Amsterdam. What the Hell.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT NOT SUITABLE FOR OLDER FAMILY MEMBERS OR YOUNG FOLLOWERS°°°° BE WARNED. This has got to be one of the oddest weekends of my life. I am currently sitting in a dimly lit smoke laden room set to a soundtrack of horrible 1980´s soft rock that was cast aside after one rotation in one tiny station in somewhere like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and apparently, it was cast over the sea to the oh so very awful Youth Hostel Meeting Point. Ok now Bowie is on so at least the song I am forced to listen to while sitting here is classic, not just old and stinky, like everything else. The man who just got up from next to me was breathing as if he had just ran a marathon, and apparently ingested 12 cigarettes and a bag of onions beforehand. The large Indian bartender is watching random Dutch television while strumming his acoustic guitar. The situation is so odd that I just want to burst into tearful laughter. This internet that costs me 1 euro for every half an hour is a bargain compared to everything else in this town, and my words are free, so alas this blog is a money saver for my weeping wallet. Amsterdam really is a lovely city. The canals intersect the city so picturesquely and FUCK IT JUST DELETED EVERYTHING- I`LL REDO IT LATER. AHHHHH

WTF JAM- Barcelona.

So i have started at least 4 blogs and not finished them since my last one, so in the 22 minutes i have left on the hostel internet, i´ll try and bang one out. I´m in Barcelona, the loveliest city. Before this I was in Madrid and Valencia, but I have to say, this is my favorite Spanish city so far, even though technically this is Catalunya and therefore, they think they are a. better than Spain and b. not reallyyyy Spain. They live in a false sense of independence. We went on a walking tour of old city today and the guide was telling us how every protest here is about blah blah blah blah... and a touch of independence. Always that too. So there are tons of things we saw/ learned today but i´ll just hit some of the more interesting hilights.

1. Saw where Picasso lost his virginity. Yes, this was included in the tour.
2.There´s a building in the center of the city that is totally boring and bland except for some sketches that look like a 4 year old did. Turns out, the one side is done by Picasso and the other Miro. Picasso was drunk- messed up on absinthe and said he could bang out Miro´s art in 15 minutes. He came up with the most lame baby drawing. Miro in turn said he could do the same for Picasso. The tour guide called it them ¨taking a piss¨ on each other.
3.When the Spanish were rebuilding the city after bombings, they used gravestones from Jewish headstones when they lacked materials. So in randon stone you can see Hebrew names. I guess in some way they are still living on in the city.

Last night we went to ¨Jamboree¨, a jazz club that let´s people come in and jam on Mondays. Amazinggggggggggg. Sax, drums, guitar, beat boxers, rappers. It was probably the best night I´ve had here in Spain, even with all the other fabulous festivities we´ve partaken in. Problem is, the metro closes at midnight, so we were forced to take a bus, which would have been fine if we had gotten off while we were still in Barcelona. Yep, not only did we miss our stop that Mike supposedly knew of, but we ended up in some sketch ass suburb of Barcelona at 3 am with no one around and no cabs in sight. We ended up getting back on another bus, sitting at a sketch gas station outside the city while I attempted to understand Catalan that the busdriver spoke. P.S. Catalan is bullshit. We´re in Spain, come on people. We FINALLY got back to the hostel after over 2 hours on a bus and a 20 euro cab ride. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper, but hey, I´m just glad I didn´t get mugged/killed. Maybe it´ll be a funny story when I´m over being totally pissed off.
Anyhow, now that my mother has shit herself, today after the tour and a wonderful fresh juice at the most famous market in Barcelona, I found the holy grail. A Dunkin. Not a Dunkin Donuts, a Dunkin Coffee, but whatever. I haven´t been as happy in a very long time as I was drinking my coffee and strolling down Las Ramblas in the sun. Until I got to the metro and sat next to a man that smelled so rank I would have rather put my nose up to a pig´s ass.

There is much more to say, but now I must go shower and such. Later is an absinthe bar and club on the beach=). Tomorrow a tour of the Barcelona futbol stadium and other adventures before flying out to Amsterdam for some serioussss relaxation.

