Officially Over

My Blog is Officially complete. All of (well most of) the stories have been told of my year abroad. It was an amazing experience where I learned A TON. About myself, about many different cultures through my travels, about my own culture, about languages (French, English and Italian!), about people, about school, work. You name it, I experienced it in some form or another on exchange.

I met some of the most amazing people whom I will never forget, and already hope to visit in the near future. I can now say I have friends from almost all of the continents. Europe, Asia, North America, Australia - Not too bad if I do say so myself. And the best part is, each and every single one of the people I met on exchange helped me have an amazing experience. One that isn't over just because my exchange has finished. I'm still in touch with most of them, and will continue to be.

Almost 4 months have passed since I left France, and I'm back in school at McMaster, and back to real life. My time in France seems like a surreal dream. Did I really do all of those things? You bet I did.

I've come back me, but better. And perhaps most relevant to the point of my exchange, My french has improved!! My confidence is higher, my vocabulary better, my accent, pretty much everything.

So what does this tell you about the exchange experience? IT WORKS!!! Not only am I spending a year abroad in a new place, I traveled, I met amazing people, I learned NEW languages, I tried new things I would have never gotten to had a stayed in Canada. Most importantly, I gained life experience. I went somewhere new on my own. I tried something completely out of my comfort zone, and I didn't give up.

Being on exchange is an AMAZING opportunity that I would recommend to everyone. This is the time to do it! Before you settle down, before you have a real career, before you run out of time. The time is NOW! If you're thinking about it, just go for it. You won't regret it.

Until my next adventure.........

Venizia, Italia

After hearing all about Venice from my parents, and how much I would love it, I was SUPER excited to get there and figure it all out :)

We flew into the Venice airport, then took a train to get to our hotel. We were staying just outside of Venice in Quarto D'Altino. A quaint little town about 30 minutes outside of Venice. It was quite the trek to find out hotel, and I was a little worried about how far it was to the train station. When we got there, it was absolutely beautiful! The people were so amazing, nice and accommodating, and there were even bikes to rent! We could take them to the train station, lock them there for the day, then bike back.




Everyone at the hotel spoke English, but Adrian was impressive with his Italian skills! I even learn a bit myself :)

We had 4 days before we had to head back to Lyon, so Adrian and I decided to explore out Quarto D'Altino for the evening. We biked around a little, and went to a real Italian Pizzeria for dinner! We each had a MASSIVE delicious pizza. Or so we thought.....



Unfortunately that night, Adrian woke up in the middle of the night with a pretty bad case of food poisoning..... He was up most of the night puking :( and in general not feeling well. Definitely not feeling up to going into Venice that day. I wasn`t too worried, as we still had the next two full days to visit it!

I had an amazing breakfast from the hotel, and lounged by the pool in the gorgeous Italian sunshine all day long :)

The next day he was feeling a little better, so we headed into Venice! We got out of the train station right onto the edge of the Grand Canal. Venice isn't that large, so we decided just to wander around on our own and explore the canals and tiny shops. Venice was full of mask and glass shops. They were EVERYWHERE!







Venice was absolutely beautiful. I loved just wandering through the alleys, watching the people on the gondola`s (which were 80 euros for 30minutes, so we unfortunately did NOT go on one :s).





Gondola Jam!

We wandered through the shops, purchased some souveniers and gifts for people back home. Of COURSE I got Gelato :)








We wandered past the bridge of sighs although it was mostly covered due to construction which continued to plague me throughout my treks across Europe.

We went to the Piazza San Marco, and saw St. Mark`s Basilica. Waited in the huge line, and wandered through the beautiful church.




The Rialto Bridge was cool, but PACKED with people, so you couldn't enjoy it to it's fullest.






We stayed for the afternoon, but Adrian wasn`t feeling up to eating real food yet, and was also pretty tired so we headed back to our hotel. I got a sandwhich at a restaraunt in Quarto D'Altino, and then it was my turn to feel terrible. I wasn`t as bad as Adrian, but not fun. So our last day in Italy I spent in bed all day :(

We left early in the morning for our flight back to Lyon. And despite the unfortunate bouts of who knows what kind of sickness, we both had an AMAZING time throughout the entire trip :) Defintely a good way for Adrian to spend his time visiting me!!

Paris Take 2

And I'm back in Paris! This time with a different crowd :) Adrian and I from Morocco to meet up with Giacomo, and Hannah and Pasan just before they left for Dubai.

Adrian and I arrived in Paris pretty late, so headed straight to our hotel. It was a really cute place in the Latin Quarter.

