Okay, so updating this thing is getting more and more difficult each week. Let's see. Last week, nothing much more eventful happened. Wednesday, was fun. In Italian, we had students from University come to class to chat with us. It was a lot of fun. My group talked with Giovanni, who invited us out to the clubs with him to see how real Italians play. Exciting. Later, there was no field trip for Simon's class because of the rainy weather.
It worked out well though, because Emily, Amanda, Ann, Kaila and I hung out with Simon for a medieval dinner. The dinner was extremely interesting, but well worth the money. Our first dish was a potato dish, that was supposed to mimic pasta.
Then we had another pasta dish, that was flavored with ginger. It wasn't my favorite (I don't think I like ginger..) but everyone else seemed to enjoy it.
Next, were the meat dishes. The first one was the dish that I had been waiting for: chocolate-infused wild boar. WOW! How many people can say they've eaten that!? It was my favorite dish of the entire night. The second meat dish was a peppered-beef dish. It was good, but the chocolate boar takes the crown.
With that, we drank a little of Holy wine, which was actually pretty decent. The dinner was a lot of fun, simply hanging out with peers from the Institute and our hilarious teacher. At made it very clear to us that at 9:30pm he would have to leave to tuck his daughters into bed, which he does every night. So at 9:27pm he jumped up from the table and departed, leaving us with bottles of wine.
Direct quote: "No, no, no, you all should stay and finish up the wine." Well, you don't have to tell a bunch of college kids twice. So we did. To drink and be merry!
Afterwards, we all went to Naima's (duh) and then to a club, Full Up, to get our dancing on. It was an eventful night and I am positive that Amanda had a terrific twenty-first. Good! Happy Birthday!
THURSDAY: I woke up with vampire eyes - legitimately the newest addition to the Cullen Family - and wore glasses all day. That was the highlight (or low-light?) so there's no further explanation of this day.
FRIDAY: So we all woke up earlier than we would have liked. I packed, mailed some postcards, and we went to the school to print out all of our reservations. A short taxi ride later and we were at the Florence airport...way too early. I honestly don't understand European airports, or at least my lovely Firenze's. They didn't check our passports AT ALL the entire time. I could have been anyone. It didn't make sense and I still am trying to figure out how that is safe. Well, I'm here so that's good.
So Friday, Amanda, Jess, Emily and I flew to Florence to Munich, Munich to Amsterdam. The layover in Munich was short and sweet - literally. We got gummies and chocolates to carry us until we arrived in Dam. Fantastic. We arrived in Dam and the first thing we noticed - it's cold. We didn't plan that out too well, even though it is much more north than Florence. Oh well. Also, I am still upset because I never got my passport stamped. This is because we didn't need our passports at all to travel. Extremely disappointed in you, Europe.
So a train ride, a friend (C.Moore Glascocks, his actual name), and a confusing tram ride later, the four of us arrived at Hotel Pulitzer...our home for the weekend. The hotel was gorgeous. It was a couple dozen old canal houses all together, so finding our room was a maze. We all settled in, freshened up, and ventured into the infamous Amsterdam, the wild city.
We walked to the center, peeked around some menus, and finally settled into a quaint restaurant that promised us Dutch food galore. Amanda and I both ordered a mini-schmorgasbord of delicious Dutch cuisine. I'm not entirely sure what I ate, but this was it:
After dinner, we had some dessert.
Chocolate cake that is honestly out of this world. YUM! Then we walked into the Red Light District and I still can't believe what I saw. Amsterdam is truly wild, simply based on the fact that the RLD is legal. The girls in the windows were somewhat sad and disheartening to watch. I never figured out if they were in their windows by choice or because they were forced into the business. We walked the canals and, at one point, actually saw a girl open her door and pull a man into her "office," for lack of a better word. Unreal.
After the District, the four of us went into Amsterdam's infamous "Sex Museum." We honestly didn't understand what we were getting into when we paid the 4 euros. The Museum, if you can even call it that, was basically just a bunch of disturbing pictures that we honestly couldn't handle. After a small incident regarding the bathroom and whether it was a trap for Emily, we left the museum and found ourselves back at Hotel Pulitzer. Only after Amanda & I -NOT- getting our fries, no one reading a map, walking in circles, and Emily & I getting rained on. What a wonderful night. We all dove into the heavenly bed, ate gummies (or fell asleep with them...EM), and slept on clouds.
SATURDAY: We woke up after a fantastic slumber and grabbed breakfast at the bagel shop. I love bagels and traveling allows me to eat them (since only one or two places in Florence sells them). I ordered the lox bagel and a large coffee - both of which were absolutely amazing.
After breakfast, we went to the Heineken Brewery for our tour. The Heineken Experience was well worth it. We toured the factory, saw the history and the process of the beer. We even got 4 free beers. YUM! I love Amsterdam. We even ran into a bunch of people from the Institute. So random.