Much much more to come. Love and miss you all.
Cheers,
Kenz

Am I allowed to read about Islam in here?

It's five o clock in the evening, but my day has just started. I woke up early this morning, the stagger hour of 9 a.m. and walked 2 miles to find out I had walked for nothing. Next Friday, I'm going to my very first Oxford balls. The university is famous for their grand shindig and nearly every college holds one in the spring, if not more than one. I'm going to the Oxford Union Society ball, and it's going to be awesome. The ticket was a little steep at 50 pounds, but nothing compared to other balls that are running near a hundred. It includes free premium booze, live jazz ( it's Havana nights themed!!!), cuban food, Mission buritos (the best in Oxford), cigar lounge, casino, photo booth, Salsa lessons. Basically, you name it, it has it. It's a freakin bargin for all that great stuff if you ask me. The problem was finding a dress. These things are as formal as prom, no joke. It's black tie, aka long dress and tuxes. Well, seeing as I already paid for a ticket, I was trying to do the dress on the cheap. Not so easy when you're looking for a ball gown that you want to look like a knockout in. I've been to at least 4 stores, the only ones in Oxford that carry such fancy fance dresses, and it's been nearly impossible to find one at a reasonable price that's appropriate. Yeah, there's hundreds of adorable short dresses, but long ones? Either a fortune or tacky. So today I walked to Summertown to find out the store was appointment only and had one dressing room. Some bullshit. I got halfway home and caught the bus. Best pound eighty I've spent yet.

But I found one=] I've tried it on at least 4 times on separate occasions, but today I finally pulled the trigger. Under 70 pounds, gorgeous, and done. I am just relieved to be able to stop looking. Now the fun part, shoes=]

Life is getting pretty routine around here, but certainly not in a bad way. I find a new nook of Oxford every day, and it only makes me love this city more and more. This morning the sun was shining and people seemed to have a fresh pep in their step. I think I smiled half way to the shop. There really is always something new to see. The other day Kels's friend Shannon was here from Dublin and we went on the Oxford ghost tour. Not too much scary ghost stuff, but there was a nice bit of history and a good walk at that, even though it was wicked cold at night. The colleges are really the most beautiful parts of the town, and with so many there's always one right around the corner. Jesus is pretty cool though=] We had a party the other night and I got excited to make the Facebook group and title it, "Who wants to Party with Jesus?". Who doesn't is the better question.

So Sunday was the Super Bowl. It wasn't on until 11:30 here and all I was really excited about was the commercials and guessssssssss what. Apparently the UK doesn't get super bowl commercials. Needless to say, I was not pleased. A guy sitting behind me (they played it in our JCR and a surprsing number of British guys came to watch) told me he'd never watched football before and if a lot of people watched this game. Weirdddddd. Then he asked me a question that made me laugh. He asked me why they smack each other on the ass all the time. I guess I didn't know how to answer except, why not? It's easy to reach and it's not an effortful gesture haha. He did, however, admit, as I so pointed out, that rugby is just about the most homoerotic sport there is. I'm ashamed to say I didn't make it to the fourth quarter. It was two thirty in the morning, and frankly, I didn't really care that much. Even though Pittsburg can suck it=]

I start my Modern Islam tutorial tomorrow and to be honest, I'm pretty excited. The reading was totally fascinating to me and already I feel like it's a class that everyone in America should take, seeing as we all assume that everyone is a terrorist even if we don't say it outloud**** side bar***- I went to a "bop" a couple weeks ago, which is essentially a dance/ dress up party at the college, and the theme was around the world, and some kid was dressed up as a terrorist, fake gun and all, and i was a bit freaked out. And totally offended. I was a ship captain and that was a really fun night***- Anyhow, this class is going to be awesome. I read in a library the other day that used to be a Catholic church. It was unbelievablyyyyyy beautiful, but hard to concentrate. Only at Oxford can you study in a beautiful old church whose bells still chime on the hour. I did feel weird/ like an awesome rebel though reading about the modern Islamic world in the presence of so many crosses. I'll probably get a God punch in the face later this week sometime, aka something shitty will happen and I'll just have to think, oops. God's pissed.


