Cheers to Senior Year

Riikka and I saying good-bye

I was painfully reminded recently that it has been 6 months since I last blogged. SIX MONTHS. (Sorry Anne Lise!) It feels like I left my sweet palais at Capitaine Crespel for my lovely hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee just a few weeks ago...

 It's time for an update, hm?

Spontaneous trip to ATL

To be honest, I really dreaded coming home. I didn't want to be the same person I was when I left, and I certainly didn't want to get stuck in the small-town rut that seems so common here. My heart dreams big, and it wasn't about to settle for the same-ol' thing all over again. My poor mother and sweet friend Andrea had to endure my bad attitude and pouting for almost 2 weeks before leaving Europe and the entire journey home... they're both saints, truly. It might have been immature, but at the time it seemed very appropriate and somewhat necessary to mourn.

July 4th

Since then I have learned to appreciate my hometown for being exactly that: my home. Murfreesboro is and will always be home. This place is full of great childhood memories, awkward preteen years, silly decisions, and amazing friendships through all the mess. Throughout the summer I spent my time reconnecting with everyone, including my dad. Anyone who knows much about me knows that my dad and I haven't been close, or even in contact, in years. I realize now how much I wish he had been around for some different milestones and especially for some decision-making moments, but I am so thankful that he's here now and going to be around for the next big thing which is.. my college graduation.

21st Birthday!

That's a whole book in itself, but let's leave it at this: I am so thrilled and feel so accomplished to finish my undergrad (who wouldn't be?) and can not wait to move onto the next phase, but it is the most unsettling feeling I have ever experienced. This is one of those defining moments where you decide who you want to be and where you want to go in life: I really pride myself on my ability to adapt quickly and my flexibility when it comes to change, but this is just scary.

Broke

So, to make it less scary, I decided to pick up and move again to Colorado and work at a ski resort for the winter. I leave the day after my college graduation and start working my first full-time job the next day. The full-time job is a bit overwhelming, but being in the snow and mountains in my free time definitely makes it 100% worthwhile. The future beyond April is a bit of a blur. I plan to travel Europe for a month or so over the summer and then attend a graduate program in September hopefully in Europe, but possibly the U.S. I'm not worrying about that chapter until I need to though. For now, I am enjoying my last 2 months in the Boro at MTSU and living the college life.
 

flyin' high

Which brings me back to the present. Or past, really. At the end of August I broke my leg, which put me in crutches and a cast for the first month of the semester. I think the whole experience was to teach me patience ha... and it definitely did. I have never felt so limited and useless, but after 2 1/2 months I am back to walking and getting around like a normal, functioning human being (note to self: never break another bone again)

Amanda and I

I've met some really great people this year and just thoroughly enjoyed myself. Because what else do you do when the end is near? :)

Chatt/ATL road trip

Travel Tips

Some of you may be pros at travelling light and efficiently, but for those of you who have yet to venture out on your own on a tight budget, I would like to offer a few pieces of helpful advice. Of course, I will use some stories of my own to convey these little lessons and hopefully add some humor to this.

1.     Plan ahead. Common sense, hm? Maybe not for this girl. I am a very spontaneous, last-minute planner and I didn’t realize how detrimental this could be for my budget until I spent well above and beyond my budget because I did not think smart. So, look for cheap flights, train tickets, and bus tickets at least a month if not two or three in advance. RyanAir offers flights for €5-€25 to select destinations, but they are always a month or 2 in advance. Same situation with hostels, HostelWorld is a great resource, but it seems that the rates go up every day, so be sure to book well in advance to get the best deal.

           

2. Do not underestimate mass transportation services. When you are in a hurry… you can guarantee that if something can go wrong, it will. This is ESPECIALLY true with public transportation.

Story number 1: I made plans to leave Brussels on a 6 AM bus to spend the lovely weekend in my favorite city, Paris. I was staying at a friend’s who lives on the same line as the tram I would need to take directly to my bus station, Gare du Nord. Piece of Cake. I checked the timetable and the first tram arrives at my stop at 5:30. Perfect. So, Saturday morning arrives, I wake up at 5 AM quickly get ready and am out the door at 5:25AM. I arrive at the tram stop and wait. 5:35 rolls around and I start to sweat it, because even though it is a direct line, trams can take a very long time to get from point A to point B. 5:40 rolls around, no tram. Needless to say, my blood pressure has sky-rocketed as it dawns on me that I might not catch this bus. So, I start walking hoping to either beat the tram and be one stop closer to my destination, or find a Taxi driver along the way (keep in mind it is 5:45AM- pitch black outside, no one.. I repeat NO ONE is on the street or even driving by). Finally, a see that glorious black Mercedes with a yellow Taxi sign on top. I run into the middle of the street waving my arms frantically and he does a quick U-Turn and comes to my rescue. I quickly explain (in French;) that I need to be at Gare du Nord in 10 minutes. He flies through town (thank the LORD it was too early for Brussels traffic) and pulls me up to my bus as the driver is shutting the door. Safe.

