). I also treated myself to TGIFriday's chicken fingers. Yes. In London. The British twist on the food was honey mustard MAYO instead of sauce. SO while it wasn't full blown kansas food, it was close enough.

My overall impression of London is not too high. I was excited to come to hear their accents and be in city life. But the hoardes of tourists drowned out the British voices and the accent ended up getting a bit old after awhile. The city was so pretentious and some people just weren't friendly. I expected much more from the home of Hugh Grant and the setting of "Bridget Jones's Diary".

I wish we had fragrant smelling laundry detergent.

I miss fabric softener. Or at least the fact that back home my clothes always smell good after they've been laundered. Because the washing machines automatically dispense detergent, I have no say on this. Today I decided to do something about this. I used my Woolite-like soap normally reserved for washing clothes in my sink and poured a capful into my load (even though they told us not to add more soap. I'm a rebel). For the first time here, my clothes smelled lovely after being in the laundry. Yeah!

Despite being shut down for a little while by the mayor of Paderno, Guiseppe Verde (a restaurant in Crespano) is up and running again. A big group of us went there Wednesday night. I don't think the restaurant normally has a dance floor, but the Americans outnumbered the Italians and a dance floor formed. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have wine (what establishment in Italy doesn't serve wine, really?) Three guys were sporting bright yellow jumpsuits they were compelled to buy in Prague. They looked like a mix between an Indy Racecar driver/mechanic and an astronaut. You know you've been in Italy too long when you actually start to recognize the Italian techno song and it doesn't make you want to pull your hair out in horror anymore.

At our town hall meeting last night (which is just an opportunity for students to complain that we only have one washer working, the cafeteria ladies won't give Americans the good yogurt and the trash cans are made for people who don't produce any waste) our program coordinators reminded us we only have three weeks of school left. That seems like an incredibly short amount of time left in the semester...and looking at my planner, all my projects, papers and test are clumped around the same time. That's annoying.

In other news, I leave Friday to begin the official draining of my bank account. I think I just may have chosen the three most expensive cities to visit during the travel break. I arrive in London Friday night, go to Dublin on Monday and Paris on Thursday. In London I have tickets to see "We Will Rock You" (a musical with songs from Queen) and "Lion King" (a classic). I'll be there over Easter and may attempt to attend Easter service at Westminster Abbey. How cool would that be?

I hear that my most favoritest show ever, The West Wing (starring the ever so wonderful Martin Sheen and a stellar supporting cast) will be around for another year (even though his term as president will be over). This is fabulous news because I have been deprived of my West Wing reruns on Bravo (airing at least 3 times a day). Don't worry, I did not watch all three. Some were duplicates.

Hail Marys on Jesus Field

The first soccer game (USA versus Italia) was Tuesday night. I decided to forgo studying for my Message Development and Italian tests and cheer on my CIMBA friends. I arrived at Jesus Field (yes, the name of our "futbol" field is Jesus) early enough to score a letter for the signs. Nothing like "Go CIMBA" signs and some spirit fingers to start the game off right.

The Italians had uniforms, and never substituted their players (I lost track of how many changes we had...) We put up a good fight and the game was close until the end. We lost 6-3 but the old Italian ref def didn't call some fouls that would've gone our way. A guy from UConn used to play college soccer, but decided he was sick of being goalie and played the field. I'm sure we would've done better had he applied his soccer skills in a more productive manner. Even though we lost, I had a lot of fun in the cheering section (and so many people liked the signs that we were photographed an obscene amount, as well as filmed for the video yearbook).

When I talked with my mom afterwards, she passed the phone to my 9 year-old cousin Maggie. She updated me on the most important information I am missing out on in America. If any of you don't know the following info, it's probably because you don't keep up to speed with celebrity gossip... Demi Moore is pregnant with Ashton Kutcher's baby (shocking, isn't it?!) She's 8 weeks along, and 15 years older than Ashton (Maggie also knows Demi's and Ashton's ages and did the math for me on this stat). Maggie assumed correctly that I'd already heard about the Brad and Jennifer split. And we were both surprised that a pregnant Denise Richards is divorcing Charlie Sheen. Maggie was also the first to spill it to me that Britney Spears was getting married (Maggie suspected a pregnancy was behind this...) and Jessica Simpson hasn't been able to conceive through "traditional" ways.

Flying footage

I finally found my skydiving video and watched it last night! I was getting frustrated because everyone commented they'd seen it ("You yelled so much!" or "Yours was good" or "Your instructor has stuff flying off him") and I couldn't even find out where it was.

The beginning has footage of Anna, Mary Beth and I putting on our helmets and goggles and waving to the camera (as well as the cute instructor). I neglected to notice he was still filming me, so there's quite a bit of me just staring out the window (which everyone has taken to think it was me being really scared but I don't think I was).

Then my cameraman swings outside the plane and films me dangling in midair and falling. It is really cool and I'm very glad I paid more to experience it all over again (and from a different perspective). Someone pointed out that Bruno's goggles actually fly off mid-fall. AH!! Of course I never knew this (he very well could have told me in Italian but I couldn't understand...)

The footage also includes my landing (or falling, really). I never noticed how extremely unattractive the harness makes your butt look. Safety first, though.

Guess who went sky diving today?

I quite possibly just had the most amazing experience of my life so far. I know you probably can't believe I actually went skydiving. So check out this link and see a few photos of me preparing to jump 15,000 feet out of dinky little plane.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jachawk3/my_photos

Click on the SKY DIVING! album to see the pics. Yes, that little speck in the sky is me floating around.

