Day 6 & 7 - Arriving in England

Well I went from ya'll to cheerio in about 8 hours which means we finally made it to London!!

The flight was great...Mary and I were like two kids in a candy shop when we saw all of the movies we could watch! But of course, we had to try to get some shut eye because we basically left at midnight London time so when we got in, it was 9:30 in the morning London time.

The weather here is gorgeous! Knock on wood it stays like that but it is just the perfect temperature out, slightly cloudy...just an overall good weather! We met some of our other study abroad friends...it's interesting to meet people from other states although you do realize how different even a few states can make. Coming here the most anxiety producing part of this process was the idea of meeting all new people...but I felt this sense of peace as we were flying in, perhaps because I have Mary to be my comfort. I seriously do not know how I would do this alone, props to those who came by themselves!!

On the way to Kingston, we saw many cool and different things that London has to offer. Here are just a few tid bits from Mary and my conversation on the way here:
Mary - "The horses are different! They're the ones with big hooves and lots of hair."
Me - "Their curtains are different, they're all white with lace on them"
Mary (as we're passing a Subway Sandwich shop - "I wonder what they do for the 5 dollar footlong special..."
Me - "5 pounds, 5 pounds, 5 pound foot looooong"

So as you can see many things are different here!!

We got to our dorms and checked out our sweet pads (see pictures below)! Mary and I have 3 other flatmates from New York, Oregon and France. It's been fun having our doors open and just hanging out with each other. Hopefully once school starts it will stay the same way!

Day 3 - Visit to New Orleans

Today (well technically yesterday, but I'm acting as if I wrote this yesterday) we had a full day in New Orleans! On the way there we traveled by highway which is all on top of a swamp so it's mostly all on these big concrete columns all the way into New Orleans...I was wondering if I'd see Alligators or perhaps a Croc...but I didn't.

When we first got into town, we got a little lost and ended up in what we think was part of the 9th ward because the houses had these big X s on them with numbers. We later found out that the numbers were codes for who inspected the house, the number of people they found in the house and the number of pets. It was really interesting and sad.

Next we found the French Quarters!! The culture here in Louisiana is so cool, I feel like Arizona doesn't have any culture compared to this place. The buildings were really neat, they all had these great big swirly iron railings and they were all really cool colors too! We walked around Jackson square (seen here behind us, and you can see the big cathedral behind as well) and we looked at all the artists' work which was filled with all kinds of art, mainly focused around either Katrina or the jazz influence here. We also walked on Bourbon street which was filled with voodoo bars...sort of creepy!

Next we walked down the French open air market which was awesome! They had all sorts of vendors selling everything and anything...jewelry, mardi gras beads, alligator heads, you name they had it!! (I was tempted to get an Alligator head, but I thought that probably didn't quite go with the decor of my house back at home) After that we headed down to the River Walk to experience the great Mississippi River! We found a Brookstone and decided to take advantage of free back massages and foot massages with their great products...such a treasure! Last but not least we went to Cafe Dumont and got some Biegnets!! These things are famous around here...basically they're like French doughnuts and they were delicious!!!

Once we got back to Lafayette the girls took me to experience Cajun dancing...I relate it to line dancing in Arizona. Apparently everybody's parents know how to do it and it's very popular to have cajun dancing at weddings...maybe I can bring the cajun dancing back to Arizona?! It looks fun!

Day 2 - Lafayette!

So after one thunderstorm, one suitcase left in Houston, one ear that would not pop, one dog named Bunkin and many many Sudoku puzzles later I made it to Louisiana! It was so great seeing my friends at the airport, it made me so excited for this trip! I was just laying in bed last night thinking, why do I question the Lord so much, he's totally taking care of me! I feel so at home here, it's been great!

The first thing I noticed about Louisiana is the humidity!! Even though Arizona and Louisiana are both so hot, the heat is very different! Today Mary took me around Lafayette and it's beautiful here! The houses are typical southern looking homes, all made of brick with huge front yards, I just love it.