Story number 2: Thinking that I had learned my lesson, I attempt this journey a second time with the intention of catching a 10:30PM bus headed to London. I leave my apartment at 9PM, take the Metro to Montgomery where I intend to catch the 7 tram and ride to Gare du Nord, flawless. WRONG. The Metro that usually runs every 5 minutes was only running about every 15 minutes, delaying my departure to 9:25, I get to Montgomery at 9:40, arrive at the platform for the Tram to see that it will be another 10 minutes before my 7 tram arrives. I’m a little nervous, but still have enough time to not really panic over it. After about 3 minutes I realize that the counter for the est. time of arrival for the tram is still reading 10 minutes. Oh dear. Then I realize that the other trams are surpassing that tram, like it is stuck at a stop. OK, now my blood pressure is starting to climb. FINALLY, at 9:55 the tram arrives. Now, 35 minutes sounds like plenty of time; however, it takes a solid 40 minutes for this journey because of all the stops. I am sweating it. However, I am assuming this tram was the driver’s last run for the night because he sped between stops and barely opened the doors long enough for the lone traveler to hop aboard. Thanks to him and his desperation to get off work, I arrive again with mere seconds to spare. Whew.

3. ALWAYS expect the unexpected.
Back to my Paris story, the game plan was to arrive at the bus station and meet up with my friend Yonseili and her boyfriend Kyle who had (of course) planned ahead and purchased a cheap train ticket. By the time I bought a ticket, the train prices had tripled, leaving me with the option of taking an early morning bus. Yonseili and I had discussed meeting at the Galeini station in Paris at 10:30AM, so when I arrive at Galleini I walk towards the main building to find the train platforms. I walk and walk and walk and slowly realize that there are no train tracks coming into the station at all. I ask someone where the train is and they point me to the Metro… no, no. I grab my mobile phone to call Yonseili only to find that the battery has died. Panic mode sets in. I’m in one of the largest cities in the world, I have no idea how to contact my friends, and I have no idea what time it is. So I act quickly. I find an Internet café, I google Paris train stations and find the one station that has incoming trains from Brussels, Belgium. Viola. I hop on the Metro, get to the station (which is magnificently huge), I finally find the train platforms and fear that I will be too late to know which platform they will arrive at. However, I am in luck, it is 10:35AM and the Arrival board indicates that the train arriving from Brussels is late and will arrive at 10:40AM. Perfect.  Yonseili and Kyle arrive and I have had just enough time to calm down and find the humor is the whole situation.

4. Check, double-check, and triple-check your itinerary.
My very first trip out of Brussels was to Cologne, Germany with a group of 6 people. Four of us were scheduled to leave early Friday morning and return early Sunday morning, while the other 2 were scheduled to leave Friday evening and return Sunday evening. So, on Sunday morning we arrive early at the train station to catch our 11AM train only to find that it is not listed on the Departure list. So one girl in our group checks the ticket and realizes that we misread the ticket, it actually departs at 1PM. No big deal, we decide to grab lunch in the station and then leave at 1. At about 12:45 we walk back to the Departure board again to find that there is no train listed. We take out the tickets and go to the ticket booth and the lady informs us that we misread the tickets again, our train actually left at 11AM; however, Brussels was only a stop on the way so the destination would have read differently on the departure board. Not only that, but we would have to purchase new tickets to take the next train out (the train that our friends were leaving on!). Not only did we waste an entire morning and afternoon sitting in a train station, we also had to pay another 25€ to take a later train home.

Vagina, Vagina, Vagina

This semester at Vesalius College the study abroad students decided to introduce Brussels to the Vagina Monologues...and you know what? I think we shocked them.

I am really not sure what possessed me to do so (because I do not, let me repeat, do NOT act), but I volunteered myself to take part in a monologue and was selected for the monologue about hair... pubic hair, that is.
The whole cast ended up being 14 women, 13 being students and 1 female professor, from all over the globe. It was beautiful, it was strong, it was raw... it was empowerment.

Honestly, I went to 1 rehearsal and practiced a bit before the actual performance, but just memorizing the words of my monologue telling women that they can call the shots for themselves- even in the never-ending question, to shave or not to shave?- has changed my heart and my mind about the way I view myself and the way women view themselves in general.