We met up with Hannah, Pasan and Giacomo at the Eiffel tower in the morning. We tried to walk there, but it ended up being slightly farther away than we (ahem.... Adrian) thought. Unfortunately that was the day for things being closed. We headed to the Catacombs, which were closed due to flooding. Luckily I had already been a few years ago, so I wasn't too disappointed, but my friends were. It`s pretty creepy with all of the bones set up decoratively underground, but definitely something everyone who visits Paris should see!

Next we headed to the business district where we wanted to go up la Défense, but... as our luck would have it that day, was closed as well!




Next stop was Hannah`s pick of Moulin Rouge, once again, we saw all of the crazy sex shops and clubs, and were happy to just be visiting during the day. We walked from Moulin Rouge to Sacre Coeur and checked out the many tourist shops along the way.








We spent lots of the time on the metro!

We wandered around the city for awhile, relishing our last evening together. We had a fantastic dinner, and headed to la Champs D'Elysses for an evening stroll. We stopped at one of the bars to get a drink on the patio, which ended up being SLIGHTLY more expensive than we expected! A lot to begin with, but after 9pm, they added on 2 extra euros per drink!! Insane, but pretty funny.



After our pictures with l'Arc du Triomphe, Giacomo headed back to his couchsurfing host, and Adrian and I walked our Hannah and Pasan back to their hotel. We go to see the Eiffel Tower at midnight all lit up, a perfect goodbye to two of my favorite friends that I'd made during my time in France, Hannah and Pasan. I`ll miss them, but they`re only in the states! North Carolina really isn't THAT far away.... compared to France anyways....



After some tears (on mine and Hannah`s parts anyways) Adrian and I headed back to our hotel. Sad to see our friends go, but happy to head to Venice the next day!

Last 2 Weeks on Exchange....Morocco

For my last two weeks on my exchange, Adrian came to visit me! We spent a few days in Lyon hanging out with my friends and wandering around Lyon, but the best part of the visit was our 10 day trip to Morocco, Paris and Venice!

Morocco was our first stop, and my favourite destination of the entire year. Everywhere else I'd been was just to major cities in various European countries. And although each city has its own charm and unique attractions, the culture is very similar. But in the Moroccan cities, it was completely different than anything else I've ever experienced!



We flew from Lyon to Casablanca with a backpack each for the entire 10 days (impressive eh?). We arrived too late to take a train into Casablanca, so took our first of many sketchy cab rides. We got to our Hotel around midnight, and went right to sleep. After all, we were heading to the desert the next day!

We took a train at 4am to Marrakech (a 4 hour ride) but because the train sat in the station in Casablanca for about an hour before leaving, we didn't get to marrakech until almost 9. Which wasn't ideal because we were hoping to catch our bus to the desert at 8:30..... Of course when we got there, the bus had already left. The bus (because it's a 12 hour bus ride through the Atlas mountains to the Sahara desert at the Algerian Border) only left once a day. At least, the touristy bus.

Adrian and I hefted our heavy packs to the Gare Routière, and were immediately scoped out by the locals (Mostly because we were wearing shorts in 40 degree weather, unheard of I know :P). We ended up getting on another bus that would take us 3/4 of the way to our destination that night. But this was no Tourist bus. This was a bus the locals used to get from tiny village to tiny village. We stopped at tons of little towns, where people got off and new people got on. Adrian and I were approached at every stop where people selling things get on. They were funny though, knowing immediately we're tourists, they would strike up a conversation with us, compliment us, ask where we were going, and conveniently enough they would know someone or they're dad or uncle would own a hostel where we were going! And if it wasn't where we were going, then it was WAAAAY better than where we were originally planning! We had to insist that we'd already booked, and already paid for the place we wanted. It was definitely an interesting experience.

This was one of our friends!



The drive through the Atlas mountains was twisty and tourny and accompanied by a kid throwing up most of the way there :s. The scenery was gorgeous though. Difficult to capture through the windows of the bus, but we drove through palm trees, to mountains with snow on them, to cactus desert, to sand desert, abandoned villages and so much more.






Our bus ride ended in Errachidia, where we were solicited by other people trying to get us to stay with them, we eventually got in a cab for the SCARIEST one hour cab ride of our lives. I'm pretty sure he broke every single driving rule from Canada apart from drinking and driving... I hope, he was texting the car behind us while driving, there were no seat belts, he only put his high beams on briefly when he saw the people on bikes on the side of the road, he showed us pictures of him and his friends. Eventually we did get to our meeting point safely! We were picked up in Rissani in 4X4's, or quatres-quatres as they called them there, by the people from our auberge and taken the rest of the way by them. With seatbelts and safety! Our driver even stopped so we could admire the stars on part of our off-roading journey.

