Vacations

At the beginning of April, I finally took the leap, and started traveling outside of France. It was absolutely the best vacation I have ever taken. It started when my buddy Scott from Albany (studying abroad in London currently) came to Paris to visit with his family. I was there Parisian tour guide for the week, which was awesome considering I went to a lot of museums and galleries I hadn't taken the time to see yet. It was also really nice to have a family around, at the time I was realllyy homesick. Everyone had family visiting, and it was hard knowing I wasn't going to see my family for at least another 5 months. But having Scott's family here was great. Last minute, Scott was like "Hey, want to go to Nice in the south of France?". Of course, I was like, "Alright". So, the journey began. I flew down to the South of France with Scott. It was the most beautiful flight I've ever taken. Not only did we lift off as the sun was rising, but we started landing right over the ocean. I actually thought we were crashing, because there wasn't a runway in sight. And then, all of the sudden we hit ground. Palm trees, teal/blue ocean, and beautiful beaches surrounded us, best moment everrr.

Pink lady. That sums up my hostel situation in Nice. Scott and his friends had already booked a hostel, so I had to go to one down the street. The information was sketch. "Walk in to the restaurant, and ask for the Pink lady". I imagined a scene similar to "Hostel" accompanying my stay alone in this hostel, but nope. Instead I was greeted by an 80 year old woman, wearing an entirely pink outfit (which I assume she sports quite often), in a mismatched and misfit restaurant suitable for Harry Potter. She brought me up into the hostel into a room I would share with 9 other people. It was sweet, bathroom, fully stocked kitchen, my own bed, it was great. Scott and I spent the first day hiking a nearby mountain, waiting for the arrival of his friends from London. The next few days included rollerblading (clearly I fell on my ass), eating fantastic seafood, and laying on the beach. By day two, I did not want to leave. Scott and I decided to start handing out applications to the local restaurants, hoping to find summer employment.

After Nice, I left right for Geneva, Switzerland. Another breathtaking and fantastic sight, but different. Flying in, I saw nothing but snowy mountains. It was awesome. I left the flight, only to hop on a train to Innsbruck, Austria. The transfer to the train station from the airport was a bit stressful, however I managed alright. Luckily I had quite a few hours between my flight and train. My friends meeting me in Innsbruck were not so lucky, they missed a flight as well as two trains. No good and expensive! I finally made it to Innsbruck at the same exact time as my friends, and it was so exciting! Emily, Megan, and I ran into each other's arms, and immediatly broke into stories and what not, considering an entire week had passed without eachother's presence. Our friend picked us up from the station, and the night began. We all went out to dinner and a local bar. It was cheap and delicious. We made it to bed pretty early however because the next day was snowboarding all day longgg. We woke up bright and early, bought ourselves some "Happy Morning Juice" and some banana milk. Yum yum. That day we snowboarded hardcore, and it was beautiful. We managed to try a local delicacy, some ridiculously long name, consisting of dumplings, fat, and deliciousness. We even learned quite a bit of german (which has inspired me to start studying german next semester. Haha). Ich bin bedrunken, Ich bin faloran (sp?), and Ich bin besoften. I am drunk, I am lost, I am hammered. Haha, key phrases of survival. That night we went out with the locals, and saw the entire city from the highest point.

Unfortunantly, I couldn't stay the next day as I was on my way back to Geneva for a couchsurfing festival! 40 snowboarders, one chalet, one week of snowboarding in the Swiss Alps, and a hell of a time. 8:30 am to 4:30 each day we would hit the slopes, which covered two countries (France and Switzerland). It was massive and the most amazing place I've ever boarded. 5 o'clock rolled around, and the beers started cracking. The chalet turned into a party house, and a different team from across the world would cook each night. The Italians, the dutch, the Americans (there was actually one other!). We of course chose a local delicacy: American Breakfast. I've never cooked so much french toast in my entire life. Truth or dare, wet teeshirt (or turtleneck) contests, bathing suit snowboarding, and an awesome time followed in suit. I made fantastic life long friends who were extremely open, and ready for anything. I never wanted to leave. Luckily we all plan to meet again this summer:). Most definitely the most wonderful vacation of my life, starting from sunning on the beach to sunning on a mountain. At one point we got lost in the swiss alps...for 3 hours. There were 5 of us extremely far from civilization, and it was pretty risque for a bit. However, we managed through...without too many scrapes. Finally the day came when I had to leave my new home in Champery:(. I hugged and bisoued the other goodbye, and headed to Geneva airport.

And that is when shit hit the fan. Unfortunantly, as I was checking into my flight, I realized I was missing something rather important, known as my passport. I assume it was stolen my second time through Geneva airport. So needless to say, I missed my flight, reported my passport stolen to the police, ran through the airport to try and make said missed flight, slept in the airport, was offered 10 euros for sexual favors, and was not sure if I would ever make it home to Paris. But, I held in the tears. After 12 hours in the airport, everything opened back up and I inquired about a flight. 400 euros. "I don't think so," I said. I proceeded to try my luck at the train station, only to find out the good old France rails were on strike. Fantastic. No tickets were allowed to be purchased, and again I was stuck. The nice gentleman behind the window then proceeded to offer me a bit of advice: "Get on the train without a ticket, there's a possibility you'll be arrested but also that they'll let you buy a ticket". So, smelly and sweaty, I rannn to the train. I squeezed into a seat on the already jampacked train, and did what I told myself not to do, fell fast asleep. I was woken up 2 times to change seats, as everyone else on the train seemed to have a ticket. However, to my knowledge, no one had come through yet to check tickets. Phew, major stressing. So sweating bullets, and literally 20 minutes before arrival in Paris at 10 30 am, the ticket woman came through. I was terrified. To my great relief, she allowed me to buy a ticket. 40 euro! Much better than 400. As I made it to the train station in Paris, I felt a rush of relief. However, next step. Run to class. I spent the next to days going to classes, working, and having no time to recover from my epic journey. Finally, Friday, 5pm rolled around. After a short mental breakdown of tears and calling home, I felt like a million pounds were lifted off my shoulders.

Life continued, although I knew I wouldn't be able to take my Spring Break trips to Dublin and Edinburgh as planned. Shitty. But then a little luck bounced my way. That's right, a volcano exploded, and this girl got a full refund on all my plane tickets:))). I may have been the only person in the world the volcano worked out for, as the American Embassy was absolutely plagued with French police trying to combat off angry Americans who were stuck in France. However, 150 dollars later, I managed to fix the passport situation. Now I must just wait.

As for summer employment, I now have a job! I have decided to be an au pair for the summer. The last week and a half aupairworld.com has been my crack. After making a profile, I sent and received numerous requests from multiple families. The family I will be working for is located 20 minutes from Geneva. I will spend the month of June at their house in the mountains, and then the month of July in the South of France in their summer home. Yes! Mountains and beach again, I cannot wait. I do have to practice driving stick as I get my own car, but I cannot wait! 90 euros a week, free lodging and food, my own car, room, etc; it's a done deal. Not too mention I'll have the opportunity to speak french with a family, good shit. Then on July 27, I'll be making my way back to the states. I can't wait to at least have a bit of summer with my friends, and move into the new apartment waiting at home! I'm psyched, and I may even have a bit of money. Nice. The kids look wonderful, and I think it'll just be a great summer. I plan on spending my birthday in Prague, and then I will have a week in July to do as I please. I'll probably take a trip to Spain, possibly Italy or Ireland as well. We shall see!

So that's the latest in a nutshell. Paris is finally warm, and it is beautiful. I've been able to see different parks everyday, and had a picnic with my friends today. I love it here, I'm going to be a big ass crying baby on July 27....