This is a link to the company's website. There are some pretty cool pictures in the Tandem section of the photo gallery.
http://www.cpvpara.com/inglese//centrale.html

we left at 7 am to go to this skydiving school near treviso. the man leading the tutorial (in italian, translated by alberto) pulled me up front to help with the demonstration, so i felt much better about what i was doing when it came to the real thing (and he looked like an italian version of Matthew McConaughey so i happily helped out...)

Alberto, Brian and Kassie went first. We had trouble keeping tabs of them with the sun blaring in our eyes, but soon enough we saw little specks in the sky and down floated our friends. Dan went next with a random group of other skydivers and Anna, Mary Beth and I went after him.

We had to wear these very attractive one size fits all jumpsuits, goggles and "helmets" (which were more like little caps). Bruno put my harness on me and secured everything. I wasn't that nervous until the plane took off. i had no idea when we piled in that since my instructor bruno had us go last, we would be the first jumping out of the plane. I didn't want to go first, but looks like I didn't have a choice! Somehow 9 of us (3 jumpers, 3 instructors and and 3 camera men) managed to squeeze in the tiny little plane, but we were all squished together.

We spent about 15 minutes cruising to our jumping altitude and Bruno took this time to fasten himself to me and shake me forward to ensure everything was secure. i had a great view of some beautiful mountains and the clouds. before i knew it, my cameraman skydiver opened the door, flung himself onto a little ledge and bruno swung me out. let me explain this...i was dangling out of the plane. mid-air. suspended in the sky. nothing but a few pieces of a metal harness connecting me with bruno who was still sitting in the plane.

the next thing i know, i am face down and falling very, very fast. i didn't even have time to think if i was in the correct position (luckily the arched position came naturally). my friends who'd gone before me said your stomach doesn't drop. umm, they lied. that was by far the scariest part of the entire jump - the initial feeling of going from a stationary position to a free fall. all i could think was "what the (explicative) did i get myself into?"

once i was used to the intensity of the experience, it was a very cool feeling to be soaring in the sky. my facial flesh was moving around in weird positions and it felt funny. i think i was able to close my mouth before any drool could escape (and good thing since all this was captured on film...) my camera man was right across from me waving to get my reactions. i waved back and tried to smile but sometimes i was a little distracted by the fact i could hardly breath. During our preflight lesson, the instructor said if we needed to cover our mouth to breath, we needed to place one hand over our mouth and the other on our stomach to keep the symmetry. I decided I liked the feeling of having my arms extended in the air too much to do this so I just breathed very carefully.

after 60 seconds of free falling in the sky, bruno opened our parachute. i was a little confused about the logistics of skydiving and thought he'd already opened. oh no. as soon as he opened the parachute, i felt an intense jolt (thanks to the harness) and an uncomfortable tug the remainder of our flight. i neglected to think that all my weight rested in these few pieces of metal crossing me like underwear. and they don't have it cushioned or anything for your comfort so it was digging into legs.

once i adjusted to the odd harness, i looked up and saw our pretty parachute billowing in the air. bruno twirled us around the sky and we saw the cute little towns. it was such a light, carefree feeling to be floating daintily above Italy. it seemed like we did this for quite awhile before we returned to the landing pad.

i didn't quite stick my landing, and i think bruno yelled at me in italian because we fell over, but i was just happy to make it down without any injuries. Even though I was back on the ground at 11 am, it took until dinner time for my ears to finally return to normal. During my fall, I could feel them popping. And for all the time in between, I could barely hear myself or others talk...like I had cotton stuffed in my ears. Thankfully it finally went away, but I my head felt very odd for quite awhile.

I have a roll of film I need to get developed. Hopefully they can put it on a CD and I can post them. Those should be amazing because they'll be close ups of me in the sky. I also have a VHS of the crazy experience (Anna watched it and said it was great, but I have yet to get my hands on it.)

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Today I had the realization that I really like it here. It took awhile, but my disdain for Paderno is fading. The weather is perfect and it's the kind of day you just want to spend outside. Leigh and I met up with Jenny, Sarah, Elaina, Kelly and Pat at the Piazza (the Hotel bar across the street) and had drinks on the patio. It was relaxing and very fun.

Just a week of school between me and another travel week. I'm so excited to finally make my way to London, Dublin and Paris!! I think I reserved tickets for We Will Rock You and Lion King musicals in London (I'll find out within 24 hours if there are tickets... so as of yet I haven't received a confirmation or a denial from the website.) I'll get to see my good friend from high school, Sammi, in Dublin and I can't wait! And of course, Paris will be amazing. After that it will be April...hard to believe how fast time is going by.

A little part of me just died...

The KU-Bucknell game was on at 3:50 am in Paderno (the Armed Forces Network does pick up March Madness. Yesss....) A group of guys were staked out in the TV all afternoon, evening and night ("studying" for their Saturday morning test). Leigh and I and a group of guys went to the Orchidea to kill some time before tip-off. We think the bartenders slash waitresses were on drugs because they had spacy eyes and just laughed at us when we waited to order. Maybe not the best idea to snort illegal substances while on the job.

