The Horrors Of Xmas Baking

Christmas, in its final essence, is for grown people who have forgotten what children know. Christmas is for whoever is old enough to have denied the unquenchable spirit of man.”
~ Margaret Cousins

Let's face it. I just spent the last 4 years in undergrad and one year abroad getting a master's degree. It's also Christmas, the time of the year where we're supposed to spend copious amounts of money on everyone we know and people we don't know too well unless we want to suffer through guilt all year long. I'm also completely broke. Zero money. Nada. I decided I would buy a select few people Christmas presents because they're my best friends and family and who better to go into debt for? 

Here's a taste of my internal dialogue when deciding what to do for presents for friends:

Stingy me: Go to the dollar store. No one will ever know.

Spend your life savings me: No everyone else will be doing that. We're all college kids.

Stingy me: Do stocking stuffers and give them things that don't cost much but wrap them nicely so it looks like you spent more.

Spend your life savings me: Alright. I can live with that. BUT I'll make my own Christmas cards using my own photography and then bake them Christmasy esque looking things. GREAT IDEA

Stingy me: Good luck with that Martha Stewart.

And so it went! I went off shopping with friends and battled my way through traffic and indecision. I had finally finished shopping for stocking stuffers when it hit me. The little voice inside your head that only comes at Christmas that thinks "well... I want that so maybe if I buy it for them and then not give it to them that that will be okay. Am I giving this person too much? What if I come at them with a huge bag and all I get is a $5 gift card to somewhere that everyone but that person knows I hate? OH GOD I HAVE TO BUY EVERYTHING IN THIS STORE.  I DON'T CARE WHO IT'S FOR IT HAS TO BE MINE. AHHHHHHH." That's how it usually goes on any given day during the holiday season... hopefully I'm not alone in this. I usually stand in line and realize how crazy I am for putting things in my basket that I don't even know how they function or if they are actually sold in the store and not just left behind by some wacko playing a prank and try to subtly hide things at random places in the store because finding where I picked it up would just end up in catastrophe. 

Baking Catastrophe 1:  The hot chocolate mix

I thought I could be fancy and make delicious red velvet hot chocolate mix from scratch and put them in cute mason jars and have there be nice layers and ribbons everywhere to give it a festive look. That's not what happened. I spent probably a good 2 hours searching for a hot chocolate mix recipe that I didn't need a degree in astrophysics and also have a psychic gift to decipher. I panicked and went to Kroger (an awesome grocery store) and bought ready made hot chocolate mix, poured it into mason jars (and all over my hand, desk and the floor). I tried to add an extra layer of marshmallows in the middle to spice it up. The mix completely engulfed any trace of marshmallows in the middle. Now when friends try to use it they are going to get a surprise.... Once I cleaned up the inevitable mess that comes with being me I tied red, white and green ribbons to the lid. I tried to do the trick with the scissors that makes the ribbons curly and cute. It worked for the bottom centimeter. Not exaggerating. The rest of it ended up molding into odd shapes jutting out from the jar at odd angles. One is even sticking out completely straight at a perpendicular angle to the jar. It takes talent to do this people. At least that's what I tell myself. At least the jars are unique. Now if I could get the cat to stop chewing on them they would look even better....

Baking Catastrophe 2:

Brownines. Simple yes? No. Not when you make them into cupcakes and attempt to put santa hats made of strawberries and icing. Attempt number 1 followed the directions on the box. Yes I used a box. I'm not trying to poison anyone. It told me to bake for 40 minutes, so I obeyed. Bad decision. I ended up with brownies that doubled as hockey pucks. Into the trash they went. Bah humbug. I decided to move on to catastrophe number 3 in hopes I would have better luck... 

Baking Catastrophe 3: 

Snowmen made of marshmallows, held together by pretzel sticks and dipped in candycane flavored chocolate. Sounds cute doesn't it? Bet you wouldn't say that if you saw my first attempt and the resulting dilapidated chunky blobs that looked like zombie marshmallow snowmen. Yep... that happened. Luckily my mom came and helped me roll them. But that was today and the real disaster came yesterday... After the brownie incident I thought melting chocolate to dip would be super easy. No. Turns out putting hershey kisses in a plastic cup in the microwave results in your white choclate turning a dark brown, becoming frothy, and it melts the entire cup and eats through the bottom of the cup. Again, I'm talented. Food Network please hire me. I can have a show called "How You Should NEVER Cook." I also tried melting it in a pot on the oven. Again I was wrong. It just burns on the bottoms and turns into a sticky mess. Luckily I cleaned all of the evidence of that mess before my parents walked back into the kitchen. After that I thought to myself " (^*&%&$#^@$^%&(^)(&*(&%^ I'm done for tonight. I suck at baking. This is going nowhere. I hate baking. BAH HUMBUG..."

