Valpo Voyager

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At the Louvre

Paris: Surfing and Skimping

Whenever I travel with my family, my mom always insists that we get to the airport at least 3 hours before our flight. This almost always results in us sitting at our gate for two and a half hours. “It’s better that we wait now than get here late and miss our flight,” she always said (and always will say). When I travel on my own, I thought, I will never take such superfluous precautions. I will cater to my impatience and make sure I’ll only have to do the least amount of waiting possible.

I was wrong (cue Mom’s smug look).

As close as we got to the Arc de Triomphe

Julia and I had a flight out of Barcelona that left at 9:45 AM. We left the hostel at 5:45, and got through the empty security and to our gate before 7. We were one of a dozen people in the whole area. On the bright side, we were one of the first in line to get on the plane. Also, general advice: make sure that the airport you’re arriving in is actually located in your end destination. Case in point, while in line for the plane, we discovered that this Parisian airport we were going to wasn’t actually in Paris, but actually over an hour outside of the city. A bit loopy on the bus ride into Paris, Julia and I entertained ourselves by pretending to be French tour guides, pointing out popular sites like the Bridge de Croissant. And I wonder why the French don’t like Americans.

Eiffel Tower

After getting dropped off in the giant city, we hit two monuments that are perpetually littered with tourists: the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. Since we are both extraordinarily cheap, we didn’t pay to go up close to the Arc or to go up the Eiffel Tower. Although both sites were incredible, the random lurking homeless guys were a bit off-putting, as were the countless old ladies that all seemed to have crafted the same sign exclaiming they had 17 children and 3 dogs and therefore obviously needed spare change.

Aurelien's flat

Eventually, Julia and I made our way to where we would be staying that night. We were using Couchsurfing for the first time, and we were honestly a bit worried about the whole ordeal. For those who don’t know, Couchsurfing is a website that promotes cultural exchange by acting as a hub for travelers and willing hosts. You create a profile (trying to be as thorough and likeable as possible, since this is what possible hosts look at before responding to your request), then Surf for hosts depending on the city you’re traveling to as well as the time and duration of your stay. You want to find hosts that have similar interests as you and, more importantly, have positive reviews from people who have hosted or been hosted by that person. When you find someone you think you want to stay with, you send them a request, telling them about yourself, your plans for your visit, and why you would like them to be your host. I wholeheartedly recommend this website for anyone who wants to meet people who are a part of their destination’s culture as well as anyone on a tight budget (the stay is completely FREE).

Hall of Mirrors in Palace of Versailles

Julia and I had two different hosts in Paris. Our first night was with a guy in his early twenties who lives in the south of Paris named Aurelien. We met up with him at the underground station a few minutes from his flat and then, after dropping our stuff off at his place, went to the grocery store to buy food for dinner. We cooked pasta and garlic bread together and had apples drizzled with chocolate for dessert. Aurelien was really kind and interesting; we had conversations about our travels, reggae music, and s’mores (he didn’t know what they were. We introduced him to pure magic that day). He had a futon that Julia and I shared, and he let us leave out stuff at his place the next day so we didn’t have to lug it around Paris all day.

The weather was less than pleasant

Our second day in Paris was admittedly miserable at the start. We got up around 8 and headed off to Versailles, which is only half an hour from Paris by train. But it was rainy. And cold. And very windy. And I didn’t have an umbrella. See where the situation gets tricky, here? I was able to buy an umbrella from one of the street vendors, though it broke within 30 minutes of purchasing it. The Palace of Versailles was gorgeous, ornate, and full of history. However, we were only able to go outside to see the famous gardens for five minutes before feeling that we were in serious danger of losing some appendages due to the cold weather. As soon as

Maeva and Julia in the dorm

we left Versailles, the sun came out (typical). We ventured to a place called the Anticafe, a cafe that charged you based on how long you stayed, in order to meet our Couchsurfing hosts for the remaining two nights. They were two roommates who lived in a building owned by their engineering university, and all their friends were on their floor. After grabbing our bags from Aurelien’s, we went to the girls’ dorm room (Virginie and Maeva) and spent a fun night with them and their friends. They had a student-run bar on the ground floor, so we were able to score a couple free drinks as well (seriously, Julia and I are all about the free things).

The Notre Dame

Our final day in Paris was spent hitting some of the sights close to our hosts’ dorm, like the Pantheon, the Notre Dame, and the Lovelock Bridge. The Notre Dame was amazingly beautiful and did I mention completely free? Julia had a lock that we were going to use to secure our bags at the Barcelona hostel, but we hadn’t needed it. So we wrote our names on it and the date and added it to the bridge. It was a pretty cool moment, adding our friendship to a bridge thousands of others had utilized—next to a grim Scottish guy complaining about the irony of having his picture taken alone on a bridge symbolizing everlasting love.

Our lock for the Lovelock Bridge

We had both grown quite hungry at this point, which is a dangerous situation, since we also both suffer from high irritability when our blood sugar is running low. Thankfully, a small sandwich shop saved our friendship (and, more importantly, saved the integrity of our lock). We had big toasty subs with a large chocolate crepe for dessert. It’s the only crepe I’ve had that compared to the those at the Cambridge Crepe cart.

