That´s all folks!!!!

Hello from Portugal!!!!

The past week has been crazy...I love this country!!!! We started in Porto where we visted the beautiful city and toured the port wine caves (lots of tast tests too!!!). Our hostel was a pretty chill place and I met so many ppl from all over the world...I think meeting people is my favorite thing about traveling....now i have places to stay wherever I travel...very practical if you ask me!!! The second night a bunch of us went to the tiesto outdoor concert....it was crazy....6pm-6am! On our way home we got lost, and I tried to speak Portugese to these two mothers with their childre (who brings 7 yr olds to a tiesto concert???) for directions.... apparently my portugese isnt that great because they ended up driving us to the OTHER end of Porto...totally NOT where I wanted to go. I felt bad asking them to take us back, and they clearly werent understanding me anyways, so we figured we would just take a cab....turns out the cab drivers dont understand english, however, so we got kicked out of the cab. Just as I was about to start freaking out (just a little of course!) a guy came up and asked us if we need any help... obviously we did, and he knew exactly where our hostel was....so he walked us there.... turns out he is a drug addict who is on a special program to stop without going cold turkey because his family and friends disowned him and he lost his job.... funny what u learn about ppl when u are lost in Porto! lol Everything turned out ok, and we got back to the hostel safe and sound!
After Porto we were off to Lagos. During a bus pit stop I tried my Portugese again with a local waitress... I somehow ended up ordering a coffee....we have come to the conclusion that while i thought I was telling her what a lovely country Portugal was, she was asking if I wanted a coffee, and thinking she was asking something different, I said "si"...I should use more hand signals next time! lol
Lagos was amazing...more touristic however sooo much fun! We hit the beach and an Aussie and I decided to swim out to the caves which were pretty cool! The next day we did some surfing with a few ppl that we had met at our hostel...I actually was able to ride a wave!!! It was awesome...I may have chipped a tooth and a got a huge cut down my back, but that is to be confirmed at a later date... :) The next day we did a boat tour where we went out to the caves which was cool but overprices. Afterwards we took a boat and went to go see wild dolphins! It was crazy! The boat ride was super fast and we flew off waves, and then we got to see dolphins jump and swim around the boat! I had never seen dolphins in their natural habitat so that was pretty cool!...Im considering taking one home and keeping it in my pool....
Presently I am in Lisbon...the capital city of Portugal! It´s a big city but still has a Portugese feel to it, which is nice. Tomorrow we are doing a walking tour of the city and then following day we are going to Sintra, which is supposed to be a fairytale city with castles and the like! On the way we are going to stop at a cliff which happens to be the most western point of Europe and has a crazy surfer beach...Im going to watch the surfers this time!! ;) On Saturday Im doing my "independence" and going to Evora, which is home to a church made of human bones...yup...it´s true! How crazy!!! It even has two skeletons hanging from the ceiling!!! A little disturbing I admit, but nevertheless a must see on my list! That´s pretty much it...my plane leaves early Monday morning, so Im basically spending my last night at the airport and shopping at duty free...it´s time to come home tho...my clothes are ruined, my new purse that I have not yet used got moldy because of the rainy trip from Porto to Lagos, and I look like a mess (every day in Europe is a bad hair day..right???? lol)

Hope you all miss me!!!...cause Im coming home! See you all back in the 514!!!!

-Ash
xoxo

The final stretch

Hey Guys!!!

Presently Im in Portugal (Porto to be exact!) Under two weeks left until Im back to reality....time flies...it´s crazy!!!! Greece was amazing! I met up with my group in Athens and we took the ferry together to our fist island - Mykonos which is knowns as the gay island. It really wasnt at all how I pictured the greek islands. It was very rocky and montenous...could be my ignorance but I prefer to blame the sisterhood of the traveling pants! The first day was spent at the beach...I got bit by a so called sea urchin...it hurt. Afterwards we did a walking tour of the city. The center part of of town is more how I imagined it to be. The gouvernment made a policy stating thatALL the buildings and houses must be painted a specific white...the only thing that can be different is the shutters which can be painted one of five colours.

