Easter Vacation Part 1

First of all, in Europe they do not say spring break. That has a negative connotation attached, mainly girls gone wild/drunken beach adventures. So I quickly learned to refer to this magical month and a half off as my holiday or Easter vacation. 

I know I've done a poor job of updating, I've been swamped with coursework, deadlines, volleyball, and traveling. But I've got some time to kill, so I'm going to write about as much as possible (: 

At this point in my semester, classes are finished. We will come back to do exams for a month and then it's time for summer vacation. Thankfully i only have one exam, the rest of my assessments were essays that were due prior to break. Most people here just go home, some of my fellow exchange students are traveling as well but they are staying around the UK. As I'm writing this, I'm flying from Alicante, Spain to Paris, France! 

Alicante was beyond gorgeous. I've been to Florida, Mexico, the Bahamas, and obviously, Charleston, yet there is nothing close to this amazing city. The mountains meet the sea, the culture is rich, and the food is spectacular. I could go on for ages about the food. A friend from volleyball in Nottingham let me stay with her and her family. She took me to the beach, neighboring cities, hiking, bike rides along the coast, clubs, and local restaurants. I've never loved a city like Alicante since I first step foot in Charleston for my university tour. 

This city is bordered with the Mediterranean Sea, so I can add that to my list of waters that I've been in. (: The water was a bit chilly, but it felt good after playing volleyball all day. The biggest change that I experienced was the schedule. They eat breakfast around 9/10, lunch 3/4, and dinner around 9/10. And then if you're meeting up with some friends during the weekend, you'll get together around midnight and stay out till 6-8 in the morning. So that was an adventure! Sara took me to a city nearby, Altea, which was absolutely stunning. The buildings were white and overlooked the blue waters.

On my last day, we went for a hike up this massive mountain. It wasn't regulated by anyone, so the pathways were shabby and rocky. At some points you're using both hands to hoist yourself up on rocks. It was probably the best hike I've ever done. It takes about an hour or two to get to the top, but the view along the way is so worth it. The vegetation reminded me a little of the Lion King!

  

Here is a far away picture of the rock we hiked, you can tell how massive it is when you look at the 4 story houses to the right of it!  Below is a closer picture of the rock.

You have to walk through this cave to get to the other side of the mountain to start your hike! Below is the trail that we walked alongside the mountain, it leads you all the way up to the top.

Lastly, this is a view of the city from the cave. So breath-taking! 

A completely random sidenote; they use fresh oranges and make orange juice daily with a pulper machine. It's literally the best juice I've had in my life. It's so much better than the kind in the states. And they also buy their bread daily, for a euro, it was so yummy to have fresh bread each day!

As I mentioned, I'm headed to Paris right now. My moms are meeting me in Paris, so I'm very excited to finally see them!  I'll be there for 4 days and then I'm off to Florence for several days! Finally I'll spend a week and a half in Scotland until my term begins! 

Tips: 

When making plans for Easter Vacation, use Facebook if you can. Here in Nottingham University there is a page specifically for exchange students for the spring semester. There you can post where you wish to visit and others will reply. Ultimately giving you some people to travel with. 

Also, if your university requires you to move out during the holiday, instead of lugging your belongings around Europe, try to find others who are storing their things in a room. So you can split the cost. Better yet, see if you can find a friend who lives off campus who doesn't mind letting you put your things at their place so it won't cost you anything!

While on the topic of belongings, I've chosen to fly everywhere because it's cheaper and faster. Since I'm living out if a suitcase for a month, it was pretty much inevitable for me to check a bag. My airline, Ryanair, charges you the cheapest fee if you pay for the bag when you buy your ticket. You're allowed various weights, I selected the 15 kg option. This doesn't seem like much, but it's actually over 30 lbs. So it's a good way to go. To cut back on fees in Europe, the airlines try to handle everything online before arriving at the airport. So be sure to take care of printing tickets, boarding passes, etc. before you leave for your travels, or else they charge outrageous amounts at the desk. 

Remember my tip to get involved? It's essential. My friend Sara, who let me stay with her this week, and I met through volleyball. Another friend let me stay in her apartment when my halls closed until my flight to Spain. People here are so nice and very helpful!

Wanderlust.

So I've been here for a little less than a month and it has been positively magical. I think I'm still in the honeymoon phase of being in a new country. I'm not complaining though. (:

Classes are in full blast, last week I only had one day of class due to course being rescheduled/cancelled. It's been somewhat of a challenge staying on top of the course load due to the fact that they do not assign much work. It is expected of you to find readings on assigned topics and come back prepared. They don't have many assessments either. So it would be quite easy to slack off and not stay engaged. It helps that I have friends who spend a good amount of time in the library, so I am able stay on top of my schooling.

