corn + small town = life

Sept 11, 2008:

I'm back at Iowa State. My 2 weeks in Eden Prairie flew by. I had a terrible 14 hours in the Toronto airport. I ended up having to buy a ticket to get to Minneapolis because when I called my travel agency a month earlier to get my flight changed, the lady forgot to click a button to make Toronto-MSP an e-ticket. Air Canada could not let me on my flight. The traval agancy also did not have anyone available to validate my e-ticket until 40 AFTER I had to check in for the flight. I cried. A lot. On the pay phone with the travel agency, after the phone call, waiting in line. I was devastated. To be so close to home. To wait 14 hours for a flight that is less than 2 hours long. I was completly out of control of the situation. I felt so helpless and alone. I saw a guy walk by with a golf bag and I just started to cry harder because it reminded me of my dad. I was so homesick and drained emotionally and physically.

Air Canada was awesome and waived a ton of charges for me so my ticket was really cheap. The travel agency said they would reimburse me, and im still waiting for that to happen. Caitlin came to pick me up and I was so happy to see her! That was a great running hug! I felt like we were in a movie, but I could careless about all the people looking at us as we were shreaking toward each other! She took me to Taco Bell on the way home and I got a mountain dew and chicken quesidilla. I spent the rest of Saturday unpacking, did all my laundry, and put away everything. It was a very productive day despite getting 3 to 4 hours of sleep that night. Better than the Amsterdam airport.
On Monday I left for Michigan. The drive across wisconsin went fast. I think I went through 7 CDs... Also, very funny because it turns out that the highway to get to the car ferry is the exact hghway my friend Molly and I took to see our friend last summer in Green Bay. I drove right past the exit to Erin's house and I've been driving past her house on that highway for almost 21 years now! So crazy how small the world is! Wow.
The Olmsteads met me at the boat-- a nice surprise! And I went on the next 2-ish hours to Grandma Scott. It was odd seeing the table not pulled out and bigger. Grandpas golf cart wasn't in the garage, neither was his hat collection. Grandma really seemed to be doing good. She said she's going to start going to church again. She needs to re-build her social contacts since she and grandpa had stayed in a lot the past few years with him not feeling well. She makes me laugh. She is such a smart, strong woman. She is a feminist and doesn't take crap from people. She told me about one of her friends and how she doesn't get along with her husband because the husband thinks grandma gives his wife 'too many ideas'. I like that grandma stands up for her friend and tells the husband that he is wrong. She told me a lot about her childhood and the silly campouts they had and about her group of friends. She was the out going, leader of the group. She told me her and grandpa used to dance, grandpa was a real good dancer. I can't imagine that, but I wish I could. She laughs away problems and drama; I love her laugh. A real hahaha laugh. We went out to dinner one night and all the staff came over and said hi, of course. I wish I could have stayed longer and heard more stories. I did ask her about dads adoption and she said they were really lucky. Of course, dad's 'her baby'.
I got to the Olmstead's in Pentwater later that week. I drove past the Ole Haus and it makes me so sad that its not ours anymore. The house next to it, 4 stories, is hedious. So, I'm gald I dont have to look at that all the time. We got sandwiches and ate dinner at the lake. It was beautiful, as usual. However, this is the first year in Pentwater that I realized how small it is. The beach is small, the channel is small, the pier and the 'lighthouse' is tiny. I felt for the first time that it's okay that I'm here and leaving in 2 days. Usually, I feel as if I never want to leave and it's perfect. I like that I am growing up in that sense. I went and watched the sunset the next night and ate plenty of Travers Bay cherry ice cream-- my all-time favorite. Jody, Kelli, Brody and Gabrielle came for the afternoon! I was so glad to see them! Brody is such a working boy and Bri is precious. I wish I could spend more time with her and give her lots of feministic ideas and keep the strong women in the family going! I know she's getting it from Kelli and Jody too! We went out to lunch and did some shopping after. I would have liked to sit down with Kelli and Jody and hang out, but time was short. I was able to show everybody lots of pictures and my voice hurt from so much talking. It was really cool for me to see all the pictures because there are so many of them that I had never really looked at past the glimpse on my camera after I took it.
The drive back was a struggle from Green Bay until Waseau. I was very very tired. Luckily, Waseau had lots of construction so that woke me up to get me to Eau Clarie. I spent the afternoon and night in Eau Clair with Sarah. It was so great to see her again. I still felt as if I hadn't seen her since she left in February, even though I saw her in May. She took me out to Torry's place and he took us on the lake/river. We swam and it was great. We cooked dinner at her place and chatted. It was so nice to be with her again. I drove home the next day and spent the next week in EP.
I was counting down the days until Kaila got home. Her fight kept getting delayed so I couldn't go to the airport. I went over to her house and hung out with the family and Summer. We went salsa dancing the next night and saw Andres for the first time in a while. It was very fun to be back. I got to see Pete, Halsch, Evan, Vinesha, Kristina and the girls. As tradition calls for, the day I left for school, dad, mom, Tank and I walked to Caribou for one last moment together. And, as usual, saying good bye was just as hard. I though as I got older and left to go back to Ames for another time, it would be easier, but it was not. I hate to see mom and dad sad to see me go and saying 'see you in a month'. Ironically, Juanes' song "hoy me voy" was the song playing as I drove down Luther, so I cried. I moved in early and got my room semi-settled. The madness of recruitment over took my next 2 weeks. We hit quota plus 1, had better return rates than last year, and took top girls away from Pi Phi, so it was very, very successful recruitment for us. School is, in fact, not very not fun. Marketing lecture is deathly boring and my teacher isn't even a professor...come on ISU. Economics is hard already and I am lost and it's week 3. I have a ton of reading for each class and my Spanish literature class is impossible. I do not have the time for school, social life, sorority, God and figuring out future plans. The constant elephant load of stress is back on my shoulders and I'm just remembering how no one understands my situation, although they try. I have 3 more months to reach my the goals I set for the house and I'm excited to get there and complete them. I'm excited to pass my visions onto the next president and I'm excited to get a part time job, have an income and join a business club. I'm excited for this semester, and although after this summer's amazing race, coming back to Ames and accepting that I live in small town Iowa is hard, I am so glad God brought me here. He's brought me to such a different place than I ever would think to live and He brought me to ADPi to show them Jesus.