- Green for the trees
-Blue for the sky
- Turquois for the ocean
- Brown for the earth
- Yellow for the sun

During our walking tour we saw the old windmills, little venice (we went to a bar called Rapcity Bar which is right near the ocean....soooo pretty!!). We had a group dinner which was yummy...love greek food. I also had my first experience with oozo...which was interesting to say the least...i swear that drink could kill any germ you had inside of you!!! During dinner, I met a new friend. His name was Petros and he is a Pelican. The story has it that years ago, a pelican came to the island of Mykonos with his pelican lover. They bacame the "mascot" for the island until a drunk taxi driver hit him with his car... the stuffed pelican can now be found in a museum! They eneded up replacing the Pelican with Petros. The waiter told me I could pet the Pelican...so I did. Then a local told me to pet the female Pelican because she was nicer. Apparently all I had to do was give her compliments...he demontrated by kissing her and telling her she was beautiful. I told him I could not speak greek but he said that she was bilingual.... so I told her she was a pretty bird and she bit my boob....apprently her english isnt so strong. After dinner we had a night out on the town... good times!!! We ended up waiting for a long time to grab a taxi, however, because there are only 32 on the whole island...saturday nights get pretty busy!
The next day was spent at the beach... I didnt get bit this time...but I did however met an Aussie and she made me try a vegemite sandwhich...didnt like it very much .... very salty!

Funny memories from my first island experience: you cant flush the toilet paper down the toilet...it will block and come back up...i learnt from my friends´ experience! Also, I needed to do laundry (desperatly!) and they dont seem to believe in washing machines so you must get it washed for you...which cost me 15E....not so funny but still funny all at the same time!

The next island on our tour was Paros. The first day we got a tour of the island. Again it was nothing like I pictured it to be, but my that time I stopped having expectations! In Paros, they have the church of 100 doors (except it actually only has 99 doors). The story goes that an architect made the church and his teacher was jealous so he pushed him out of a window however he fell aswell and they both died. Rumour has it that when the 100th door is found, Greece will regain controle over Constantinople (Istanbul). The streets are super cute and although they do not have any laws stating that all the buildings and houses must be painted white, the majority are. They have adorable boutiques and really nice jewlery!!! After the tour we spent the afternoon at the beach...I didnt get stung!!!! The night went to another Greek restaurant (a la surprise generale!!!!) Yummy sea food salade and baklava!!!
The next day we went on a boat cruise around Paros and antiparos. We visted many of the islands and beaches along the way and stopped to go swimming. I was the first to jump off the boat and swim through a cave where you are supposed to make a whish and then you´ll be happy for eternity!....Ill let you know how that goes!!! During the cruise the captain kept throwing fresh octopus on me.... I dont think I have ever screamed like such a girl....EVER! For lunch we had a BBQ on one of the islands...we ate the octopus which was super good!!!! We also had slouvaki and greek slade and unlimited wine and oozo!!! I didnt drink much because apparently I get sea sick...thank god my friend had motion sickness pills!!!! On the way back I got to steer the boat...Im a natural!

The next day we were off to Santorini! This island is BEAUTIFUL!!!! The first afternoon was spent roaming the streets and taking in the views.... we even saw the donkey trail.... I decided against a donkey ride because apparently the donkeys are badly treated and I didnt want to condone this touristic attraction. That night we had dinner on a clift and watched the sun set (how ramantic...too bad my group was ONLY girls!!!!!!) After dinner we got intoduced to Santorini`s night life.... (inside joke ...G I Joe!)...
The following day we went walking on the volcano! When the volcano errupted many years ago, it broke Santorini into 3[?] separate islands. The volcano is still active today and I was able to fell the heat coming from the rocks. Afterwards we went to the hot springs. We jumped off the boat and swam out to the hot springs...which were not that hot!!!At the bottom of the springs there is the mud used in spa`s (mud bath) so we put the mud all over ourselves! My skin was "baby bottom" soft!!!! That night we had a picnic at Oia (which is where sisterhood of the traveling pants was filmed). This is exactly how I pictured the greek islands (big surprise eh!!!) We had a picnic and watched the sunset which apparently is a once in a lifetime experience. It was breath taking....soooo great....until this idiot dropped my camera while taking a group photo.
The next day we were off again...this time to Ios...the party island...and boy did we live up to it's name.
Day 1: Beach + bar hopping
Day 2: Beach + Banana Boat+ Bar hopping

**** Danced on the bars + got free shots.....danced on the bar to get free shots...and got free shots because we danced on the bar!!!****

Day 3: No voice + sick + return to Athens.