Day 2 I awoke with a plan: Gym, hot bubble bath, reading, favorite tv show.... conquer the kitchen. It worked. I felt rejuvenated. I bought all new ingredients although I froze to death and got odd looks for walking into stores in gym shorts and a shirt in the middle of a rain storm and the freezing cold. 

Brownie attempt 2: Succesful

Chocolate chip cookies with peppermint on top: Awesome success. First try. OH YEAH

Snowmen attempt 2: Thanks Mom. She had the great idea to use hershey kisses as heads so I wouldn't have creepy headless snowmen with arms sticking out of their sides... Most of them have become decapitated accidentally so maybe that's creepier, but oh well. Real friends appreciate the effort not the fact that I gave them pink decapitated snowmen. 

All in all it was an experience. Here's some pictures of how they turned out. Martha Stewart eat your heart  out. 

Merry Christmas everyone! And may your Christmas baking disasters be less plentiful than mine. :)

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others’ burdens, easing other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.”
~ W. C. Jones

My First Ever Cruise... And Quarantine!

"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."--Marilyn Monroe

Most of you are probably assuming from the title that I had just about the worst cruise ever. Having nothing to judge it against, I'm going to say it could have been worse, but I certainly could have done without the norovirus experience. I'm getting ahead of myself; let's start at the beginning.

My friend Nick proposed the idea of going on a cruise with his brother, Will, who happened to be my ex boyfriend (don't worry it wasn't freakishly awkward, we're friends). We decided last minute to go to Jamaica and Haiti on Royal Caribbean Cruise lines. Simple enough right? No. We needed a 4th person so we could split room costs. Got one guy, but turns out he didn't have a passport. I got my friend Dan who took the SCUBA dive master class with me to come along. You might be thinking YAY you got the 4th person! Nope. Will backed out for no reason.  Us being stubborn decided to go on the cruise anyway and enjoy a much needed vacation for them and for me it was something equivalent to satiating my need for adventure and travel.

Nick lives in Georgia and both Dan and I live in Virginia. We made the 9 hour drive down to Georgia the day before the cruise and it was surprisingly eventful. It started raining so we thought it would be a good idea to where snorkel gear while driving down the road... just in case. If you have to ask why you might want to stop reading because nothing I do ever really makes sense.

Dan and I also spruced up our car dancing skills and enjoyed singing at the top of our lungs. It really makes long drives more interesting for everyone. I can't tell you how many people have driven past me when I am full on performing a broadway show/concert in my car and given looks of pure confusion and wonderment. Give it a try!

We got to the cruise ship the next day, which was MASSIVE. I've never seen on up close and it was pretty much a floating city equipping with 2 theatres, piano bar, nightclub, gym, pools, climbing wall, surfing area, and helicopter landing pad to name a few. Dan and Nick received a free room upgrade meaning they got a window... me? I got a mirror shaped like a porthole. No big deal because I had somehow magically morphed into a woman named Ruth. Apparently someone else was supposed to have my room before we bought them for the week. The housekeeping and crew of the boat still thought I was this Ruth woman. I went with it because I kept receiving free things like chocolate covered strawberries, and free teeth whitening consultations and money credits to our cruise cards. I guess that's the trade off of not getting a window.

Our first night was spent wandering around and seeing various shows and performances all around the boat. And drinking. Lots of drinking.

 I also tried my hand at gambling. Turns out slot machines are a lot more complicated than I previously anticipated... Of the whopping $2 I spent here is my return...

 The next day was spent entirely out to see so we spent it laying out in the sun. I desperately needed a tan after spending a year in England. I was practically an honorary albino. We spent the day migrating between pool chairs, hot tubs, and the various activities that involved being outside. I am now proudly a shade darker and was not a lobster!. That night was formal dress night so we all got snazzed up for our 3 course meal. These chefs were top notch. I have never had better food in my life, which was unfortunate that I got sick and was restricted to toast for the rest of the trip after that night.