Selfie with the Mona Lisa (don't judge)

After regrouping at the dorm for an hour or so, we headed off to the Louvre, since you get in free after 6 on Fridays. It was the perfect mix of interesting and fun. We were surrounded by thousands of art pieces crafted by some of the world’s most brilliant minds. Julia and I got to experience first hand what the Mona Lisa and Venus looked like; we learned a lot about foreign and ancient cultures through their art. However, that did not stop us from making fun of a few of the paintings’ subjects or adding stupid captions to some portraits or fist bumping the occasional statue. In the end, I was with one of my favorite people in the world at the most famous art museum in the world. How could it not

Fist bumping the statue

have been a blast? Three and a half hours later, we dragged our tired butts back to the dorm, where we cooked pasta and spent the night without our hosts, oddly enough (they had gone back home for the night).

Julia and I on the bus back home!

The next morning was very stressful because we had realized the night before that we had to print out our tickets for the bus ride home. The only problem was that no one had a printer, and our hosts weren’t there to help us. An incredibly nice friend of theirs offered to take us to his university that morning (a Saturday) to print out the tickets, but all the printers were jammed. Thankfully, the bus driver accepted the confirmation email on our phones as tickets and let us on.

It was a long bus ride back to London. At one point, our bus was put on a train that rode under the channel (and under the Chunnel). After a 6-7 hour bus ride, an Underground ride to King’s Cross, a train to Cambridge, and a 40 minute walk back home, we were more than ready to flop onto our beds and not move until Monday.

Until we remembered that 10 page art paper due Monday that we had neglected to start all break.

Dun. Dun. Dun.

These are the cliffhangers of my life, people. Exciting stuff.

Danielle

Field Trips and Travel Tips

April 1, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted an update on my life here. That’s mostly because I haven’t had the opportunity to travel for the past two weekends, but in that time, I’ve still had a few little adventures, and I’ve made a point of taking the time to enjoy the simple pleasures of European life. The sunny and 75 degree weather we’ve had here has really helped with that! So I’ll share a few of those little things, and then I want to switch gears and offer some practical tips for travel and hosteling. Not that I’m an expert or anything, but I’ve learned a few things I wish I had known before.
In addition to all the free time we have for international travel, there are a handful of shorter field trips organized by the program, as well as several independent day trips we can do for fun. Last month, we went to Rottweil for the Fasching, or mardi gras parade. This is a very strange, but wildly popular phenomenon here, that’s hard to compare with anything in the US. Then, there’s something the whole world can understand: The chocolate factory.

Ritter Sport, my second favorite chocolate brand, conveniently has a factory very close to Reutlingen. It has two small museums, but the real attraction is the back room of the factory store, where they sell broken chocolate, discontinued flavors, and experimental test flavors for less than half-price. I came home with about 5lbs of chocolate.

Last week, we took another field trip with our econ class to the Daimler (Mercedes) Factory. Cars aren’t really my thing, but it was interesting to learn about how they are built.

Finally, tomorrow we are going to a nearby castle and then a wine tasting event, so I’m excited, and I will report on that later.
The other way I’ve been occupying my time lately is with planning my spring break. In our 17 days, we will go to Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, and Florence. I’m extremely excited about all of those places. Dozens of people have told me that Prague and Budapest are amazing, before I ever went to Paris, Vienna was my favorite city in the world, and Italy as a whole has been on my bucket list for years. It’s an amazing blessing to be able to go to all of these places, but the planning process is not easy. Here are 10 things for future study abroaders to keep in mind when planning budget travel:

1. Be realistic about distances in Europe.
Before I got here, I said I wanted to go to about 15 different countries, including Greece, Croatia, Spain, Denmark, and more. But those places are really farther away than they look on a map. Now, many people studying here in previous years have gone to these places, either by plane or overnight train. But overnight trains are just not for me, and I’d rather use my rail pass than fly, so I had to scale back my plans a little. I decided to stay closer so that I didn’t end up spending half of my trip on a train, but of course, this is a personal preference that is different for everyone.

2. Don’t be too picky about accommodations.
This one is really hard for me. Most hostels are not as nice as most hotels, and there’s no good way around that. Read reviews before you book, but try not to let one or two bad ones cancel out 100 good ones. My paranoia has taught me that if you look hard enough, you will inevitably find at least one horrifying review of every place, but odds are, your experience there will be at least ok.

3. You get what you pay for.
It’s not always best to pick the absolute cheapest hostels. In some cities, I have seen them for less than 5 euros, but something seems off about that to me. There must be a reason. Usually it has to do with the location. While it may seem convenient to stay right next to the train station, in most cities, this is generally not the best neighborhood. The hostels I have stayed in have all been between 15 and 30 euros, which is still a steal compared to hotels.

4. Don’t settle and listen to your gut.
I don’t expect luxury at any of these places, but if I have any rational reason to believe that a hostel is not clean and safe, I won’t settle. Of course you don’t really know until you get there, but odds are, if your gut is telling you no, theres a better option out there. Be patient and keep looking.

