Saying goodbye

As i write this i have my last batch of chocolate chip cookies in the oven, my room is packed, my luggage is being stored for the week and it is my last night in South Kensington. I really want to know where the semester went, because it went by in the blink of an eye, and I can't believe it is all done.

Before I spend time reflecting over the semester, i think it is important to talk about my last week here. Las classes and finals are always interesting, it always amazes me when they are done. you take a test, do a presentation or turn in a paper and your life over the past 14 weeks is finished. That was my Monday and Tuesday, finishing up my classes. (i still have one paper due on monday but that will be turned in tomorrow before my trip to Norway!)

Work on wednesday was a typical work day, writing articles and updating information. I did a lot with the competitions and it was all really fun. Thursday was an interesting day on so many levels. Since I have been honest through the rest of my posts, i am going to continue that here. Going to work when you know it is your last day is always a challenge. I mean, it was not hard to motivate myself to go to work, but there is never too much for you to do. you can't start a new project because you will not be able to finish it. I spent a lot of time working with the competitions and making sure everything was up-to-date and everything had been completed. I made sure all the emails had been answered and the companies were aware of the prizes for those individuals. 

You see, even though I did complain in a much earlier blog about the placement of my internship, i actually did love it. the people I worked with were incredible and I got so much experience and gained so much knowledge from working there that I am going to miss not seeing them all the time! it was just really great!! 

so after work yesterday was unexpected. around 4:30 they brought out cake to say good bye. They also got champagne and we all ate and drank. I was a responsible drinker, i only had about 1.5 glasses over an hour and i drank it very slowly along with eating cake. We then proceeded to a pub around the corner where i got some cider which i also drank really slowly because i didn't want to get really drunk, especially in front of my bosses! My boss kept telling me that it was alright and that if i did get drunk she would take me home and i could sleep in her guest bedroom, she said she would take care of me and would make sure i made it home. after the pub we then went to another bar. They asked what i wanted to drink and I had no clue so i just got what everyone else ordered which was vodka lime soda and they all had a 'shot' (it was like a double shot) of sambuca. so i had that, and at this bar i again was still a relative responsible drinker and i only had the one vodka lime and soda and then i ordered water for the most part. when we did leave though, we did have another round of 'shots' but this time was black sambuca, which apparently tastes nasty, but i chased it with water, so i didn't even really taste it.  By this time it was about 10:30 pm and we hadn't had dinner so we to a diner and got some food. after this two members of our group left and the three of us left (me, my boss and my bosses boss) went to another club. Once again we ordered drinks (vodka lime and soda) and the bosses boss ordered us shots of gold tequilla. (again these were like double shots) we had those, danced a bit (it was a samba club) and then we left around 12:30. I can't believe it was 8 hours! but it was so much fun hanging out with them outside of work. so many times i have looked back on last night and have laughed and smiled at the great memories. (i should note that I did make it home and slept my own bed and did not have a hangover the next morning. It is not my typical night, but it is fun to go out every once and a while.)

during this week I also met up with another old friend, she was my fourth grade band teacher and was the choreographer in all of my musicals. It was great catching up and what is amazing is she is letting me keep my luggage at her place until I get back from norway, and is letting me sleep there for the couple of nights until I head back to LA. It was the nicest offer. Trust me, i will have more about this and have some of the details on meeting up with another old friend in a post next week!

Speaking of keeping my luggage there, I learned how awesome Londoners truly are. When you are carrying two bags that are probably between 55-65 pounds each you struggle. I was having to take the tube and transfer tubes while maneuvering my luggage. This means there are lots of stairs one has to take. I cannot carry both bags at he same time (they have wheels for moving them on flat surfaces) so I would leave one bag at the bottom of the stairs and that race up the stairs with one of my bags and run back down to get the other, or at least that was my plan. Every set of stairs some really nice person would grab my other bag and bring it up or down the stairs for me. at one point they even carried it to the tube, which they did not have to do. Other people would help me get both on the tubs and things. They were all just so incredibly nice and so helpful. it made me want to cry seeing them come together to help me out. I mean having to walk and things i have huge bruises and actually skinned my leg on my suitcase! So it was great relief when people stepped in and offered a helping hand!