That night we saw the Cirque du Soleil show In The Air. As always it was AMAZING. I can't even form sentences describing how fantastic I think any and all of the Cirque du Soleil shows are so... just go see one. You won't be disappointed. Your mind might be dazed for a few days, but it's a good thing.

The third day we pulled in to Falmouth Jamaica. We pretty much ran off the boat and then got in a minibus that was going to take us to our planned day of snorkeling and climbing waterfalls. Jamaica really looks like a run down third world country. It has its moments, but for the most part it is really apparent that the residents have almost nothing. The landscape even reflected that too, which was slightly disappointing as I had higher hopes for Jamaica. All 3 of us got on the boat for our snorkeling trip and were immediately confused. Dan and I are certified to teach snorkeling and we have never been told to wear a life jacket in this way before...

We knew it was so people would be kept flat on their stomachs to minimize people touching the coral... but it was still an odd way to do that. Jamaica doesn't have much to see when it comes to snorkeling, but it was still a really fun experience. The views once we got back on the boat were more impressive in my opinion. There was a storm that was coming over the mountains and the seas were ridiculously green and blue so it made a really beautiful contrast. 

Once everyone was back on board aka me, Nick and Dan since we refused to come back in early and wanted as much time in the water as possible,  we sailed to Dunn's River Falls. We got in a large group and made our way up a surprisingly difficult climb up a series of waterfalls. I kicked about every rock and also found every hidden hole thereby plunging myself into very cold water. Everyone was SOAKED by the end of it without a change of clothes. SO of course we went to lunch and enjoyed jerk chicken and an odd beef stew that still had all of the bones left in it. I gave up after I started identifying each individual bone and freaked myself out a little bit. I guess that's the downside of being a bone analyst...

Here are some pictures of the falls and the place where we had lunch!

That night the illness from the depths of hell struck. I had just finished eating the best chicken marsala of my life and had just begun the chocolate dessert. The first warning sign was that I didn't want the chocolate... I excused myself from dinner and went back to my room where I began to expel the entire contents of my stomach and intestines and all of the liquids left over in my body for the entire night. That's about as non-graphic as I could make that. 

The next day was the Haiti port call. Needless to say I felt like %@#&. However, me being me, I dragged myself off of the ship knowing I would regret sitting inside my little box of a room all day. Lucky me the walk to the kayak excursion was about a half mile... I managed to get there and finally found the boys. I tried to hide how gross I felt, but it didn't work too well. I was a trooper and made it through out kayak trip! It actually made me feel better to do some exercise and be out on the water. I guess that has to do with me being part fish. I was also slightly angry. Of course it would be my luck to be healthy in the country I didn't like as much and sick as a dog in Haiti which was absolutely gorgeous and that had plenty of places to explore and places to romp around. What did I do instead? I was curled up on a beach chair wrapped in a towel since it was slightly cold outside. 

The view from my beach chair of doom. Not too shabby.

After kayaking I immediately dragged myself to the doctor on board the boat and was diagnosed with norovirus and was stuck in my room for the rest of the trip. I did sneak out and lay by the pool on the last day out to sea and spent the entire day in a hot tub meeting new people who I ended up running around the boat with doing random shenanigans. Apparently that sent me over the edge and I was sick all the next day. Driving back to VA was a good distraction and I felt much better. However the good feeling was limited after losing 10lbs in 2 days and being limited to toast if I was hungry, which wasn't very often. Good news is that I am completely cured!

"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde

Culture Shock

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."--Barack Obama

I have been back in the States for almost 2 weeks now. I haven't really had a chance to sit down and relax because I've been freakishly busy visiting ECU and seeing everyone I haven't seen in ages. BUT posts will be more regular now.

Here's some things I've realized and that have happened that seem noteworthy:

1. The American accent sounds slightly harsh to me and this is how I feel about it in a picture

That sums up how I feel when I hear a particularly twangy accent.

This sums up the thought of "Oh dear god did I sound like this to everyone? And why do the English think my accent is fancy?"

2.  Roosters, male turkeys, guinea fowl, and billy goats all find me attractive. Yes I was chased across a lawn by several in their full on mating mode complete with what I'm sure was their most attractive screech.  

There they are in all their glory...