Another big thing I've noticed around here is their food. Fried, fried and more fried stuff oh and also cajun food! We went to this place called Olde Time Market and Maria ate a fried shrimp poor boy (kind of like a sub) and I had a turkey one which had gravey all over it. I still don't understand how my great looking friends aren't 200 pounds!! I took some pictures today but currently I am on a different computer so I'll have to upload them sometime soon!

It's just so funny to constantly ask each other "do you have _____ where you live?" Here's an example: Last night the girls were talking about this place called Checkers, and Maria asks (in her cute southern accent) "Do ya'll have Checkers in AZ?" and I said "Ya, like the auto parts store?" and both Maria and Mary start laughing and they said "No the fast food place!" Oh they also have a book store called BooksAMillion...I love that, I wish we had one of those in Arizona!! Anyways, enough rambling it's just cool to see the differences!

Tonight we are going to Mary's friend's surprise party and after maybe a night out on the Lafayette town! Should be fun!

Day 1 - Leaving for Louisiana

So today would technically be considered Day 1 of my trip although most of today will consist of traveling. In a few short hours I'll be making my way to the airport and off to Louisiana I'll go!!

This morning I finished packing and weighed my bag in at 47 pounds yikes!! I told myself I wanted to pack light...well clearly I did not follow my own plan. I have one thing that will be staying in Louisiana so I'm hoping that will give me some extra room as I start hopefully collected some neat souvenirs!

Two nights ago I started feeling sick uhoh!! Still not feeling 100% which is not exactly how I planned starting my trip but hopefully I can get it out of the way and get better by the time we land in Europe in a few days!!

Days before leaving for Louisiana

It's coming down to my final days in AZ (before I leave for Louisiana and then to Europe) which means my final days at home, final days driving around Velma, final days watching Real Housewives drama, final days of 100 degree heat. I'm just realizing as I'm getting ready to leave for my trip how small my comfort zone is. It's amazing how easy it is to settle into a comfort zone that is surprisingly small. This journey is already teaching me things about myself and I haven't even left yet!

Today I got sterling pounds (the currency used in the UK) to take with me and it made me so excited!! These bills are so different than the American dollar, they're so big, they barely fit in my wallet and the Queen is on it! They must have bigger wallets in the UK?! I'm happy to be excited by the little things because the whole picture is overwhelming to me and gives me more anxiety than excitement...by looking at the small things I can enjoy it so much better : )

I truly want to experience this trip one day at a time, taking in each place for what it is; not thinking about what I saw yesterday or what I'll be seeing tomorrow. Please keep me accountable for this!!

Transformation of my blog

Temporarily my, what was originally supposed to be a craft blog (although that never fully developed) is going to be my now travel blog. I suppose this blog can serve multipurposes, not just be one or the other...who knows maybe I'll craft while I'm traveling ooooo I like that idea!! Anyways, I'm getting ready to embark on my adventure this summer..although I don't leave for another two weeks (yikes!) I am trying to prepare myself and I am facing much excitement but also a tinge of fear. Being outside of my comfort zone is something I'm never, well, quite comfortable with ever! Seems like someone has to push me over the ledge and once I'm down I think hmm that wasn't so bad now was it?!

I received my syllabi for both classes this week and had a reality check that oh ya, I'm doing school over there. Oh and I forgot to mention one of the classes requires 6 books to read before we even get there!! I beg your pardon?! So part of my preparations now include reading my butt off, but it makes me excited to be learning about England and it's literature, culture and society. Also, Sherlock Holmes is part of our reading and I have just really enjoyed reading those short stories...they're surprisingly great! New things I'm learning already!

Today I received my departure package...it's getting so real. I keep telling people about my adventure and afterwards I'll say, but it doesn't feel real yet...however, slowly but surely it's starting to. I'm hoping I can keep this travel part of my blog up so I can have something to look back at once the memories start to fade...also I'm hoping some of you can come with in my adventures and see what I'm up to while I'm away. I've been reading Rachel and Ashton's travel blogs from Greece and Spain and I've enjoyed them, so thanks for the ideas girls!