Some very smart people moved couches from the lobby of La Salle dorm into the TV room, and then moved the connected plastic chairs on top of a table. Make-shift stadium seating! Leigh and I were successfully able to see the TV over all the boys and had a great view...although what we were watching wasn't that pleasant. I had to lay down on the table around 4:45 am because I was just so tired, but I did wake up to see the last 5 minutes. We were all standing up, yelling and clapping and so excited when KU got with in 1 point...and then the clock ran out. I'm still in disbelief and shock. We were all thrilled to finally be able to get KU games on TV and now they're out of the tournament.

For some reason, massive amounts of Italian students are dressed up in suits this afternoon. We had to eat lunch in a different room today. After I put away my tray and walked down the other end of the hall, I saw our normal cafeteria room had been transformed into a banquet. A beautiful apricot colored tablecloth replaced the institutional floral print, fabric was draped on tables with delicious looking desserts tucked inside and bottles of wine were clumped on table (maybe it's worth noting that we're not allowed to have alcohol on campus...). As if we don't already feel like the aloof and poor Americans, we have rich, suit-wearing Italian students and their families watching us go to the cafeteria on a Saturday morning in our comfy clothes.

Everyone else has Saturday classes today but my teacher held our class Monday night so I have free time. Yeah! The weather is finally phenomenal here. Quite a few people are wearing shorts. I'm just glad the snow is gone. While the temperature is fabulous, I fear my warm-blooded body may be a little hot in my room if this weather keeps getting better, especially since we don't have air conditioning.

Guest speakers and good grades

I'm not sure why CIMBA paid for a journalist from Oregon to be a guest speaker in Italy, but he was much more enjoyable than regular classes so I will keep my questioning to a minimum.

Paul Linnman is a journalist in Portland. Around 30 years ago he covered a story about a dead whale that washed ashore. Authorities didn't know how to rid the beach of the whale so after much consideration they used dynamite to blow it up. We watched his story during our first week of school during our Kepner-Tregoe Decision Making Workshop (two 8-hour days of group work hell). Once the whale was blown up, chunks of blubber, guts and blood flew miles up and started hitting people. A few minutes of whale guts and this guy is still famous.

I was a bit skeptical of a man reaping the benefits of a whale that was blown up on a beach, but he was a great speaker. He won an Emmy (not for the whale story. But another journalist did win an Emmy for his story on the 25th anniversary of the exploding whale.) He was in tv for 30 years and now has his own radio show, similar to NPR.

He spoke about telling stories about ordinary people, doing what you enjoy and working hard (things more universal than a dead whale...) and about run ins with famous people (he met Mike Wallace on a plane and after a few drinks, Wallace offered Linnman a job at CBS). He also could've taken the job Charlie Gibson ended up with on Good Morning America but his wife won't leave Portland so he had to abandon that offer.

In other news from the CIU campus, we had night class on Monday (guh) but Lori just handed out our final paper assignment and returned our midterms. Before she returned our tests, she explained reasons she deducted points. I was a little worried because it seemed easy when I was writing all the essays, but I started to doubt my confidence. I waited until I left the classroom to check my score, and it turns out I got 100. A perfect score on a midterm. If I were back home, this would definitely constitute a mini-shopping excursion, but since I have no where to go in Paderno, I will conserve my euros and energy for a better location like Paris :)

Interlaken...

Interlaken is a great town. It's what I pictured Austria to be like, and very "Sound of Music". The houses are brightly colored cottages, the people are nice and the scenery is amazing. The downside is that everything is incredibly expensive. A simple entree in Switzerland costs as much as an extravagent meal back home. Even a moderate size of shampoo was $4. I guess locals don't mind because the minimum wage is $22.50 swiss francs! That's like 20 dollars an hour, so I suppose $12 for a McDonald's cheeseburger doesn't seem as bad.

I feel I wouldn't be doing justice to Switzerland if I neglected to mention the abundance of attractive men. Mostly those on the top of the mountain who'd been sking. Although I obviously have no future involving skis, these men are beautiful and have great hair and seem very fun. I had ample opportunity to people watch while Leigh skied, and this was my scientific observation.

Our hostel provided the most unique travel experience. At least three gigantic "house" dogs laid in the lobby or the front porch. One even leapt (or leaped?) into the van when Simon dropped Leigh and I off at the train station with our skis on Friday. These dogs weighed at least 150 pounds but were extremely gentle. They provided a very laid back atmosphere and of course no one could walk by without petting them!

Saturday, Leigh and I found downtown Interlaken and browsed the shops. We took a much needed nap and then got ready for the evening. We ate at a very friendly restaurant down the corner from our hostel. I think 20 of us overpowered the restaurant and all the locals stared at us. We're getting used to that now.

Afterwards, Leigh, Kyle and I thought we'd try our luck finding the KU game at Hooter's while everyone else went back to the hostel to see videos from the people who went skydiving. By this point a steady snow fall is coming down and we're freezing. Everyone stared at us when we entered Hooter's. I was a bit disappointed with the Hooter's girls, as this was my first time in a Hooter's establishment. Most of the Swiss people are very attractive and these women did not represent the orange shorts or tank top very well. Although the game was not on, the three of us had quite an enjoyable time. After 3 hours, Leigh and I decided we should get t-shirts (we couldn't find any during our afternoon shopping that said Interlaken). Hers is black and mine is the classic white. We were a bit embarrassed asking the male waiter to get the shirts from behind the counter, but we really wanted shirts that said Interlaken, Switzerland. He also gave us an excessive amount of "I heart Hooter's" stickers that I feel I will not accessorize my outfits with. Any takers?