In Athens we stayed with my friend from exchange again. We ate yummy food and his mom took care of me!!!! He tookd us out with his friends that night to the most beautiful bar I have ever seen...it is right beside the ocean, and it is super chic and the water is turquois....(apparently words cannot explain! lol)

All in all I loved Greece. I met some really cool people (especially from New Zeland!!! ...definitively high up on my places to visit!!!), saw some really beautiful views and did some pretty awesome stuff.... Greece check....Portugal here I come!!!!

Less than two weeks!!!! Miss you all!!!

-Ash
xoxo

A blast from the past!

Hey guys!!!

I know I have been bad lately with the blogs....it's not because I do not care...it's only because finding internet that isnt 1000$ an hour has been difficult since leaving Toulouse! At any rate, here's my story!!!!

My time with Sofia and Angie in Toulouse was amazing. I went rock climbing...even though heights make me uncomfortable, and I learnt how to windsurf (the only problem was the lack of wind! lol) After Toulouse I headed up to Paris to meet up with Gab and her mother. They had rented a hotel for the week and I was invited to stay with them...lucky me! On my arrival, I decided to take a taxi to the hotel because it was midnight and I figured a girl getting lost in Paris at midnight might not be the best situation to put myself in. Once I got the cab driver, I told him that I wanted to go to rue "clement"... he was super confused, because apparently this street did not exist. After numerous attempts at locating the street on his GPS and map, he finally gave up and told me there was no such street....I therefore took the map and proved him wrong by pointing it out in less than 30 seconds... once I located the street, he loudly exclaimed "ahhhhhh CLEMENT"...as if I had been pronouncing the street name incorrectly all this time. "Mais vous etes quebecoise!!!" "Ahhh mais oui!!! Est ce que c'est le drapeau sur ma valise ou mon accent qui t'a donner cette idee!!!!" (trying to be sarcastic...) lol Peu importe, he got me there in one piece!!!
The next day I started touring Paris. We started off by visiting the Louvre which is HUGE! If you really appreciate art, you could easily spend the whole day walking in all the rooms. I would not consider myself exceptionnally knowledgeable about art history, so 3 hours was plently for me! lol I was able to see da Vinci's Mona Lisa and La Venis de Malo so I was happy! Next we had lunch in Les Jardins des Tuileries... expensive sandwiches, nice park! After lunch we visted La Place de la Concorde which is where Queen Marie Antoinette was beheaded, and then took a strole down les Champs Elysee ...which was kind of dissapointing...im not sure exactly what I was expecting but it was a little more than a path surrounded by trees. This broad boulevard, however, whose name refers to Greek mythology's Elysian Fields' (or heaven) links La Concorde with place de l'Arc de Triomphe. On our way to l'Arc de Triomphe, we decided to do some shopping.... I decided that I was not at par with the Paris style... so I bought a leopard print dress (can only get away with doing this in Paris!!!!). The Arc de Triomphe was.... an arc...it was nice....I took pictures!...although apparently I underestimated it's history because it was commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorat his imperial victories... (didnt he end up losing the war?) Anywho, since it was such a nice day, we decided to head for the Eiffle Tower... we climbed to the top (we didnt cheat...we took the stairs!!!!) We also established two new muscles...they are called the stairus uppus and the hillus downus...the muscles that we use from climbing up and down every stair and hill in Europe!!!! At the top of the Eiffle Tower we took pictures...for obvious reasons!!!
The next day was a little more relaxed.... we visited Cathedral Notre Dame which, if you ask me, does not feel at all like a church but rather a very large, beautiful building in the shape of a cathedral....Im sorry, but any church that has little machines that turns your money into souvenirs IN the church is not really the house of God, but more like the house of tourism. We also visted the Conciergerie which was the main prison during the Reign of Terror and used to incarcerate aledged enemies before they were brought before the Revolutionary Triunal in the Palais de Justice next door. This is where Queen Marie Antoinette spent her last two months. Afterwards we visited the Bastille which was built during the 14th century as a fortifed royal resisdence. The notorious prison was demolished by a Revolutionayr mob on the 14th of July 1786 and has been replaced with a busy traffic roundabout. We were not able to get much more sight seeing done, because there was a huge rain storm...so we went shopping!!!! It took all my willpower not to buy shoes...to go with my new dress of course! ;)
The next morning, I decided to do my independance while Gab and her mom organized their luggage. (They both did much more shopping than I did, so fitting all their new clothes into their luggage was causing some issues!) I saw l'Hotel des invalides (which is where Louis XIV housed 4000 disabled war veterans), Moulin Rouge, Cimetiere Montmartre, Basilique du Sacre Coeur, Le Jardin du Luxembourg and finally the Pantheon (Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie are buried in this crypte). That night we took a night boat cruise around Paris and saw the Eiflle Tower lit up...it was beautiful...and cold!
The next morning Gab's mother was off and Gab and I were left to fend for ourselves. After walking for 45 minutes in the pouring rain, we finally got to our hostel which was in the ghetto of Paris in the middle of nowhere! That night we went to see Alegria (Cirque du Soleil) which, minus the fact that we got lost and were completely soaked by the time we found the performance tent, was FABULOUS (our seats were spectacular as well!)!!!! It was so good I convinced myself that 11E for a key chain was definitively worth it. At one point during the show Gab and I were convinced that the guy behind us had stolen our 5$ M&M's.... turns out they had just fallen behind the seat! That night we wanted to get a good night sleep because we were leaving early the next morning for Normandy... instead of sleeping however, I stayed up all night because the asian girl that was sharing our room snored the whole night...and when i say snore, what i really mean is she was inhaling her tongue every time she took a breath. I secretly wanted her to sleep walk out of the hostel and as far away from me as possible (to put it nicely!)... actually, it was no secret..I loudly expressed my hatred to Gab with hopes that she would wake up or role over or something. Unfortunatley she continued snoring...