I realized it might seem like I was just walking around where I live and all of a sudden a really random assortment of birds came around a corner, got aroused and ran after me. Not quite. My Dad wanted to look at a building to date it for a friend and we were on their property. I walked around a corner, saw tons of birds headed right at me and said "DAAAAAAAD we're about to get attacked." I'm pretty sure he was expecting something much more ferocious when he turned around to discover a puffed up turkey, rooster and a guinea fowl strutting their stuff at me. They weren't interested in my Dad. I was chased around the yard throwing my Dad god awful looks and ended up near a billy goat cage... turns out they like me too. When he started bleating my Dad about lost it and was bent over laughing at me and I made a bee lone for the front of the house and ultimately the car. As amusing as it was I was not amused at the time. 

3. We have a new kitten that I call the beast/terrorist. She likes to attack anything and everything in my room then looks cute while doing it. Last night I discovered she is a fan of zumba. I was trying to learn a new song for the classes I teach and I was practicing in my room while she was on the chair. Before this I couldn't get her to give me any attention unless I had some string in my hand. The second I started bopping around, as you do in zumba, she froze, stared at me, then starting rolling over in the chair, turning in circles and trying to swat me everytime I went by. She was pretty much doing the cat version of dancing until I came near and she had to at least keep up cat appearances by attacking my leg until I moved out of range. Sadly I do not have a picture of this, but I'll try again tonight and see if I can sneak one in of her awesome dance moves. 

4. I've had another one of my infamous "ideas". I've been obsessed with Cirque du Soleil ever since 2009 when I saw a show in Florida. I've still never seen something so creative, imaginative, and mind blowing ever since. I don't have delusions of grandeur that I can make it into that ridiculously amazing show, but I set a goal for myself that within the next year I'm going to submit an audition video. I've decided to aim high. Go big or go home right? Should be a challenging time, but I am really excited for it!

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened"--Dr. Seuss

Full Circle

"Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of another."--Lawrence Block

Here are some pics of me during my first 2 weeks in Leicester:

I have less that 3 weeks left in my stay in the UK. It's been a year and one month since I took the plunge and decided to leave everyone and everything that I have ever known and been comfortable with to start a new chapter in my life and stand on my own feet in a foreign country. I've finished my Master's degree in Bioarchaeology, which was absolutely the hardest thing my brain has ever had to deal with. I've traveled to so many different cities and more countries than I have ever before. I've met some of the most amazing people. I've experienced a different culture and completely fallen in love with the place I can now call home, Leicester. Yet I'm leaving.

I left not really knowing myself and not having experienced a multitude of cultures. I'm leaving with a better understanding of myself. I've also become friends with people from more countries and cultures than I can count and I have loved every single second of it. When I left Dulles airport I had no idea what to expect and I was absolutely terrified, but excited. It's weird saying this, but I am a completely different person now. I love who I've become and who this country has shaped me to be. It's amazing how much one person can change in just a year.

I've taken advantage of every opportunity and taken more chances than I ever have before and I'm proud of that. Gone is the person who was too scared to go after what I wanted. I realize some people who read this blog might think that I'm taking my time for granted since I've visited so many places while I've been here. I visited these places to get an idea of what this country really is like and tried to meet new people everywhere I've gone and do things like the locals. I came here to learn not just about my degree, but about things I never knew existed. You just can't replace these experiences. I am unbelievably grateful for this chance. I wish everyone could do the things I've done. Yes I always seem to want to go do more, but I do these things for the right reasons. I want to help people, I want these places to change my life and they have. Seeing the world makes me feel whole as cheesy as that is. There's just something about going to a completely foreign place and seeing where you end up and who you end up with.

I still don't have my life figured out, but I'm more okay with that. I'm on my way to where I want to be and that's what matters. It's such a bittersweet feeling knowing that I'll be leaving Leicester/UK soon. I've started a life here, made friends, settled in and now I am uprooting myself again to go back home. Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited to see the people I've known forever and love dearly. I just don't want to get stuck in one place. I want to be able to achieve my goals and I know my family and friends will help me in whatever way they can. It's just an odd feeling being on your own to be plunked right back into the life you left behind over a year ago. I'm not sure how to cope with that yet, but I guess I will figure it out once I get there.

All I can say now is that I will be enjoying my last few weeks in Leicester, traveling to the places I've always wanted to see in England, going to my favorite haunts, and seeing the people I am going to miss so extremely much.

Now here are pictures of me taken in the past 2 weeks. If you didn't know me before and can't see my character change you can definitely see the physical change.