Hooter's was dying down so we met up with a group of people in the basement club of the big hostel down the street. We arrived 45 minutes before it closed, but I was fine with not staying long because it was very hot and full of teeny boppers (as I'm finding most European clubs are. Where are the adults? And why are these children out late drinking?)

By the time Leigh and I were ready to go to bed, the boys next door were just realizing our rooms were in fact connected. They also wanted to throw wet toilet paper at us (they used it earlier to throw at the random man who passed out near their room. Freaky.) We were able to lock our doors and went to bed, trying to ignore their random pounding.

Suddenly our door to the balcony flung open. A few seconds later I saw a shadow and screamed. That's when Jimmy and Mike popped in and started laughing and making fun of us. It turns out they were able to unlock the privacy gate between our balconies and kicked down our door to throw more wet toilet paper at us. It felt very "Saved by the Bell".

Simon, the man who oversaw our stay, let Leigh and I know there was room on the bus the group took from Paderno and we could take it back. Wonderful news because that saved me a 65 euro train ticket back! The 8-hour bus ride was bumpy, cramped and seemed to last forever, but it was free so I kept my negative thoughts to a minimum.

Still no news about the bench incident. Rumor has it that the culprits have until Wednesday to confess before the police become involved.

They don't make t-shirts that say "I tried to ski the Swiss Alps..."

My friend Leigh and I arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland at 8:40 am with our only directions to the hostel being that it's 15 minutes away from the east or west train station (this is from the hostel's website...) We stopped in a nearby store for advice but ended up wandering the eyes, drooling at pastries and marveling at all their modern products. I walked out with a chocolate chip croissant (delicious), shampoo and hose. The cashiers told us to walk 3 intersections up to find the hostel. We ended up asking at least 3 more people for help before finally stumbling across the Funny Farm Hostel.

As we walked up the rest of our group from school who had all taken a bus was already decked out in ski gear and getting on the bus to go up the mountain. Leigh and I checked in (we got our own room, which is a rare occurance for a cheap price at a hostel!) and rented ski gear. Let me explain preface my experience with a reminder that I have never skied in my life. How many times is one in the Swiss Alps with the chance to ski? I thought I should hit up this opportunity.

Leigh and i made it to kleine schindigg because simon at the hostel said that's most likely where our group ended up. although leigh's an intermediate skier, we hit the easy slopes for my sake. Leigh was very patient and helpful giving me a tutorial on how to ski, but i still spent most of my time falling town and attempting to get back up (and even this was a challenge with skis.) I had no idea it was such a hard sport. I have a new found respect for those who participate in snow-related sports.

After an hour of more falling than actual ski to snow contact, i told leigh to go ski and i headed back UP the slope (i saw old people do it, so it couldn't be that bad...) I failed to notice a fork in the slope...one side being somewhat flat, the other being steep. i took off my skis and started walking but it got so steep i had to crawl up the slope. not a finer moment really. i had to push my skis in front of me, push them in the snow so they couldn't slip, hold them for a little support, sink one knee into the snow for leverage and then put my weight on my other knee and continue the sorry cycle.

Of course there aren't any "lifeguards" or safety people hanging around to help out poor souls like me. I very slowly made my way back up to the top of the slopes. If a hidden camera had been taping me, this would take the cake as the most embarrasing thing in my life, but since i didn't know the europeans sailing past me, it was bearable, and looking back, quite amusing.

Being up at the top of the mountain provided an amazing view. The peaks are impressive and the skiers were so graceful. Even though my introduction to sking didn't materialize too well, I enjoyed the outdoors and experience of the Alps.

Big trouble in little Paderno

Our program coordinators announced at lunch that we had an emergency meeting at 12:45 with the Paderno mayor and Dr. Al Ringleb, the program director. Of our this was all we talked about at our "mess hall" type tables. What happened last night? Why are we in trouble?

Well...a bar in Crespano has Cowboy night on Wendesday and they also serve cheeseburgers (I hear they are incredible, which is quite a change from european's take on one of my favorite foods back home) and 1 euro beers. A good amount of students taxied there were to Crespano to enjoy the club. Apparently none of them knew about the strippers that were there (but that didn't stop them from partaking in the entertainment...)

The mayor (translated by Anna, our Italian office assistant who is amazing) said last night a park bench was moved into the middle of the street, bottles were broken, people urinated on gates, there were noise complaints. A couple weeks ago he found vomit in the bushes... basically tons of drunken college behavior that is unacceptable in Europe, Italy and this small town. In response to the CIU student's behavior, the mayor said he would like the guilty parties to admit they were involved, disclose where they drank and he will shut down all the bars that serve them.

After the mayor left, Al closed the door to the auditorium and apologized to the 99 percent of us not involved. However, in Italy you are guilty until proven innocent. He'd spent all morning on the phone with the consulate figuring out what to do. If the students come forward, and Al gets them out of the country, he thinks they will be able to avoid jail time. If they stick around Italy and it later arises they were involved, they'll get three years of jail time. Al said he was willing to work with the home institutions so these students can still get credit for class through independent study but it's important they go home. If this issue isn't resolved, the program could get shut down. Al had to stop talking because he was about to cry. To see him break down...it just intensified the severity of the situation even more. We feel bad for him because of the looming repercussion that this program could suffer as a result of a handful of students' poor choices.

I leave in a few hours for Interlaken, so we probably won't find out who did it or what's going to happen to them until after the extended weekend...when they possibly don't come back for good. I'm just thankful I had a midterm this morning so I stayed in last night to study!