Normandy was something out of the ordinary. We arrived in a small town called Bayeux and with just our luck, it was pouring rain. Have you ever tried to find your way to a random hostel in the middle of a random city in the rain with a paper map? Well thanks to the brilliant guy at the information desk, Gab and I got the pleasure of trying it out!...and let me tell you....it doesnt work out to well. Our map got destroyed in less than 5 minutes and by the time we found our hostel we had the 3 f's --- froid, fatiguer et faim. To our surprise, the old lady who ran the hostel was taking a nap and we were told to come back in two hours (ca va guy!!! ) Instead Gab and I waited in the common room with no heat and spooned in my sleeping bag.... out of necessity, I can assure you...not by choice! It soon became a ritual because we ended up getting the room couple's room with one double bed whose matress folds in the middle, so we spent our nights rolling to the center of the bed and then yelling at each other for who was taking all the room.
The next morning we wanted to go visit Mont St Michel.... we were then told (at 9:30 in the morning) that the only bus leaving from Bayeux to our destination had left at 7:30 that morning. Not wanting to spoil our day, we decided to go horse backriding on one of the D-Day Beaches...however once we reserved, we realized that there was no return bus. Finally we decided to go visit a caramel store, however we soon realized that we were not going to be able to leave Bayeux, so we went back to our hostel and took a 4 hour nap.
The next day we went to visit the D-Day beaches which were fantastic. We got to see Juno (Canadian) and Gold (British) beaches. We also got to see the German base, the muesums, the memorials and the cemetaries...mais, a la surprise generale, il pleuvait.

The next day we left for Paris to catch our flight to Greece. The rain had stopped and we thought it was all up hill from there until we realized we had forgotten to book a hostel for that night (since we were only leaving late the next day.) With our luck, EVERYTHING was booked. Luckily there was a hotel that was 60% off in the middle of nowhere, so we were able to sleep at a reasonable price. The next night we caught our plane to Greece and arriving on time in this beautiful country, we spent our first night in the airport....
During the day we met up with a friend from our exchange who just came back home (he lives in Athens). It was great...we had our own personal tour guide for the day. We saw the Acropolis which is the symbol of Athens (sacred rock). Ontop of the sacred rock is the Parthenon (dedicated to the goddes athena - godess of knowledge - which is an architectural masterpiece. We also saw the national gardens and the many local streets, markets and cafes which makes Athens somewhat of a "je ne sais trop". Afterwards we went back to his house and his mother cooked us a HUGE greek homecooked meal. It was soooo good, I cant even begin to explain! The amount of food that was served was a little ridiculous...i loved it! :)
Now I am in back in my hostel a little upset that it is IMPOSSIBLE to do laundry in this city and that I have run out of underwear. Early tomorrow morning we leave for the islands...cant wait!!!