So after a train, 2 buses, a sketchy taxi ride, and a 4X4 trip (and a total of 19 hours of travel in one day) we made it to our Auberge in the Sahara Desert, just outside of Merzouga. We had planned on going on an overnight camel trek that night, but made it too late, and were too exhausted, so changed it to one the next day.

The Auberge was really beautiful and RIGHT on the edge of the desert. You looked out the window and were bombarded with sand dunes. It was breathtaking. It was very authentic (not that I would know...), and the people who worked there were very helpful and accomodating! There was even a pool at the Auberge, but it was surprisingly freezing! Much too cold for me, but Adrian went in!

At 10am the next day we headed out on our Camel Trek! We met our Camels (Betsy and Arthur...we named them), got our berber head scarves, and headed out into the Desert with our guide. It was a two hour trek to the berber campsite complete with 4 litres of water each, a billion pictures, lots of camel poop, endless sand dunes, and a fantastic time :)






We got the the camp where we dismounted our camels (not as comfortable as you may think.....), and headed into shade! While we were waiting, 3 girls came over and started setting up their dolls (we thought) under a tree pretty near us. Adrian and I were wondering why these girls were playing under the tree. We soon found out. The girls started saying "Achetez? Achetez?" And we realized we were being naiive, and of course they were trying to sell us things! We figured they'd be there the whole time if we didn't buy something, so we went over and bought two leather camels to match/remember the camels we had ridden over :)




We just got to hang out while our guide brought us a delicious traditional berber lunch. We had berber bread, a tomato-cucumber salad, a HUGE Tagine with chicken, potatoes and TONS of veggies, and melon for desert! It was just Adrian and I, but the meal could have fed 6 people easily.



After taking some time to digest, we climbed the sand dune sheltering the camp. This was the largest sand dune in the Erg Chebbi dunes (where we were). It took us about and hour and a half to climb, with lots of breaks! I had to wear Adrian's socks because the sand was burning my feet!

We finally made it to the top, but didn't stay long it was so windy. We were being pelted by sand. But of course, we took time for lots of pictures!









We just relaxed in the desert for the rest of the afternoon, under the shade, did some exploring near the camp, and took in as much as we could.

We left the camp heading back towards the Auberge around 6pm, and stopped halfway, climb a smaller sand dune and watch the sunset. It was beautiful. The Sahara desert is definitely one of the best places to watch a sunset.




We headed back to the Auberge, and had a late dinner (provided by the auberge) of more delicious Morrocan food. (which is ALL delicious!)and headed to bed, ready for another early morning the next day to head back to Marrakech. Luckily we managed to catch the tourist bus back to the city, a little bit less of an adventure, but more relaxing.

Marrakech was a really interesting city. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend too much time there, as the main reason for our trip to Morocco was for the Desert trek, but it was excellent nonetheless. Marrakech is like two cities in one. We stayed in the newer modern half of the city, which is like any other city. But the other half of the city takes you back in time. We visited a market where people are selling their things wherever there is room, chickens are packed into cages, and there are people everywhere!! It was quite the experience.






Our last morning in Morocco we indulged in Moroccan crepes one more time, before we started the long trek (two trains and a plane)from Marrakech to Paris!

All in all, Morocco was an amazing and new experience for me. A big culture shock, but somewhere I'm glad to have visited. The only truly terrible thing (for me anyways) was the bathrooms. Especially once we left Marrakech and heading into the tiny villages in the mountains. There is only one word to describe the washrooms in Morocco. Hole. See for yourself :s

End of the Road

It's July now, and I've been home for almost 2 entire months! It's been non stop ever since. Which is why it's taken me so long to finish my blog! I volunteered at my high school in my old french teacher's classroom which I loved, and now I'm back in Hamilton working at McMaster's Mini University (a science/drama based kids camp) which is AMAZING. I'm absolutely loving it!

BUT to finish off my blog about my year in France, I have to write about my last month there. And boy did I do A LOT.

Starting after my parents arrived, and then left again to go to Italy, I wrote two exams. Géographie Régionale, and Littérature du 19e siècle. (19th century lit!). I spent the other times packing, hanging out at the park, and had one final hang out with ALL of my friends. We had to have it almost 3 weeks before people started leaving, because we were all going on trips of our own.

