Another normal day. Patrick enjoyed his nutella doughnut which is always a good sign lol. School was long as always. I went into centre ville for lunch and got my package. My parents had sent me a present of mardi gras beads, a happy birthday beanie baby, party girl headband that lights up, candy, party poppers, and a drinking game kit lol. After the second sessions of classes Amer and I went to Troison D’or, a huge shopping center in Dijon. I needed to find a dress for my birthday. No luck. Oh well. I still have time to shop a little in Paris. Then I headed home for some homework and Madame’c cooking. We had risotto and a tomato avacodo salad thing that was really good. Then she had this huge thing of ham that I had a little of to be polite and a cucumber egg casserole thing that was SOOO good. Then we had our cheese course. After that I went for a run and ran into Meg. We chatted it up for a bit. I went home and wanted to do laundry but it was too late so I showered and decided I wanted to go out and get a drink or go for a walk until it turned midnight, my birthday! Amer met up with me and we walked down Rue Berbisey. We were walking to McCarthy's when we saw Kelsey, Marc, Andrew, and Anna at Crocodile. We joined them for a drink and they took off shortly thereafter. We then went to McCarthy's for a little kir then peaced it home.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday June 25, 2009
Wednesday June 24, 2009
We had an epic bus ride to school with Pat and Emma, being obnoxious Americands and banging around the back of the bus lol. School was long. I had a test that was long and a little difficult. Carol then picked up Amer, Marc and I to go to Bèze to see the grotto. We had a bomb ass lunch for 13 euro preset meal! It was turkey kabobs with veggies with a glass of wine (yes we boozed with Carol!) then chocolate mousse and a coffee! So delicious. We then walked around the town a little and took pictures by the river. Then off to the grotto we went. It was freezing down in the caves but really cool. They had it all lit up. We got to a point where it turned into water and we hopped in this sketchy boat where the lady pulled it long with a rope from the ceiling, yup no motor haha. It was really pretty and cool with all stalagmites. Water kept dripping on me and it kinda smelled. Oh well. After that we walked to the source of the water to the grotto. It was really pretty. Then we headed back to Dijon, kinda a long drive. I then had my two hour session with Carol for presentations/ grammar or whatever. Then I went home to do some homework. Madame prepared dinner. It was delicious: quiche, smoked salmon with a vingarette salad, then cheese and an expresso little tart. During the middle of my dessert the doorbell rang. It was Carol. So we all sat and talked for a while. I know real fun lol. Then I took off to go for a run. I don’t know why but tonight I felt like I could run for days. I ran all the way to the animal park the walked around a pet the horsies and donkies. The I ran back and saw Amer on his way out to go running. We chatted for a bit deciding whether or not we wanted to go out. I told him to text me later. I returned home for some sit ups and lame ass exercises with water bottles cuz im so desperate for weights! I took a quick shower and did my homework then slept.
Tuesday June 23, 2009
I woke up late this morning for school. Way to start my day lol. Boring as usual. Went to lunch at the Italian place next to my apartment and had a salad. After class, Amer and I went to go buy our tickets to Paris, only 3 euros with the pass. Yesss. Then I went to the Musée Magnin Dijon for the presentation I have at Carol’s tomorrow. It was pretty cool. Then I headed over to McDonalds to mooch on their wifi and figure out dinner reservations and where to go out in Paris. I had to hurry home for dinner. It was steak and Spanish rice. My Madame is such a little cook. For dessert we had cheese and strawberries and bananas. So delicious. I headed back to McDonalds for more Wifi to plan the weekend and my hopefully I’ll get to stay longer itinerary after Dijon.
Monday June 22, 2009
School yet again. For lunch we went into the center of town and I had a bomb lasagna and salad. We then took off to go look for a museum to speak about during our grammar session. No luck. And we were late to class. Oh well. After class I headed to monoprix to replenish my banana stock. Then I went on a quick jog. Then it was time to go to McDonalds and used their wifi for about 2 hours trying to figure out this weekend. We have to buy train tickets tomorrow and figure out a place to stay. I hurried home to a lovely meal prepared by my Madame. It was some kind of fish with potatoes and salad. We finished with cheese and melon. I went back to my room to study ugh. I finished my hw, watched some tv on my computer and went to bed.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday June 21, 2009
Saturday June 20, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday June 19 2009
School was only two hours. After we went to go use internet to book hostels/ hotels for the weekend. We then went to lunch at the café right by my place and had bomb croque madames. I went home to pack for an hour and get ready for the wine tour. We all met up at the train station and found the bus for the tour. We met Elizabeth. She was a super nice and funny French tour guide. We drove around all the vineyards in Bourgogne for about an hour. It was so beautiful. We stopped at a bunch of cool spots looking at 14th century chateaux that people still lived in. We also go out and walked around where the most expensive wine in the world was grown, Romanée Conti. She said it probably costs around 4 to 5,000 euro. You cannot buy just one bottle. You have to buy that one with 11 others from his different vineyards and it costs about 10,000 euro. Only 5,000 bottles are produced a year from the Romanée Conti vineyard. It was really quite something. Then we headed to the cellar and got to do some tasting. We tried two whites and three reds. The first white was really fruity and not my fav. The second white was more buttery. I liked it. The red I wasn’t a huge fan of until the last one which was pretty good, a 2002 Corton Clos du Rois. We then were taking back into town and I went back to finish packing. Amer came over and we shoved all our stuff in one bag. Then we went to grab some dinner before the dinner and just had sandwiches. The train ride to Lyon was about 2 hours and flew by. We watched eurotrip. Haha. We found our hotel, a cute little tiny place as everything is in France. We decided to nap and chill before exploring the town. Then Amer decided to just sleep the rest of the night cuz he was getting sick:( poopie Lyon….oh well there will always be a next time.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday June 18, 2009
Waking up was hard this morning. Ugh. School. Class was boring as usual. Got our tests back. Did okay. For lunch, we went into town to get some errands done and ate these bomb sandwiches in Monoprix. We tried to nap but it didn’t work out too well haha. So we head back to campus for another two hours of language class and an hour of French sociology. Yay haha. After class, we went to the train ticket place and got our tickets for the weekend to Lyon and Nice for 6 euro!!!!! So great love the eurail pass! After that I was so tired so I went back and took a nap before dinner. Madame made steak and peas with the usual cheese and cherries for dessert. I was still kinda tired so I turned on the OC on my computer and passed out.