[edited 2-3-2010]

All roads lead to ROME

The girls and I got into Rome in the early afternoon on Monday the 21st. The train from Florence took less than hours. EJ was flying home the next day and the hostel she booked happened to only be a few blocks from mine. Vinesha was flying back to Spain to stay with family the next day also and she decided to spend the night in the airport. We said goodbye and then went off to see as much as they could in a day. I setteled into my hostel and found a good internet cafe. I did some grocery shopping and went back to the hostel for the night.

Tuesday morning I took the metro to Vatican City. I had no clue which direction it was when I got out of the metro, but there were streams of people walking in the same direction, so I followed them! I walked into the plaza infront of the Basicalla and it was filled with people. I began to walk to find the end of the line, and I ended up walking to the complete opposite side of the plaza the line was so so so long! It went really quicky, however, and I found my way to climb up to the dome. It was 2 euros cheaper to take the stairs all the way, and I slightly regretted not taking the elevator after i had been hiking the staris for a bit. over 500 stairs was really exausting in the non airconditioned building! The stairs took you all the way up to the top and outside of the basically. You could also stop at the balcony at the very top of the church inside and take a look down. I didnt look at the church at all before I started climbing to the dome and it was awesome to see it for the first time from so high up. Across the top part of the walls all around the church, there is latin script written and I heard a priest say that each letter was 6 feet tall! Everything is so massive and grand. I spent a lot of time looking at everything. I have a ROme travel book and it gives the top 10 sights to see in the basicalla, so I found all those and read a but about them. After the basicalla, I ate my lunch of jelly and nutella **ive run out of peanut butter and its 5 euros here! Thats like 8 US dollars!**, carrots, and water.