One of my favorite quotes is "to travel is to take a journey into yourself" by Danny Kaye. I don't think I ever understood it completely until I came over here and restarted my life from scratch. Now that it's happening all over again I see it in a whole new light. Right now my life is coming full circle from a year ago to now, but I'm a completely different person with a new outlook on life and new ambitions. Let's see where this takes me.

"One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are."--Edith Wharton

I've Been Pooped On By Too Many Species

"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the other passengers in his car."--Will Rogers


This may seem like a very odd post compared to the ones I've posted in the past month about my travels. However due to recent events with certain species I felt it necessary to comment.

I have a weird relationship with nature and sometimes it literally poops on me. I am a very outdoorsy person as long as I don't come into contact with a spider.... then awkward panicked flail action that we all know so well comes into play and I am filled with horror while every onlooker thinks I'm insane. Mais c'est la vie.

Here's a recap of my weird animal shenanigans as I like to call them.

Cows

When I was around 7 years old my parents and I were visiting the UK. We happened to be in a field near cows. I can't remember why so please recover quickly if the suspense was killing you. I was cold so I was wearing my dad's fleece jacket that he loves so much. I've never met a man more dedicated to fleece in my life. But that's another story. I survived a 10 minute lecture on why I should not get to close to the cows and to above all not let it lick his jacket. What happened next? I gigantic cow came up to me and licked my literally from my knees up to my face. My Dad watched in absolute horror and disbelief and I think his eyes nearly bulged out of his head as my natural instincts took over and I went to wipe the disgusting cow spit off of my face with his precious fleece. Oops. I've never borrowed his jacket again... The point of this story is that I knew how to react to that. Total disgust. Like this:

Here's a picture of me right before it slobbered all over me to my Dad's horror. 

Less than a year ago I took a trip to Hadrian's Wall and a few of us went on a walk at night. We literally could not see our hands in front of our faces it was so dark. We were walking past a field thinking they were empty and were just enjoying having an adventure when.... A cow decides it would be funny to moo a deep guttural horror movie like moo right as we walked by at a sound level of epic proportions. Never have I ever been so terrified of a cow... 

Sheep

Sheep and I just don't get along for some reason. Mishaps have been occurring since I was 7 and have not stopped since. They also have seemed to amplify every time I've been in the UK. Maybe I'm not around livestock in the US but oh well. At the age of 7 I visited my Aunt Kathy in Kippen, Scotland. There was a field full of sheep right next to her house and me being the weird curious child that I was decided I wanted to pet one. Bad choice. I started petting it and immediately became confused as to my my jeans were being tugged down and towards the fence. I looked down and a sheep is, I kid you not, staring me right in the eye and attempting to eat my own jeans off of me. I've never liked sheep since. But once again instinct kicked in and I knew what to do. I ran the heck out of there before I was eaten alive and probably made a face something like this:

As some of you may have read in the Archaeology of Sheep blog I had another adventure with sheep. I was on an archaeological dig in a field that was infested with sheep and lambs. At one point I looked up only to find 10 sheep about 20ft away just staring at me. Apparently they had been like that for a while. I also had a lamb follow me around for a good 2 hours for no apparent reason. 

Birds

Whether they be pigeons or sea gulls or another spiteful bird of flight everyone has been pooped on by a bird. It's just the most disgusting poop of all. I won't go into detail. However, it's worse than stepping in it because they always seem to poop on you when you're going places instead of heading home or when you feel like you look great today only to find out they pooped on your hair or clothes. Most people react in an exasperated and REALLY? WHY? Of all the places in the world that you could've pooped it had to be on me. (^%###$%&^%&) Or some version of that.

Exotic Animals

Not only have I had encounters with regular livestock you find in your fridge, but I have also had run ins with animals most people don't encounter in suburbia.. that is unless you're me. There is an exotic animal farm right down the road from where I live and a friend of mine happens to live next door. He invited me over to help him petsit 2 baby monkeys. I thought this was just going to be hours full of cute energetic monkeys climbing on me and all around fun. Guess again Emma. Guess again. I was holding this adorable diapered monkey on my chest and I was under the impression it was sleeping. Nope. It was laying in wait. For what, you may ask?  To punch me in the nose and shove its fist up my nostril. I was certainly not prepared for that....or having a monkey dangle from my nostril. I assume it looked something like this:

That same day we walked outside to see the camel... I should've known that my day was just going to get weirder. I guess it was hungry but I turned to look at the llama for one second and the next thing I know I had been bitten on the boob by the camel... All I know is that I was deeply offended with a hint of "did that really just happen?"