Wednesday June 17 2009
The test this morning was a little over an hour and not too bad, just long. Hope I did well! For lunch we all went into town and ate at this ehh café. We returned to campus to use the internet and figure our escapades for the weekend then headed to class. Sociology was so boring and long. After I went to Collins for our little grammar sesh. He showed up late with the rest of the group who had gone to the grotto which was fine. We had our sesh then I went home to do some hw and eat dinner with Madame. It was terryaki chicken and rice. So bomb. She then had bought me a raspberry tart for dessert. We talked for a while and I helped her clear the table. I went for a quick jog with Amer again. The weather was perfect. I return to shower and get ready to go out. We start at MacCarthy’s as usual. We then ended up at a karaoke bar, Honky Dory! It was so fun! Patrick and Kelsey jumped right up. Amer and I sang 98 degrees but it was a totally different version and we sucked! We later redeemed ourselves with Backstreet boys- Everybody. We had a great time with the whole group and laughed so hard.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday June 16 2009
School again this morning. For lunch I went to the restaurant across the street and used the internet to catch up on stuff. The last two hours of class were hard as usual. Then we had sociology which was really boring. Afterwards Amer decided he needed a hair cut so we got off the bus a few stops before my apartment and looked at two hair places and their prices. He picks the cheaper looking one. The ladies were really nice. I helped him tell them how to cut it haha. He wanted some layers and right to his shoulders. It looked good and it was only 18 euro. Then we headed back home to change for our jog. He brought me a banana cuz we were kinda hungry. We ran the long road again but this time the gate at the end was open. It was such a cute little park inside so we ran to the end of that. There was an entire little zoo at the end including min horses, goats, deer, peacock, pigs, it was sooo cool!! It so surreal to think that were going on jogs and to school and basically living in France. I love it. We head back home cuz our Madames serve dinner at 7:30. I come back and no one is home. Its 745 and Im starving! She finally came home. We had a slice of locks and salad then scrambled eggs with cucumber? It was good haha. Then the usual cheese and cherries for dessert. Then it was time to study for my test tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday June 15 2009
I woke up this morning and forgot where I was haha, kinda scary. I got ready for school and headed for the bus stop. It was already rainy this morning which sucked. The first two hours of class weren’t that bad. We went to the cafeteria for lunch cuz it was so rainy and we didn’t want to take the crowded buses back to the center of town. I had salmon lasagna which wasn’t too bad. After Amer and I went to internet it at the student house until class. The last two hours of class were soooo hard to get thru. Finally after we head home on the bus and Dagny, Emma, Meg and I decide to go shopping. We head to this huge department store Lafayette. It was cool. We tried on these really cool bright colored dresses haha. Then we went to H&M and I didn’t find anything. I really wanted a tiara for my birthday so we headed to claire’s. I find one and Dagny decides she wants her second hole pierced! Haha so she did it! Haha so great. Then it was pouring rain so I went home and did my homework. Madame made some great pasta and fois gras with a salad. Patrick called me with a funny story. One night he had the munchies after drinking and ate all the left overs haha. His Madame wondered where her special tart had gone for her birthday which was today. She said of course Patrick would eat it. I was dying!! Shes so mean to him and tells him he needs to go on a diet everyday! Haha. Then were about to say goodbye and he had to tell me something else. He farts into the phone. Oh Patrick thanks sso much bahaha. I finished my homework and went for a jog around place Wilson with Amer. It was fun. We stretched in this dome thing and got splinters in my ass haha. Good times. I came back and took a shower. Watched some tv and passed out.
Sunday June 14 2009
I didn’t want to get up in the morning. I was so cozy. I head over to Amer and Pats room. I drink their coffee and use all their crème. Pat gets pissed and makes me go get mine haha. We crack up the whole morning procrastinating getting ready. Finally we do and head down to breakfast with five minutes before we need to get on the bus. It was a cute little buffet with eggs, bacon, croissants, and fruit. We get all of our food and sit down. Immediately after sitting down, Amer spills his entire orange juice all over himself! He had to go change after woofing down his meal. We get on the bus yet again and after an hour ish we are at Chenanceau. I had also been here. It was really pretty. It looks like a castle out of a fairy tale book. We walked around then it started to rain =(. Back on the bus and off to Amboise we went. Amboise was pretty as well with a big garden and it was on top of a hill and overlooked the city. We then headed to lunch and we went to this really good creperie. I had a salad then Amer and I split a nutella crepe, so bomb. We then had time to walk around the town a little before we got on the bus. The bus was about a three hour ride before we stopped at a rest stop for a snack and bathroom. Back on the road for a couple hours and we were back in Dijon. We were all dreading school on Monday. I went back to my apartment and Madame had dinner ready for me. It was kinda knarly, marbled ham stuff. Oh well, thank goodness I wasn’t that hungry. Afterwards I did some homework and talked to home. Then Amer and I went on a little walk to plot out our jog through the city for tomorrow. I was tired and went straight to bed after.