I've started my spring break plans.. aka March 10th to April 28th plans*yeah, that's my break!* and I have a solid list.

1. France- Paris and probably Cannes/ Nice when SARAH KERNAN COMES TO VISIT FOR MY BIRTHDAY=]
2. Lisbon with Kelsey!!!!!!!!!!!
3. London- like 3 times haha
4. Germany- Berlin and Hanover to see Maren=]
5. Switzerland- Zurich
6. Austria- Vienna
7. Spain- Madrid to Barcelona to Valencia---- my most anticipated trip<3
8. Holland- with mama and dad=]
9. Belgium- Brussles- with mama and dad=] What up being Belgiannnn
10. Ireland- Dublin and Cork
11. Turkey- possiblyyyyy Istanbul

I know, holy shit. I left Italy and Greece for when it's warm in May and June=]

And I bought my Ray Lamontagne ticket for the 25th at the Oxford New Theater! Cannot wait.

I've been pretty homesick lately, but I think it's just setting in how long I'm here. Last week was my one month anniversary with Oxford and I cannot believe how quickly it's flown by, but 5 more months is so many. I am thrilled though to have made the decision to stay as long as I am. I fear when the time comes you'll have to pry me away. But I miss my family soooo much and I am so excited to be able to share my new life with them. It just seems so very far away. But Kelsey= t minus 37 days. 37 days I can do.

My friend Chris's mom is a 4th grade teacher and she sent me "flat Mrs. Topping". It's a laminated little colored in drawing of herself and I take her around Oxford and "show her the sights" aka take pictures of her with cool Oxford stuff. I'm actually pretty jazzed about it haha. This weeked we're all going to Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and I'm going to bring her along.

Tonight I'm going to a speech by the prosecutor for the war tribunals in Rwanda. How cool is that?! I'll post after Scottland because the rest of this week I'm drowning in work and Women for Women International stuff.

Love and miss you all <3

Cheers,
Kenz

Does the Queen Live Here?

I've just gotten home from a short weekend in London, and I've got to say, I'd choose Oxford any day. Here's why.

1.) I can walk almostttt anywhere in Oxford in about 25 minutes. Not the case with London.
2.) Way less tourists here in Oxford. People do more studying than picture taking in this little city.
3.) I recognize someone every now and then, which makes me feel like maybe someone here would miss me if I were to leave.
4.) No sirens blaring all night long. The loudest thing at night is drunk freshers, and them I can tune out.
5.) I'm no longer a tourist here, and thus rarely need a map ( well, for most areas).

But I must admit, London has it's advantages. For one, HONEY MUSTARD. Yes, I've finally been reunited with my dear h.m. Maybe it was just at a Subway and I realized on the way home we have one just 15 minutes from me, but none the less, it was awesome. We got into London around noon, and had we gotten off at a more appropriate stop, could have been at the hostel at around 12:30, but there was a lot of backtracking and unnecessary tube riding, which now we know to avoid. The tube isn't bad at all, though, and we'd pretty much gotten the stations we needed down by the end of our trip.

The hostel was fine, and cheap as can be, which was the goal. Besides the fresh paint smell, the hard bunk bed was just fine after a long day of walking and touring. Paranoid me, I kept the locker and door key in my pillow, just in case someone else came in later on. It was just Kels, Laraib and I in a 4 person and it was nice not to have to share with strangers=] The hostel was in Bayswater, an up and coming neighborhood right off of Hyde Park. There were plenty of restaurants and shops around and had we not been trying to fit in more touristy stuff our first time around, I would've spent some more time there. We did get to wander nicely this morning trying to get to Portebello market.We did in fact find it, and I instantly fell in love, but regrettably just beginning to rub the sleep out of it's eyes around 10. Next time, note: nothing opens before noon on Sunday. I was anticipating the U.S. style market where the early bird gets the worm, but I was mistaken. A lovely walk none the less.