5. Have a city map before you go.
Hostels will give you city maps for free, but that doesn’t help you when you just got off the train at midnight and need to find the place. And don’t rely on cellphone GPS.

6. Know the difference between hostels and hotels.
In most hostels, the beds are bunked. You can usually get sheets at check-in, but you have to make the bed yourself. You may or may not be sharing a bathroom. Some hostels have lockouts in the middle of the day for cleaning. Some offer free breakfast, some make you pay for it, and some don’t have it. Free wifi is rare. There is usually no furniture besides beds. None of these things are really a problem, but I’m always amazed at the reviewers who whine about these things like they didn’t expect them.

7. Bring a towel, pillow liner, combination lock, and flip-flops.
Hostels can charge over 5 euros just for a towel. Some have lockers without locks. Some of the pillows could be cleaner. Be prepared, and you’ll be fine.

8. Always get the cancellation insurance.
ALWAYS. It’s about 2 extra euros.

9. Don’t wait until the last minute.
Most of the time, we haven’t had problems booking about 5 days ahead, but the earlier, the better. Especially in the bigger cities (i.e. Paris and Rome), the best places sell out faster than you’d expect.

10. Look for alternative accommodation.
Most of the time we pick hostels from popular sites like hostelworld.com, but there are other options. Some people suggest looking for “budget hotels.” In my experience, this hasn’t been a very viable option. However, with a little research, you can find some other gems. For example, we found the only hostel in the 1st district of Paris directly through their website, but it wasn’t listed on booking sites. In Rome, it’s apparently very popular to stay cheaply in convents and monasteries. Since those were booked up, we emailed the most popular hostel in the city, and even though they were full too, they directed us to their blog of recommended accommodations, where we found an affordable B&B in a great location. Sometimes you have to hunt a little or send a few emails, but it’s worth the extra effort.

So that’s my two cents about hosteling. It’s definitely a learning experience, but it can be very rewarding. I’m off to Paris again this weekend, and then break starts the week after that!

The Best Things I Ate This Month: Part 2

March 23, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

Since this wasn’t the most exciting week for me, instead of writing about going to class and doing homework, I thought it was time for the next installment of my favorite foods of Europe. As you are probably well aware, one of my favorite things about living in Europe is eating in Europe. Since my last “Best of” food post was so much fun to write (and research) I have, in fact, decided to make it a series. For each of the four months of my travels, I will post the very best things I ate. While the first post was dedicated to German favorites, this one also includes culinary pleasures from Austria and Paris. Since I only spend 36 hours in Paris, there’s no way I could possibly do its incredible cuisine justice, but rest assured, I’ll be back someday. I have many, many things to share this month, so this is going to be mostly pictures (in chronological order) with short commentary.

First, the Thüringer Wurst, my first experience with street food. Surprisingly good for just 1 euro!

Next, there’s Spaghetti-Eis. It looks like spaghetti, but it’s ice cream. And it’s terrific!

I had this meal in a very old Austrian restaurant in Salzburg. It’s pork roast with the best gravy and a giant Knödel. That’s a dumpling, but I just like the word Knödel.

This was my meal at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. This establishment isn’t exactly known for the food, so the schnitzel cordon bleu was just okay.

The apple strudel, however, was perfect. Fresh and not too sweet.

On a day trip to Ulm, we stopped at a little café for cake and coffee. This is a slice of blueberry goodness.

And now, on to Paris! The first thing I ate there (besides the free breakfast at the hostel) was a Nutella crêpe. They don’t skimp on the Nutella!

While in Paris, we decided to have one splurge dinner at a real brasserie. The steak-frites was great!

And the crème brûlée was even better! That crunch of the sugar on top is the sound of perfection!

So those were the highlights. Over the next month, I’ll continue to be that tourist, taking pictures of all my food, so I can share it all with you! And next week, I’ll have more travel experiences to share!

Me being a goof on a hill in Park Guell

Barcelona: Gotta Strut Like You Mean It

March 20, 2014 / Danielle Steinwart / 6 Comments

We all know those people who go on some exotic excursion to, like, Texas or something and return as though every other experience of their lives (and your lives) should kowtow to this divine trip.

We all hate those people.

Over the past few weeks, it has taken a lot of self control for me not be one of those people.

We had our one week break recently, in which a group of us flew to Barcelona, and then Julia and I went up to Paris while the rest went to Madrid. Now, I didn’t pray with an ancient Guru or find my true love or really do anything too jaw dropping (or anything out of Eat, Pray, Love). But for the first time, I traveled to and navigated around a foreign country without adult supervision. I had to take on the responsibility of booking flights, reserving bus seats, planning an itinerary, researching hostels, etc. I had the freedom to choose what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. Which turned out to be a blessing and a curse, since my characteristic laziness kept surfacing. But in the end, I grew up a bit and learned a lot about independence (and overspending on hot chocolate and churros).