I couldnt find the Sistine chapel for the longest time! The Vatican City is a bit confusing. I didnt realize you had to go through this huge museum inorder to see the chapel. The museum turned out to have a big variety of stuff so it was interesting. It had old maps of Italy, rugs, marble animals, marble people, marble bath tubs, egypt stuff, and more more more. The sistine chapel is just that, a chapel. I would have walked through and just thought to my self that this church had a bit more paintings than others ive seen! There is so much to know to appreciate the chapel-- the aritsts, politics, technique, and the story the paintings tell. I did a good job of listening to tour guides throug the museum and in the chapel that I got my moneys worth!

Wednesday, today, I went to the collesuem. I chose to take a tour of the colleseum and ofPalentine Hill. The tour guide in the collesuem told us that it s black due to the last 10 years of car exaust and that the rocks should be pealry white. The collesuem has a lot missing, but at the same time its great because it allows you to see the architecture of the building. You can see all the cages that are located below what was the wood flooring where the fights took place. As I did my spanish presentation about the history of bullfightning, I learned that the romans had humans fight against bulls and this is where some say bull fightning began. The cages were used to hold those bulls and, as I learned today, lots of other kinds of animals too such as hippos, tigers, and more. The romans used sails to create shade and cover all of the 50,000 spectators from the heat which was really important since the gladiator fights happened in the afternoons, after the human verse animals fights in the morning. The also perfumed the arena with insents and liquid perfums becuase with hundres of animals below the flooring and blood and vomit and poop it didnt smell good, at all.

After the collesuem, another tour guide took us to the Palentime Hill where there are tons of roman ruins from BC times. The hill is really sacred and a very very desired after place to have you house, so basically, the empirors took over and made their palaces and gradens and homes there. There are even parts of the original marble flooring from the empirors palace still there. **And they let you walk on it here in Italy!** There is a house on the sight that Mussalani used during WWII times that is now a museum. Apparently Mussalani thought he was an emperor. The tour guide did a great job of pointing out specific rooms and telling us what they were used for and threw around lots of dates/years that I dont quite remember. I had lunch in the gardens and went down to the Roman Forum. It is more and more ruines and buildings and colums still standing and intact. Lots of really interesting stuff there. After the forum I headed back to the hostel for dinner.

I have one more full day in Rome and then I fly out on Friday. I finally booked a hostel for toronto so I am all set for my next travels.

Florence!

The train from Pisa to Florence was a short one.

We stayed at another campsite in Florence. This one turned out to be far up in the mountains. The coach bus took an hour for us to get to the site. The secenry was awesome and so worth the cheap price to stay out of the city! We were all really glad we were able to stay in the mountains--its a part of Florence that we would never have been able to see if not for our staying at the camp site. The campsite made us all homesick seeing the families together camping and swimming and just being together.

The next morning we went in to the city and I threw up my breakfast on the bus. I think my motion sickness with coach busses has gotten worse-- thats the 3rd time Ive throw up on those busses this summer! VInesha and I stood in line for an hour and a half to get into the Gallery Accedemica too see the statue of David. The statue shocked me. My jaw dropped and I gave a little gasp. It is huge, absoutly massive, gigantic. I had no idea it was going to be so large. Michaelangelo really was incredible. He gave David veins going down his arms and into his hands, bushy eyevbrows, tendions behiend his knees. I was shocked and so impressed. It was worth the wait in line and the admission price.

After the gallery, we met up with EJ and check out the Dumo and the chpanielle. That whole church area was crazy. Id never seen a white, green, and red/pink church before! The details were awesome and in good condition.