Missing you guys lots! The countdown has begun and I will be seeing all of you in T-minus 23 days!!!!

-Ash
xoxo

Forever Young

Hey Guys!!!!

Sorry it has taken me so long to write.... I have sent my luggage home (which includes my laptop) and things have been a little crazy making sure everything was in order before leaving Montpellier...that's right...Im gone... Montpellier 2007 - check (shout out to Gab!!!) It's actually super sad. I didnt realize how attached I was to that city.... my heart might have broke just a little when the train pulled away (with me in it!!)

At any rate, let's go back to my Spain trip!!!

Forget me nots from Madrid:
- I was walking in a park when a black came up to me, hit me (lightly) at the back of the head, and told me he was not a terrorist....always good to know!! lol
- Bull fight! It was raining, and I understood nothing! But it was super fun and a great experience. Still not sure about the morality of the sport.
- Flamenco dancing! Beautful dance and the music is done by only vocals and a guitar! One of the singers told me I was beautiful! lol
- Our hostel was an old palace, so I was able to pretend that I was a princess!
Although I had an amazing time in Madrid, it ended up being my least favorite place in Spain, because it felt like any other big city. I could have been in the USA and not have known the difference...it didnt have a Spanish fell to it!

Forget me nots from Valencia:
- The bus ride to Valencia from Madrid was long but the view was amazing. It all of a sudden became more Spain like, which was a nice change from Madrid!
- We met up with the guys from our exchange that night and the next day we did a tour of the city. At one point, we climbed to the top of a bell tower (Miguelete bell tower)...the stairs were narrow and SUPER high...oh ya, and did I mention there were 250 of them! Just as we arrived at the top, the bell started dinging...I think I may have lost some hearing in my left ear. The cathedral was beautiful (kind of like all the other churches in Europe) and is the only Holy Grail recongnised by the Vatican!!! We also visited the Mercado Central (market) which had all sorts of fruits and different foods including pig heads... yummy!
- The beaches in Valencia are super nice...the water, however, was freezing. Also, most women do not wear bikini tops... dont worry parents...my top stayed on! lol
- The American Cup: an international regatta
- Paella: the national food...SOOOO good. Basically it is fried rice, sea food, and chicken!
- We did our own pub crawl. We would get these tickets on the street giving us a free beer to a specific bar, so we'd go into the bar, get our free shot or beer and then leave. It was ridiculous!
- Felix threw a lizard on Gab...she freaked out...I thought it was funny... so I laughed!

Forget me nots from Barcelona:

- Las Ramblas is a pedestrian boulevard with ppl pretending to be statues and then moving and scaring the crap out of innocent travelers like me, street artists, news kisoks ad vendors selling everything from live chickes to blue roses and beer!! It also is home the market (Mercat de la Boqueria), which like in Valencia, sells lots of different types of fruit, bread, meat and the like.
- Gaudi: we saw everything he ever did! His garden is beautiful and the seats are made from his designs which are super cool. We also visited his museumad and la Sagrada Familia, which is Barcelona's most famous buildig and visiting it is apparently a "once-before you die" sort of experience (according to the lonely planet!) Construction becan in 1882 and it's only half-built! It is supposed to be done in 2082...
- We went went for Tapas for Gab's birthday (which are like mini meals...the whole concept is to buy several and share! They are also eaten as small snacks around 10pm (they have a larger dinner at around 4pm...) Afterwards we went out to a random club which was pretty cool! The clubs there never close! It's a little ridiculous! That night, I did not have a place to sleep because plans changed and I ended up being in Barcelona a day early. At any rate, the guys and Gab had booked their hostel already and there was no more space available for me. However, given the fact that we are so smart, and apparently have no morals, we scammed the hostal because when they asked for proof of us staying in the hostel, I showed their room key and they showed their card, and we all got in, and I just spooned with my friend for the night! Gold!
-All you can eat sushi....SOOOO good!
- We had to say goodbye to our boys because they were heading back to Montpellier and leaving again for Italy and Croatia so we were not going to see them again (until summer!). It was sooo sad. Gab and I cried like somebody had just thrown away our ice cream cones!!! It was soo sad. They were like my family for 4 months. We ran after the train....we couldnt catch it though...
- Gab, Justin and I fell asleep on the metro on our way to a church, and we ended up in the middle of a nowhere town! So we decided to get out and walk around! The town was SUPER beautiful...in the middle of mountains and green scenery! We picked flowers and I pretened like I belonged and said hello to everybody I met on the street!
-Once the boys left, we changed hostels and stayed at the alternative hostel. They do not adverstise on the internet or the like because the whole concept is one travel tells another travel about it, who tells another travel and so on and so forth. At first it seemed really really REALLY cult like, but eventually I took a liking to all the ppl and the owner and we all ended up going out and eating pizza. A few of us ending up finding a bar that sold 2L beers...that's right Stephy...2L! Beats the 1L beers in Munich eh! hahaha