Inside of RyanAir airplane

Our flight to Barcelona left on a Friday evening, and the ten of us had gotten through check-in and security with a lot of time to spare. It was only a 2 hour flight to Barcelona, and the blindingly yellow interior of the plane kept me conscious until we landed late that night. In broken Spanish, I asked for directions to our hostel, and we found it tucked in a quiet street. It was a nice, relaxing evening, except for the 13 year olds partying and making out in the lobby. That was admittedly very uncomfortable.

The next morning, I experienced a combination of things that are rarely found in England during the winter:

Sagrada Familia

sun, warmth, and no wind. It was only February, and I didn’t need anything more than a light jacket, if that. I got a tan, guys. Kind of a big deal for my rapidly paling skin. So, that day we took a bike tour, which turned out to be a fantastic idea. Our tour guide, Paula, was hilarious and laid back, and she took us to the big and

Arc de Triomf

beautiful staples of Barcelona, like the eccentric cathedral Sagrada Familia, the red Arc de Triomf, and the grassy park outside the city zoo. We wound up eating lunch at the beach, and it amazed me that two hours away from London via plane there was such a balmy paradise.

After the tour, we wandered around the city for awhile before heading back to the hostel to get ready for the Magic Fountain show that night. Unfortunately, I was pretty dehydrated, so I chugged a ton of water and subsequently became too nauseous to go see the amazing

Fountain outside of zoo

light and water show. Good decision making is not my forte, apparently. Thankfully, some of them came back after the show, and we all went out to an authentic Spanish dinner, where I insisted to the waiter that we order in Spanish. At first the waiter was less than excited by this, but when Julia attempted to order in English, our waiter was like, “Nonono, I do not speak English. I only hear the Spanish names of food.” To be fair, all Julia had to say was hamburguesa con queso. Like I said, authentic Spanish dinner.

Sunday and Monday, Julia and I embraced a Barcelona mentality called Mañana. Our bike tour guide described this as accepting that you don’t need to run around like a sweaty blur in order to accomplish everything quickly. You should move slowly and not care if you’re not busy every second of the day. Romanticized laziness, basically. So Paradise for me. While the rest of our group sped around finding breathtaking sights, Julia and I spent most of our Sunday lying down in the gorgeous park outside of the zoo, talking and watching

Park outside the zoo

Spanish families enjoy their weekend. When I was Skyping my dad the next week and telling him about my trip, he marveled at the fact Julia and I had over three hours of things left to talk about after being roommates for a year and friends for almost tw0. In reality, most of our time in that park was spent laughing uncontrollably and garbling through bad jokes between fits of giggles.

The entirety of Monday was spent at the beach. God must have given the sky a good scrubbing that day

Me being a goof on the beach

because it was spotless. I had a kilo of strawberries and bare feet, and it was sensational. The only flaw in our day was this guy who gave us pieces of coconut and told us to eat them, then asked us to pay four euro for each for them. In confusion Hannah and Kelly each gave him the full four euro, while Julia and I weren’t having it and gave him some change. This marked the beginning of my enthusiastic vendetta against coconut.

On Tuesday, everyone left for Madrid, leaving Julia and I to explore Barcelona on our own for an extra day. We went up to Park Güell, designed by the famous architect Antoni Gaudí. Since we were too cheap to pay to

Me being a goof on a hill in Park Guell

get inside, we roamed the free outer half of the park. Eventually we climbed to one of the higher parts (the park is set on an incline), and I saw a hill and thought, “We can definitely climb that.” I sort of forgot that I was wearing ballet flats and Julia was wearing sandals, not to mention that the path was unpaved and rocky. After about 10 minutes, she and I finally reached the top, and the view was breathtaking. We got a 360 view of Barcelona, from foothills to skyscrapers to the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed up there a long time, since no one else was around, and just took in Barcelona (as well as took embarrassing pictures). Barcelona, where no one ever seemed to be working yet everything was always open, a place that slowed my walk and lightened my heart. I was reluctant to go. But I remembered after dinner and gelato that night (we did not choose the coconut flavor) that we were headed to a city equally as beautiful the next day: Paris!

Danielle

PS: Yes, the title of this post is a reference to Cheetah Girls 2.

Switzerland and Feeling Like the World is Yours

March 16, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

We’ve officially past the halfway point of the semester. The feeling that comes with that realization is incredibly difficult to describe. First of all, I’m proud of myself for doing a thousand things I never thought I could. I’m sad to see the time passing so quickly, but since I have another whole year here to look forward to now, I’m actually really excited to go home for the summer and be with friends and family for a while before round two. Knowing that I have more time has gotten rid of the sense of urgency I had to go everywhere and do everything as soon as possible, which feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Still, I know that my experience next year will be nothing like this semester, so I’m trying to really cherish all the unique opportunities I have now.
The most exciting of these opportunities is the backpacking/hosteling/eurail riding experience. It’s one giant cliché, it’s what all the college kids are doing these days, or at least, it seems like it. Honestly, I never expected to love that style of travel. It all sounded way too spontaneous to me. However, I think this weekend was when it finally started to sink in that this freedom to go anywhere is pretty incredible. The fact that we can decide on Tuesday that we want to go to Switzerland on Friday and actually make it happen is not something to take for granted.
So that’s what we did. It conveniently takes only 3 hours to reach Zürich, and while it’s somewhere that was never on my travel bucket list, I’m so glad I went. We spent only a day and a half there, but since we decided to spend our time in a more relaxing way just enjoying the culture, we didn’t feel compelled to spend longer going to every typical tourist attraction in town. And to my surprise, the culture of Switzerland is really fascinating. The country has four official languages, and almost one quarter of its inhabitants are not natives. It’s like a playground for the rich and famous, but still has a rich mixture of cultures. Although Zürich is in the German speaking part of the country, I felt right at home when I walked into cafés with menus half in German and half in French.
We began our exploration of the city with a walk down the most famous shopping street. It’s lined with the kinds of stores I would feel awkward just walking into, but at the end of the road is the beautiful Lake Zürich. Switzerland, not Illinois.