So, of course, we did the tourist stuff, which pairs nicely with the casual walking/ trying to act natural. When we first got in, after dropping our bags off, we ventured through Hyde Park and the sun decided to show itself, as if it knew I needed the light on my face to break the bitterness of the January chill. And the park was simply beautiful. Kensington Gardens is like a surprise after walking for just a few minutes down a path between the green, green grass. There were plenty of cute dogs and babies to keep us "awww"ing the whole way through. We popped out on the other side and headed towards Harrods.

Harrods. Is. Awesome. To me, it felt more like a museum than a store. At every turn there was something new and fascinating to see. When you walk in, it's just like they show in the movies, with glamorous girls spritzing perfume bottles and designer bags displayed like artifacts on stands and behind glass, you want to touch them, but you know you should just look. There are thousands of people pushing and squeezing to get to their perspective spots, and as much as I should have hated it, I loved the bustle. I think I'll go back one day on a random weekday afternoon by myself and just marvel (slash spend every cent I have/ the bank has given me). The best part is the food market. I love markets so much, even if they're in the middle of a department store. I ran my hand over a Chanel bag and I swear my hand smiled a little bit, I don't know how, but it did.

As I sit and write this I'm eating Cadbury Dairy Milk, not because I'm hungry, but because I can't stop. It kicks Hershey's ass so hard it has to sit on a donut for months.

Instead of shopping we decided to do some more sightseeing. We headed down to Buckingham palace, and although we went back this morning, I think I preferred it at night. And furthermore, I thought that the Queen Victoria memorial was grander. Maybe it's because I've seen so many Buckingham-like buildings, or maybe it's just the way the lights hit the gold through the dark. Either way, the whole lot was fantastic. This morning we went back for the changing of the guard, and even though it was at 11:30, after 11:05 when we saw them literally switch guards, we left because we thought that was it. But when I got back and googled it, there's actually a big to do with a band and marching and such. Sucks, but another day. We walked to see Westminster in the light and that too was wonderful.

I hate to sound like a shit, but I think sometimes I'd rather just walk around random streets than see the sights. I've seen them hundreds of times in books and movies, and as impressive as they are in real life...eh. The Parliment building was my favorite. It was so staggeringly tall and the stone work was out of this world. That kind of engineering blows my mind and I just can't grasp the skill and time involved. The eye was also quite astounding, more so from far away than up close, but cool none the less. And of course, Big Ben. Big Ben at 6 pm all lit up was amazing. I get it, and that is far much more luminous in person than in any book.

After touring for the day, we walked along the river and although it was frigid, the city looked phenomenal. We had to refuel, as we had walked for hoursss ( even with the underground here and there, we walked a lottt). Appetizer, dinner, dessert and a bottle of wine with Kels. Needless to say, we treated ourselves. It was mmm mmm good and we could not waittt to get back to the hostel.

We decided last night to leave a bit earlier than we had planned because we had a bunch of work to do/ we had done much more in one day than anticipated. We wanted to shop, but instead just meandered around for a while. We passed through Trafalgar and strolled along, the water in St. Jame's park before we hopped our hour and a half bus and immediately passed out.

London is lovely, and with round trip costing just about 10 pounds, I'm sure I will return sooner rather than later. Tonight, I finalllyyy have a skype date with mom, dad, and deed, and I can't wait to see their faces. I got homesick last night thinking that I won't see my parents for a whole three months, but I know when I see them it'll be all the sweeter. Countdown to Kelsey is under two months now! I'm off to do econ, bleh. But by mid week I should have more exciting adventures to share. Until then.

Cheers,
Kenz<3

So many words. Good luck, attention span.