Forget me nots in San Sebastian:

- We arrived at 6am (we had taken a night bus!) and we were trying to find our hostel. I guess we looked really really lost because an old man who was taking his morning jog stopped and actually brought us directly to our hostel! He was so adorable! I didnt really understand what he was saying, but ud be suprised how much sign language can help! lol
- Our hostel was super different from the other ones we had stayed at. It was a little old couple who rented out the beds in their house! They became my spanish mama and papa! Super cute! Also, the Canadians took over the hostel. We met 7 different Canadians! Represent! hahahaha
- San Sebastian is BEAUTIFUL! It's in the middle of mountains and has the most beautiful beaches EVER!
- We did a tour of the city and climbed to the top of Monte Iqueldo for a panoramic view of the city. It is honestly breath taking. We also saw random "art" near the waterfront. I swear, when i return to Montreal, Im going to stick a fork, a knife and a spoon in a rock, and call it art and make ppl pay to see it! lol
- Apparently there was a beautiful lookout from another mountain, but it required a 30 minute walk uphill. I was not really for it (I figured we had already seen a panoramic view, what more could be want right!?) but Gab convinced me otherwise and we began our hike up a 90 degree hill! Eventually we ended up in the forest and were following drawings painted on trees. We eventually came to the conclusion that we were no longer on the path to the lookout. We did, however, get to see a wild donkey, and some amazing views. We ended up in another random local town, which was fun! We never got to the lookout.....
- The last night there was a guy about our age who was an artist who apparently wanted to draw Gab and I ALL THE TIME. At first it was fun, but after a while it was a litle annoying. Plus, in the morning, he woke us up saying that he was cold and wanted to spoon...hello...NO!
- Day trip to Pamplona: famous for the running of the bulls which takes place in July. In May, however, it is very non touristic, which was exactly what I wanted...you really got the feel for a "normal" spanish town! We got to walk down the street where the bulls usually run! We pretended like we were bulls and took pictures!

Back in Montpellier I said bye to all my friends and finally managed to send my luggage back home (1000000000000$ later!) We stayed in the guys villa because I gave up my rez in April.. we didnt hafta pay, but we had to clean instead....yay! It was super sad saying bye to everyone.... we all say that we will keep in touch....I wonder how many of us actually will?

Now I am in Toulouse visiting Sofia! Today we did rock climbing...and not rock climbing up a wall....I mean rock climbing up rocks!!! It was soooooo fun! I loved it! I am sooo bruised and cut and sore now though! It's pretty funny! Tomorrow we met up with Angie and we will do the tour of Toulouse, which will be good for Fia too because she hasnt really done that since she's moved here! lol Monday we are going wind surfing and then we will take things from there!

Alrighty well that is pretty much all I got for now!!!! Missing you guys tons and Ill be home before you know it! Keep me posted! Love you all lots and lots!

Gros Bisous!

-Ash
xoxo

Summer 2007 Begins...