Happy happy day!

Happy 21st birthday to Dori Tate...a most fabulous room mate in the dorms (GSP 1West, baby) and a wonderful, caring friend. I miss you so much! Fill up that lovely shot book I made you with some amazing memories. I can't wait to see it when I'm back. Don't forget to drink lots of water!

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

Today I went to Bassano del Grappa to purchase my train ticket to Interlaken, Switerzerland. I caught the 1:10 pm bus leaving Paderno (which happened to be running 7 minutes late...) and arrived in Bassano at 1:45. The next bus back to Paderno left at 1:55, so I was on a mission to get my ticket and make it back to the bus stop...otherwise I would be waiting until 4:20 pm for the next bus.

After making it through the crosswalk (in which there are white lines to walk through, but no stop lights or other such necessary commands to require drivers to slow down as you dodge through traffic) I handed the man behind the counter the print out of when I wanted to leave Bassano on Thursday. Of course I get one of the employees who doesn't speak English, so he blabbers on in Italian about some problem with my print out. I don't understand because I printed it from the train station's website (my misunderstanding crosses language barriers because even in English, he should've been able to find the train I found online to transport me.)

After 15 minutes a long line was forming. I tried having other people go while I looked through his proposed itinerary, but the ticket booth old man would not have it. Finally I just said, okay, "un bigiletto" (one ticket) and paid the man. Since I had already missed my bus, I spent a good 15 minutes studying my itinerary. I'm going to have my room mate Carolyn (a pro in train travel after a month of backpacking before the program started) and maybe someone else in the office look at it so I understand when I have to switch changes and stuff.

In my two hours two kill, I walk around Bassano. Unfortunately all the shops are closed (lunchtime or naptime or whatever excuse they use not to work). I strolled awhile, searching for a drugstore or place that would sell empty plastic bottles. I am in need of smaller containers for my shampoo, face wash, laundry detergent, etc and obviously Paderno does not stock such necessities.

Since there was nothing to do (besides eat...and they actually have two chinese restaurants on one street!) I found a bench near the bus station and read my book for awhile. Thank goodness I brought it with me, otherwise I would have sat in the chilly breeze staring blankly into space.

Apparently I have some shred of international appeal because two separate women came up to me speaking Italian. After awhile of their mumbling I said "Non parlo Italiano" which means "I don't speak Italian." The first woman asked me what I spoke, and I said English. She asked me if I knew what Jehovah's Witness is, I said yes, and she asked me where I'm from. I said Kansas, the United States and she said she'd had never heard of that before. I'm just glad she gave me a blank stare and walked away.

The second woman came an hour later, blabbling equally enthuastically. I interjected again and when she asked what I spoke (in English) I said English and she said in Italian that she didn't know English. Okay...

The 4:20 pm left a few minutes late and somehow the 30 minute ride how turned into 40 minutes. Before I got on the bus I double-checked with the bus driver that it went to Paderno and he nodded. The very nice man that he was, he announced when we arrived in Paderno so I could get off.

Times like these make me wish I had a more reliable form of transporation to get around in (...other than my feet. For although they are always available, they aren't quite up to the journeys to semi-nearby towns). I would rather subject myself to driving a smart car (which is basically the size of a front hood of a cadillac at home) than dealing with the infrequent, inadequate and confusing bus system of the Veneto region. If this is such a rich part of Italy, why aren't there better means of traveling between the bustling towns?

Loose ends

I have a few birthdays I have failed to publicly celebrate. The first is my lovely room mate Kaitlan who was the last of us to turn 21. I can't wait for all of us to celebrate in May!! And my grandma's birthday was on Saturday. I don't know many grandparents who are savvy enough with the internet to post comments on their granddaughter's web site, but she figured it out and leaves me nice notes :)

Saturday was our friend Karem's birthday (Interesting side note...Karem is from Istanbul, Turkey, went to a British boarding school in Turkey and has a visa to study at KU...from which he has ended up in Italy). My room mate Carolyn loves to cook and has been deprived while in Italy. She talked one of her professors into driving her (in his mini little smart car) to the grocery store in Bassano to get ingredients to make Karem cheesecake. Friday night five of us went to the professor's apartment for cheesecake and wine. The cheesecake was just out of the oven and hadn't been in the fridge the recommended seven hours, so it was more of a creme brulee/custard kind of cheesecake and was incredibly delicious. Karem, Kim, Carolyn and I are planning on having food-oriented get togethers once we're all back at KU, but unfortunately we're all put to shame by Carolyn's cooking. Hopefully my presence and a prepackaged bag of cookies or such will suffice!

On Saturday we took a fieldtrip to Padova (also known as Padua)which is the home of one of the oldest universities in the world and intellectuals like Galileo studied there. Unfortunately it is closed on the weekends. We were able to stand outside and think of all the smart things that have gone on inside. We only had two hours in Padua and we spent a significant amount of that wandering around trying to find the university. After that wasted time, we went to some church whose name I never saw but it had some religious person's bones under ground but visible through a glass hole. My favorite part of the trip was going to St. Anthony's Basilica. Anthony, patron saint of lost things, died in Padua and the city's main draw is the Basilica with his relics (including his tongue and denture-looking teeth). Mass was going on while we were touring the church, which added quite an authentic feel. Sometimes the empty churches just feel like art museums so it was a nice change to see it in for it's intended use.