Alright that isn't a poop enounter, but I felt it was weird enough to include. Now we've all stepped in dog, cat, or horse poop at some point in our lives. It's like a right of passage as a human being. But I guarantee this next thing has not happened to 99.99% of you.

The weirdest thing you will ever be pooped on:

A bee. Yes you read that correctly. I was walking back to my flat the other day and a bee landed on me. After raking up a nest in the 5th grade and getting stung by 10 yellow jackets I have never been a fan... it's more like I've been terrified. I still run out of the room yelling for my dad to kill a wasp whenever I see one in my house. Sad I know, but I'm scarred for life. Back to my story. This bee landed on my hand and I inwardly panicked, but stayed calm on the outside so I wouldn't get stung. About 5 seconds later it flies off and I see the characteristic brownish pile of poo on my hand the size of a small dot. I just stood there staring at my hand. I had no previous protocol to follow if a bee decides you are the perfect toilet. Did I get angry? No I can't run after the bee and punch it in the face for being so rude. Scared? No that's just silly. Everyone poops. Confused? YES. Amused? Slightly. Bewildered? Yeah that sounds about right. Mostly I just walked back with a blank stare on my face trying to figure out if I was the only person in the world these things happen to. 

"The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room."--Unknown


UPDATE:

Literally 2 days after I posted this I visited a friend in Ipswich and we decided to go to the zoo in Colchester. We were really excited that we got the chance to feed some elephants. I went up to the gate they were standing behind and presented my small piece of lettuce. The next thing I know I have elephant spit dotted across my sunglasses and my right cheek. I guess mother nature liked this post and decided to add another weird occurrence to this list. I can now not so proudly say I have been spat on by an elephant.

An Overload of Chocolate and Waffles

"If you're not living on the edge you're taking up too much space."--Unknown

I've done it again! I was bitten by the travel bug and decided to go to Belgium. It wasn't a completely random choice. 3 years ago I had the amazing opportunity to work in Pompeii on an archaeological dig. I met some great people and got a chance to visit them in Belgium! I arrived in Brussels via the Eurostar, which is just plain amazing. Downtown Brussels is not a very welcoming place and it is one of the most difficult places to find your way. I looked like a typical tourist with my backpack, but oh well. I made it to the center of town in about 30 minutes and somehow found a tourist center and a very friendly guy mapped out a route for me to walk so I could see all of the highlights. It was a great plan in theory... but the map didn't show all the roads there were and I ended up getting horrifically lost. But I visited about 675 chocolate shops to cure my frustration. I ate so much chocolate that after a few hours I didn't even like it anymore which definitely says something.

The most amazing thing about Brussels in my opinion was the city center. There were beautiful buildings right up against one another and it was just overwhelming in the best way possible.

My next stop was a rather odd, but really funny statue called Le Mannequin Pis. It's a little boy peeing and they dress it up in different outfits. Not really sure why, but it was definitely hilarious to watch the different reactions of the different cultures visiting it. The Asian groups were by far the best. It was a look of shock, giggles, then pointing and taking 50 pictures with it. Mostly everyone was just a mixture of confused and amused.

After getting lost a few more times and site seeing more I found myself in a park. For those of you who don't know I have worked on analyzing over 12,000 oyster shells and other molluscs such as mussels  or whelks, and have become a sort of expert on them and also have never been able to eat seafood since then. What did I find when I walked into the park? Giant statues of mussels in all different colors... I think I am cursed to be followed by shellfish for the rest of my life. 

Not sure what cheesy person decided to have giant statues of brussel sprouts in Brussels... Or who thought a cone filled with peoples' legs was a good idea for a statue, but it definitely got my attention.

I made it back to the train station after using my french speaking skills, which I would've been completely helpless without. I met my friend Jessica that night and went out to dinner with her, Els, and their boyfriends. It was so nice to see friends I hadn't seen in years.