I'll be frank and say that I have never loved my body or been absolutely thrilled about the way I look. (honestly, what girl does?) There are always things that I think I could do better at, or work harder towards..

But, vagina monologues opened my eyes to something that I think we as women miss.

We are beautiful. We are unique. We are strong.

I spend plenty of time critiquing myself and the way I look or the way I act, but I rarely spend time considering my character, my drive, my accomplishments.

We have endured.

I can't count the number of times I have been let down by friends, heart broken by men (I prefer the term boys for these individuals though), and disappointed by family or role-models.
People always refer to scars as beautiful because they tell a story of recovery, of overcoming... well, I would like to offer the same analogy to women. Some of us are stone-cold because of injustices we have been exposed to far too early and far too often in life. Some of us are guarded because of incessant heartbreaks.

We are imperfect, but we are beautiful.

One of the girls read a poem by Maya Angelou that I think every woman needs to hear:

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Ladies, think about that next time you step in front of a mirror and start criticizing..
you.are.phenomenal.

Maybe Not Paradise

As much as I thoroughly enjoy my time in Brussels, especially now that it is Spring and there is warmth in the air and color on clothing (seriously, au revoir drab colors, hheellooo pastels!)... but sometimes I am subtly- or not so subtly- reminded that I do not live in paradise.

Let's just say that the past 24 hours have been one of those humbling, come-to-Jesus days.

Back-track, background information:
Wednesday, March 28, 2012:
I have a paper due on Thursday at 11AM. True to old-fashioned, very-typical Sarah ways, I procrastinated a bit on this assignment and began research for it on.. Monday.
I should probably note that the assignment was a 3000 world paper on social media and how it is used in governmental and political situations. I should also note that at MTSU, I receive paper assignments with a page count, not a word count. For whatever reason I just assumed that 3000 was a mere 5-6 page paper.
Boy! Was I wrong... 3000 words is more along the lines of 10-12 pages. Never in my life...
Back to the story. So Wednesday I am in pure journalist mode; I researched and typed the entire day away.

Thursday, March 29, 2012:
The LAST day of work and class before Spring Break! 
I wake up slightly stressed because I still have to neaten up my paper a bit and print it off between my 8AM and 10:30AM classes. I quickly get ready, throw my computer in my bag and rush at the door. 
Paper turned in, success. All my travel information printed, check. 

And here is where everything gets a bit interesting...
for those of my readers who do not know, I live with 3 other girls. We have a blast together and mesh so well, it must have been a divine culmination of people. I know myself to know that I don't get along with just anyone, let alone 3 anyones. However, for Spring break, we all made different travel plans. Charlotte jetted off to the Bahamas with her boyfriend for 3 weeks. Riikka hopped on a plane to Ibiza, Spain on Thursday morning for a week. Annelise is headed to Paris on Friday evening, and then on Wednesday she leaves for Norway for a few days. I am headed to Paris on Saturday morning where I would meet up with Yonseili and Kyle and continue on to London, Edinburgh, and Dublin.

More to the story, the 4 of us girls share 3 keys.. we have had minor slip-ups this semester where one without a key comes home to no one and has to sit patiently in Exki for another roommate to come home.. certainly not the end of the world. 
Except this time. 
One of our keys is in the Bahamas, and one in Ibiza, leaving one for Annelise and I to share on Friday until we headed off for vacation.
 
On Wednesday evening I had decided that AnneLise could take the key for the day, because I had work at school to do and plenty of errands to run to keep myself busy all day, and AnneLise had left the key for me because she would be at work all day. Except there was a slight gap in communication.

So, on Thursday afternoon, I text Annelise and tell her to let me know when she arrives home so that I can get it and I get the response... "you are keyless? I have no key. I left it for you." Uh oh. 

Well, being the bright individuals we are, we coordinate for a locksmith to come and open the door and concur to split the charge among the 2 of us. So, we sit outside and wait for the locksmith to come and he arrives with a piece of flimsy paper (so THAT'S how they open doors here...hmm). He tries and tries for about 20 minutes then gets angry with us for deceiving him because this door is a high-security door, not a slap-shut door. He says he has another appointment, but he will come back and drill the lock out, replace it, give us 1 key so we would have to get 2 copies made, and charge us an evening service charge for a small fee of 500€. 

500EURO!!!