We had a great time hanging out, Dan made us Enchalada's (which were SOOOO delicious) we played games, and FINALLY got our group picture. It was a little bittersweet knowing that this would be the last time we may ALL be together. Here is the best picture of our group :)



Hannah from North Carolina
Pasan from Sri Lanka/Dubai/North Carolina
Omar from Mexico
Virginia and I
Dan from New Mexico/Montreal
Lachlan from Australia
Giacomo from Como, Italy
Babette from Holland/France

After that, my parents came back to hang out in Lyon with me, and Virginia and Dan went to Corsica (a small island just of the southern coast of France).

With my parents, I took them to Perouges (where I went when Stacie and Amanda were here), and also to Geneva. We had a rental car which was AMAZING :). Unfortunately it rained almost the entire day, but was nice to see those places again... and of course we got Swiss Chocolate!



I also got to explore part of the french countryside I never would have seen without a car, and my dad the tour guide! We explored the lower end of the Massif Centrale as well as the Ardèche Gorges which were absolutely breathtaking. We also got to visit some medieval cities, although not quite like Perouges.




It was fun taking my parents around Lyon, showing them everywhere I've been for the past year, and showing them things that I've been doing. Unfortunately they also had to put up with me having to finish up exams, and some truly horrible weather. But we had a fantastic time, and they`re awesome trip to Switzerland and Italy more than made up for the bad weather in Lyon




Not as sad to see them go, because I'd be seeing them in only 2 more short weeks, and also because dropping them off at the airport I would be bringing Adrian back!

It's May Already!!

I cannot believe that it is May already! These past 9 months have just flown by. I can't believe I'm down to my last couple of weeks on exchange.

Classes are officially over, and I just handed in my very last essay last week. 2 exams is all that stands between me and finishing the school year in France! I have a geography exam this Friday which I think will be a little difficult. This is the only class where I've had to do everything as the french students do. I'm hoping he'll go easy on me marking wise, especially since there will be a giant ÉTUDIANTE ÉTRANGÈRE at the top of every page! Then my last exam is an oral exam on the 11th for 19th century french literature. I go there, he gives me a passage, and I have an hour to write an explication du texte, then I read it to him and that's the end!

My parents are officially in Europe! I got to spend the day with them on Friday where we walked through most of Lyon (there really isn't THAT much to see!), and I watched them fall asleep at 7pm (Jet lag!!). Now they're off wandering around Italy without me until Saturday while I'm here "studying" for exams. Just kidding! I'm working VERY hard I swear :)

My friends and I are all getting ready to go back to our normal lives. We're all taking our last trips (Dan and Virginia are going on an amazing one to Corsica for a week!), and slowly starting to pack up the last year of our lives. We're all a little sad to be leaving each other, but are already starting to talk about and plan reunions in the very near future :) Everyone of course wants to come to Canada (Giacomo is convinced we have no crime and have pillow fights instead of gunfights, and people give you money instead of stealing it.... hahahah).

I'm starting to pack my room away, packing the extra bag my parents bought for me so i MAY be able to bring everything back home (it's amazing what one person can accumulate over just a few months!). I have to pack most of my room this week, before my parents are back, and then Adrian is here and we are going on our 10 day trip to Morocco, Paris and Venice! Then I have hardly any time to pack, so I'm being good and doing it now :)

Most of us (my friends) will actually be meeting and saying goodbye in Paris which is kind of cool. Adrian and I are meeting Hannah and Pasan there, Omar will be there with his Scouts, Giacomo is coming to join us, and hopefully everyone else will be able to come as well!

It will be sad to say goodbye, but hopefully it's only going to be "Goodbye for now"

My last 3 1/2 weeks are going to absolutely fly by, and I hope to make the best of the rest of my time here! I'm enjoying the last things Lyon has to offer me, before I head back to real life in Canada.

London England

Good news! The volcanic ash could craziness has finally ended, and I was able to salvage at least part of my trip! I got to have 4 beautiful days in London, England!

Virginia decided not to go due the Volcano issues, but our Italian friend Giacomo and I had a great time! Throughout the entire trip, we seriously lucked out with the weather! The only day it rained in London was Stonehenge day, so it turned out very welL! It was not typical London weather, but that's ok with me!




I left Lyon on Saturday Morning, and faced HUGE lines at the airport due to the volcano backup. But I eventually made it! On the train into London as I was passing the neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city, all I could think of was that any one of these streets could be Privet Drive!! Harry Potter could have lived here!!! hahaha, Harry Potter is my strongest tie to Britain.

Giacomo met me at the train station, brought me to our hostel to drop off my things, and the sightseeing started! Giacomo was a great tour guide, as a couple years ago, he spent 3 months working in London. So he helped me navigate the London Underground (the TUBE!), and took me to all of the touristy places I wanted to see! Day 1 was just walking around. I took my first London double Decker bus (which I am slightly embarrassed to say, I didn't know that ALL of the buses in London were double decker, I thought it was just the touristy ones!)