Ok, Ready? I’m about to cram the last two weeks into 1 entry, seeing as I’m so bad at keeping up with this. I guess I’ll skip the stuff about the tours I’ve been on and such, as the only people who care about that are my family, and we’ve been skyping quite regularly, so they’re in the loop=] I’ve finally put up pictures today on my Facebook. Kels gets the going out and friend shots and I’ve been doing the touristy stuff. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned her yet, but my roomate’s name is Kelsey and she’s fantastic. We lucked out so much getting put together because we’re both from upstate New York, we both love to go out and have fun, but we’re also really serious about our work. It’s like someone we got brought together by fate, or well done housing preference sheets=]

Today I had my first tutorial with Silvia, my economics tutor. She’s from Italy so sometimes it’s a bit hard to understand her, but overall it went pretty well. It’s so different here than at home. Instead of going to class, I get my readings and assignment for the week, write a paper, then have a 1 hour one on one meeting with Sundas or Silvia (Sundas is my modern Islam tutor but I don’t start that for a couple weeks). I was freaking out last night about doing a good job on my paper and being prepared for our session, but I was overly concerned for no reason. She told me she just looks at the paper to see if I understood and if I didn’t, it wasn’t a big deal, she’d just help me in our next meeting. Over here it’s so much less about grades and so much more about learning. It’s as if she and I were just having a casual conversation. I do miss Shuo, though and the way she laughed at her own jokes in macro. If you’ve had her, you get it.

All of the buildings are so breathtakingly beautiful, but I’m already beginning to take it for granted. There is stone everywhere and staggering stained glass windows, and although I never cease to be amazed at the beauty, it’s all around me, like it’s no big deal. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it. And if I do, then it’s time to go. My college is so nice and moderately small, so I can get to everything “on campus” within about 2 minutes. I really have no “campus” though. The city is my home.

The rain is certainly starting to piss me off. Today was sunny and lovely, which is a big deal when every morning you wake up to partly cloudy skies and drizzling rain. But it’s pretty warm most days, between 40 and 50, and not a snowflake in sight. I must admit, I am a bit jealous of the blustery conditions back home. I don’t feel like it’s January. March, maybe. Kels and I did some light shopping today, and let me say, Primark is fantastic. It’s a shop in this mall type place about 5 minutes from here and everything is crazy cheap. Today I got 2 pairs of flats for 5 pounds each and a robe for 4 pounds (because people stare at you like you’re a dirty slut if you walk downstairs in a perfectly long towel). The quality is subpar, but I’m not fancy. I don’t really get why everyone hates on the food. I’m doing just fine. I guess it’s because we go out A LOT. But here it is.

Weird British food things. 1.) No salad dressing variety. Just salad cream, French, or oil and vinegar. I need some freakin ranch and honey mustard. 2.) Fried eggs aren’t really fried, more like baked. The center is yolky, but the outside is hard and thick, not thin and crispy like I loveeee. 3.) Cheese is different. Not necessarily bad, but not what I’m looking for. 4.) NO BLUE CHEESE FOR PIZZA. They’re nuts. 5.) No honey mustard. I know I already said that but I’m craving it hard.

Goals for this week:

1.) Start my work before Monday night. I freaked out last night and it was my own fault, of course.

2.) Go into Blackwell’s Books for hours. It’s right down the street and it has the largest single room dedicated to books in the world. 3 miles of shelving and 10,000 sq. feet. I’m going to see every inch of it.

3.) Go see Christ Church. I’ve heard it’s breathtaking and I can’t wait to soak it all in.

4.) Plan my trip to London. We’re thinking Saturday and Sunday=]

Anyhow, I know I’ve just bored you all to tears. So… Some quick fun facts=].

1.) The Bod is 100% a reference library. NO ONE can take a book out. Charles I tried to take one out, demanded it actually and they basically told him to eff off *kindly, I’m sure. Oxfordians are quite proper*. Soon after he was beheaded. Hmmm.

2.) Stongbow cider is the most delicious drink. Why American’s haven’t adopted it is beyond me.

3.) Jesus college was the only college established in the time of Elizabeth I. It was the first Protestant college and there is a portrait of her in the dining hall worth over a million pounds.