After the Brewery, the four of us went to the IAMAMSTERDAM sign to take cliche tourist pictures. Unfortunately, the sign was swamped with people thinking just like us so we made the most of it.
After the sign, we went to purchase the final touches to our rave outfits and then off to the Pancake Bakery for lunch! Wow, the Pancake Bakery is this wonderful magical place where you can order pancakes (aka crepes) with anything on them. So, kudos to you, Carol - I ordered a pancake with apples and chocolate, just like you used to make! It was delicious! Then after the Pancake Bakery, we took a little napski.
Next on our agenda (because we actually had printed out agendas...so prepared!), was Anne Frank's house. We went through the house in awe. It's incredible to think about the history behind the house. I can't even imagine it and I know that the videos, pictures, and descriptions don't do it justice. Amazing.
After Anne's House, we walked home, seeing as we were staying on her street, Prinsengracht. Time to get ready for Trance Energy, a huge techno concert in Ultrecht. Some other girls from the Institute came to our hotel to get ready and do makeup. We all got dressed in our highlighter outfits and took the train from Amsterdam to Ultrecht. We met up with even more people from Florence, including the boys. I even ran into Cameron from PSU! I also saw John from my THON committee, who is studying in England. It was a fantastic reunion.
Okay, so off the train and we followed a huge crowd to the venue. As soon as we exited the station, we could hear the techno music pulsing through the air. We checked in, got our locker, and entered what was the craziest thing I've ever been to. Literally, thousands of people, multiple stages, and the most insane dancing. When I say dancing, I mean feeling-the-music-punching-the-air-sweating-til-you-drop-kind of dancing. It was amazing. As soon as we got in, we immediately pushed through the crowd - thanks for Jess - and made our way to the very front row of the main stage. The light shows are incredible. I've really never seen anything like it. I'm now obsessed with Avicii, a sick Swedish DJ. SO GOOD. Then after Avicii, Tiesto finally came on (about 2am). I LOVE HIM. My favorite song, Escape Me, was one of the first songs and I melted. Incredible.
My very first rave. Was it a success? Yes. Would I do it again? I am. Sensation White. AAAAAH! CANT WAIT.
SUNDAY: We actually made it to the airport in time for our flight. We flew to Munich again for a layover which lasted for eternity (really, it was only 2 hours). I had cafe mochas and Magnum bars (these delicious ice cream bars) so I was a happy traveler. Eventually, we flew home to Florence, although I wouldn't call the aircraft we flew on exactly a plane. However, we made it home all in one piece and without our passports ever being checked. I still don't understand.
So, I walked into my apartment and thank goodness the internet was being so nice because I was able to catch the last FIVE hours of THON. I knew I would be sad to miss THON but I never realized how difficult it would be to simply just watch THON on a computer screen. Don't get me wrong, I am so incredibly happy that THON has a livestream but it was almost unbearable to watch updates for five hours without being there. However, all of the PSU roomies (and even a UCONN or two) were all huddled around our laptops in the kitchen for the entire rest of THON cheering at tweets or whoever they showed on the feed. Family Hour got me like it always did, but the stories are so incredible it's hard not to be emotional. Then GoGo came on to pump up the crowd for the final minutes of THON and we were all jumping and singing right along with the entire BJC. I am obsessed with the line dance so all of my morale friends, get ready to teach me the entire thing in May. Thanks!
So THON. 9,563,016.09 reasons why we THON. I am so incredibly proud to be a Penn Stater and even prouder of what my peers and community has accomplished - yet again. We literally just jumped over the 8millions like it was nbd. To everyone involved in THON2K11: YOU ARE AMAZING. I can't wait to be a part of THON2K12. AH! Only 364 days til the best weekend ever!
TODAY: Classes and more classes. Afterwards, I met with Serena (our librarian) who walked me to one of elementary schools. Every week, I'll be working with 6-year-olds at the school. I met the teacher, Marta, as well as twenty of the students. They are precious. Serena told me, "They're staring at the alien in here...that's you." So that was comforting, but expected. They speak little English and I speak little Italian so it'll be interesting. Today, I made a friend with Steffano, a student who was born in NY so he speaks English and Italian. He came up to me and said "Hey baby!" What a character. He's my translator. So for the majority of th e 2.5hours that I was at school, I had no idea what anyone was saying. I could understand bits and pieces, but that's about it. Eventually, Marta had me choose a story (in English) to read to them. They enjoyed it, but only because I was making a lot of sounds to help them understand the English plot. When school was over, a bunch of the kids hugged me goodbye and said "See you on Monday. BYEEEE." A good sign, I think. I can't wait to see them again next week. I even get to make a lesson plan to help them with their colors and numbers. Any suggestions?
After the elementary school, I did a quick run to the grocery store and had some Philly cream cheese & crackers. It's the little things that make me happy. I had a wonderful day and a very unproductive night, seeing as a bunch of us just jammed out hardcore to 90s music. I love it. I'm healthy, happy, and now exhausted.
Goodnight, goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the -mosquitoes- bite!
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