I went to Oxford this past weekend, it was so gorgeous. It was a school sponsored trip that went for a day. They dropped us off and let us roam the city freely. There was a free walking tour that lasted about 2 hours, we saw most of Oxford this way. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day. (: We even saw places where Harry Potter was filmed!

The basement of this bookstore was massive, it continued under pieces of Oxford University! 

Anne, Camille and I! These two lovely ladies are from France (:

The four of us (Anne, Camille, Ina, and I) outside this amazing cafe. Their food and drinks were amazing. It's the oldest coffeehouse in England, they were established in 1650! 

In front of a library that was donated by a doctor who avoiding reading at all cost. (: 

                       In front of the Bridge of Sighs.                              Found a phone booth! (:

The infirmary and library scenes in the first Harry Potter film were shot here! 

Behind this gate was the highest, most esteemed, college in Oxford University. Being accepted was immensely hard, but once you're accepted you get to do what you wish. Apparently they give you money to do whatever research you want, attendance isn't required, and you can come and go as you please. I'm so jealous!  

The rest of these pictures are gorgeous buildings throughout the city. Some are churches, shops, and libraries. 

After venturing to this amazing city, I'm ready to go on the next trip! I'm spending a weekend in Dublin in March, so I'm excited for that. (: I've joined the volleyball club on campus, so I spend a few nights a week training with them! I've discovered a yummy coffeehouse in the city center, I'm in love. They brew their coffee with Italian Espresso! I finally went to see Frozen with a hallmate in this vintage-y cinema. It was so good! I can't believe I waited so long to watch it.

Well I've been procrastinating, trying to put off researching for a paper. I best get to it, I hope everything is going well on your side of the ocean. (: 

Until next time, (: 

♥always,

e

'And then I realized adventures are the best way to learn...'

Hello from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean (:

It's been a week since I've settled in here at the University of Nottingham. It's been the longest and shortest week of my life.

I'm not going to bore y'all with the nitty-gritty details of my travels. Other than the one hour delay due to maintenance in Chicago, everything was smooth sailing and successful. The flight to London Heathrow was practically empty so I had the whole row to myself to spread out and sleep. They fed me dinner, I took some Benadryl and slept the whole plane ride. Woke up once due to turbulence, then it actually put me back to sleep, haha. Oh, a farewell picture with my moms:

I landed, got my luggage, and went through customs in record timing y'all. I was at the bus station not even 30 minutes after I landed. They were really sweet and let me catch an earlier coach instead of making me wait 3 hours for the ticket I initially purchased. So I got to the bus station in Nottingham, split a taxi with a girl who was headed my way as well! I checked in and got to my room without any issues. I'm not sure if this pertains to my hall or halls all over campus, but there aren't many outlets in the room. So you have to figure out a system with that. It's not that big of a deal especially since you probably consolidated before you came! Here's my desk, I have it decorated with pictures from home!

Throughout the week, I've attended orientation, gone to re-fresher's* sessions, hit up the city centre, and survived my first week of class. (:

Wednesday night, a couple of exchange students and I went out to the city centre, what we call downtown, and ate at a fun restaurant, delilah's, found a Primark store (British verion of Target), and hit up the movies! I didn't get many pictures because it was raining, but here's one!

My meal and first U.K. pint, (:

The campus here is massive and hilly. I've been sore every day this week, I kid you not. It is also very pretty!

The first picture is the view from my room, the second is my dining hall. It is set up very similarly to the great hall in Harry Potter. So I was very excited about that! The third & fourth picture are views around campus!

Oh, and proof that the sun comes out once or twice a week..

I've joined a few societies: The Travel Society, Exchange Student Society, and I might be joining the Volleyball Club as well (: There are a few volunteer opportunities I'm interested in as well!

My module schedule is quite nice and interesting. I don't have modules on Wednesdays, and some Mondays. They meet once or twice a week for lectures; these are typically very large classes. Mine have up to 200 students. Then you meet weekly or fortnightly for seminars, this is where you break up into groups of 15 or less and discuss with your classmates and lecturers about the readings for that week. I'm taking a British Party Politics module! We had a guest speaker on Friday who was a member of Parliament, it was really cool. (: I'm also taking a Political Ideas in Conflict module, I'm not sure what's going on here. When I know, I'll let y'all know. Lastly, I'm taking an Art History class, The City Beautiful. It studies architecture in London and compares it to New York City. I'm pretty excited about this one. We're actually taking a field trip to London in March! That should be fun!

The meal plan here is amazing. They give you a 5 pound budget everyday to eat whatever you want for lunch. We have a couple of Starbucks around campus, and they're included in the plan. It's #whitegirlparadise

For the future travelers and exchange students out there...