Saturday June 13 2009
6 Am and it was time to get up. I get my stuff together and text Amer and Patrick to meet me downstairs. No one came and it was already 6:45 which was when we were supposed to be at the bus so I took off without them. Patrick had gotten less than one hour of sleep cuz he stayed at Colors for so long. He was so funny trying to walk over and find the bus. I was on the phone with him trying to give him directions and watched him walk in circles haha. He finally found it, dead tired and sick. Fter about two hours of sleeping on the bus we stopped at a café for breakfast. Then back on the bus for another three hours of sleep. We reached Orléans, a cute little town where we were free to do as we please. There was a huge church, a Notre Dame and we walked around and took photos. Then we found a cute little café as always and sat as a huge group. We dined for about an hour then I took off to go get postcards from this city. It was time to get back on the bus and head to another city. We reached Chambord about a half hour later. Once I walked inside this castle I knew I had been there before. Then when I got to the top floor outside and I leaned back to take a picture, it was the exact same picture I have hanging in my room from five years ago….weirddd. Anyways we walked around for two hours and watched the horses in the courtyard being ridden then played in the hedge maze and made a shop at the souvenir shop. Off to Blois we went on the bus. Blois was a much smaller castle and kind of weirdly lied out but was still really pretty. Then we headed to our hotel in Blois, the Holiday Inn yessss. Haha It was actually kind of cool and modern and a little small but nice. We all shower and got ready for a group dinner. We go to the center of town and eat at this place called La Scala. It was so good. We had wine and I had this bomb seafood risotto. We finished with Irish coffees. So good. We then decided to look for a place to chill for the night and found this bar called Le Loch Ness, like the monster haha. It was a pretty small town so no one was really in there. We had a few drinks and headed home cuz there was nothing else to do. The beds were so comfortable.
Friday June 12, 2009
Woke up this morning and I was so tired I didn’t even wash my hair in the shower. I was so lazy. School was short though, only 9-11. We then used our wifi! So great I got to FB and blog haha. Then Amer Pat and me werestarving so we head into town and ate at this delicious Italian place with our pizza and wine. Lunch was firkin hilarious for reasons I cannot say because if that was on the internet I think someone would kill me! Haha. Amer and I walked back t my apartment and on the way found a Dijon shot glass! Im collecting them from every city we go and thought I would never find one here so I had to get it. And Amer found a pin. I then went up to my room and took a three hour nap. Soo nice. I woke up and did my homework and worked on the slideshow of the trip. So great. I then headed to Monoprix for some stuff I needed before I head off to Loire valley tomorrow. I came back and chilled then Madame came home and made dinner. It was steak and green beans. I sure am getting my iron in here haha. Then our usual cheese course and strawberries for dessert. Yummy. We had a long conversation about dogs and how she wishes she could have one but her appartement is too small and she works too much. Its so much different here though. Everyone who has a dog cares for them soooo well ! Its so cute! I then took a shower and got ready cuz it was time for colors again! We decided to go to MacArthy’s first with Meg and Emma, two girls in the program from Minessota. We saw Marc and Kelsey and hung out with them for a while. Then our german friend from class, Moritz showed up and joined us. He was really nice and spoke really good English. Patrick really wanted to go to Colors to meet up with DJ Madness who had met last Friday so we decided to walk with him. Amer and I are tired and want to bail out right before we go in. Pat ended up paying for me so I had to go because I felt bad. I stayed for about 30 minutes and Amer walked me home.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Thursday June 11, 2009
Back to school bright and early. We got to campus and head straight for the coffee machine. Patrick wants his chocolate waffle so we walk to the far one. He gets his waffle and pulled his coffee out of the machine too early and it spills everywhere. He gets another and chucks the other. He was hilarious trying not to be obnoxious by pouring his water into one of the coffees to chug it. He then decides to put the water in his mouth and spit it slowly into the coffee to be discrete. Me and Amer were dying. We started walking away and Patrick spilled his coffee and dropped his waffle on the floor. We start cracking up like loud Americans and run. Pat tries to scarf down the waffle before class cuz theres no food allowed and were in the middle of the street and he has no hands and yells at me to brush off his shirt. Man what a laugh to start ur day. Class was long and boring. Amer and I went to a restaurant across the street that had free wifi and had croque monsieur and madames for lunch. Two more hours of class then we decided to skip todays culture lesson cuz you can skip four hours of that. Its basically extra boring classes that are pointless. Amer, Kelsey and I head to our apartments to grab our dirty cloths and head to the laundermat. We spend about an hour and a half talking and doing hw. Then I head home cuz Madame told me we were having apartifs at 6. It was 630. I come home to an empty apartment and see a note on the table. It says something like Jessica- do what you please but be patient, make yourself some tea if you want I will be back around 8:30. So I chill and wonder what the heck shes doing and why I have to be patient? Must be good….. haha She returned and told me sorry for being so late she had a hair cut. She made some fish with this stuff I had no idea what it was but it was good. Then she had cooked the baby potatoes in rings. After that she brought out three types of cheeses. One I had already had before, the other was kinda like brie but told me it was nothing like it haha and the last was sooo strong and gnar gnar haha. We had cherries and a little cookie with mint chocolate for dessert and talked for about a half hour about travelling and young people. Shes so cute. I returned to my room to see many texts about going out tonite. We all planned to meet in the plaza at 10:45. Le Colors is the place to be tonight and its only 3€! So we all met up in place de la liberation. We head over to where colors was and park it on the steps to enjoy some champagne. We head into the club around midnight and drink and dance even though no one is there. Slowly as it got later, more and more people came. We left around 130 cuz we had school in the morning ugh.