Ok, enough typing, although I'm sure many of you stopped reading long ago. I will update this sooner than later, I promise, kind of. Love and miss<3
Cheers,
Kenz

Sighhh

I just wrote a longgggg post and it got deleted. Son of a beesting. Now I'm discouraged. I'll try again tomorrow=[

Port and Pirates

SOME OF THIS WASN'T LOST=]=]=] It's jumpy, but still entertaining.

I woke up this morning with a very familiar feeling. The sun was peeking in through the windows and I could hear a few male voices from what seemed like right below my window. There was a bustle that I was not a part of from my cozy bed but it seemed my obligation to get up and join. It was if I were visiting my family at my grandparents house and everyone was up for breakfast but Kelsey and I. I can always hear my dad and uncles and aunts chatting and cooking while I lay uninterested in moving. I think it's the most comforting feeling I've had since I arrived.
It'll be a week on Thursday that I've been here in Oxford and slowly but surely it's becoming home. I realize that like my home self I'm already becoming remiss about keeping things updated, namely, this blog. This week has been very busy, but not busy at all at the same time. I don't begin my days until late, unless we have meetings before noon. Today we just have a four o clock tour of the Union Society....

OK so It's Wednesday but now I'm actually sitting down to do this. So as I left off, last night was the Union Society tour. Kels and I went to the Mission, a burrito place down the street, and coincidentally right across from the Union, and it was extra delicious. Kind of like a Chipoltle.

OK SO. it saved this much. I'll just write about dinner briefly because it's definitely worth mentioning. It's been a week now, but I certainly remember it enough to write about. We had a dinner for Jesus College, Hertford, and New College as a sort of introduction to Oxford and to meet our peers in a nice environment. Kels and I got all dressed up and looked freakin great, and of course it was raining on the way. Thanks Oxford. But we walked into the reception like area and it reeeeked of booze. So we thought, "oh strong wine on the table of there, huh" Nope, it was brandy and by gosh was it strong. I took a sip and nearly spit it back in. It was not enjoyable to finish what tasted like pure alcohol. We went into the hall and it was really nice, I think just a smaller dining area because it was much too small to be a formal dining hall. There were candles all down the table with settings fit with wine glasses and fancy forks and even little mouse pad type things with Hertford's crest on them. Dinner was pretty good, and the company was great. I sat next to a Fresher who's the VP of Jesus JCR (essentially our union) and he was a trip. We had irreverent conversation all night. And let's just say, the wine was certainly flowing.

So here's the good part. After dinner and dessert is toasting. And oh, is there toasting. First, we all toast to the queen. So you rise, and "To the Queen!". Very British. But what happens next is the head of the event, in our case the director of our OPUS program, toasts someone of moderate importance. That person then toasts the next important person and blah blah. After the official toasts the floor is open. This means that anyone can toast, but must then direct the toast at someone else. Trouble. I'm going to say there were at least 30 toasts. For every toast, you have to rise and drink. Every. Single. Toast. Let's just say there were some wobblers by the end because what are you toasting with? Port. Port is some strong shit, yo. And it is flowinggggg. So my speech came up. And I'd had a few glasses of wine, I certainly was fine, but..you know. So Ollie, the Jesus student, set me up with a very funny introduction about how I put my foot in my mouth and how he was curious what the heck I'd have to say. So I got up and said my sappy whatever.. and decided to toast Kels. I almosttt started crying. Like I welled up and sniffled. Oh god...I felt like an ass but people said it was endearing. Thank goodness.
So, word to the wise. If you are ever invited to a formal dinner at Oxford, wear comfortable shoes, take an Advil before hand, and keep a glass of water near by.


Quick word on the pirates. We were at an Irish bar and there was a huge table of girls dressed up as pirates. Apparently it was the girls 21st, but it was hillarious and I introduced one of them to "My New F***ing Haircut" because people were doing jager bombs. America: 1. British girls: drunk. We have since seen another group of pirates...I don't get it.


Ok Yay I got some stuff recovered. Don't try to sort out what happened when. It'll just give you a headache.

Cheers,
Kenz