Everything new.

New year, new job, new(ish) location. Time for new blog posts. Join me.

Did you know that if you were to look at everything in the Vatican Museum for 60 seconds it would take you 12 years?

Roma, Italia… First Impression: Dirty.

Let’s put it this way, I see it as the NYC of Europe. Roma is overcrowded, dirty, beautiful and busy.. but you can’t fight the urge to want to stay there and maybe fall in love. (I’m telling you, it’s New York.)

I loved Rome. I think it’s so cool that I got to stand on the oldest street in Rome, where Julius Cesar got killed. I mean, you’re walking around ON history. Seeing things that are well over 2,000 years old. Where do you see that in America?

You can all safely assume that I ate my face off in pasta, pizza and gelato. It is no joke that it’s everywhere. Especially Gelato. There’s Gelaterias on every corner and people eat it at all times of the day. I’m not one for sweets but the gelato is just so good I had to eat it everyday.

I guess I never thought of how dirty Rome would be because Spain is so clean… but that’s what happens when your country within the city, The Vatican, has over 30,000 visitors A DAY.

Did you know that if you were to look at everything in the Vatican Museum for 60 seconds it would take you 12 years?

Now the Vatican. W-o-w. That might be one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my entire life. I just think it’s crazy that they have their own currency, passport, postal code, etc.

Walking into the Vatican and then through the Museum, into the Sistine Chapel (holy shit Michaelangelo was good) and then into St. Peter’s Basilica was breathtaking. Sculptures, Maps, Tapestry.. all of it, everywhere and beautiful. Marble, Limestone and this beautiful purple Marble – I forgot the name (it’s 10x more expensive then gold but you can’t get it anymore because the Vatican took about 90% of it from Africa.)

Now of course we did the Colosseum. Did you know it used to be covered entirely in marble and limestone? (They joke and say Renaissance means recycle because that’s what they did with the material… stole it make other buildings around the city.)

When I walked in I tried to imagine 60,000 people roaring for slaves to kill each other. They estimate that over a million people were killed there. Is it bad that this made me want to watch the movie Gladiator?

Anyway, I fell in love with Rome, like I’m sure most people do. I want to go back, explore some more places to eat and maybe shop? ;)

Its’s over. My 5-week relationship with Valencia is over.

It’s weird to think that after enduring weeks of no A/C, different food and an eclectic group of people… we’d be sad to let it go.

With the ISA study abroad program, (since I didn’t go through OSU), it was a group of over 40 students from all over. Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, Nebraska, Arizona.. I mean everywhere. And if our group had gone to high school together, this group would be non-existent. But I think that’s the beauty of it.

5 weeks means you make good memories, bad decisions, good friends, get annoyed with people but at the end of the day these group of people are the only ones who will understand what you went through and won’t roll their eyes at you when you say, “that reminds me of this one time in Valencia…”

I think the consensus after the 5 weeks is that we didn’t want it to end. We didn’t want to say good-bye to the city that stole our heart and we most certainly didn’t want to leave Europe.

It’s funny to think you’d get home sick from somewhere you’ve studied abroad but when you’re living with a family, eating meals there, going to class, etc. It does become your home.

I promise to come back one day Valencia, you were too good to me.

As for the rest of you that I met in Valencia, come visit me in Miami.

I hope I'm never anyone's soul mate.

"I seriously believed he was my soul mate."

"..He probably was. Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into you life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it..... His purpose was to shake you up...tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life.. That was his job, and he did great, but now it's over. Problem is you can't accept that this relationship had a real short shelf life. You're like a dog at the dump, baby - you're just lickin' at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you're not careful, that can's gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it." - Eat, Pray, Love

It looks like a giant armadillo.

This weekend I stayed in Valencia because next weekend I go to Morocco (incredibly stoked) and I figured I’d stay and get to know the city I'm studying in. Plus I haven’t spent a weekend here, yet.

Friday, ISA took us to the ‘Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencias’ (The City of Arts and Sciences.) The buildings and layout were beautiful. Look.