Wednesday June 3
Waking up was hard this morning but I jumped in the shower and got ready for school. Class was long and I wanted to kill myself in history because it was so boring and he went over like 20 minutes. After, we had to head to Collins to present our anecdotes and grammar. We chow down his little picnic he has for us and then chat for two hours doing French junk. I head back to the apartment, in the rain, as always in the late afternoon. I come in and my Madame is home. She invites me to dinner with her and her cousin so I agree to go and go finish my homework and get ready. So it was time for dinner and we met up with her friends. A young couple with the cutest seven year old boy. We just went to the pizzeria across the street cuz it was pouring again. We all got pizza and shared a bottle of rose wine. I actually understood the conversation and we talked a lot about American like how there are no European movies except in special theaters and American actors and comedians. It was really fun. Then we went outside while they smoked and I watched Victor, the little boy play in the fountain. We bissou-ed (kissed) goodbye and headed up to the apartment. Madame came to my room and said come here I want to show you something. She made me try this citron liquor from italy. It was good but SUPER strong. It like burned my throat. So we sat for about a half hour sipping that with her cousin chatting it up. She said she loved this stuff. She told me she saw that I drink wine cuz of diner and she got so excited. She said wine with dinner from now on! All of her previous students didn’t drink I guess. She was excited cuz I was the only one who was vivant (living) it up. Haha I am even more in love with her now. And she asks me every night if im going out like I have to haha. This is gunna be a great month. Me and Amer went to MacArthy’s for a night cap and met this crazy group from Miami of Ohio who are going to the same university as us. It was one girls 21st birthday haha . that sucks being in Europe on your 21st . OH well!
Tuesday- June 9, 2009
Today was yet another day where I had to wake up at the crack of dawn. Again Madame had made me breakfast on the table. It was tea and a croissant today. We head to school…on time today… and look up what classes we are in. I guess I made it in the right one for French 300 cuz Collin, our teacher, told me to stay in it. It was pretty basic stuff and not too hard. We went from 9AM-11AM. Then Amer and I took off to the ATM and to get these delicious paninis from across the street from the university. Then we went on a hunt for a gym and had no luck finding. We basically just took a walking took of the campus. Its pretty big. Then we sat on this huge rock until class start again from 1PM-3PM. It went by pretty quick. After we had a history class for an hour that was super boring but oh well. Then we peaced out back to the center of town to get Amer’s bus pass and sim card for a phone. Success was made. We were starving and no restaurants were able to serve us that early. It was 6PM. Europeans eat so late. So we head to Monoprix for nutella crepes. I think I fell in love. They were so delicious I was dying. He had to head back home for his madames cooked meal but promised me we’d go out for wine later. So I chill in my room forever and walk over to Amers. We want to go somewhere for dinner for me and a bottle of wine. We run into the rest of the group. Theyre all heading to a bar for Ana’s birthday so we follow. We end up at this place called MacArthy’s, The delicious pub. Haha. We head downstairs where its all private so we can be loud. There’s thirteen of us. Everyone orders drinks. I had a Kir, Dijon’s specialty, white wine and crème de cassis. It was like a sweet wine. Pretty good. We sing Ana happy birthday and chat it up. Then Marc and Patrick come down the stairs with this huge wooden thing filled with twelve shots. They were vodka caramel. We all grab one and cheers to Ana. They actually were pretty good. After a couple round of those and some more socializing we decide to head back. I mean we do have school tomorrow haha. I get back to my apartment round 130AM and crash.
Monday- June 8, 2009
I woke up around 7:15 for shower and getting ready. Madame had already left for work and laid out coffee some jam and toast and yogurt for me. So cute! I ran off to the bus stop at 8AM where Amer and Pat were waiting. We saw the bus we needed to take but it didn’t stop so we were chasing after it but we didn’t make it. We had to wait another 10 minutes at a different stop. We were only 10 minutes late and Collin wasn’t mad once we got there. We had to go into this auditorium and it was time for the placement test. It definitely raped me so hopefully I wont get placed in some low ass class and have to be moved up =/ but we find out results tomorrow morning, We then had a three hour lunch break. Collin showed us around the campus and took us to the cafeteria. You have to buy a ticket and you get ten points so each plate is a certain amount of points. I got a little salad and a quiche and water for my ten points. The quiche made everyone feel sick so I don’t know if well be going back there! We then walked over to a coffee shop to kill time and sat and talked for a while. Then it was time for orientation at 2PM. Stéphane was out teacher. He is hilarious. He basically lectured for two hours about Dijon like what to do and where to go for the month. Afterwards we hopped on the bus back home. It was POURING rain! The first group for grammar lessons with Collin got off at Rue de Petit Potet and me and Dagny headed to my apartment to get bus passes for the month. We had to treck it in the rain with a bunch of us girls but made it to the station and got our little bus cards. Then we headed to Monoprix for snacks and some essentials we needed. I headed back to my apartment and sorted laundry for tomorrow and chilled in my room. My mom called me and we talked for a little then Madame came in and told me it was dinner time. We had asparagus for starters then beef and this black rice stuff that was good. Then her friend had made her some cherry claffoutti. It was really good. We talked politics and about our days. Then I headed back to my room. I cleaned my room, listened to music, read and fell asleep.