As it stands now (and as some of you may know this has been an ever-changing dilemma), I will be spending my travel weekend in Interlaken, Switerland. The friend of a friend in the South of France Carolyn and I were going to stay with will be in Germany. Plan B to Dublin also failed because of a rugby tournament squandering all the rooms. I'm sure it would've been nice to be surrounded by fit rugby players, but alas, that plan did not work out. Luckily there's a big group taking a bus in Interlaken and my friend Leigh and I can take an overnight train and arrive at about the same time. I'm not sure what my plans are once I get to Interlaken, but I've heard it's beautiful (and also expensive). If there's one job I've realized I could never have, it would be a travel agent. This semester has provided me with a newfound respect for those people. If I knew any at all, I would surely send some sort of condolence card for having such a stressful, up in the air job.

Photo descriptions

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jachawk3/my_photos

Vienna.
1248, 1249. Outside the gates of the Schonbrunn Palace.
1250-1264. St. Stephan's Cathedral
1266. Some neat statue on the top of a building I thought was cool
1274. My travelmate Corinne and I at the "Sounds of Vienna" concert
1278. The outside of the concert venue

Prague.
1280-1285. Old Town Sqaure at night
1290-1311. Prague Palace
At each entry point were a pair of guards who stood completely still. Our timing was just right and we were able to see the shift change of guards. 1307 is Franz Kafka's apartment. 1303, 1311 are overlooking the city from the castle.

1312-1321. Charles Bridge. The view from here on both sides is amazing. Every few feet were statues in honor of various religious figures, but they hadn't been taken care of very well and looked sooty and black.
1323. The famous clocktower. Corinne and I were having desert at 9 pm at night in an outside cafe when the clock started chiming. We were too far away to book it over there, but a crowd gathered and we assume something popped out.

1330-1337. The hallways and bedroom of our freaky hostel. In 1337 I am standing in the shelving (which a boogeyman could also have done...) 1330 is the shelving in our room, in which I felt like I was living in a house of tubberware storage containers there were so many organizers. 1331 is the beautiful view you have when getting off the elevator. We never saw anyone in the halls, which was a good thing since the shelves take up so much room people barely fit.

Munich
1340. Leigh, Regan, Sarah, Kelly, Corinne and me enjoying Happy Hour at the Wombar (in our hostel)
1343. 1370 Munich at night
1344, 1345. Random musician on the street started singing to us about America. He told Elaina she looked like Monica Lewinsky. Jimmy and Tom embraced and got a lighter while he sang.
1348. Geoffrey dancing to Oldies music at the Atomic Cafe as we all brace ourselves for who he'll accost next.
1351-1353. View of the city from the top of the clocktower. I passed around my pen and we all took turns writing our names on the wall.

1357-1366. Dachau. 1358 is an example of the reconstructed barracks. All original barracks were torn down because the survivors wanted to ensure no one ever lived there again. 1362 is the crematorium. 1363 is the outside of the building where people were brought, derobed, "showered" and cremated. 1366 is the entrance to Dachau, with the slogan "work will set you free."

1368. Hofsburhaus Beer Hall. We went to Auginstiner's because we heard it was less touristy and the place where locals hang out but I got the impression they hated us. We went to Hofsburhaus the next day for t-shirts and it had such a fun atmosphere. A live "band" played as couples waltzed around.

Gutentag from Munich

Munich turned into one big CIU reunion. There were four rooms of students from school just on the second floor. Our hostel, Wombat's, was my favorite. It is run like a hotel (unlike some hostels in which people rent out apartment rooms). The lobby had comfy couches, there were computers and of course the Wombar with happy hour every night from 6-8 pm.

Corinne and I stayed in a 6 person mixed private room...which means it was co-ed but our room had it's own bathroom. The first night our roommates included a couple from Australian who were very nice and adorable, and a 20-something Russian we actually never talked to. I woke up early in the morning to see him walking to the bathroom in his underwear and the Australians said they actually saw him jet out of the bathroom naked once. The second night included the Australian couple again, Cory from LA who was working on his thesis on architecture and Australian 20-something #1. Corinne and I both noticed that Cory and the Australian like sleeping in their underwear too. Granted, the room was incredibly warm, but Corinne and I managed to stay fully clothed. The last night was Cory, Australian #1, a new 20-something Australian and a man who was sleeping when we came home and left before we woke up. These men snored and breathed heavy and it was very annoying.

After we arrived in Munich on Thursday a group of girls immediately searched out the shopping scene. Munich has amazing stores...and multiple ones just down the street from eachother. After shopping for a few hours, everyone went to Happy Hour and then got ready to go out. The 26 of us went to the Atomic Cafe, which was recommended by our hostel. The drinks were 9 or 10 euro each, quite a rip off, and the music was ripped off Oldies 95. Needless to say, it wasn't that great of an experience.

Friday morning we woke up early to go to the top of the clocktower before our guided tour of Dachau. We saw an example of the barracks, shower/gas chamber, crematorium, museum and a short film. It was all very disturbing but a learning experience. We had some idiot rednecks who would say "gee, that'd suck" after our guide talked about how people were tricked into taking showers and they really gave americans a bad image. They also smoked every chance they could, even though it's not permitted in Dachau. That's just classless and tacky.

Friday night we went to a beer hall called Auginsteiner's. The front desk at our hostel told us it more locals went there than the popular Hofburhaus. Auginsteiner's was packed and no matter where we moved, we were ablways in the way. I also got the feeling they didn't like Americans. After that we went to Club 4004 which was the most amazing disco I've ever seen. The main room had two bars, and there were 4 dance rooms that I saw, but people said there were tons more. One room had a 70s theme and a weird old man with a purple metallic shirt was grooving away by himself when I looked in there.