The next day Jessica took my scuba diving in Holland. We all LOVE scuba and I haven't had a chance to go diving since I've been living in the UK. It's been a tough year without being underwater at all! It was a chilly 55 degrees Fahrenheit on land and 16 degrees C underwater. A friend of Jessica (Nik) and I walked from the shore and gradually disappeared underwater. The water was pretty murky and cast a green glow, but I expected that after diving in estuaries before. We dropped down to 80ft and it was like diving blind. The water was absolutely pitch black. Our lights did us very little good. We decided to stay at 40ft where there was a reef and more light so we could actually see instead of swimming unknowingly into the belly of a whale.. or something like that. 

As you can see I was wearing A LOT of neoprene to keep warm! I recently obtained (with great pride and hard work) my divemaster certification. I consider myself to be a decent diver and I am experienced in difficult situations. Borrowing gear when necessary is always appreciated, but it is the hardest thing to overcome. Nothing fits quite well enough and getting buoyancy under control when your gear is wiggling around in odd ways is difficult. It must have looked like I was on an invisible elevator ride underwater for a few minutes. It felt like I was back in my basic open water class again! Frustrating to say the least.

After I got my bouncing fiasco under control I noticed my surroundings more. I floated there in pure shock for a minute as I realized I was completely surrounded by oysters the length of my arms... I told you I would never escape from them! I wanted to take one, but I would've been arrested for destroying part of a reef so I refrained. I still can't believe how big they were or how many. Other than that we saw about a million lobster and crab. At one point there were so many mini jellyfish it seemed like water had stopped existing and had been replaced by jellyfish. Good thing I had a wetsuit on to avoid stings. It was a pretty neat experience.  The second dive was much colder for me. My wetsuit was still wet and the day had gotten colder. I was literally shaking the entire time I was putting my wetsuit on, but I pushed through since I am not the kind of person so say no to diving unless I'm on the verge of dying.

The next day Jessica and I travelled to Ghent. It is a pretty cute little town with an abundance of facades on houses. I think we might have seen every single one in the city that day. 

I'm not quite sure what genius decided he was magic and could squeeze a building that was too wide for the space in there... The result? A probably realization that he could not perform magic and a building intruding on the other buildings' personal space... and awkwardness. Can't forget the awkwardness. 

The morning consisted of eating Ghentish noses (no I didn't take up cannibalism). Google it. They are a chewy candy. We also saw the Belfry, smallest pub in Belgium (with only 2 tables and seating to fit 5 people), and some Socialist buildings with a statue of the man who stole the loom making industry secrets from England and took it back to Belgium.

My favorite part of Ghent by far was the Gravensteen aka Castle of the Counts. It had a moat!

It was used from the 13-17th centuries and had a lot of reconstruction from those periods. The most interesting part was the weapons room where they were all on display. The were literally taller than I am... I mean I know I'm short but good lord. 

What buff beast of a man wielded that without breaking his back? What is getting stabbed by that? A dragon? That is overkill, in my opinion, to use on a human. I mean it gets the job done and seems like it could skewer about 40 people at once, but what happened to the smaller swords???

Another part I thought was interesting was the hospital ward/prison. Turns out the put all prisoners and the mentally ill in straight jackets. They also had cushioned helmets for epileptics so they wouldn't hurt their heads. I'd never seen it before and I thought it was pretty interesting.

I guess I'm just morbid, but I also liked the holes in the ceilings people used to drop hot oil on those attacking the castle or fling tar/poo/whatever they threw at people.

Speaking of poo. We also identified several toilets in the castle. We became sort of experts after learning a lot about them during our dig in Pompeii. I'm sure my parents are bursting with pride over this lovely talent of mine.

Moving on to the next day before I think of something worse to talk about than poop. The last day in Belgium was spent in Bruges. It was definitely my favorite of all the places I'd been in Belgium. I started out the day by climbing the Belfry... all 366 steps. The view from the top was definitely worth it.  Almost dying on the way down after I tripped and then skidded on some water was not. I survived so I can't complain. 

After that I went off in search of nothing in particular except to discover whatever I could! What I found first was a chocolate shop. I bought 16 pieces of chocolate and within 2 hours they were gone and I felt disgusting but satisfied. 

After I recovered from my chocolate eating binge and most likely looked and felt something like this: 

 (Photo credit: http://johnoh.multiply.com/journal/item/55/THE-RULES-OF-CHOCOLATE)

I then took a boat tour and saw a lot of the back of houses, but enjoyed myself thoroughly. I also became very adept at sneaking up the back of the walking tour guides and listening to their explanations of monuments and buildings. I obtained a whole new level of creep, but I learned a lot.