Sunday- June 7, 2009
Alarms going of at 10 AM woke us up to pack to move into our madames. Dagny and I were pretty excited slash a little nervous. We caught two cabs and said our au revoirs. I arrived to my host’s door and push the button that said Courdavault. She buzzed me in and ran down the stairs to help me carry my hundred pound bags. It was four flights of stairs ! I was sweating by the time I got up here. She showed me to my room. It is actually very spacious but not much storage space for the clothes. It is very cute though. We headed to the kitchen for some water and small talk. She asked what I like to eat and all the essentials. She then showed me the bathroom and how to use everything and then just told me I was libre(free) so I unpacked in my room for a little and blogged. Amer then met me a little before our meeting and we grabbed some sandwiches and headed to rue du petit potet for our presentations. We found Collin’s place super easy. It was absolutely gorgeous. The garage was covered in vines and there were these stairs that had no railing that took us up on a balcony where he had set out food for us, including a baguette. We waited for the rest of the group and then headed inside to sit and a circle and get the lowdown foe tomorrow’s first day of school. We then did half the presentations which took FOREVER. Dagny was literally passing out on the couch almost haha. We then took a break to chow down. It was so good. I hadn’t eaten all day because everything is closed on Sundays and I had woken up late-ish and been too busy. We then went back in to do more presentations and figure out directions and stuff. He walked us to the bus stop which is surprisingly right outside my house. The whole group was together and Collin took off. Some girls decided it would be fun to go on a tour and so Amer Pat and I peaced out to go sieste (nap) before our madames made us dinner. I returned to my home and it was empty so I wrote and read until dinner time. She came back and I walked over to say hi. She had picked these cute flowers and gone on a walk because the sun was so beautiful. How French and how cute is that !?! I read until dinner instead. Later, she came to my room to call me for dinner. We had salad with oil or something on it and some kind of very small piece of fish and a baby potato and water. Then she came out with this light cheese that was pretty good. Then it was cherries for dessert haha. Very light meal but it was good. So different than the states. I decided to take a nap before decided whether to go have a glass of wine with the whole Dijon group. I pass out on my bed and get a call from Patrick at around 11 PM. I meet him outside my apartment. Something was stolen from his madames apartment and she went through all of Patrick and Amers stuff and she was really upset. I guess it was a bronze statue that was a family heirloom. Hes freaking out and doesn’t know what to do because the one night that Dagny’s boy came up may have been the night it was stolen. We all were freaking out and decided to go to bed.
Saturday- June 6, 2009
This morning we woke up at around 10 AM. We are in desperate need of water so Amer and I decide to go to a store across the street to pick some up. We find the Monoprix and the bomb grocery store. We head back to the apartment to wake Dagny and Pat up. We want the story from last night. So they proceed to tell us that they were not brothers. There was also another crazy guy covered in water with them. They all wanted Dagny. It got so crazy one punched the other in the back. Pat and Dagny decided to leave but got chased by the crazy guy inside the apartment building doors. They run to the elevator doors and another man comes down to ask what is wrong. They told him there’s a crazy man trying to get in. He calls security. They head up to bed thanking god that guy didn’t get in. So after hearing that story Pat decides to look in his wallet. All his euros are gone. But he still has all his credit cards US money and Swiss money. He is positive it got stolen because he had 150 euro. We laugh and were like there’s no way! You had to spend it all. Why would they just take your whole wallet? He is convinced one of the brothers stole it. He falls back asleep just to have more paranoid dreams of how they stole his money. Amer Dagny and I go to lunch for some sammys (Sandwiches) Then we walked back to our hotel to change and chill. We walk back to Amer’s and stop in Monoprix for so Champagne and brie and crackers for later. We’re so French lol. We head back to the apartment and “study” for hours. I also write this blog. We were hungry so we go find Patrick and invite him to dinner. Apparently Emma heard us and Patrick was forced to invite her because of the other lady staying in the house. So we went close by at this really French restaurant. We were seating downstairs in like a cellar far away in the corner. They knew we were Americans. I had no idea what I was reading on the menu. We ordered a bottle of wine and Emma actually wanted us to pour here some. The entire dinner she placed her lips to it once! Pat ended up just drinking hers. Our dishes were really interesting. I had oeufs en mariotte which basically was eggs in French onion soup with mushrooms onions and French fries in it. It was surprisingly really good. Dagny’s chicken salad had 3 drumsticks on it. But all in all it was a great dinner. We heading back to Amer’s and Pat then Dagny and I took off to go shower and get ready. We returned to Amer’s room to pop champagne with brie and crackers. Our 1 € champagne….not so great. Anyways we Dj-ed the night away and ended with some 1664 blanc. We decided to go out and head to this club called Le colors in the mall. It was 5€ to get in but it was a legit club. We told the bartender how to make sunsets, compliments to the back of the Myers rum bottle…thanks Steve and Laura! We met other students going to the same university as us but they were studying international health. We socialized and danced the night away, just to return home and pass out.