So this is a rather long post, but i have had a great time here in london. At times it has been lonely and other times i questioned why I was here, but at the end of the day i had a great time. I made some really awesome friends and I will be sad to leave this flat tomorrow morning. I have so many incredible memories about the time, that i don't know where I would even start in describing it! i think anyone who gets the opportunity to study abroad really should, it is truly amazing.

fo all of you interested, tomorrow I head to norway until the 27 when i come back to london and then on the 30 i fly to the states and on may 4 i go home. I can't believe it is summer already. Im a senior, now that's a scary thought! I will be sad saying goodbye and leaving, but I will be excited for the adventures and the memories that each day holds and to be seeing my friends in family in such short time!

A blast from the past

As I write this I am taking a break from writing my papers and studying for my exam. it is hard to believe that I am going to be on summer break after Thursday! Where has this semester gone?

This past weekend I went to Wolverhampton to visit an old friend, Emma. Emma was my next door neighbour growing up. We saw each other everyday, no joke. From the age of one until I was 9, she lived right next door. We both moved away from Saudi in 1999 and I saw her briefly in 2006 when my parents went to Bahrain to interview for a job, but that was a large dinner with lots of folks and old friends so it was hard to pay attention to just one person. So before saturday I hadn't hung out with Emma for 12 years, yes, it had been that long. Isn't it scary how fast time flies when you look back at it?

Anyways, we got together and just had a great time. we reminisced about life growing up and the compound we lived in, Green Valley. We both agreed that Saudi Arabia is possibly the best place to grow up. We lived on a safe compound, had pools, play grounds, tennis courts, a rec center, a store and a restaurant. Our parents didn't have to worry about cars because everyone who lived there had kids and drove slowly around the compound. One of the best things about the compound, is that there was always someone to play with. We played so many games, bike tag (don't ask me how that worked), tag, 40-40 and so many others that escape my mind at the moment.

We took ballet lessons because everyone else was taking them. I do not believe we were very good at ballet, but we wanted to be there with everyone.  The photo below is one of our ballet performances. I have the bright blonde hair and Emma is leaning over talking to me. You see, we both had solo performances at this show, I was a sailor and she was the lady who swallowed the fly (i believe). Leah, sitting between us, got to wear the pretty ballet outfit.

You see meeting up with old friends is always so much fun! It was great just hanging out for the five hours that we had. Hopefully it won't be that long before we see each other again. We have changed a bit as there is now proof that we have hung out in the photo below!

its a monday night. I have three finals due tomorrow. two of them are essays that I have written and ready to turn in. One of them is in class with notes, so I have that all prepared. I can't believe it is the last day of class! I have two essays due later this week and then I am on summer vacation. I have my internship on Wednesday and Thursday but come friday it is summer. Summer is April? that is SOOOOO bizarre! I am going to norway on saturday, coming back to London for the royal wedding (yes, i am a tourist) and then flying to Los Angeles for a couple of days and back to saudi in 2 weeks! it is insane!

I will write more on friday as a reflection to my time here, but until then I hope all of you have a great week!

Although it is not Sunday, I hope everyone had a blessed Palm Sunday and I hope you enjoy your Easter Week!

you can get burnt in london???

Ive gotten really bad at updating this lately, sorry! im sure so many of you are disappointed you don't hear about my adventures regularly!

so lets talk about the last two weeks. Not gonna lie, my weeks are very routine. I go to class on tuesdays and I work wednesday, thursday and friday. Many of you all know that I work at gurgle, an online magazine and social website for parents and parents-to-be. I am getting to know A LOT about pregnancy, giving birth and kids. It is information that i don't really care about knowing at this point in my life. Since working there I have had two dreams that I am pregnant (im not, and they were NOT good dreams!) and that means i am spending wayyyy too much time at my job. I write about four feature articles a day as well as update the competition section, approve images and things like that. I will have a nice sized portfolio by the time I am done. Granted, it will be full of articles on kids and babies, but everyone has to start someplace right?