Tip #1. Take some sort of sleep aid if you are flying at night. It will help a lot with your jet leg and keep you alert once you land. Trust me. You need to be as on your toes as possible. 

Tip #2. If you are travelling for an extended amount of time and you have people that you keep in touch with in the States. Get an international SIM card. They often have data attached to it and you can use that to Facebook message your friends. If they do not have Facebook, 'WhatsApp' is a really awesome text app you can download. It doesn't rack up your bill or theirs. My experience with Verizon has shown me that the global plan isn't all that great. You can't get data through it, you have to monitor your texts, and minutes. Plus you're always looking for wifi. It's annoying to be spending your time trying to connect to the internet when you could be interacting with others. So, now I know that if any one tries to contact me, they can. Plus I can set my phone down and meet new people! (: Be aware that you cannot text people in the states, you can message them on Facebook or through WhatsApp. I haven't tried calling, I just use Skype or facetime. With the 5 hour time difference, you have to schedule times to talk anyways. 

Tip #3. GET CURRENCY AHEAD OF TIME. I cannot tell you how much this has saved me. At my study abroad orientation, they didn't heavily recommend it. If my bank hadn't suggested it, I would have been really stressed to find an ATM. Plus ATM and currency fee's are crazy expensive in the airport. So yeah. Hit up your bank and order some money to get you started. Once you're settled in and such, you can withdraw more from a local ATM. 

Tip #4. Go to everything. This applies more towards exchange students, if there are optional sessions. Go to them. If there are little coffee hours. Go to them. If there are walking trips and you hate walking. GO TO THEM. The purpose of going abroad is to go abroad. What you might ignore when you are at your home university, don't ignore here. Every little event is a chance to meet new people, explore new sights, and travel. Now, with that being said. Don't forget about your studies. 

Tip #5. Warmth and Dryness is more important than looking cute. If you are coming to the England area, bring shoes and clothes that will stand against wind and rain. Cause that's all it does here. Rain. And lots of heavy wind. I made the mistake of wearing my Toms one day this week because the forecast wasn't calling for rain. Ha. My shoes were soaked and my feet were frozen by noon. So don't trust the forecast. Just dress prepared for anything when you're here. 


*re-fresher's are like new students such as First Years or International Students

I'm headed to check out the campus pub, Mooch, with a friend. (: I'll try to update weekly! If you have an instagram, check out my hashtag #elenatakesoneurope I post pictures pretty often!

♥always,

Stay Beautiful

-E

Today's the day!!!

Well in 7 hours, I'll be getting on a plane to Chicago. Then to London Heathrow!

What a whirlwind it's been, I've spent the past week running around like a chicken with my head cut off. No shame in that though, I'll embrace it. (:

Altogether I've been feeling a large amount of emotions, but fear is the biggest one. I have so much fear for the unknown and the unexpected. I'm not going to even give justice to those fears by putting them in here. Someone wise once told me that the only thing to give credit to fear is that it is False Evidence Appearing Real. Everything I'm scared of hasn't even happened yet. So why am I so focused on it?

Well. I don't know.

I don't know why I'm scared just like I'm scared because I don't know what's to come. So I'm going to try to hop off the fear train that's going in a circle and just breathe. Pray. & Relax.

Easier said than done. Just for the record.

Anyways, I'm all packed. I'm 1.3 lbs over according to my scale at home. So here's hoping that my smile can work a little magic with the TSA Agents and they won't charge me! I've got books, music, and Benadryl for the plane rides. It's a 2ish hour flight to Chicago and an 8ish hour flight to London. I'll land at 11:30 am and catch a coach to the Nottingham bus station then a taxi to my dorm! Hopefully I'll be at my dorm around 7:30 in the evening.

I'm attaching some pictures of the currency we ordered! It's pretty cool (:

So all that's left at this point is to get ready and just stay calm. I'm praying for peace, patience, and safety. I'm also praying for my family and friends here at home, watch over them, bring them assurance, and let them know that everything is okay.

Oh yeah, and I got the best breakfast ever. My inner kid was elated to find Minnie Mouse pancakes waiting for me when I woke up this morning. (:

Wish me luck!!

Stay Beautiful &love always,

-E

14 Things To Do in 2014

Because I'm becoming a listmaker, because it's a new year, because I have goals, because life has a lot to offer, and because I want to absorb as much of it as possible. Here is my list of 14 things I want to do in 2014: 

1. Get lost in a city that speaks a different language.
That should be easy. I'm so directionally challenged, I've gotten lost in my hometown. 

2. Learn a new language. 
Latin has been the bane of my existence for the past 2ish years. I'm ready for something exciting. Like ASL.