Friday—June 5
Today Dagny and I awoke in a stuffy hot train sleeping car. It was almost difficult to sleep last night because it was so damn hot. We decided to get ready and head to the dining car. On the way we looked for Amer but couldn’t remember what room he was in. At the bar we had our coffee and croissants and talked for bout an hour. Amer finally joined us and the conversation when finally we arrived in Paris. We hoofed it over to Anaïs’ house to retrieve our luggage. We stayed for a little over an hour to describe our adventures as best we could to her. We were out of breath and talking and laughing so much. We finally said goodbye to her and her mom who was so sweet. We rolled our huge ass luggage down the hilly street of Meudon. Back on the train to Paris to go to the train station to get tickets to Lyon. We reached the ticket counter and were told that we couldn’t purchase tickets with our eurail pass and that it would be 80€. No way were we paying that. So we decided to get on the Dijon train for free. It was a slow train, took 3 hours to get there but oh well. We arrived around 6:00PM. Meanwhile Amer had planned to go to Dijon to meet his Madame with Patrick then train it over to Lyon. We called him and told him were bailing on Lyon and taxied it over to a cute LITTLE hotel. It was expensive and the room was TINY. We could barely fit us two and all our stuff. So we changed and met up with Amer and Patrick and saw their Madame’s house. Apparently she is a crazy woman and was so excited when they arrived. She invited them to her house on the lake in the countryside where they were going to faire du poisson (go fishing) and bang bang (she held her hands up like a gun). Patrick said there ain’t no way he was going to shoot anything living! Haha. So both of them felt a little bad but decided to stay. Supposedly another American was going to be living in Madame Girard’s house. Sure enough she showed up, a girl from Saint Mary’s originally from Minnesota, very shy, reserved, and a little akward. Her name was Emma. We were starving so we invited her to dinner. We walked around looking at each café and decided to eat at an Italian café. We enjoyed pizza pasta and salad with a nice wine, living the life of the French in every way possible. Lol. We finished up dinner and had to pay downstairs and as we got up Emma walked by an empty table smashing a wine glass to the floor with her fanny pack. (She also had nothing to eat or drink at dinner?) Patrick gave the girl 5€ extra to pay for the glass. So gentlemanly. We walked back to the boys place and decided we were going to explore Dijon nightlife…..it was raining. The boys changed and Emma bailed on our invite…fine with us! We all walked back to our hotel so us girls could change. Patrick was having internet withdrawals so he was surfing on my phone. He found all my apps and wasbeating my high scores when he asked me what this fake text app was. It basically displays any text from any one you want so I typed from Emma, “Hey jess I think Patrick is sexayyyy. Mind if I join u guys for drinks?” I showed it to Patrick and he laughed then Amer saw it and thought it was real. Then Dagny saw it and thought the same. Patrick and I looked at each other and died. We had them hooked as the entire room shook with laughter for about 5 minutes straight. We finally were ready to go and wanted to hit up the hotel bar. We couldn’t find it. Amer kept bugging me to text Emma back to invite her. Haha I told him that’s mean and I will wait for Pat’s approval. We thought maybe the bar was down on -1 so Dagny and Amer stayed waiting for the taxi and Pat and I went down a floor. We got off onto this dark hallway that had no lights as we stepped off the elevator the door shut and we could not see anything! We screamed and pressed the button as the elevator went back up. It took forever to come back down. Finally we made it back to Amer and Dagny freaked out. Btw its POURING rain! The taxi shows up as Dagny waves it down but has to jump back as it speed up onto the curb! We were cracking up. What service! We hopped in and asked the driver where all the hot spots were. He took us to the center of the village where a few bars were jumping. We head to the closest bar called La Salsa. It was packed….with old people….who were all staring at us. We made our way to the bar and were about to order drinks when we decided this place had a weird vibe. We left. We went to this big bar with a live band. We thought it was karaoke. Amer got really excited only to be disappointed. We found a couple seats at the bar and looked at this crazy menu of drinks. We attempted to order them in French without mistakes but that wasn’t happening. It took a while to understand us. A few drinks later and a few hours later, I created another fake text from Emma. It said “Hey I’m at La Salsa u guys here? Is Patrick drunkie yet??” Amer and Dagny die and yell at me to tell her to get over here! I type another fake text “Amer and Dagny, you’ve just been punked !!! Sincerely Trick and Scullzzzz!” They didn’t understand and though Emma was in on it and we had to explain that we made the texts. Amer was so mad, not only at me but also because the fact that it wasn’t true. We got them so good! Dagny then met a French guy with glasses who bought her a drink. He then proceeds to take her somewhere. She returns a few minutes later to tell us about this cool club downstairs. We join her. We follow down these sparkly stairs to find ourselves in a blue lighted room with couches and stars above the bar. We take a seat with her crew who has bottle service at their table. Patrick, Amer and I chill while we watch Dagny and these boys who we though were brothers crowd around her. We follow them to the dancefloor for creeping and dance while watching them. Amer was behind me and Pat was in front of me arching his back and shimming the night away. Then walking back Patrick gets his ass squeezed by one of Dagny’s men and demands him to give him Dagny’s number, so he did. Haha We head outside to leave. The boys follow. It took forever to get a taxi which dropped us off at the wrong street and Pat paid double because we were too loud? Amer and I head inside and see that Pat and Dagny are not following. We creep outside to see them on the street corner talking to Dagny’s boys. We laugh and go to bed.
Thursday June 4
We woke up pretty early and made breakfast and packed. We stored the luggage at the hotel after checking out and went shopping and walked around the city. We ate lunch at a café. I had a lettuce and tomato salad. We walked back to get our luggage and cabbed it to the airport. We chilled in the terminal again but we were on time this time around. We arrived in Barcelona and went to dinner cuz our bags were to heavy to do anything else. We had tortellini and shrimp paella to celebrate our last minutes in Spain. We waited at the trai station for our train and laughed for ever. We were so delirious. We laughed at this lady cleaning the station with a mop on an electric thing that slid super fast across the whole station. I don’t know why but we found it so funny. We finally got on the train and had bad rooms cuz we were together and all in separate cars. I had three ladies who spoke no English just Spanish. So me Dagny and Amer all head to the dining car. We pass acouple of hours with a couple glasses of wine. Then we go search for an empty room to steal. Unsuccessful. We find out that my room only has one girl now. The two other left. So Dagny joins me and we tell Amer to meet us for breakfast in the morning in the dining car.
Wednesday June 3
We woke up and made breakfast. We caught the bus to Salines like Jann told us too. It was really gorgeous and there were tons of people. We layed out for a little then go to look for food. We eat at this hostel Mar y Sel. It was so good! They had aioli and bread. We head back to the beach and layed out and swam cuz it was so hot. The pacha parade on the beach was hilarious. These girls were in tiny bikinis with frills and give out inner tubes. We take the bus back and then napped too long. We woke up and Amer had gone to eat and use the internet. We showered and went to grab a sandwich at the market. We got ready and had champie as always. We decided to just bar hop again. We went to the one across the street then walked to the marina for daiquiris. Greg was our waiter and trying to talk us into to going to Pacha because tonight was there 36th anniversary. We finally decided to go and buy tickets. We danced for a little, lost and found Dagny and peaced out. We went home and made eggs again and passed out.