The rest of our time was spent at a leisurely pace, looking for more beautiful views, strolling along the pedestrian streets of the old town, enjoying authentic Swiss meals in the outdoor sections of cafés, having wine and chocolate on the rooftop terrace of our hostel, and simply finding as many of those little moments of perfection that we could. It’s those moments of perfection that make this entire experience what it is. It’s those moments that make all the challenges worth it. It’s those moments that make me wonder why all the college students in America aren’t tripping over each other on their way to sign up for study abroad.
It’s been said a million times before, but studying abroad changes you. It not only makes you more independent, adventurous person, but also a more interesting person. You get out there and see all you can see, and when you get back, the world seems both bigger and smaller at the same time. Now I realize that America is such a small part of what it has to offer, but at the same time, I feel like it is a little more within reach than I used to think. It’s mine to explore, to experience, and it could be yours too.

View From the Skybar

A New View of Windhoek

March 10, 2014 / Maddy Rainaud-Owens / 1 Comment

This week marks the halfway point in my study abroad experience, and to say it’s flown by would be a ridiculous understatement. Two months from today, I’ll be home. Whoa. Nonetheless, the weeks fly by. Each are packed with studies, but many adventures that make it all worth it. Though this week was crazy busy, it definitely marks one of the best weeks I’ve had thus far. On a high from skydiving and Swakop, being back in classes was a bit difficult, but I managed.

We had 2 birthdays in group this week, so we celebrated accordingly. On Thursday, after dinner we made a walk over to a place called 3 circles, by far one of my favorite places in Windhoek. It’s about a 20 minute walk from our house through the city and up a little hill, but once you get up it is absolutely breathtaking. The view looks over the mountains encircling us as well as all of Windhoek and Katutura. We made it just up in time as the sun began to set, and if you know me you know that sunsets are one of my favorite things in life. As I watched the sun go down, painting pinks and oranges in the sky, meeting the city lights and the tops of the mountains, I couldn’t help but smile. It was such simple, but surreal moment, and it felt so much like home.

The group looking over 3 circles

On a more solemn note, ever since arriving in Namibia, every time I’ve watched the news there’s been a new story of a violent killing of a woman, often by her significant other. Gender-based violence is a rising and very serious problem here in Namibia, and many citizens are beginning to take a stand. On Saturday morning a group of 12 of us headed downtown to “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes”, an event organized by some people in Windhoek to raise awareness of gender-based violence. Hundreds of men wore high heels as they stumbled down the busy street chanting things like “Don’t hit her, just kiss her” or “Stop gender violence” in order to show their support in the fight against GBV. As I marched down the street with all of the locals, I sincerely recognized it as one of the coolest things I’ve ever been apart of. To see all the men [and women] walking and supporting something so important was truly amazing; I got the chills as I looked around at the crowded street.

The men leading the way in heels

Crowded Streets of Windhoek at the "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" March

The weekend just kept getting better and better as we headed to Skybar, a nice little restaurant/bar atop the Hilton in downtown Windhoek. As we climbed to the top we, again, got to see all over Windhoek as the sunset; an absolutely breathtaking view (this place seems to be full of those).

View From the Skybar

This week is absolutely busy to say the least, but the next 3 weeks hold numerous adventures; which includes our rural home-stay in the north, a safari in Etosha, and spring break in Victoria Falls. Buckling down on work is hard, especially when I know all the things I’d rather be doing outside. But nonetheless, I’m learning topics I’ve never learned before,which is a pretty awesome feeling. I should have one more post out before we leave a week from today, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!

All my love- xoxo,

Maddy

I Live in Germany: What I miss and What I Don’t

March 9, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

This week will mark the halfway point of my semester abroad. Over the last two months, I have really settled in here and created a life that I love. And that’s not just because studying abrade is tons of fun. I really think it’s because there’s just something about Germany that’s good for me. I felt it when I spent a summer here in high school, and I feel it again now. There’s a different pace of life here, and a different general philosophy that’s impossible for me to fully describe, but it just feels right. And I’m not the only one who notices this. In fact, most of the people in the group repeatedly comment about how we want to live here forever. Today, as a sort of midpoint reflection, I want to share the top 10 things I miss from home and the top 10 things I’ll miss about Germany when I do come home. And then I have an announcement to make.