We saw the London bridge (which got the kid's song stuck in my head EVERY time I saw a sign for it/heard the name), Tower Bridge (which I thought had seriously ugly colours), The Tower of London (Queens were beheaded there!), and I got my first glimspe of the London Eye, and of Parliament and Big Ben and Westminster Abbey!




Next stop, Giacomo took me to Camden down, where there was a HUGE market! It was really cool with tons of really interesting booths and things, and Giacomo bought more than I did!!!

After that was one of the highlights of my trip, as I am a die-hard Harry Potter fan, I dragged Giacomo to King's Cross Station where we tracked down platform 9 3/4!!! It was AWESOME! I was like a child in Disney world :)




After dinner we wandered down Oxford street (probably for the best that it was night and all of the store were closed.....), Picadilly Circus, and Carnaby street!

Day two was day trip day to STONEHENGE!! We took a two hour busride that took us right to Stonehenge where we stayed for a few hours, and then took the bus back! Stonehenge was amazing. So interesting to see something so amazing that was built so many thousands of years ago. And we have absolutely no idea how it got there! The rocks weigh over 8 tons, and 1/4 of them are buried in the ground! Not to mention the rocks that are stacked on top of the other rocks. Historians guess that it took YEARS to build, and that the rocks came from hundreds of miles away. There are also the cooler legends that it was build by Merlin's Magic, or by giant's.



Historians also have absolutely no idea WHY Stonehenge was built and what it was used for. Religion, observatory, sacrificial stone? It's interesting to think about being able to go back in time to see exactly what happened, how it got there, and what it was used for. But I was very content just wandering around, taking pictures from every angle and just being lost in it all.




Day 3 was friend day! Giacomo and I met my friend Meghan (who I know from McMaster, and who is on exchange in Sheffield, England for the year) at the train station and she hung out with us for the day! We saw the changing of the Guard at Buckingham palace, and for a bit there were only normal looking guards there (wearing normal hats and boring blue!), I was worried that the cool, traditional guards were gone, or not there that day, or who knows what! Just as I was losing hope, they came around the corner! The changing of the guard is an absolutely HUGE ordeal. They block off the streets in front of Buckingham Palace (which really doesn't look so much like a palace.....) and there are HUNDREDS of people there, so much so that you can barely see what's happening! But I managed to get a few pictures.




The three of us wandered down oxford street (the stores were open this time) and I bought and I love London Sweater! We also walked up and down Bond street (the 5th avenue of London) 3 or 4 times because we were being stalkers. The three of us are walking up the street for the first time, when a guy passes us (Meghan and I are talking..), Giacomo stops and says "That was Christiano Ronaldo!" I turned around, just to see the back of him going into Yves St. Laurent. I can't say for sure, but it certainly looked like him from the back! But Giacomo swears it was him! We tried to catch him coming back out of the store, but after our 4th pass, we decided to stop being creepy stalkers and move on hahahah.

The next visit on friend day was from my friend Kareem (who I also know from McMaster, who is on exchange in Coventry for the year). We met him for lunch as he was on his way back from Egypt after his Easter break, to school. He made time for us between Plane and train :) It was a short but nice visit!

The Next friend was a new one, Mihir. Mihir is Pasan's friend from when he was a kid, and I had met him a few times in Lyon while he was visiting Pasan, and his french girlfriend. He is also on exchange from his school in the states for the year, in Kingston. Mihir hung out with Meghan, Giacomo and I for the rest of the evening. We checked out Hyde park, and Leicester Square (which I found out is actually pronounced LESTER square. Who knew.)




The last day was a little sad, but still lots of fun! Giacomo took me to Greenwhich were we went to the Observatory and saw the Prime Meridian! We learned all about time, and longitude. It was pretty cool.




We then took a river boat back from Geenwhich to central London on the disgusting Thames River. The brownest and most disgusting body of water I have ever seen :s.




We had a picnic under the London eye, and then headed back to the train station to head back to Lyon. I wanted to go by Buckingham Palace (for the third day in a row...) to try and find the awesome guards that you can take pictures with! The ones where you try to make them smile! Unfortunately, for the third day in a row, there were no guards guarding the front gates (there were INSIDE the gate, but you couldn't get to them), there were only police officers. But taking a new way around the palace, we found some other guards not so off limits!!! This is the closest I could get, and I wasn't able to try and make them laugh.... but at least I got a close up!!! A great end to my London trip!!



Click on the title to see all of my London pictures!