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Published: March 18th 2007
Its been an absolutely insane week, so I havent had a chance to blog since Monday. The whole things a blur, so Ill just write what I remember. But some definite highs were the packages I got from my sisters. Jackie sent me oreos and a Valentine, which I absoltely adored. Only I havent gotten to the post office so I cant send anything back until I get back from break. I also got a package with a bunch of sweets and letters from my sisters. I actually started tearing up at one point...but thats been happening a lot lately. Stupid travel nerves. Anyways, the packages were awesome and I immidiately put the letters all over my walls.
On Monday I had classes and in my film seminar we talked about Kennedy so I was happy about that. I came back and told Jonny because the night before he told me that his brother is interning with Teddy Kennedy this summer...IM SO JEALOUS. But he said he would see if his brother could get an autograph for me so Im happy. I probably did some travel planning, and then worked on my sugar=sex paper. After dinner we decided to play beer pong and hang out. It was soooo much fun. Peter and Jonny were wasted, and Jonny was like jumping on chairs while screaming "Gonna catch me ridin' dirty" and spouting off Eminem lyrics. Haha. At one point Kobi, Jonny and I huddled up and had a little rave to Insomnia (only the best techo song in the world). The night ended with the most amazing beer pong win ever! After Kobi knocked down 2 cups and then caught a ball which lost us another cup, we were really behind. So Peter sunk our last cup, and we only had 3 shots to do three cups. I bounced it and got 2, and Kobi sunk the last one!! It was amazing! We screamed for a while. So we played one last game to clear the tie up and eventually I got to bed.
On Tuesday I got up at a reasonable hour to keep working on my essay. The guys all went to the ManU football game, and Melissa hadnt gotten back from Birmingham, so I was the only one in the flat, it was weird. Eventually Melissa got back and she picked up a yummy dinner for us and we ate and chilled in the kitchen for a while. We later did face masks and of course...girl talked. It was nice having a girls night, but of course I was excited when the boys came back at like 3am. We hung out in the kitchen for a little while and then everyone headed to bed. I think this was the night I stayed up until 7am.
I set 3 alarms to get up for my 9am after an hour of sleep but just completely overslept without even so much as a wink. I got up at about 11 and went to the lib to return some books, and came back to prep for my food seminar. The seminar wasnt as painful as I thought it would be, but the whole time I was just thinking about how much I wanted to finish my paper. I talked to the professor about my thesis for the paper, and then came back and hung out and wrote for a while. I think I stayed up until like 6 that night, but I pretty much finished my paper.
Thursday was the day we had all been waiting for because we had been planning to go out to Leamington for a couple weeks. I got up with like 25 minutes to get ready and get to class, which was fun, and after class went to Coventry to do some shopping for travel. I got a lot of things that I really liked and ended up staying about 5 hours, I was exhausted. When I got back, I jumped in the shower, we all had dinner, and then I got ready. Eventually I went to the kitchen to make Pina Coladas as planned. I only had the hand blender to use, so they diddnt come out as nice as we hoped, but they tasted yummy. We all headed out and had to wait for the bus for about 20 minutes before it came. The bus ride felt long, and it was worse because Meilssa's malaria tablets were making her nauseous. When we got there, we went to the ATM and went to spoons. We hung out there for about an hour, it was fun. A few of us talked about meeting up in Amsterdam when I go, which Im soooooo excited about because thats one place I definitely dont want to be alone for. After Spoons, we went to Evolve, and the queue was enormous. We waited for about 20 minutes and then when someone told us that no one else was getting in, we left. We wandered down to another bar, but it was also closed. On the way, I heard someone yell out my name, which really caught me off guard because I dont really know too many people outside of my flat. It was a girl who said she was from my film class, but I really didnt remember her. Maybe it was because it was dark or maybe it was because we werent actually in class, but I really didnt know who she was. It was funny though. We went back to evolve due to lack of options and ended up getting in in about 10 minutes, we should have just stayed. Anyways, we had about an hour and a half to dance. The music wasnt as good as the last time, but we made the best of it. It was sooooo crowded because it was student night, and Im pretty sure the people behind me were only taking breathes every 5 minutes between make-out sessions. It was nasty. Of course, Jonny and I lead the way and danced on the platform and then everyone else came up. It closed at like 2:22, so weird. We then waited for like an hour for a cab, but while we waited we got kebabs. Mistake. Melissa and I regretted it when we couldnt taste anything but the processed meat for the next 18 hours. It was so nasty. Eventually we all got back to the flat and hung out for a few minutes and then went to bed. Melissa and I both ended up getting up in the middle of the night to try to get the Kebab taste out of our mouths, blach.