Exams are done, and summer is finally here... im by the ocean and life is good. But i cant help but wonder if this is the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Summer in Montpellier is crazy. We spend afternoons at the beach, go to vineyards and have beach parties. The first bunch of people have already left back to their country of origin and it has hit me that my exchange experience will soon be coming to an end....Ive met some of the most amazing people, done some of the craziest things, seen some of the most beautiful countries in the world and had an amazing time...it is kinda hard to picture the fact that it will all end!!!

Presently i am in Spain. I was in Madrid for the past three days. Madrid is in the center of Spain, so there are no beaches...not that we could have gone to the beach even if there had been one because it was raining and cold.... BUT we managed to be there on May 2nd which happens to be Madrid Day!! So it was one big party! We went to a bull fight which i still have mixed emotions about. ...they kill the bull.... very disturbing if u ask me, but definitivley an experience. I got to see a palaise and pretend that I was a princess while i walked throught the gold rooom!!! We also visited some of the most beautiful churches that I had ever seen, and walked through some outstanding parks. At night, when we werent watching bulls being killed, we were watching Flamenco shows...the national dance! It is amazing...lost of clapping of the hands and snapping of the fingers and crazy stomping of the feet and twirling of the dresses!!! Loves it! Today we left super early in the morning for Valencia. We visited the largest and apparently the best aquarium in Europe. I got to watch a dolphine show, which was cool, but besides that, it was definitivley not worth the over priced entrance fees! Tomorrow we will meet up with some other friends from our exchange program and will finish touring Valencia before heading off to Barcelona!!!! The weather is much better here so Im hoping it will keep up like this for the rest of our trip...

Adios!

-Ash
xoxo

Centrale d’agressivité, bonjour!

Hey guys,

I thought I would inform you about how absolutely UNCOORDINATED and UNORGANIZED the French system is.

I had two exams yesterday. The first one I didn’t know what time it was at. It only said it was in the AM (which, if you ask me, is a pretty large time frame for a 15minute exam!). So we sat in front of the teachers door from 8:15am till he showed up at 9am, where he told us he need to go get his computer fixed and would be back in half an hour….ahhhhh! Our exam started at 9:30…BUT the exams are done orally and he had two classes to do, so we had to wait until it was our turn.

My next exam was scheduled at 1:00pm (at least I knew the time for this one!) Except when I went to see the location it said:

- Left of the library
- Up metallic stairs
- First floor

That’s it. Nothing else. No room number or anything.(You must also understand that the library is like half an hour away from my faculty building!) Plus it said my exam actually started at 1:30….SO we went on a hunt for my exam room! We THOUGHT we had found it, but found it weird that it was now 2pm and the teacher had NOT shown up. Luckily a girl came to see one of her friends (who was also waiting to do her exam) and said that this was not the place. Actually, the place was:

- INFRONT of the library
- Up CEMENT stairs
- SECOND floor

Now does anybody see the difference between the directions we got and the correct directions? Had the exam coordinator (who is in charge of the international students and is what we English call “an air head”) made me miss my exam (thank god the teacher was nice and let us take our exam even though we were an hour and a half late) I might have killed her. No joke.

In the end I took both of my exams which I think went well, so thank god for that! 2 down, 3 to go!

In other news, it’s going to be 21+ degrees c all week!

Miss you lots and see u in just over 2 months!

-Ash
xoxo

My family!

The guy on the left in the red shirt is actually my cousin's boyfriend. He's filling in for Mathieu who is in Marseille!

DRUGS

BEER

SEX

Ash and Vero!!!

Easter the way it should be...and was!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, every time I visit another country, I realise just how much I prefer it to France! Haha. At any rate, I just got back from Belgium and had an amazing time. We left Thursday morning arriving in Brussels early afternoon. We met up with my aunt who took us to eat some Belgian fries with two of my cousins (I hadn’t seen one of them in 8 years, and the other I had never met!!!!!) That night was spent catching up on old times and re-getting to know my family.