So I threw up, the I stubbed my toe and broke my nail, then I got my ATM card eated by a stupid ATM machine. I was really distrubed and anxious for the rest of the day because I knoew my other account woundt have money until tuesday ( keep in mind it was sunday that I lost my card) and I didnt know if my credit card would let me take out money of the atm....ahh stesses of traveling!

That night we ate out dinner by the pool and then had a drink with two danish girls who were in our dorm with us. They were probably some of the nicest people Ive met here.

We got up early and took the bus back into Florence and hopped on a train to Rome. I didnt throw up on the bus and at the train station in Florence I was able to get money out--God always provides, doesn't he.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The train from Nice to Pisa, France was another long one. We were not able to get a train to Pisa until a bit later in the day, so we fianlly arrived in Pisa around 8 or 9 pm. We were starving and had pizza in Pisa for dinner at the train station. We hopped on a bus to our hostel, which to night was a campsite. None of us knew what to expect. We were hoping they would supply us with a cabin, or smething with walls since none of us had tent supplise. To ou surprise, and although it was really small, we got a really nice bulgalow for the night. On the portch outside there was a full kitchen that looked extremely new to me. We also had our own new and very clean bathroom and shower and foam mattesses! (Haha, I just read what I wrote and I realize how such little things make me happy--my own shower under the same roof where I am sleeping and no springs in my bed!) We all had a good sleep and checked out the next morning.

The leaning tower was in walking distance from our campsite, but it was so so s hot out and we found shade to cool off in as soon as we got to the tower. There is the tower and 3 other buildings that make up the whols site, area thing. The amounts of people there was overwhelmnig! Again, another perfect people watching situation. We finally recovered from the heat and were out and got pictures with the tower and did some learning. OUt f the 188 pillars, only 33 remain that are the originals. They had had to be replaced dur to the errosion and problens with the tower. The EU is helping fund the restoration on the tower that should be done in 2009. Only groups of 30 are allowed up at a time and it started being built int he 1100's! There were a coulòd of hundreds of years here and there where no on worked on the tower, but fianlly it was finished in the 1600'2 ( i think?) It was so cool seeing it and it really does look like its going to tip over at any minute! The street by the tower is lined with shop after shop and I got mom and dad a great present-- well I think its perfect, but well see! :)

Nice, France

Out train ride into Nice, France took almost 14 hours! Luckily, we had t change trains 2 times, so that helps to split up the day. The train ride was exactly what I had hoped to see and more. For the majority of the ride, the Mediterrain was on the right and mountains on the left. Ths shore of the sea is perfect everywhere. I wanted to get of the train and explore the little towns and beaches and swim the whole time! I did not expect the mountains to follow us to France. I loved looking out the window at the water and I decided that althogh traveling by train takes more time, it's worth is because you get to see so much more of the country.

Our train pulled through Cannes and funally into Nice. Our hostel was close by and off the main road. There was a guy from Brazil and another from London in our room who were incrediable nice and funny. They had been traveling together for a while, so I truly enjoyed hearing them pick at one another like brothers!

We went out to dinner--pizza-- and then found an internet location. Everything in Nice was notically more expensive and it was depressing. Usually you can get an hour of internet for one euro, but in Nice, the loweest we could find was two euro-hour.

We got up the next day and expolred the city and the shopps. It was a big but small town. They had a tram and all, but really only two main roads. One led the the beach and we spent the later afternoon there. The beach had no sand, and instead gray rocks. It was surpirsingly not that uncomfortable and I really liked it. The sand I have expeeinced this trip has been a huge variety from Valencia, very soft and fine, to Barcelona, heavy, to the rocks in Nice. The water had the most pefect fade from the dark blue to teals and into white as the waves crashed onto the shore. We enjoyed Subway in the main plaza and had some great people watching.

Hello Barcelona!

