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Today is my 24th birthday. It’s awesome to get to celebrate it in Europe. I’ve had a few odd birthdays, including a birthday celebration at the Taos Indian Reservation in New Mexico, but never in Europe. It’s a nice treat.

Despite the fact that I had an exam this morning (international development law), today was a fantastic day. The exam was in a different city (Meersen) so we had to take the train to get there. It took us about 5 minutes on the train, so it really wasn’t that bad. After the exam, I headed toward the train station. Ironically, Dad & I arrived at the train station from different directions at exactly the same time. Odd coincidence. It worked out well because we went from there to check into his hotel, grab some lunch, & run some errands. We sat in the park that I love with all of the goats, ducks, & geese for a while so that was great. I’m going to miss that place. It’s a great study place. Oh well.

In the evening, Dad, Carolina, Sofia, Rebecka, Adnan, & I all went to this fantastic Italian restaurant for dinner. It was a fantastic dinner. Il Giardino is the name of the place, & it’s located on the Onze Lievevrouweplein right next to one of the most beautiful churches in Maastricht. I had called ahead & made a reservation, so when we got there, we had pre-dinner drinks waiting for us & everything. The food was delicious, the service impeccable, & the company couldn’t get any better. It was truly a great dinner. The Swedish girls bought me a beautiful bracelet for my birthday, which is absolutely perfect because it literally goes with every other piece of jewelry I own. I love it.

After dinner, we went to the jazz club by the St. Servaasbrug. I love that place. It’s such a relaxed atmosphere with live jazz music & great drinks. From there, we met up with a bunch of other law students. I would say there were upwards of 30 friends from the law school there. It was great because I hadn’t realized that not only were the exchange students leaving, many of the master’s students were also finished so they were celebrating that, too. It was a great way to say goodbye to everyone. It’s awesome to think how many countries were represented in that group - everywhere from the US, to England, to Sweden, to Germany, to Spain, to Finland, to France. You name it, I guarantee there was at least one representative from that country. I’m going to miss the “cultural diversity” of school, that’s for sure. It’s just so great to have friends from all around the world. It’s funny how many things are different, yet how many things are similar. For instance, I had made the comment to Adnan that “those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks” & my German friend started cracking up saying they have the exact same expression in German. Also, the “kill 2 birds with one stone” is also found in Sweden, Germany, & France, except it’s “kill 2 flies with one swat.” Hahaha

All in all, it was a great birthday filled with great company. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to ring in my 24th year. ☺

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