Tuesday June 2
We woke up early to make most of our day. We booze and beach it. We went to buy sunscreen from this little shop and meet this guy buying a newspaper. His name is Jann and Amer struck up a convo with him and he told us to go to Salines beach. This one here is “shitty.” We get to the beach and it is GORGEOUS. We cant believe this beach is not the nice one. Its small but still amazing. We meet this girls from LA and they think Amer just graduated from high school! Haha. Me and Amer decided to go get lunch and run into Jann. We tell him to join us and he has a coffee and then peaces out. We have sandwiches and Estrella. We brought Dagny a sandwich and layed out for a while. We went back to the room because to was just too hot to stay out anymore. We nap in the room. Gotta have our daily siesta. Then we woke up and walked around the marina where there was a bunch of little shops and stands. We looked around for alittle. We then were really hungry. We went by our hotel to this Tapas place. It was SO good. The owner Micheal talked us into eating there. He was hilarious and from Holland. We had like stuffed mushrooms, potatos, suid rings, veggies and chicken. Theyre like mini plates and you share them all. We went back to the hotel and got ready for yet another night. Tonight was our blck top and white shorts night. It was so funny how we all matched. We popped another bottle of Ibizian champagne and went to pacha. We got the tickets from Seb at the front desk. He was the bomb. Oh Seb you will be missed. We met these guys that worked there and bought us shots. Then me and Dagny met these Italian guys and Amer said he was going to the bathroom. So these guys leave and Dagny goes with them to the dance floor. I tell them ill meet them there im waiting for Amer. I wait for 20 minutes and get worried. I look at the dancefloor and cant find Amer of Dagny. I get a call on my phone from Dagny and its so,e guy telling me to come get her she is out front. I go out and see shes fine. I tell her ill be right back I need to find Amer. The guy that bought us shots walks me arounf the club even into the guys bathroom to find him. Hes nowhere. SO me and Dagny head back to the hotel. We fall asleep. About an hour later Amer wakes me up. I was like where the hell have you been?!?! Im so mad at you right now! I say "I hate you dont touch me!!!" He tells me that he passed out in his stall doing the Asian squat! I was like wow way to go. Haha we got over it. He apologized. Sleep time.
Monday- June 1
After waking up at 7 AM we packed cuz check out was at 11AM. We head out to breakfast in the Plaza Rieal. I had a Spanish omlette to celebrate our last day in Barcelona. It was a very cute European breakfast. We walked all the way down La Rambla for shopping but everything was closed and it was 10AM. We went back to the hotel to check out. We shopped a little with our bags and it was a pain but fun. I got these two really pretty bracelets. Nothing was open still shopwise so we sat at this place called Farggio and got ice cream and watched the people walk by. We decided to take off to the airport and got on the metro. We then got off at the train station to take the airport train. We asked a lady where it was and she said platform nine. We head to it and hop on the train. As the train is going we look around and it starts to become the cuts. We were like I thought the airport was kinda in the city? The ticket man comes up and says aeroport? Non. We were like WHAT!? We ended up going 40 minutes out of town to Saint Vincente. We had to wait for the next train and we totally missed our flight. We had to buy new tickets that were more expensive then the ones we first bought. We had four hours in the airport…what to do?? DUTY FREE haha we head to the store. Dagny got eyeliner and we got some Moet Champagne and José. Random but whateves. We walked around and there was literally a shopping mall in there. Amer got his European white shorts and we had sandwiches. We still had time to kill so we went and had a beer to chill. Then finally it was our flight time after the gate had already changed. We hop on the plane and literally 40 minutes later we arrived in Ibiza. We couldn’t get over that lady lying to us about platform nine. We checked into the hotel which was legit with a kitchen so we decided to go to the grocery store for eggs and toast. We met all the people at the bars who force you to come in by grabbing your groceries and putting them inside. One of the guys, Lucas, said he was from Laguna Beach and whipped out a CA ID. We still till this day believes he just has a bunch of IDs in his pocket and wherever your from he is too! Haha We went back and got ready and had come tekillya. Then we popped the Moet, so delicious. We returned to Lucas for real this time and had a round. We then bought tickets to this popular club Es Paradis. We return to the room and try to decide what to wear because at the end of the night they fill the club with water and I didnt want any of my stuff to get ruined. So we wear bathing suits and one of Amer’s tshirts as a dress…I don’t know why I thought that was okay but whatever. The cab to San Antonio was so far. We get there and they don’t let us in because Amer has boardshorts on. They say come back later. So we head nextstore to this bar called Eden’s. We had some Estrellas. And the Bouncers were getting mad at Amer cuz dagny was showing her “underwear” (her bathing suit) and so we had to take her home. Me and Amer return hit up Edens a little longer then as we decide to leave they let us into Es Paradis. We danced like crazy jumping up and down and met this kid from Brazil. He was dancing with us and I kept yelling at him “Where’s the agua?!” and he just kept telling me soon soon soon. Then before you no it Amer is a sandwich with me on one side and the Brazilian on the other. He was grinding on Amer! BAHAHA Amer was a little creeped out. Then we thought it was a good idea to pick up this brazialian kid. We each take a leg and walk around for a minute. It was hilarious. We finally get tired and take forever to fingure our way out cuz its such a huge club. We come back to Dagny passed out and make eggs and toast before bed. Best eggs and toast ever. Haha
Sunday- May 31
We woke up around noon and went out to breakfast this place, or more like lunch. I had a hamburger with eggs, which means a patty and two eggs over easy. It was delicious. We got lost trying to find park guell. Once we got there is was absolutely beautiful. We climbed all the way to the top and saw the whole city. It was a gorgeous walk down and there were so many people. We walked around the shops for a little and got souvenirs. We came back to the room and were sooooo tired from the day and last night. We said we were goin
g to take a nap then get ready for dinner and go out. We passed out at 7PM and didn’t wake up until 7AM!! Oh well!
