Old School "Blogging"

Wow. I haven’t blogged since April. That is officially the longest I’ve gone without posting an entry. Why? Two reasons,
1) Facebook
2) <-- p="" this.=""> I’ve gone back to “old school” blogging. Paper and pen. When you’re travelling pulling out a laptop isn’t always practical. For one thing the battery only lasts so long and for another, the time you do have in front of a computer is often limited to when you have internet access and can upload your copious amounts of photos so people can follow along on your trip. Or it was for me.

So where did we leave off? I finished my semester in Georgia with straight A’s. That put me on the President’s list which was a nice surprise. I worked HARD this semester. I’ve never taken five history courses at once. Heck, I’ve never taken five COURSES. In Ontario I only ever take four and one is usually French to break it up a bit. But yeah, five history courses and a volunteer placement and I managed to pull off straight A’s. Go me!

May 1st my best friend Meredith flew out and put up with me while I stressed out over final exams and then the two of us (more her than me) packed up my belongings, wrangled them all into my car and roadtripped back to Ontario. Roadtripped in that we stopped off in Washington, DC, NYC, CT and Boston, MA. I left her at the airport in Boston so she could fly back to BC and I drove the rest of the way to Ontario alone. I had six days in Ontario, three of which I spent running around Waterloo meeting up with people and doing administrative paperwork and three which I spent in Mount Forest relaxing, celebrating my friend Grace’s birthday and mentally preparing for My Big Trip.

May 20th I flew, along with 23 classmates, to Amsterdam. I’m not going to cover my whole trip in detail because most of my blog readers are FB friends with me and therefore know where I was. Basically Amsterdam ->Ypres, Belgium -> Arras, France -> Dieppe, France -> Brugge, Belgium -> Amsterdam.

 I had two days in Amsterdam after everyone else left which I spent with my friend Heather and then I started travelling on my own. To Paris for a week -> Luxembourg City -> Berlin -> Bremen, Germany -> Oldenburg , Germany -> Celle, Germany -> Rome -> Ortona, Italy -> Rome -> Cannes, France.

I’m in Cannes now and I’ll be here for the rest of July and all of August. I fly back out of Amsterdam on the 31st (still need to determine exactly how I’m getting back to Amsterdam). I’m working in Cannes. As a “family helper”. I had applied as an Au-Pair but the family that offered me a position has children who are older than me and really just need someone to help out around the house. I clean, iron and help with meals and generally just help out around the house as needed. In exchange I get a room with an ocean view, I take all my meals with the family and I participate in their activities, which so far have included going into downtown Cannes and going to the amazing open air market. Last year at this time I was reading a book by Peter Mayle called “A Year in Provence” and another one called “Why French Women Don’t Get Fat”. Now I am living in Provence (or just south, on the Cote d’Azur aka French Riviera) and living with French people who eat the way you need to eat to not get fat! My chronic, biggest worry is wondering what will happen in the future. Well there is NO way I could have designed this so it’s a sign that it’s really okay to stop worrying!!! My life is fantastic I only need to stop and think about the past few months or look out over the Mediterranean Sea to recognize that.

 So, that’s what I’ve been up to. Sorry it didn’t get written down here but…then again, I’m not sorry. I’ve been having too much fun!!!