Two weekends ago I went to windsor on saturday and a football match on sunday! It was a lot of fun. Windsor is a massive castle! We got there at the end of the changing of the guard so we got to witness that which was loads of fun because it was a parade of the men in the red uniforms!!

The castle was huge so we walked around the area and just took in the area. it was really pretty brick with some really nice flowers all around! it is kinda on a kill so it looks over the rest of winsdor. Apparently, this is the favourite residence of the Queen!

(yes i was a tourist and took a picture with the red guard!)

Sunday we went to watch a football match. Blackpool vs. fulham! i always root for the underdog and since everyone around me was rooting for blackpool, i went with fulham. (i didn't cheer loudly or anything, but in my heart i wanted them to score!) It was also relaly cool because the US national player, landon donovon plays for blackpool so we got to see him play! for those of you who do not know football, he helped the American team out in the world cup back in june!

this week was class and then work (which i have already explained) but over the weekend I went to brighton on saturday and hung out in hyde park today (sunday).

Brighton is a beach town with a pier, so it reminded us of santa monica (except for the fact that we were in england and the beach was pure rocks!).

we roamed around the town and stopped into the royal pavilion that was shaped similar to a mosque but decorated in a Chinese theme. Somewhat odd, but it reminded me a lot of my life, you know, Saudi Arabia and China....

We also just relaxed on the beach! Kelsey and I got strawberry lime cider and it was really good. It just kinda tasted like strawberry lemonade! We sat enjoying that for about two hours just soaking up the sun!

Anyways, for those of you who do not know me, i am rather white, i mean, my ancestors came from Norway, Germany and Sweden, so I am kinda as white as a person can get. This means I generally do not tan. I burn. It was rather sunny in brighton and at one point Mia looked at me and went "you are really red", yes I had managed to get burnt. You see, i do not even own sunscreen in england becuase who knew it would be sunny enough for me to burn? I got the most burnt out of anyone on the trip. I passed one guy on the street and he said, "looks like you got some sun there missy." To be honest, if people hadn't pointed it out, i wouldn't have known until i got to a mirror. getting burnt does not hurt. I have been burnt so many times I am kinda immune to it and it doesn't bother me anymore (i know thats probably bad). The burn isn't that bad in my opinion, ive had worse..

Today I went to hyde park after a five mile run (oh yeah, im signing up for another marathon, so training begins now!) and i sat down to read for my classes. Again, it was a beautiful warm sunny day! Again, I got burnt. Now it is just a really awkward burn. I got burned on top of my burn and then i got a nice farmers burn on my arms...yeah...thats attractive. I think it might be time to invest in some sunscreen, but who knew i could get burnt in england??

People wonder how i survive saudi with the sun. You see, I do not get burnt in Saudi, i actually do tan in saudi! I know that is surprising, but its true. Some places in the world i just burn more easily than others, and saudi is one of those places that i don't get that burnt (pretty much every other country in the world is on the list of getting burnt!)

So yes, for those of you who burn easily, it can happen in england.

I can't believe I am going to be back in the states in exactly three weeks. That is really scary knowing all that i have to do for classes, all i want to do here and everything that is going on between now and when I leave! i am really loving london and I am in love with this weather. it is so pretty! Since it is so pretty here right now with flowers blooming, I am going to leave you with some of the images that I took today!!

21st Birthday!

I know in my last post I mentioned that I would write about what happened on my birthday (last sunday), that really didn't happen.