3. Listen to my heart more and what people think less. 
My best friend, Kate, once used a quote that fits perfectly here, "Be who you are and say what you feel. Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Bernard M. Baruch

4. Try a new job. 

5. Take a lot of pictures. 
Less of myself and more of the world around me. There will never be a January 2nd, 2014 ever again. I want to remember the moments in my life and cherish them. 

6. Let go of regrets and grudges. 
Part of growing up is realizing the people you need and don't need in your life. I'm wasting my energy holding on to the negative when I could be putting my energy into something positive.

7. Worry about what I can change, pray about what I can't. 

8. Hug the people I love every chance I get. 
There's no time like the present to embrace the ones who have been placed in my life to support me. 

9. Swear less. 
I aspire to be a classy, sophisticated, and respected woman. I can find better word choices than the ones I used to look cool in middle school. 

10. Read more. 
Reading has always been a passion of mine. As I've gotten older, I've let life get in the way of that precious hobby. 

11. Find a charity to become regularly involved with. 
The Humane Society in Charleston is a good place to start!

12. Drink more water and less soda. Get back into volleyball. Run another 5k. 
Or just get healthy again.

13. Find a church family in Chucktown. 
Words cannot describe how much I need this in my life.

14. Laugh more, cry less. Pray more, stress less. Love more, hate less. 
As cliche as it sounds y'all, it really is a new year, so a better me will come out on the other side. I'm determined to make it happen. At the end of the day, I just want to know more about my heart and who I am. I want to learn about something new. I want to try something scary. I want to be the best version of me that I was created to be. Most of all, I want to have the time of my life embarking on the journey so I can be happy with who I am and satisfied with what I have done.  

On a side note. 22 days till I'm in the UK. (: AHH!! 

Stay Beautiful& 

♥always,

-E

"Great people do things before they are ready, they do things before they know they can do them." -Amy Poehler

So now that it's all becoming so real, I've officially created a board on Pinterest dedicated to travelling. Places to go. Tips for packing. Travelling on a budget. 

But I just wanted to take a moment and fawn over the places I hope to go.. 

Greece. Ever since I saw the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Greece has caught my eye. There is so much beauty in the architecture, city, and water. 

Venice, Italy. Staying in Venice for a week would be an adventure within itself. The food, the wine, the culture. Hopefully take a day trip to Verona, it's an hour and 15 minute drive (I've already checked); see Juliet's Wall,  

Paris, France. Can you imagine how beautiful it would be to watch the sunset with the Eiffel Tower in view while eating a macaroon and reading a good book? Venture around the city, add a lock to the Pont de l'Archeveche, the Love Lock bridge! 

Barcelona, Spain. Explore the Plaça Catalunya, the heart of Barcelona. It's 15 minutes away from the beach! It would be remarkable to attend a festival and watch the city come to life. 

Dublin, Ireland. A friend suggested spending the weekend here for Saint Patrick's Day, and I couldn't think of a better place to go! I've heard that the University organizes a trip, so I hope that would be something fun too! 

And of course, London, UK is a 2 hour train ride away! So I plan to make a few weekend trips down there as well. 

47 days until one of the greatest experiences of my life. I feel so excited, nervous, blessed, and scared at the same time. How is this possible? 

Stay beautiful,

♥always

-E

It may not be easy but it will be worth it.

Think about it. Everything in life worth having has required some sort of battle. It makes us appreciate the outcome so much more. The journey we take defines who we are. To study or not study. To engage with someone who doesn't listen or just walk away. To eat another slice of cake or drink some water. To get up and try again or just stay defeated. 

I consider myself defined by the fact that I spent 2 hours at my study abroad orientation preparing for the United Kingdom. It's another step closer to being over there for a semester. I have face obstacles after obstacles in efforts of making my dream happen. I feel like I am coming out stronger each time. No matter how many step back I take, I will take even more forward. Because my experience in England will be rewarding, amazing, enjoyable, challenging, special, riveting, and most of all, life changing. 

It will all be worth it because the journey is not easy.. 

I hope to find a church when I get settled in, join a volleyball team, maybe join an outdoors club. I'm determined to meet new people and explore. My spring break I have a whole month off, yes, a whole 30 days. (: I aspire to spend a week in Paris, Madrid, Venice, and somewhere in Greece each. Hop from hostel to hostel, live off of street vendors, and breathe in the European culture that will surround me. Ride the Eye, watch the sunset at the Eiffel Tower, swim in the waters of the Grecian Island, and so much more. 

I have been called to this adventure for a reason that I do not know yet, but I am jumping in with an open mind, heart, and soul. While I am terrified, I have never felt more alive. I have a feeling this is what life is all about. 

52 days y'all. 52 days. (: 

Stay beautiful,

♥always

-E