No, no.. that just won't do. We brainstorm.  
Landlord? Now, we have enough trouble communicating with him because he old speaks French, and we only speak un petit peu of conversational French. Certainly not enough to explain that we have no key available to us. But, we manage.. only to find out that he has no spare.
Break a Window? No, then we'd have to pay the price for a brand new specialty window and miss out on our vacation because of waiting for someone to order and fix window.

Then, light-bulb. 
Riikka can overnight her key to us!
So, we call Riikka, who should be relaxing on the beach. However, she is a bus ride away from the main city center and it is too late in the afternoon. Shipping will have to wait until tomorrow morning, still a weekday, no problem.
Oh, except Spain is having a GENERAL STRIKE this weekend, slowing down every industry. We find out that even priority, overnight, express, quick as you freakin can still won't arrive until Tuesday. 

Deep Breathe.

Both of our bladders are close to bursting, so first things first... we ask our only French-speaking neighbor to use her restroom. SUCCESS. Both of us even have a small conversation with her about losing our key and the landlord not having a spare. Yeah, we're basically fluent. (eh..)

So, Annelise and I drag our exhausted and distraught selves to her friend Jean-Remy's house who is gracious enough to host us for the weekend. Between the two of us we have 4 pairs of tights, 2 pairs of socks, a dress, 2 sweaters, a leather jacket, 2 pairs of underwear, a toothbrush, deodorant, a laptop with charger, an iPhone and charger, and all of my travel information for 2 weeks.

Impressive, no? 
The only thing we lack is Annelise's phone charger and both of our passports. Oh.. and enough clothes for a week or two.

sometimes all you can do is laugh

We make drinks, Jean-Remy makes dinner, and we watch a movie. Despite the circumstances, we had a splendid night together making hilarious memories.

Friday morning:
I wake up and go shopping: 1 dress, 1 sweater, 2 pairs of underwear, and a few toiletries later and I am set to go to Paris for the weekend, return to Brussels on Monday and Tuesday and catch up with my friends in London on Wednesday to enjoy the rest of my Spring break.  

making the best of the day stranded in brussels

EDIT: Annelise would also like to update the world on her Friday as well...

"Oh, and fun fact: Today, TODAY of all possible days, today when I am feeling fresh as our yellow kitchen cloth wearing the same outfit for the third day in a row, TODAY is the day we are going to take photos of the editorial team for Internal Voices, the UN interns' magazine which is to be distributed to all UN offices world wide. Fan-freakin'tastic."

Such is life of young women, exploring the world on their own. You take the good and the bad, and make the very most of everything!

My grandchildren will love my story of being Stranded in Brussels.

Get your map out..

Isn't it funny how a good outfit changes your whole attitude?

Today I wore brown skinnies with a pleated front from Zara, a blue long-sleeve scoop neck, and a navy blue blazer with a plaid collar from Pull and Bear. I also donned a scarf that I borrowed (contemplated stealing) from my roommate's closet, so of course it is full of bright red and burnt orange hues. I feel absolutely European, better yet... Belgian, so I feel like I belong here.
I walked the streets with my head held high, refused to question which Tram or Metro I should get on and I confidently greeted people and spoke in my limited French. In essence, today was a good day in Brussels. I went to class, stopped by a corner café- paid far too much for terrible curbside cappuccino- and worked at my internship.

Then I came home and started a bit of spring cleaning of my computer files and photos.
Of course, I reminisced over about 3 years of photos and then this overwhelming feeling came over me and this thought stamped itself in big, bold, red letters across my mind:

How am I supposed to go back to my life?
Maybe it is a silly question, but no, I don't think so.
See, I never considered myself to be a "stereo-typical" American. I don't obsess over tabloids or reality TV. I keep myself relatively informed of current events. I am more mature, more introspective, more determined than your average 20 year old girl. I have high aspirations, and I have never intended to settle.

But now that I am here, now that I see this WORLD that I didn't know first-hand. How am I supposed to go back to Tennessee and do the same things I have always done, and think the way I always have?
My whole way of thinking has been completely transformed. I no longer live in the American bubble (not that the American life is a bad thing), but I have a global perspective.

How am I supposed to go home, graduate in December, and start a job in Tennessee and stop there? I have this new desire, burden even, to see the world and to make a difference.. to be bigger than myself.

I have always prided myself on being a very relational-based person. I invest in individuals, and I love making the smallest impact on the people around me. But now, I don't feel like that is good enough. I want to go to Africa and encourage young girls to love themselves, respect themselves, and protect themselves. I want to go to India, spend time with orphans, and show them just how loved and adored they are. I want to go to the Middle East and watch and participate as people recognize their ability to have a voice in their government.

I want to go.