First, let’s start with what I miss from home/ things that annoy me here: (In no particular order)
1. Comfy beds. I don’t know if it’s just the dorms, and cheap hostels here, but I haven’t slept in a bed that wasn’t hard as a rock since January. Also, the bedding is odd here. I’ve already complained about the big, flat pillows, but the duvet blanks are weird too. I miss my fluffy comforter and my memory foam.
2. A fully loaded, kitchen. I’m a chef. I’m thankful that the program supplies us with some essential kitchen items, but I miss having a full set of pots and pans, my electric mixer, and all my little gadgets. Plus, I miss dishwashers and garbage disposals.
3. Free water, free bathrooms, free anything. Restaurants are the worst about this. not even a glass of tap water is free, and the price of bottled is beyond ridiculous. But it’s the bathroom thing that really gets me. Why on Earth should I have to pay 50 cents to use it? Is there some great cost of operating a WC that I’m not aware of? I have been known to sneak under or ark ound the barriers without paying whenever possible because I’ve never heard of anything stupider than having to pay for a bathroom.
4. Doggie bags. You usually can’t take your leftovers home here, but it’s jude to leave food on your plate. So what option does that leave?
5. 1-hour laundry. I miss being able to wash and dry a load of laundry in an hour. Here, the washing takes an hour and the drying can take several days.
6. Normal showers. This just apples to the dorms. I really miss taking showers without having to push the water back on every 10 seconds. Environmentalism really makes my life more difficult than it has to be.
7. Public trash cans. There are a few of them around, but when I’m out and about, I usually end up hoarding trash in my purse all day until I can get home to throw it out.
8. Stores like Target. I miss being able to go to one place and buy pretty much everything I need. Sure, I love the quaint, specialized shops here, but shopping through them can take all day.
9. My Taylor Guitar and time to play it. I have a little travel guitar, but it’s just not the same.
10. Service with a smile. The superficiality of American customer service used to really bother me. But the utter lack of it here bothers me more. Every once in a while, I’ll find a really helpful employee, but that’s rare.

And now for just a few of the things I love here:
1. Bakeries. They’re just better here. They have more variety, the product is cheaper, and they smell heavenly. Plus, their croissants and baguettes are just as good as in France. It’s a little dream of mine to work in a German bakery.
2. Public transportation. Granted, the Deutsche Bahn isn’t usually as punctual as the stereotype would suggest, but still, you can get literally anywhere and everywhere without needing a car.

3. Pedestrian cities. Since the cities here were built before cars were invented, they are laid out with pedestrians in mind. Once you take a bus or train to the center, everything you need is in walking distance.

4. Cafeteria food. The locals here complain about it, but I think it’s great. You can get a good, filling meal and dessert for 3 euros.
5. 3-day weekends. This requires no explanation.
6. Very informal professors. Most German professors actually insist on a more formal relationships with their students, but in Reutlingen, we have the perks of being a Valpo kid. This means that all of them invite us to their houses and feed us at least once during the semester.
7. The German language. When I go home, I’m going to miss hearing it and speaking it every day. Every day, I have at least one communication challenge, so i’m in the habit of planning everything I want to say in German before I say it.
8. Paying in change. There are 1 and 2 euro coins, so there’s a lot you can buy without paper money. I know it’s just an illusion, but it makes things seem cheaper.
9. Feeling safe all the time. One time, a tour guide I had in Munich joked that you could walk around at night with money glued all over you and nothing would happen to you. I still wouldn’t do that, but I think she’s right. I lock my doors and always keep an eye on my stuff, but a lot of people don’t.
10. A de-cluttered life. Almost everything I have here fits in a suitcase. Sometimes that’s frustrating, but most of the time, it’s freeing.

There are days when I really miss things about home, but all in all, I really thing that the good outweighs the annoying. I feel like I can live in two cultures now. I don’t know if I ever really had “culture shock” but the idea of it between the US and Germany seems silly now. This is my home now, and since I love it so much, I’ve decided to make it my home for a little longer. Next year, I’m going to stay in Reutlingen for an internship in the university’s international office. I’ll be back for the summer and then back at school for senior year in 2015, but for now, this is where I need to be.

Paris and La Joie de Vivre

March 9, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

One of the best things about this study abroad program is that every weekend is a three day weekend. That way, we can maximize our opportunities to travel. So this week, we finally decided that it was time to activate our Eurail passes, and what could possibly be a better first stop that Paris? I’ve wanted to go to France ever since I was about 5 years old, so even though one weekend couldn’t possibly be enough time to explore this beautiful city, I jumped at the first chance to go. In our 36 hours there, we missed so much. The Louvre, Versailles, L’arc de Triomphe. But what we did get, was a wonderful introduction to one of Europe’s greatest cities.
The train from Stuttgart to Paris only takes 4 hours, so we left after class on Thursday and arrived at about 11p.m. I’m glad that we did this so that we had more time there, but unfortunately, our first experience in Paris was a stressful one. In the dark and without a real map, we got lost. Now, I know I’m not alone in this. Several of my friends have told me about their similar first experiences in Paris. It seems to be a right of passage. But my tip is to get to your destination before dark and not to rely on google maps. That little blue dot isn’t always right.
Anyway, we finally did find our hostel, and after a good night’s sleep, we were ready to go get our real first impression of Paris. Of course, our first stop was the Eiffel Tower.