Saturday May 30
We woke up late and were starving. Amer had met another guy from the hostel Simon and told some friends from last night that they were gunna play volleyball. So he went to go do that and me and Dagny went to go look for somewhere it eat by the beach. We hit up Italian again because everything else was so expensive. I got a pizza with an egg on it!!!!! And our waiter was so bomb and hilarious. He was asking what we were doing in Barcelona and where we were going. We said we were going to Ibiza next and he started cracking up and yelling crazy girls crazy girls!!! He was really nice and gave us free passes to catwalk and where the after party was at! Haha Then we met up with Amer and went the beach with
Simon. He was hilarious.So nerdy and so great with his glasses and Velcro sandals. We sleep on the beach really late and got ready for dinner super late! We went to this really cool sushi buffet with revolving plates. It was delicious. At the end of the meal they gave us free sake shots which was random. Then we tried bar hopping again with Simon and Mariella our friend from the hostel. She was from Italy but studied in France and now wants to work in Spain and had this amazing cool story. She was really nice and fun. The bar hopping was just not very fun that night so we decided to take a cab to razzmatazz. This huge club in Barcelona. Mariella peaced out but Simon came along. We decided to go to this little bar across the street from Razzmatazz called Pepe’s. They had really strong shots and all this music memorabilia. Then we head in line for the club. People were selling hashish (weed) and speed. It was crazy and kinda scary. We got in and it was ridiculous! It was like a rave with the disco ball and screens everywhere playing random videos. We head to the bar for our free drinks. We walk around fro about an hour because there is so many stages and floors! Outside everyone is smoking so we go into a different room and my eyes began to burn because of all the smoke. It was ridiculous. We danced the night away literally. We left when it closed at 6AM! I don’t think a night has ever passed so quickly! But it was so much fun.
Friday-May 29
We wake up on the train around 7AM ish and were SO excited! We get to the train station and easily found our hostel cuz it was just down the street. So we check in and head back to our room. My jaw dropped. I had never stayed in something like this. I mean it sure was no ritz carlton but hey it builds character right? There were 16 beds in one huge room and one bathroom down the hall. The beds were cover in Chinese writing sheets and a little scary but I got over it haha. We set out to go walk around and explore Barcelona. We visited the Sagrada Familia. It was huge and really gorgeous but it was sad hat it was under construction. Its going to be under construction for our entire lifetime! We walked the city some more and stopped at this café Ixsbruek. I got eggs of course because they had them haha. It was so cheap and good. We took the metro back and went to the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous! We layed out for a little and napped. Then we walked back to the hostel to get ready for diner and going out. We found this cute little cheap pizza place and had that. We then did some bar hopping right by the marina. It was basically a line of bars with bouncers outside begging you to come in and enticing you with free shots and sangria. So, we took a couple of offers and danced. Then we decided to hit up the clubs. We went to Shoku and Opium. It was AMAZING. Amer met these guys on the bus who told him to say were on Avalynas list and we did and got right in, cutting the entire line both times! It was so crazy! And so many people! We tried the Spanish beer Estrella and it was love at first taste for Amer. It was definitely his drink of the trip!
Wednesday-Thursday-May 27- 28 2009
We all met at John Wayne Airport today with our families! We took off to Dallas at 10:50 then took off from Dallas at 3:30 and got to Paris at 9:40 AM. I barely slept cuz I was so excited! The CDG airport was crazyyy and we got so lost and didnt know whether to take the train or bus! So we decided to take the RER, a train, to Auscherlitz to make train reservations for tonight to go to Barcelona. I was DYING with my HUGE ASS luggage. Finally we got our tickets for about 70€ for a sleeper car. We got some water and Amer got a crappy SIM card that didn’t work haha. So we hopped back on the train to his friend’s Anaïs house to drop off our big luggage. She was really nice to let us store our luggage at her house while we were in spain. She lives in Paris and goes to USC. We met her at the train station and she told us it’s a ten minute walk. We literally walked up a MOUNTAIN with hundreds of pounds of luggage. We were sweating to death when we finally got to her house. It was so adorable and it was everything you would image a French house to look like. Everything is so much smaller but I love it! Her mom was super nice and got us water and juice. She also let us take showers which I was in desperate need of since flying. So, at her house we made hostel and hotel reservations for Barcelona and Ibiza. Way to be last minute! I know! It was pretty cheap and looked decent. We head back to the train with one less bag thanks to Anaïs. We head to the metro to go to dinner with her in Paris. We pick this Italian restaurant cuz stuff isn’t open early and we have to catch our train. It was pretty good. I had some penne marinara. We then headed back to Austerlitz and catch out train to Barcelona! 12 hours and well be there! Dagny and I were in the same room and a girl studying in Germany but from America was with us. She was hilarious. She couldn’t shut up, especially how she thought german is a way prettier language than French. Me and dagny were like what the hell are you talking about?! Macarti is what she wanted us to call her, not Ashley, her first name. I don’t know she was quite the character. Haha. We stopped at this one spot and a old French woman joined us but didn’t speak any English so she just went straight to bed. I was so tired I probably hadn’t slept for days cuz of the time change and everything. So I easily passed out on the train.