First we went to see an IMAX show. The screen was a huge globe and if you titled your head back, it still went on.

Next we went to the ‘Oceanografic’ (Aquriaum.) They had all kinds of cool animals, including penguins. J They had this really cool part for the oceans sections where you walk in and it’s tunnel so you can walk in and the water and animals are all around you swimming. For anyone visiting Valencia, the CAC is a must I think, but truthfully I’m really glad we go to go for free because it was just “pretty good.” The aquariums in the states, i.e. Boston and Chicago are just hard to beat. There was a really awesome dolphin show at the end, though. I’ve decided if no one hires me with my journalism degree, I’ll become a dolphin trainer.

Saturday, some of us took a day trip to a town about 30 km north called, Sagunto. It’s an old Roman town that has this Roman theater and castle. Every road and street in Spain is cobblestone which for the eye is pretty but for my feet.. not so much. After the trek that it was to get to the castle, once I saw the view it was all worth it. Beautiful.

The view from the street of the castle.

(I sweat so much in Spain it is unreal. I miss air conditioning.)

I seriously am counting down the minutes to get to Morocco. I can’t wait to go camel riding, visits souks, eat some coushcoush and just check out a new culture. I wish I could spend a month there because I want to see more than just Marrakech and Fez. I’d want to see Casablanca and Tangier and that would be just scratching the surface.

Pamplona - the city of pee.

As some of you may know last weekend, 7/10, I got to scratch off one more thing on my bucket list : going to the San Fermin Festival – the Running of the Bulls.

It was quite the.. experience.

We took an overnight bus that left Valencia at 11 p.m. and arrived in Pamplona a little after 5. The minute we pulled in, there were people sleeping/passed out everywhere. On the streets, staircases, any little piece of ground was taken.

Personally I think it looked like a walk of shame hall of fame.

As we walked into the center of town we saw drunk people, people still drinking and dancing and I even saw one person throw up.

We needed to find a place to watch the race so we found a place around 7 a.m. and sat as patiently as you could for an hour squeezed with hundreds of people.

When it struck 8 a.m. you could feel people getting excited and my adrenaline spiked, too.

OH! There goes a whole bunch of people running.. OH WHAT! There’s some bulls! More people running! Over.

That’s it.. next time I’m running. I mean I already have the outfit, so why not!

The rest of the day consisted of people watching, talking to people from all over the world and trying not to inhale the smell of pee that the city was. I mean the entire place smelled like pee. It was the biggest gathering of dirty drunk non-homeless people I’ve ever seen. People celebrating everywhere you went, bars packed and people sleeping on the grass.

I imagine this is what Mardi Gras looks like? I guess I’ll find out in February.

God Bless Why?

This is Neil, he’s from Scotland, and he taught me about something we call ‘the American dream.’

I think this is a phrase we often over use, along with God Bless America, without really knowing why we’re blessing our country, but Neil explained it for me.

I met Neil on Saturday at the Running of the Bulls and we quickly became friends as I asked him if he thought me mimicking his Scottish accent was annoying.

I soon found out that he had been to America before and that “everyday I try to find a way to get a job there.” His dream is to coach the WNBA and within minutes it became my dream too.

Neil told me that he loved America because Americans we’re so nice, everything was built for convenience and comfort and that the food was the best. His favorites were corn bread, Arbys and Krispy Kreme donuts.

He began quoting the shows Family Guy and Friends and telling me so many things about the NBA and WNBA. It was the first time I got to speak American, not English, with someone outside my program, dude.

He said that it’s so difficult to find someone to sponsor him for a working visa but that he has not given up. That it almost went through once but it’s hard to trust people because they’ll give up on you last minute not realizing how much it means to you.

There was something about the way he talked about wanting to go back to America and make it his home that it made me realize how truly lucky I was. I complained about missing the food with him and he just looked at me and said, at least you know when you’re going back.

When it was time to say goodbye to Neil, my heart ached as I knew that I’d probably never seen him again. Neil touched my heart in a way he could never understand. If I ever see him again, I hope it’s on my side of the Atlantic.