After all of us Iowa State students left Valencia we went back to Madrid. That weekend we took days trips to the cities of Toledo and Segovia. LOVED Segovia. We got down pured on right when we left to walk arcoss the town to get to the castel! Figures! It was fun. The castle was awesome and Vinesha and I, beling the rebels that we are, snuck into the group with the English speaking tour guide. Our brain hurt from all the spanish of our tour guide. Also, the majority of our friends were in the engligh group!

Vinesha, EJ, and myself left sunday the 13th for Barcelona. Our youth hostel in Barcelona was way up on the side of the mountain. We had to take the metro, then a bus, and then walk another 10-15 minutes until we gt there! Unfortunately, as we were walking there, the main strap on the ruck sack backpak ive been traveling with broke! I had to buy a roll suitcase and move all my stuff in there. The suitcase is a pile of crap and not all th e wheels work, so anytime we have to change locations, it has been quite the work out for me!

In Barcelona we attempted to take a walking tour around the city, but in true Spanish fashion, no one showeded up to give the tour! So, we made Vinesha be our tour guide because she was in Barcelona last summer. She brought us to the old city wjere we spent most of the afternoon and we ate lunch in a fountain, literally. We walked down to the port and watched a few curise ships pull in, fed the fishes, and napped. We also saw this huge staue of Christopher Colombus pointing out t sea. Later, met one of Vinesha's friends who works at this super classy hotel. He brought us up to the roof top pool and EJ and I were in heaven hanging out by the roof top pool ver looking the city! We were experiencing luxury for the first time since we left in May!

Our hostel had a kitchen so we cooked us up some pasta the 2 nights we were there and had wine on the terrace looking at the moutains. Beautiful and soooo relaxing. We went to the beach the next day and enjyed our last day in Spain.

las ulitmas dias

*** I WILL ADD more pictures later this computer is way way way slow. LOVE ***



My last days in Valencia flew by!

The last 2 weeks I dont really remember what happened. They were fulled of running errands, finishing a project and giving a presentation for my Spanish class, packing, and saying goodbye to the city.

For the 4th of July a bunch of us Americans went to the river park and shot off lots of fireworks. Vinesha and I had bought some super small fireworks and some sparklers. The the police pulled up and told us that you can only shoot off fireworks during this one fiestival in April...who knew! The the man stepped over this huge $30 firework and took my sparklers from me!! It was soo funny and the rest of the night and week I was getting so much crap from friends about how I keep doing illegal things and getting in trouble with the police with my sparklers! It was a realy fun night, but quite different from being in the US. *the picture is of Vinesha and our friend Kaite with our sparklers before the Police came*

On the last saturday in Valencia Vinesha and I went to Ciudad de las ciencias...city of the sciencias. It is in the river park in the middle of the city. It is by far the most stunning modern buildings I have ever ever seen while in Europe. There is an opera house, iMax building, museum, and the biggest aquariam in Eurpoe. The science museum was really interactive and we spent a lot of hours in there playing!

Then we went to the aquariam for the rest of the afternoon. We saw the sweetest dolfin show and the trainers would have the dolfins push them underwater and then swim up to the surface and shoot them into the air. The trainers were doing flips in the air and it was true entertainment! We saw penguins, walruses, coral, this seahorse that looked like a tree, sharks. There was a long tunnel with water on all sides and it was super fun fun fun!


On the last week of class our spanish professor took us to a city/area called Albufera. We climed some hill and talked about how important tourism is to Spain and how the errosian of the beaches is a huge huge issue Spain is having right now. I was really tired of Spainsh that day and I gave up on trying to figure out what he was explaining to us. My head hurt. Later we took a boat ride on this man made lake that was massive!! The sun was setting and the weather had a slight chill. I could have been on Lake Minnetonkan in Minnesota and it was the first time in almost 2 months of being in Euproe that I truly felt homesick. The boat ride was very realxing and it was a great end to a fun day of seeing more of beautiful Spain.

After the field trip, Vinesha and I went back to our favorite Chineese buffet for one last time of delicious food!! yum!