After spending time in public, my clothes and hair reek of cigarette smoke. It's so disgusting to shower, go out and come back home to have everything about you be dirty. I made the mistake of leaving my worn clothes in my locker in the hostel and the smokey smell spread to the rest of my possessions. I still think my purse has remnants of smoke odor still. I definitely appreciate Lawrence's smoking ban so much more now!

Saturday Corinne and I were super shoppers. Munich had at least 5 H&M stores, but they were all so crowded. Waiting in line to try clothes on was long and boring, but I bought a black suit jacket. I also bought long socks to keep my frigid legs warm. We went to a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Ratskeller in the bottom of the clocktower. The main entrance is on normal ground level, but it goes underground like a cave and twists and turns to so many rooms. I had beef pot roast and these spongy potato things which we quite delicious as well as a flavorful white wine. It is such a treat to have real meat considering my vegetarian ways as a result of the questionable cafeteria meat.

Munich reminded me a lot of New York City - very busy, commercialized, tons of buildings, restaurants and stores. It was a lot of fun, but Prague was still my favorite because it is so unique.

Praha, Part 2

Tuesday we planned on taking a city tour, but wandered Weneclas Sqaure trying to find the shack. In need of nourishment (and to get out of the blizzardy cold), we stopped in the nearest warm looking restaurant for food. I had the most delicious fruit crepes and an average apple streudel. I assumed that in places like Vienna, Prague and Munich there would be delicious appel streudel but it pales in comparison to the recipes that my mom and grandma have.

At 2 pm we took the city tour and it was nice to get oriented with the city. The bus stopped at Prague Castle for 40 minutes. Not nearly enough time to look around, but we planned on returning Wednesday.

Corinne and I did some quality shopping in Old Town Square. Czech has beautiful glass and Corinne was in search of wedding presents for her sister and best friend, so we went into handfuls of crystal stores. I found a neat bookstore that actually had titles in English and was so happy! Since our hostel is so far out of the way (literally an hour by public transportation) we stayed in Old Town Square until all the shops closed at 9 pm and went to dinner. The restaurant wasn't crowded, and the prices were so cheap we got drinks, an appetizer and an entree. You all would be very proud that I am branching out in my cuisine choices. My appetizer was asparagus with tomatoes and bacon. What arrived in front of me was not what I was expecting and I was slightly grossed out. The bacon looked like deli sliced ham and I was afraid to put the food in my mouth. It turned out to be absolutely delicious!! The bacon, although not extremely crispy, was the most phenomenal bacon I've ever had (and I've had my fair share of breakfast buffets with scrambled eggs and bacon...) I ordered pasta in cream sauce with spinach. It was almost a mild version of spinach and artichoke dip, and was very tasty as well.

Wednesday we woke up early to hit Prague Castle. We started with the history of the Old Royal Palace (mostly random artifacts - jewelry, crosses, uniforms, books.) The building was like a maze with so many hidden rooms and staircases. One could easily get lost if not for the arrows directing the tour. St. George's Basicila was beautiful - but not in the same way the cathedral at the palace is. The Basicila is beautiful in the "less is more" approach. It is simple, open, refreshing. The center altar had iron staircases on each side leading up and looked like the perfect place for a wedding.

Golden Lane was a residential part of the palace with little apartments which had been converted into tourist shops (although they had very cute crafts). Number 22 used to belong to Franz Kafka. Although I dropped English 12 AP in high school because of his book, The Trial, I did take pictures. I don't hold a grudge anymore, and if I did it would more likely be directed to my teacher for choosing such a boring book for us to read over the summer than the author himself. At the bottom of Golden Lane was an amazing view of the city. As I was snapping pictures of myself (partly a game to see how off center you can get, partly because it gets really annoying always asking people to take your picture) my camera started beeping at me that it was out of batteries. I paid careful attention the entire trip and it had full bars the entire time. Slightly depressing, but I'd already crammed in a solid amount of pictures that day. Old Royal Palace had a huge wooden ballroom and upstairs the ceiling was covered with family crests. St. Vitus Cathedral had beauiful mosaics.

After our tour of the castle we walked to Charles Bridge. The view of water and other bridges was amazing... and I turned on my camera in hopes of getting a few more pictures out of the battery to see it had full bars again. I don't understand what happened, but I was thankful to be able to take more pictures. We spent the rest of the day shopping (I took notes during our bus tour of stores i wanted to go it, so we even had a game plan! I felt to organized.)

For our last night in Prague, Corinne and I ate dinner in a restaurant off Old Town Square and had dessert at an outside cafe. Even though there were heaters (like the ones at the Hawk...haha) I was still chilly. Corinne and I were sad to leave Prague because we both loved it so much, although we certainly weren't going to miss our sketchy hostel (which also did not provide toilet paper.)

Prague is very historic, the architecture is beautiful, the food is delicious, the shopping is plentiful and affordable and the transportation system is easy to understand. I LOVED Prague and if you're going to Europe, you should make time for this lovely Czech city.

Prague, part 1

About 35 of us from school were all on the same train to Prague. When we arrived, some people left immediately for the hotel but the rest of us wanted to buy our tickets to Munich. Smart choice on our part since the 26 of us ended up paying just 24 euro instead of 54 thanks to a group rate! None of us knew for sure if euros were accepted in Prague, even though they recently joined the European Union. We all went to our separate hostels and planned to meet up in a few hours in Old Town Sqaure for dinner.