Friday morning we were off to meet up with Vero (friend from Mtl who is studying in the Netherlands). The rest of the day was spent eating waffles (with strawberries, bananas and chocolate!), tasting every possible flavour of chocolate, visiting costume and lace museums, taking pictures with the mannequin piss (who is super small by the way!), seeing the palace and numerous cathedrals, and playing on the map of the world!!!! (It was super fun! We took pictures of our feet in all the different places we have been too!!! Then I lied down on North America and Gab lied down on Europe and we held hand and demonstrated globalization!) That night we were spoiled by my aunt who bought us Belgian beer and who made the most amazing and delicious dinner EVER! Afterwards Vero and Gab went out with one of my cousins and I stayed home with the other….it was awesome….my aunt, cousin and I all cuddled in my aunts super comfy bed and watched Munich (not the happiest movie ever made, but the principle of cuddling with family was nice!).

The next morning we were spoiled again with a yummy breakfast (I don’t think I have eaten breakfast since I was on my trip with my father in February!!!) Afterwards we met up with my neighbour (from Dorval!) who is studying in Belgium and whose girlfriend (who is also one of my friends) came to visit him! We all went to la musée Horta, which is basically a really pretty house. The architect who built that house also designed a bunch of other houses in Brussels and you are given a map so that you can go find them (you can’t go inside the others though because people live in them!) That night my aunt cooked us an amazing dinner (again!) and we chilled at home because Vero was not feeling well…she ended up having a throat infection. Thank god she was with my aunt who took good care of her!

The next day was Easter Sunday. MY AUNT GAVE US AN EASTER EGG HUNT!!! Picture 5 individuals who are all 20+ running around the house trying to find chocolate! It was GOLD! My aunt was worried that we weren’t going to share….she was right…we didn’t!!! Gab and I also made my cousins pancakes with maple syrup! After lunch my aunt, my cousin Crystal, Gab and I all piled in the car and headed off to Bruges. Bruges is very pretty….we went on a canal ride…and ate Belgian fries!

Early Monday morning Gab and I left for Amsterdam. Our fist stop (after the tourist information centre) was, naturally, the Sex Museum. I officially have pictures of me not only with a giant condom (Hamburg), but also giant penises that would fit the giant condom (only in Amsterdam!)! When you first walk in, you automatically set off a motion detector and a sculpture of a guy comes out of the wall, winks at you, and opens his trench coat where you notice that he is NOT wearing pants….or boxers for that matter! The rest of the museum is somewhat similar to Hamburg’s Erotic Museum….porn basically…however much more classy and educational if that is possible!!! After sex was beer. We went to the Heineken Museum, which is FABULOUS! Definitively beats the Guinness Brewery in Ireland. You have a bunch of interactive games – for example, I was able to interactively see what it was like to be a Heineken beer bottle! – and you can send movies of you singing in Deutsch to your friends and family! (My screen wasn’t working, so I couldn’t read the lyrics to the song, so I’m dancing in my video!). Also, you get free pints of beer throughout the museum (total of three glasses of good old Heineken beer!) which makes for a great start to your afternoon! After my Heineken Brewery experience, Gab and I tried to bargain a hotdog down from 3E to 2.50 E…we failed, but it was fun trying! I also bought a bagel and cream cheese – I miss that from back home! After sex and beer we did coffee shops… they have menus with all the different types of drugs you can buy…it’s actually kind of unsettling! So after sex, beer and drugs, we were back at sex (red light district!). It’s very similar to Hamburg’s red light district except that the ONE street in Hamburg that is only open at night and reserved for men over the age of 18 is now replaced by NUMEROUS streets that run 24h a day, and that are open to ppl like me who take a random right and are faced with half naked women posing in windows. After sex, beer, drugs and sex again, we were tired and took the train home where we feasted yet again on my aunts amazing cooking!

Tuesday was a sad day. Vero took the train to go back to the Netherlands, and Gab and I took the plane back to France. I cried in the airport. Arriving in Marseille, I met up with my oldest cousin who was visiting his dad in France. We went to their house for dinner where I officially became a model! My uncle’s girlfriend designs hats and is having an exposition and need people to model the hats…apparently Gab and I were perfect candidates! It was super fun!

Now I am back in Montpellier. I have exams next week – two on Monday actually….
My family sent me a care package…I am probably the only person in Europe with Tim Hortons coffee! Loves it!

In three weeks I’ll be on summer vacation and in Spain…can’t wait! Until then, I have enough chocolate to keep me out of depression while I study!!!

Miss you guys! Happy Easter (a little late)!

Kiss Kiss

-Ash
xoxo