I started my birthday off like a normal day, I went on a run and made myself a nice breakfast. I actually got a great surprise in the morning when I got a phone call from my parents! I didn't think I was going to be able to talk to them because they are currently in South Africa with a group of students! It was great talking to them! I went to pick up a cake that my parents had ordered which looked absolutely delicious!  I then decided to head out and just enjoy the day. I went out for a bit of shopping where I got a necklace and just had a good time roaming around. I came back to the flat and was relaxing when I got a really sweet surprise from Sheena and Kelsey. They had bought me a bottle of champagne for my birthday! I was not expecting it at all! Analise also came over and gave me an adorable necklace and Narod was so sweet and gave me some cookies for all the baking I had done for the flat. The girls were just so amazing the entire night!  I got to skype and talk to other members of my family and some friends back in the States before I got ready to head out to dinner. (It is important to note that during all of this Kate had been talking about a surprise that she had in the kitchen, therefore I was not allowed in the kitchen)

I got ready for the dinner and got a knock on my door to come out and have a glass of champagne. I decided that I would do that. I figured it would be fun. (it was lots of fun!) I ended up having 2 glasses of champagne before heading out to dinner. It was really funny because at this time Kate said that she had also bought a bottle of champagne for me and it was sitting in the kitchen. I told her that we would drink it after dinner with the cake!  I felt a little bit tipsy on my way to dinner, I was a little bit funny on the tube! I went to TGI Fridays because of the really fun drinks that they have! We had to wait at the bar for a bit before we could move to the table. The bartender asked what we wanted. I had no clue. My friends made sure that he knew it was my birthday so after everyone else ordered their drink he told me he would make me a special drink. He asked me what kind of spirits i like. i told him i didn't know. he asked what kind of drinks i normally drink, and i told him i don't drink. He then decided he would make something that was fruity and did not taste like alcohol.

we moved to our table and 2 of the girls went up to the bar and got our drinks for us. The bartender then came by and said he had bought my drink for me because it was my birthday! I thought that was sweet. We ordered food and just had a great time. I got another surprise drink, which also tasted good and we just enjoyed ourselves. I got surprised with a little birthday dessert which was whipped cream and hot fudge with a candle. it was good!

Going back to the flat I started dancing in the sidewalks and threw my shoes around. It was quite amusing. Back at the flat we had cake, ice cream and some more alcohol. Now, as started earlier, I do not drink. At least I hadn't drunk before my 21st. We had wine, champagne, and shots back in the flat. I am not going to lie, I got drunk. I got my friends to laugh and I learned that I am a composed drunk and i made my friends laugh.

(I don't know why I was allowed to use the knife to cut the cake, especially after the amount I had to drink!)

It was a really fun night. I had a great time with my friends and celebrating my 21st! I won't be drinking that much again, but I had fun during the night!

First week of interning!!

Second Post of the night!

This one will be shorter than the spring break one, I promise!

I started my internship this week! The one at gurgle.com (if you haven’t checked out the website you should!) It is an interesting placement for me (you’ll know why once you see the website)  but I am getting great experience.

A lot of people think of interns as the person who will get the coffee, make the photocopies or file paperwork. That is not the case at my company. I am like a member of the staff without getting paid. On my first day I had to research and compare the competition companies, got assigned a feature article to write and help with researching and planning ways to redesign part of the website.

My second day of the internship was writing up my feature article, editing the actual website, and beginning to do research for the next stage of expanding the company. As of now the company goes up to age 3 and they want to expand it to age five. So for each month between age 3 and age 5 (months 36-60) we have to write up what a child will be going through and will be experiencing. I begin researching this and continued it on Friday. I have also contributed to an article on breast cancer. I think in total over working there for three days I have written 12-15 pages worth of articles. It is giving me so much experience and is keeping me busy!

It is really a good place for me because I will be able to walk out with so much to show that I have done. It is hard to believe that I will be a published writer with journalistic articles to have on file as proof!

Its now my last week of being 20. Its kinda scary thinking that I will be turning 21 in a week! It means I need to find something fun to do for my birthday! Stay tuned to find out what I will be doing next Sunday to celebrate my 21^st!!!

Paris and Rome

It has been three weeks since I last posted on here. That is too insanely long, so to make up for it this is my first of two posts for tonight.

