.

.

Friday, July 30, 2010

No, actually. We're just good friends.

Let's talk about how this was the best week ever. Actually, I won't talk much about it. But basically, it was awesome. Partly because of this



and this



But mainly because of this







and a little bit because of this



just overall a great week.

And no, that's not anyone famous. He was just really attractive. I don't know if that would confuse people.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

French men are ridiculous.

First of all, Paris is the best. It was a nice little vacation from London. And no, London is not a vacation. Something wonderful about Paris is that it is beautiful. Something not so wonderful is that it stinks. A lot. Everywhere you go. But especially the metro. Yikes. While there were many amazing things that happened this weekend, let me just share one story for your reading pleasure.

It's possible that I ate too many crepes whilst in the land of amour. But, really, how can you ever have too many crepes? At this particular moment, I had just gotten a lemon and sugar one and was rather joyful about it. I composed a song on the spot that went something like this "Oh creeepe, I love yoooooouuu." Off to the side I hear "I love you too, baby!" And I see a man sitting at a cafe smiling at me. It was hilarious and I laughed and ran onto the metro in a jovial/slightly creeped out fashion.

And that's not the only story of that nature. Like the time the gold man winked at me.

Paris. Good times.

Friday, July 23, 2010

French keyboqrds qre the zorst

This will be a short post because this is difficult. Next time you are in Paris, I hope you have better luck with a keyboard than I do. On that note: I am in Paris! I would have used a contraction, but I have no idea where the apostrophe is on this thing. Ok I give up, but I will add pictures later and tell you all kinds of hilarious stories. Au revoir!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Fairytale

Being on a study abroad with other English Language nerds, we tend to find things fun that maybe other people wouldn't. We like to make up stories a lot. So yesterday, my dear friend Rachel and I were playing this game where you write three lines of a story, then you fold over the first two and the next person writes the next three lines based on the last line of that last person's. Hope that made sense, because I want to share the story we wrote. Yes, it was that exciting to me that I want to share it. Rachel's lines are normal and mine are italicized.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden named Erica who only liked raisins if they were chocolate covered. It was unfortunate, therefore, that she only
had seven months to live. She had wanted so much out of life and now it was falling apart. Luckily, she thought of a plan to solve this
which was: find Harry Potter! Off she went, after class with Sister Hallen of course, and on her way she took Liz and a broomstick - which was absolutely necessary
because how else are you supposed to get to Hogwarts? They flew threw the night and tried to catch sight of the train. This adventure made her feel like
a cupcake. After all, cupcakes are yummy, pretty, and pink. She was also yummy, pretty, and pink. (Editor's note: I am writing this as is, and Rachel chose to use the Oxford comma. le sigh) How do we know she is yummy? Because an ogre ate her with frosting
Or tried to anyway. But Harry Potter was there to save the day. She asked Harry if he could cure her disease. He happily agreed and they went to find
the fountain of youth. Everyone wants to live forever, after all. But it turns out that to live forever you have to give up all of your chocolate raisins and Erica was not willing
to share because raisins were her death wish. In the end, Harry Potter was an idiot and couldn't help her, so she died of cancer. The End

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy Independence, America!

I wish I was there to celebrate you.

But don't worry, I'm over here sticking it to the Motherland.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Overstimulation.

Let me just start by saying that I am loving absolutely every second of this Study Abroad. I love the people, I love the places, I love everything. This is the reason why the phrase "It's the best!" has become so readily used at every turn. People keep scoffing at me and being skeptical: "Oh really Erica? This church is the best? I thought you said the last church was the best. They can't both be the best."
Yes they can. Don't be rude
Here are some things that I have said are the best over the past week:
1. Dublin
2. London
3. The rain in Wales
4. My mom
5. My dad
6. Wesley Holley
7. My shoes
8. Ryan Miller
9. Dr. Pepper
10. The Beatles
11. Any movie the Beatles are in.
12. My family
13. Every other thing ever.

This list goes on for days. Obviously. Because I've been making it for days.

On another note, I have been getting mad exhausted lately. Too too too much is going on and I was starting to get the grumpies. I like that word. Grumpies. I don't like that attitude though. Because then I was not having as good of a time as I should have been having, and that's just pointless, isn't it? So I stopped. Here's how:

Well, first of all. I told myself to stop. And when that didn't work...
I had lunch with Katelyn. That sounds so simple and yet it was the nice breather that I need to recharge my batteries and be ready and willing to do anything and everything that I was asked. It's like how I kept not being able to charge my camera battery, so I had to take less and less pictures every day so it wouldn't run out. Then even when I wanted to charge it, I only had one adapter, so I would have to rotate between my camera and computer. So it never quite got back to its full self and I would be running it around everywhere again. I am a camera battery.

But anyway, this lunch. Think of this. I'm sitting in Cambridge (not the campus but nearby) at an adorable outdoor Italian cafe. Oh man. I'm sitting there eating some heavenly lasagna for a pretty awesome price, and the owner of the restaurant is out there chatting with customers and making everyone feel welcome. There is a street performer in the square filling the gaps between the hustle and bustle of shoppers going by. This is the perfect atmosphere. We order our dessert. Katelyn goes for the Coconut Sorbet (yes, please!) and I get a cake that uses the word "chocolate" at least 6 times in its description. mmmmmmm

There is no rush. They aren't hurrying us through our meal so they can seat a more expensive lunch like they might in the US. They give us time to breathe and relax and just envelop ourselves in this moment. The owner talks to us for a bit and he was so charming. I asked him how many languages he speaks and he wonders if I am from immigration. Funny guy. He speaks French, Italian, English, Spanish and Arabic. He can also speak in an Italian accent. I was fascinated.

It was perfection. I am recharged.

Also, this happened today:



Pretty much a dream come true. Of course it's the summer, so nobody was there. But still, the campus was lovely. Hagrid says hi.