The line for the elevators had about 72,000 people in it, so we decided to get up there next time we’re in town. And there will be a next time. After that, we stopped for lunch at one of the many quaint cafés, where sitting outside in the 60 degree weather, I enjoyed my first authentic French crêpe. After lunch, we took a free tour of Paris’ other most famous landmark, Notre Dame.

In the afternoon, after a quick ice cream stop, (Salted caramel and butter is my new favorite flavor.) we decided to go on a short sightseeing cruise on the Seine. It’s such a touristy thing to do, but I love river cruises because there a great way to see a lot with very little effort and really get an impression of the whole city. After the cruise, we headed back to get ready for dinner. For lack of time, we had to skip many of Paris’ main attractions, but one thing we wanted to make sure to do was go have a fancy French dinner.

Time for a funny story: After deciding on a restaurant out of our Paris guidebook, we read the metro directions in the book and hopped on at the stop closest to our hostel. After following the directions exactly and even switching lines once, we got out of the metro station near the restaurant, only to realize that we were just down the street from our hostel and could have easily walked there in less time. Note to self: next time, knowing where you’re starting will help a lot to figure out where you’re going. When we got to our restaurant, the waiter was extremely friendly and patient, taking time to explain all of the specials in English. Later, he even offered to take a picture of the 3 of us enjoying our meal.

After our steak-frites and crème brulée, we made one last stop to go see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Standing there watching it sparkle, I had another one of those moments where I just have to stop for a second and marvel at the fact that this is my life right now. That I get to stand here in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and experience a moment of perfection. And this is for school. I feel like coming back to school and begging everyone I see to go study abroad because I really can’t understand why most people don’t. Just sign up, and then you get to live this amazing life!

After years of hearing about how great Paris is from everyone who has been there, I needed to see it for myself. Now that I have, I feel like I’ve been let in on the big secret. I just get it now. I’ve been to Germany 3 times now, but never anywhere else in Europe, so I’m glad I finally got to change that. Before going to Paris, I was a little nervous because of the pickpocketing horror stories I’ve heard, but I have to say, I didn’t feel unsafe once. The city certainly does have a different atmosphere than German cities, which are so safe it’s almost funny. I was a little more on alert than I usually am. Still, I feel like I could love Paris like I love Germany. I could live here someday. In fact, I want to. All weekend long, I had such a strong desire to go eat in every little café, to hop on the back of somebody’s motorcycle and race through the narrow streets, to really experience la joie de vivre like a Parisian. So someday, I will live in Paris, but right now, I live in Germany. I just realized that I actuallylive here. It’s not just an extended vacation. But that’s another story for another post.

A Perfect Day in Reutlingen

March 5, 2014 / kaitlyncarzoli / 0 Comments

Hey guys, it’s been an unexpectedly busy week for me, so I’m sorry I didn’t post sooner. On top of that, I lost internet access in my dorm for a couple of days, but it’s all fixed now, so I’m back! Right now, it’s 10pm, and I’m leaving for Paris tomorrow, so instead of the long post I planned to write, I’m going to share a shorter reflection of a really great day I had last week. There wasn’t really anything thrilling about it, but it reminded me of everything I love about Germany at the exact right time I needed to be reminded of that. I had been in a weird mood for a while, and I don’t think it was homesickness per se, but I think it was just my initial honeymoon period with the study abroad life coming to its natural end. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still having a blast here, but I was exhausted from all the travel and the challenges of doing everything that all 8 people in the group want to do all the time. I needed to take a day to relax, reconnect with myself, and simply do the things I wanted to do.

But here’s the thing: I never go anywhere alone, ever, at least not in America. Seriously, I don’t even walk around my block by myself. Last week, my German teacher told us about an immigrant housewife she knew, who told her that she’d never gone into town by herself in all the time that she’d lived there. My teacher went on and on about how sad that was, and I realized that I hadn’t ventured off on my own yet either. I decided to change that. So I planned to spend the day in Stuttgart, specifically to go to Desigual, my favorite store ever. However, at the last minute, (and by that I mean just as the train doors were about to close) something told me to stay put and really explore the city I’m living in. So I hopped off the train and spent the next 5 hours memorizing every corner of downtown Reutlingen.

The one vague plan I had for the afternoon was to do some clothes shopping, mainly because I think the other reason for my crummy mood was that I was tired of looking like a slob. Sure, it’s freeing to not have that many material things to travel with, but I was really sick of wearing the same 6 t-shirts over and over. I thought I gave up on Desigual when I jumped off the train to Stuttgart, but I walked into a department store, and low and behold, there was a whole corner devoted to my favorite brand! So I grabbed pretty much one of everything and headed for the dressing rooms. I had all afternoon and no one to answer to, so I might as well. And then I found this dress….