Spring break in Paris and Rome. I can’t believe a week has already gone by since I got back from break! Time in London is going by way to fast!! Laurel and I left for Paris the first Saturday of our spring break. We arrived and made our way to the first hostel. Although we had a map, and directions, we got lost trying to find it. We actually walked by the street twice before realizing where it actually was! The map that we had was not very helpful. We ended up picking up three different maps and had to use these to get anywhere. When we needed to look at a map for directions we would stand on a corner and pull out three different maps to compare and try to find the little side streets and crossroads, it was quite amusing!! After dropping stuff off in our first hostel we decided to explore the area. The sun was shining and we were hungry so we set off on a mission for lunch. Lunch in Paris can be an adventure, one that we had to overcome for 4 days! English is not common in France (it was more common in Rome) and we had to point to an item on a menu and hope that it was good. Lunch was a sandwich, drink and a pastry for 4 euros. It wasn’t a bad deal, but it wasn’t my favorite, especially since I am a picky eater. After lunch we decided to wander the streets of the area we were in. We made it a pretty good distance before it started pouring. The sun had disappeared and it was replaced by lots of water falling from the sky. We knew that the weather had predicted rain for our spring break, but we were hopeful when we saw the sun. In London we learn that we have to have an umbrella with us at all times because you never know when it will start raining (and it rains all the time). We neglected to follow this advice when we went to Paris. We had umbrellas, but there were in our bags at the hostel. We made our way back to the hostel and settled down for the night after getting soaked!

That night I decided to go back to the streets to find a bottle of water since I didn’t have anything with me. I found a cute little corner store that had a couple of items. I wandered in and picked up a bottle of water. While I was in the store the manager started handing out wine. They gave me a glass with a little bit of wine and as I paid for my water they refilled it so it was overflowing. Only in Paris do you get free wine with a bottle of water!

Sunday began the adventure of seeing everything. We woke up to sunny weather, which is always a great change from London! We saw many of the tourist sights. We started the day heading to the Sacré Cœur  a beautiful white building at the top of Paris. Standing at the base of the building we were able to look over the entire city of Paris. It was a beautiful sight, especially on a sunny day! 

After that we raveled to the Arc de Triomphe and made our way down the Champs Elysees. It was incredible to see the Arc de Triomphe and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

The Champs Elysees was also very beautiful. The trees and the flowers that were blooming were absolutely gorgeous! 

We walked all the way to the louve where we saw the glass pyramids! We also decided to walk to Notre Dame. 

Along one of the walks on the river we saw the Eiffel Tower in the distance. It was really cool to see because it made being in Paris so real! Notre Dame was a spectacular cathedral. It was stunning and the stained glass windows were so beautiful. 

We walked upon an ice skating rink in the middle of Paris, i was really really bad at it. ON my defense, the ice was melting and the blades were not sharp, so i wasn't really comfortable on the ice.

 It was a really fun day just wandering around the city and seeing everything.

Monday was the day we decided to head to the Eiffel Tower. We had to move hostels so we walked from one to another. As we were walking we stopped to get money at an ATM and I almost go robbed. It was an eventful part of the trip.

I was at the ATM when these two guys came up and surrounded me. One of them put a piece of paper in front of everything and they kept talking. I didn't want to look away from the screen because I knew they would steal my card and money. Laurel realized what was happening and pushed one out of the way, which gave me time to push the other one. I just couldn’t push both guys at once. But they didn't even care about Laurel taking money out, only me because I'm blonde. But an older lady was also near us and started yelling at them in french about getting the police and things, which made me feel better. She also talked to us, but I have no clue what she said. I think she told me to report it to the bank, I'm not sure. She also told anyone who came by about the incident. She stayed by in the distance until were done and then said goodbye, she wanted to make sure the guys didn't come back. It left me shaken. Even though they were not very old, I was not comfortable with the situation.

We decided to spend a little bit of Monday and go to the very top. 

The lines weren’t that long, and we figured it would be an amazing experience. We took photos from the first level

And then we took photos from the very top. Trust me when I say that we were high up. It was a cloudy and very very cold day, but it was really beautiful to see the entire city. I did not want to look straight down because it was just very high. I am not a person to be scared of heights, but I did not like those elevators, so I didn’t really like the height.

