Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Today I started out at 9 am, made it to Sacre Coeur and got to see the church, the crypt, and went up to the top to see the view of the city.  I saw a "statue" man who did not think he was getting enough attention so was coughing at people as they walked past.  I also saw a "iron" street sweeper as he was applying his coloring but did not get to see him after he was finished.  Since I did not have a real plan or clue on how to get anywhere, I saw some shiny roofs from the top of the hill and just headed into Paris.

I ended up at the main Opera house which had a ridiculous amount of statues and decorative carvings.  At the opera I saw a chicken-man (apparently French people like to dress up).  After I just kept walking in random directions and apparently ended up on the opposite side of the street of the Louvre except I did not know this and this was the point I stopped and turned around..... by the time I got back it was roughly a 6 hour walk.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

So my last night in Cyprus was nice.  I spent most of the evening with Ramin and Muhammad trying one last turkish dish (special type of doner) and then beers one final time at Cafe Inn and one final movie (last minute idea because Ramin was about to cry).  Also hung out with Remember (Zimbabwean) for awhile and Fijo (Nigerian) for a bit also.  Then pulled an all nighter since there was no way I was going to wake up at 4 am to catch the bus.  Got to drag my luggage all the way across campus because all the cabs were going the wrong way, then sat in the airport (after my bag got searched) for 3 hours.  Ended up being told I owed 2,000 liras (~$1400) or 4,000 liras if I wanted to pay the debt the next time I came back (aka never go back) because I was 33 days over my 90 day visa.  Dunno if the customs guy got rid of the fine because he was nice or something actually made it go away but I got away with it.  Ended up meeting a (nother) British Cypriot on the other side of customs and talked to him until the flight came and had my final Cyprus beer for breakfast (not best idea before a plane ride I should mention).  Flights were uneventful until Paris where I managed to follow the wrong sign for half a second out through customs instead of to baggage claim so had to deal with going reverse through customs (not so fun) to get bag.

Paris was a whole nother fun.  Lady behind me on RER train got pickpocketed, first ~25 minutes on train all I saw out the windows was graffiti and run down buildings, and I thought I might die.  Got to Gare du Nord (like a  mini-mall but mostly empty (storewise, not people)), and managed to prevent another pickpocketer i think (swerving to walk towards cops made him disappear).  Got to the line two gate to find out you buy the tickets somewhere completely else so lady I asked where to buy tickets just let me go through with her, only to find control (ticket cops) standing further up.  Thankfully they were on the stair side and left the escalator side open so I got away with it.  On this train a band randomly got on and started playing music which was a nice change as I was completely exhausted.  Then got out of that train station just to be in the middle of about 6 roads and having no clue as to which was which, just knowing the name of the street I had to walk down.  I asked about 5 people if they knew which was which (none did) before one person intelligently suggested I just ask the street vendors, and as he predicted, they knew.  Got to hostel, checked in, took shower, and feeling human again.  (also has smallest elevator I have ever seen).

And so ends the blog about studying abroad and so begins the blog of EuroTrip

Monday, June 4, 2012

Not to much to say as the semester is wrapping up (7 days left till I go to the airport).  I have mostly been hanging out with Muhammad and Ramin (Iranian masters students).  Thanks to them I have become not as horrible at backgammon.  The other night I helped set up for their friends surprise birthday party, and then the next day made burgers (mushrooms, onions, and more =) ) and homemade fries.

Other than that the only thing going on is finals (of which I studied ~20 minutes for the first and second (aka I woke up day of final, opened notes, flipped through it, and walked out door to take final) and the 3rd I studied an hour) which I finished today.  Now all I have left is packing and relaxing.

About a month or month and a half ago it became difficult not being very distracted when I walked anywhere.  This was because the strays which are everywhere on campus and in Cyprus (somehow all very healthy and friendly) had their litters.  So everywhere you walked you saw puppies and kittens of every color.  A couple days ago apparently was the 2nd round of kittens and one mother apparently liked my dorm building so every time I walk back I hear meowing and see 4-5 kittens running around.  On the note of dogs, I stopped to pet one of the them towards the beginning of the semester and since every time he sees me he runs up to me and just follows me wherever I may be going.  The other night he found he halfway through campus and followed me all the way back to the dorm and then when I walked through the door just stared at me with sad eyes until I came back out to pet him again.