So what's next?
I don't have answers yet, but stay tuned.. I'll keep you posted ;)

Hola Amigos!

Unfortunately I am a bit late in updating this post but I took my second trip out of Belgium to... *drum roll please*... SPAIN!

It was warmer, there were palm trees, there were tapas... it was Heaven. Or at least seemed like it compared to the cold, rain, and snow I've been living in the past few months :)
I traveled smart this time and brought my Spanish-speaking friend Yonseili with me. (Ok, ok.. I actually tagged along on her trip to visit Hugo. whatever.) This was a huge benefit because we had quite a fiasco with the trip from Santander to Bilbao. Our scheduled 8:30PM bus didn't show up until 40 or so minutes later and when it did it did not have the correct destination on it. Fortunately, Yon came to the rescue and figured it out for us.

We were greeted at the station by 2 girls and Hugo was nowhere to be seen. They said he was at a party and would catch up later, needless to say, Yonseili's face was priceless and my main objective became damage control. Fortunately, Hugo had set up this lovely prank and showed up right before Yonseili freaked on everyone. We were treated to rice, shrimp, and salad when we arrived at Hugo's.

Stairs from the Metro, whoa!

Note: Yonseili and I felt like champions for navigating our way through 3 bus station and an airport in just a few short hours, so we thought we could easily tackle these stairs. It was an experience in and of itself, and I'll leave it at that :)

So Saturday, Yonseili forced me out of bed around 8AM with a panini and chocolate milk compliments of Hugo. We started the day with a small hike to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, the most refreshing view I have seen in a while.Then we ventured back into Bilbao and started the days site-seeing excursion. Hugo was a great guide and showed us his campus, the new and modern parts of Bilbao, as well as the old city with the brick streets and tiny allies. We ate lunch at an incredibly trendy Spanish buffet offering 30 salad options, made-to-order meat and delicious desserts. We were also lucky to be in Bilbao the night that Carnaval started. SUCH a fun experience, everyone was dressed in crazy costumes and just marched through the streets of the old city singing, dancing, and throwing confetti. Of course, Yonseili and I indulged in the fair food with the largest cotton candy I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. 

Then we kept walking! We walked to the Guggenheim Museum (Bilbao's largest claim-to-fame and reason for the huge tourist boom in recent years). And then we went home and passed out! Sunday we got up, Hugo's roommate Julie took us shopping a bit and then we packed up and headed to the airport. 

The Guggenheim

It was a quick vacation, but I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing yet another culture. It gave me a huge appreciation for Central and South America that I have never had much interest in, to be frank. And little did I know that I would actually understand more Spanish than the French I studied all through school and have been diligently working on for 2 months. I felt really comfortable and almost at home in Spain and would love to come back for a visit to Madrid or Barcelona. Maybe in the future :)

what's been happening!

I'll just sum up the weekend, because it pretty much reflects life here in Belgium:

Thursday night my roommate and chef Annelise cooked vegetarian lasagna that was to die for! Then, Yonseili, Riikka, and my Veco buddy Rafi (the older student who showed us around campus the first day of orientation- who is not really older than me because I am a senior (freak out moment)) went out to a place called People Bar which is on Avenue Louise about a block from my house. Avenue Louise is a very ritzy area of town with Mont Blanc, Tiffany's, Herve Leger, and other high-class flagship stores, so People Bar was definitely no exception. The place was full of professionals that I am assuming are politicians, diplomats, or finance gurus. We decided to stay pretty low-key at a corner table and observe the suits in action.

Friday Yonseili and I met at Veco to get a bit of homework/studying in and then grabbed a super cheap lunch at Quick, the Belgian McDonalds, and it was just that! Friday night all of the roommates had dinner together which was splendid and we all talked about Scandinavia and how competitive all the countries are. Then we watched Mama Mia together and called it a night pretty early in the evening.

Saturday Riikka and I went for a run around our neighborhood! Talk about an experience. Beat up sidewalks, slow walkers, cars, and small alleys... but we managed to run for a good 40 minutes and not get terrible disoriented in the winding streets. Then, we got dressed up and went to the Affordable Art Fair, which is a fair similar in concept to the Fair company that I work for, Accessible Art. Some of our artists also had booths set up there so I got a sneak preview of their work! Then we went to Bourse (a trendy neighborhood in Brussels) met up with John, Ryan, Bridget, and Atif and bounced from one venue to the next checking out the music and scene of each place.

Today! Riikka and I got up early, went to LifePoint church and visited the Place Flagey Sunday morning market.. rows and rows of meats, breads, cheeses, and wines. Simply Devine <3