Corinne and I spend an hour riding subways and a bus to get to our hotel. Yes, a hotel. We found it online and it was comparable in prices to the hostels, so we thought, why not! We got off the bus to see the grand Top Praha Hotel. We walked in and the place was 4-star. I surely thought something was off that we could stay in such a lavish hotel for 15 euro a night. I handed the woman at the reception desk our confirmation papers, and she called another woman to look at it. I felt like something was wrong...maybe they didn't have record of our reservation or something. Turns out their is a Top Hotel and a Top Hotel that's really a hostel and we were around the corner. Walking into our real hostel was depressing. It probably long ago had been the original Top Hotel, but it was run down now. Corinne and I had to take separate elevators up to our rooms because with our backpacks, we filled up the entire thing. As soon as we got off the elevator, I feared for my life. All wall space was filled with shelves that went up to the ceiling. It felt like the boogeyman was going to jump out and attack me around every corner (not to mention it was horribly lit).

We ate dinner at an underground restaurant (almost like a cave) in the center of Old Town Sqaure. Even though I ordered chicken, I thought I was getting potatoes, but ended up with two chicken breasts on a pile of rice with a delicious cream glaze. I hadn't had such good food in a long time, especially chicken. It was amazing.

Prague at night is beautiful. The buildings all have an eerie glow to them. It was snowing and although little flakes blurred some of my pictures, it was gorgeous. The architecture and feeling of Prague is bittersweet. Beautiful, but in a sad way. Like two lovers were supposed to meet outside the church and ones dies on the way there.

Vienna

Corinne and I arrived in Vienna, Austria at 2 pm on Saturday, Feb. 19. We neglected to check that there are two train stations and the directions to our hostel were from the other one. After a short bus ride, we made it to Westbahnhof and of course got lost in search of our hostel that in fact was quite close. We waited 30 minutes for the hostel owner to show up, and after unpacking it was already 4:30 pm. Our goal was to hop on a city bus tour, but those were over by 1 pm. Corinne and I wondered around the neighborhood around our hostel and found a grocery store. We bought some snacks, frozen pizza and a bottle of wine. Our hostel was an apartment so we were able to cook the pizza and keep our water cold. We think the couple in the next room thought we were lesbians since we were sitting in the kitchen playing checkers.

Two girls came in carrying H&M shopping bags, so we asked where the store was. We ended up having a two hour talk with these girls who go to Catholic school in Ohio but are studying in Austria. It was so wonderful to hear English again. Ann Marie was hilarious. She is a theology major from Colorado and every story she told somehow involved a dilemma and her group pasuing to pray to Jesus for help. She shared a story about one of her professors in Vienna from Texas, who, in his southern drawl, warned his students that in Europe people will stare at you, but "thur jus lookin' " and he put his fingers up to his head and wiggled them, illustrating his point that Europeans think we look like aliens.

We were supposed to meet up with a group of girls who had taken the night train on Friday, but we couldn't figure out how to use our Italian phones out of the country. We received text messages on the train when we arrived in Austria with directions in German on how to make calls. We tried every way imaginable to dial out. Later we realized that when you're out of Italy, roaming charges apply. Your incoming calls are no longer free and text messages are more expensive. Corinne and I ended up doing our own thing in Vienna since we couldn't get ahold of anyone.

We woke up at 8 am on Sunday to cram in all the sightseeing. We thought we were headed to the center of town, to the church, palace and the ring. We came across a beautiful castle and thought we were in the right place (how many castles do you come across walking down the street, really?). Turns out we'd gone in the completely wrong direction, opposite side of town, way out of the way. The Schonbrun Palace was absolutely beautiful. We went on a 40 room tour. Their were exquisite paintings, decadent silverware, silk wallpaper.

We hopped on the subway to St. Stephen's cathedral and arrived in the middle of mass. We weren't able to walk around, but we stayed for a few minutes and came back after lunch to look around. I feel like I've run out of adjectives to describe the churches. Each one is very different, but leave you with similar feelings. It was beautiful and ancient but it was so dark I couldn't get very good pictures.

After that we went to the palace we assumed we'd arrived at earlier that day, Hofburg (the spelling may be completely off). We met up with a group of people from school here... It's funny to just see familiar faces on the streets in foreign countries. It was a huge estate. We only went into one exhibit within the estate and it took up two hours. It was filled with cloaks sewn with gold thread, crowns with large jewels and apparently a piece of wood that was part of the cross Jesus was crucified on, as well as the nail that went through his right hand.

Sunday night we went to "The Sounds of Vienna." The concert was string and woodwind instruments playing songs by Mozart and Strauss, with dancing or opera accompaniment. The dance couple did ballet and waltzed. The male and female opera singers sang solos and duets. I felt like it was a very cultural evening. I don't think I could've handled an entire evening of opera, so this was a perfect mix.

I was quite ready to leave Vienna, and our hostel (the Do Step Inn). The bathrooms forever smelled of urine, and we had to provide our own toilet paper. Although there was a pair of dolphins painted above the toilet in the bathroom and I couldn't help but laugh at the TriDelt symbol sighting. I don't quite think a picture of me posing by dolphins in a hostel in Austria would make it into the TriDent magazine, but they always say to submit your dolpin sightings...