It’s beautiful, bright and flowing to the floor (okay about 6 inches past the floor, but that can be fixed.) It was so expensive, but it was the first thing that made me feel stylish in a long time, so I found myself saying my new favorite phrase once again: Man lebt nur einmal. So now I can’t wait for it to be spring so I can wear this. Plus, now I’ll look cute when I go to Spain or the south of France. Now that I have the dress, I have to go there!

Once I was all shopped out, I realized that there was still a lot of daylight left and more places left to explore. Since I can’t wear the maxi dress yet, I needed something else for some immediate gratification. I was in luck, across the street was a nail salon. So I treated myself to my first gel manicure in almost a year. And I was quite proud that me and my asian nail tech managed to understand each other’s broken German. After that, I was already feeling pretty good, but if I know one thing for sure, it’s that no great day in Germany is complete without ice cream…and Döner…in that order. After my extra dark chocolate gelato and oh-so-nutritious pita pocket of goodness, I headed home. Truly, purely, overwhelmingly happy. Having found all I was looking for, both materially and non materially.

After I get back from Paris, I’m going to have a blogging marathon! I’ll devote a whole post to Paris, and then in another one, I want to share my top 10 things I miss from home and top 10 things I’ll miss about Germany when I leave. Plus, I still have to make my big announcement!

View on the way down

Coastal Living

March 3, 2014 / Maddy Rainaud-Owens / 5 Comments

This weekend our group of 15 set out on a 4 hour road trip to a coastal town called Swakopmund- an area inhabited originally by locals, settled by Germans, and houses a genocide in its history known by few around the world. The four hour drive quickly passed through naps and a stop for some junk food at a rest station we passed along the way. Swakop greeted us with palm trees, and beautiful desert dunes meeting the Atlantic Ocean. Though I definitely could have gone for weeks longer stay, it was the perfect little taste of what the coast has to offer.

Desert meet coast

Our first day was spent touring the beach town, the local township Mondesa, and the informal settlement as well. During these tours we got to visit a traditional Herero woman, a Dama lady as well as the chief of the Damara tribe who is the first woman chief. While speaking with the Herero woman, we learned a little about the Herero genocide and the effect it has had on the survivors lives today. During the genocide from 1904-1907, 80% of the Herero population were killed by the Germans. . . Yet in the middle of Swakopmund stands a large statue dedicated to those Germans who lost their lives, while the Herero men, women, and children have just a small piece of marble dedicated to them on the outskirts of town.

German Memorial

OvaHerero Memorial

The following day we headed out to Walvis Bay, a short 20 minute drive from Swakop. Walvis Bay houses the large international port, NamPort, where goods are constantly being shipped in and out internationally. During our time, we met with a man who works for NamPort as well as a man who works for the export processing zones (EPZs). While in Walvis, we also got the chance to travel out to the Topnaar community. The Topnaar community grows a plant called the !Nara that sprouts melons, which they then roast the seeds and sell them. I actually got to try some of the seeds, and they were delicious!

Me with the !Nara melon

Last but not least, the adventures began. We set out to climb Dune 7; the tallest dune in Namibia and if that’s not cool enough, it’s the oldest desert in the entire world. The climb up took about 15 minutes, and was definitely way more tiring than it looked. As the sand slips underneath your feet, you feel like you’re getting no where, but alas, we made it! And the view from the top was worth it a million times over. Our weekend was also comprised of nights spent on the beach, and dinners spent watching sunsets; I can’t complain!

Atop Dune 7

But the highlight of my weekend, and so far marks the best day of my life was when I decided to fly 10,000 feet in the air and jump out of a plane. Because 2 out of 4 of us were getting our jumps filmed, we had to split up. I was last, but to say I was excited would be a ridiculous understatement; my biggest fear being the tiny little plane I had to go up in, not actually jumping out; I’m not quite sure how I justified that one in my head. But nonetheless, I watched the altimeter climb up by thousands and the nerves kicked in quite a bit once we got to 9,000 feet. As I lifted my legs out of the door and let my feet hang out into the whipping wind, it suddenly became real. Head back, hands on the harness, move as one, ready.. set.. go!! I began to fly. As I free fell for 30 seconds and descended down for 5 minutes I looked out at the beautiful coastline; the only place in the world the desert sand dunes meet the ocean – absolutely breathtaking seeing the earth curve and feeling like I was just apart of the sky. And oh my gosh, I wish I could put it into words, but I truly believe it’s physically impossible. No, my stomach didn’t drop, no it wasn’t scary, it was literally human flight, and I would do it a hundred times over if I could. And.. come to think of it I just might have to. So as a little plug for all the crazies out there, if you’ve ever considered skydiving, do it. And even if you haven’t, do it. Don’t think about it, don’t question it, just do it. It will be the greatest thing you will ever do. Hands down. Because I can’t put it into words, I’ll leave you with two quotes they left me with.

View on the way down

“You must jump to know. No words can describe the incredible rush when the wind invites you to play. You are one of the few, for a brief moment you doubt but the doubt is short lived. As gravity pulls you from the safety of the plane you understand, this is freedom. No turning back now but who would want to? the dream of human flight. you know what it means to skydive.”

Free fall

“Once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.”

Thanks again for reading,

Xoxo