After the Eiffel Tower we decided to head on over to the Louve to go inside and explore, and to see the Mona Lisa. We realized that Paris is a great place to go if you are studying in Europe. With a visa for the UK we were allowed to enter the museum for free! It is great being able to get into places for free, especially when you are a poor college student!!! We choose the perfect time to go to the Louve because, although it was crowded in the actual museum, the Mona Lisa didn’t have that many people. It was cool to see it in person because it is such a famous piece of artwork. We spent a couple of hours in the museum and that wasn’t enough. I got lost walking around the place because it is so massive! It is so overwhelming!

Going to Versailles was our adventure for Tuesday. Like the Louve, we were able to get in for free! It is such a beautiful palace and was really enjoyable to walk around and see everything. The palace grounds were also exceptional. It would be an amazing place to live because there was so much to see and so much to explore. Everything was so detailed and there was so much gold everywhere!

 On our way to the palace we stopped in the best bakery for bread. Paris has the most amazing bread and crossiants, and they are cheap!! If you like carbs, then go to paris, you will not be disappointed! That evening we went on a snaking cruise and got to see the city at night. The Eiffel Tower is so pretty when it is lit up and sparkling. The louve is also just a really pretty sight. Seeing the city by night, it makes sense why the nickname is ‘the city of lights’!

Wednesday was half a day before we headed off to paris. I headed to the Orally and it was a lot of fun. I wandered around the area and then got to go inside. It is more of a contemporary museum and it was fun seeing all the paintings that I have ssen in textbooks and in art classes though my life! I kinda wish I could have a longer time in Paris. There is so much to do and so many places to wander, it is a place I could explore for a while!

Rome, on the other hand is much smaller. Instead of having to take a tube places, we could easily walk everywhere. We arrived and it was pouring outside. We made it to our hostel where we got free pasta dinner. The people at the hostel were really nice and it was a fun environment! We went out for a little bit and got soaked because it was raining so hard! We decided we were staying in until the next day when we would go out exploring!

Our first stop on Thursday was the Coliseum. It was a lot of fun to see it and wander around. We also got into the fort and other ancient grounds. Italy isn’t nice with student discounts, our visas would not get us the cheaper tickets. It was really fun seeing everything and thinking about how old it all was. We also passed a church that we later found out was having a state funeral, which was quite sad.

After the Coliseum we just kept walking. We went to the Trevi fountain where we both made wishes and threw coins into the fountain.

 We kept wandering and found the Pantheon, since it had started raining again it was really cool. It has a hole in the top and so we could see the rain falling inside of the building. We found the Church of Loyola Ignatius, which was awesome because it reminded us of LMU!!

As we kept wandering around we happened to walk into a church that was amazing! Laurel overhead one of the Priests talking about Ignatius and how is body was buried there. We went up to him afterwards and explained that we were from LMU and how we were fascinated by it because our school is everything with Ignatius! He then told us that Ignatius actually lived in the building connected to the church and we could go see where he lived. Since we didn’t know what building he was talking about he gave us a private tour and led us through the back doors and through the Jesuit living area. Getting to the rooms he explained everything about them and the significance of everything. It was just amazing to hear about it all. It made both of us really proud to be Lions and it made us miss our school!

Friday was our day to visit the Vatican! We went in and it was again stunning. It was amazing to see everything and visit the tombs of the entire Pope’s. It is a massive Cathedral! We also went to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing. It was kinda annoying that we had to walk though the ENTIRE museum just to get to it! It took me 40 minutes walking fast not looking at anything else just to see it! It was amazing to see everything on the ceiling. There is so much history in Rome and everything with it!

Saturday was a lazy wander day and going to the Spanish steps. We didn’t have any major plan so we just walked about a bit and tried to find other things on the map. It was cool seeing the Spanish steps and just exploring the city. It was another rainy day (we didn’t get much sun!)

Sunday we came back to London. It was a really great Spring Break trip!! The food in both places was amazing! We got the best gelato at one of the places, it was SOOOO good! I think I gained 5 pounds just from spring break. Luckily, Im back in London where I can run it off!

The break was filled with some great memories and amazing experiences! It was so much fun going to the different countries and enjoying ourselves!