On Friday I got up at a decent hour and finished revising my essay. Kobi helped me proof read it and we kept Melissa company while she was packing. It was funny, she wanted us to scream out everything we said so that she wouldnt feel lonely. The whole afternoon consisted of everyone coming in and out of mine and Melissas rooms while singing, dancing, trying on Melissa's sun hat and my sunglasses and helping us revise/pack. I love afternoons like those! We helped Melissa pack her car and then said our goodbyes, and then I finally dropped off my sugar essay. What a relief. I came back and showered and then tried to pack...what a nightmare. I soon realized that not everything would fit in my rucksak and I would have to go Tesco to get more things. The rest of the night consisted of us watching a charity comedy thing, playing cards and hanging out. Daniel, Jonny and I watched Scrubs and then mom called. It was all downhill from there. Her flight was cancelled and I had to decide whether or not to go to London and Paris or to wait and lose my ticket and the hotel room. I really really didnt want to go alone, so I was really upset about it, and it was just adding to the panic I was having all day. I guess it was just setting in how much I really feel at home at the flat and how much I love my flatmates, and it just makes it harder to jump into something so new and different...and expensive. So having just one thing more to worry about and knowing that I had to go alone just made that much worse. Kobi and I were scheduled for the bus at 6:15am, and we just ended up staying up until we caught the cab to the bus station. Kobi and Chris helped me figure out how to navigate Paris and then I finished packing. I ended up having to take one of my LLBean totes, and my bags are soooooo unavoidably heavy. Kobi and I took the bus from Coventry (615) to London (820) and then went to Starbucks where Kobi treated, that was nice. Peter and his friends came in on a different bus and met us at Starbucks. They set off and Kobi walked me back to the coach station where we said our goodbyes and I got on the bus for my 10 hour journey. Of course, I started tearing up just leaving, the whole thing was just setting in. Plus, you would think for a 10 hour journey, they would make the bus really comfy...it wasnt. I sat next to this guy who looked about my age or a little older who ended up being French. I finally got in touch with mom and she told me that her flight wasnt coming in until Tuesday morning! The people around me must have thought I was a total freak because this time the crying lasted for about 30 minutes. After about 3 hours we pulled into the ferry docks and got to get off for about 10 minutes and see the white cliffs. They played a movie on the bus, Honeymoon in Las Vegas...but it was in French, so that was useless. I met a couple girls on the bus, one from Boston and one from Canada, they were nice. When we got on the ferry I didnt realize how big it was. It was the biggest boat Ive ever been on, it barely swayed. There was a food court, arcade, lounges, bars, coffee shops, and a bunch of tax free shops. After looking around for a while, I found a comfy seat and tried to catch a nap, it was not a very good nap and was only like 45 minutes. Eventually we got back on the bus and I pulled out my computer to watch 50 First Dates. I put it on French subtitles for my neighbor and he really enjoyed it. About 2 hours later we finally got in to Paris. I got my stuff and navigated through the train station. Figuring out the ticket machine was interesting, and figuring out exactly how to get to the hotel was even more interesting. I asked directions after my first connection from some girls working at the station and they were really helpful. I finally got to the station I was meant to and had to ask around to actually find the hotel. That took the longest. When I got here, I checked in and got to my room. Its really nice, and the room is big but I started crying again as soon as I stepped in. Its just really overwhelming. I got myself together and went down to ask the concierge some questions and then went outside to see if I could find anything to eat. It was so cold, so I came back to my room and called mom before going back out. The good thing is that mom got a flight that comes in Monday morning, so thats more of a relief. I went back out to find dinner, failed again, and then came back to ask where I could get take-out. Its really frustrating with the language barrier and the food was just so expensive. Eventually I found a chinese place and got some take-out and headed back to the room with it. I turned on my computer and found I could connect to someones free wireless network. Thats awesome since I cant really call out for less than about $2 a minute and everwhere charges for the internet. So I ate my dinner in bed, and watched some Rugby. Its so weird, now the BBC and sports relax me because they remind me of the flat. I seriously think there is something wrong with me, who gets this anxious over traveling? Ive been freaking out the entire day and havent enjoyed anything since I left the UK. I just really cant wait till mom gets here so that Ill feel at least a little better. Plus, I have to check out of here by noon and dont have another place to stay yet...which Im going to look for right now.
Until tomorrow...
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anonymous
non-member comment
noooo don't be nervous, i'm sure you'll have lots of fun once you get a little more comfortable. And i think it's really cute that you shared your movie with your french bus buddy. Take lots of pictures of paris.