I discovered that Bruges has one of two works of Michelangelo that are outside of Italy, which was a sculpture of the Madonna and Child. I also saw the smallest window in Bruges, which was the size of my face. Rubber ducks made of chocolate were also pretty popular. I later found myself in the City Hall's Gothic Room.

I made my way back to Leicester without getting lost and without incident! I think that's a record for me. Overall Belgium was really enjoyable. I loved seeing old friends and exploring a new country is always fun for me. Maybe I'm just weird, but I missed having some sort of adventure. They country lacked that essence for me. It was nice to visit once, but I can't see myself going back or telling everyone they MUST go there. If you're looking for a relaxing vacation with cities that are mostly the same then go there! Don't let me hold you back. It just wasn't my favorite place that I've been.

BUT it has the BEST chocolate and waffles on the planet. Have you ever had a very thick hand made waffle with chocolate drizzled on top with whipped cream and strawberries? Go to Belgium for that. It WILL be worth it. 

"I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are."-- Diane von Furstenberg.     And I did exactly that :)

Paralympics 2012: Truly Inspirational Athletes

"Sport has the power to change the world, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does"--Nelson Mandela

I always look for quotes to start these things off because I feel like they set a tone for what I'm writing and can sum up what I want to convey without me pretending to be philosophical and inventing my own quotes. After attending a Paralympic event the other week this quote really spoke to me. The whole world watches the Olympics and for a brief period of time everyone is united in the fact that we are watching these athletes compete together, watching them meet people from all over the world and how they all represent their countries. Each country wants their own to win, but I always find myself rooting for everyone playing, especially if who I want to win is not competing. Sports, especially international events such as the Olympics and Paralympics, really do bring people together.

Needless to say I was extremely excited to be living in England during the games. A few friends and I made our way over to the stadium and sat in the nosebleed section, which has a surprisingly amazing view. The entire stadium was filled and a record number of attendees were there that night. It was a cool thing to be a part of. The atmosphere was incredible. Excitement was oozing from everyone. You just don't get that enough in daily life.

The Olympics are ridiculously impressive and to me are the ultimate challenge for athletes. The Paralympics, at least in my opinion, represent more than that and require more mental and physical strength to overcome their disability, to take control of their lives and adapt to what it has dealt them, and to obtain a world renowned level of athleticism. I feel like I am a decently in shape person and I love working out; I do it every day. I felt like a tub of lard sitting in the stands, the entire bag of snack food I had brought didn't help, as I watched people who were missing limbs, had mental illnesses, and lacked vision or hearing competing at such a high standard. No one has an excuse to not exercise, especially after seeing something like this.

We were lucky enough to get to see a track and field event, meaning we got to see TONS of events. When we got there javelin throwing was the main event. This quickly turned into about 4 different events going on at once and none of us knew which event to concentrate on. We just wanted to see everything.

We saw a Chinese man jump over 15m and set a new world record. He then did his second jump and broke his world record. I can barely jump 4ft much less 15m....    

The main events were the 100m heats for various different disabilities. We had no idea which heats were which as they called them things like T45 or T52. Not exactly explanatory, but we had fun nevertheless. The blade runners were by far one of my favorites. They are never the same length as the uninjured leg and they walk awkwardly. Not sure why they don't have blades that would make their legs even. Does anyone know?

Several world records were broken that night. We definitely picked a fantastic night to attend! My favorite race was the T52. Here's a picture so you know what I'm talking about.

 Toooooo cool!! We also got to see some world champions and the one and only Pistorius! He won his heat by about a mile.

The last events of the day were the blind 100m heats. There were varying degrees of sight capabilities and some could race without a guide. I can only imagine the courage it takes to run full speed at a target you can't see while being watched by thousands of people. These athletes really set the bar high for what a person can achieve.

If anyone reading this ever gets a chance to go see a Paralympic event I highly recommend it. It is just as thrilling, and much more inspirational, than a regular sporting event. As a huge sports fanatic I had high hopes, which were undoubtedly surpassed. I'm just happy that I got to experience it for myself. Go see the games and cheer on your country and all of the competitors! A chance like this doesn't come very often!

P.S. They had little remote controlled mini coopers that acted like carts to carry the javelins back to the athletes. We really got a kick out of them. It was a funny and unique way of doing things.

And yes I made odd sound effects every time I saw it move around.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."--Ambrose Redmoon