Day 17: Beach and Zaragoza

This morning we drove an hour and a half to a beach right outside of Barcelona!! I sat next to Chase on the bus. We had a bunch of fun at the beach.. some of us played a bit of volleyball, some even got to go kayaking and paddle boarding! I was able to record some footage in the water, and I let Dylan use my gopro again in the water! I was also able to record the famous Chester the Dolphin (Heath) in the water :) it was hilarious.

After hanging at the beach for a few hours, we went to lunch at a restaurant right on the beach. We had a pizza thing.. and we thought it was our main course...but found out it was our appetizer and by that time... I was already full! We had chicken and fries for the main course, and it was very good! I sat around Thane, Haylie, Alex, and Michael.

After a GREAT lunch we drove to few hours to a Palace in Zaragoza. The Aljaferia Palace was built in the 11th century and was a mix of Islamic and Spanish architecture. We got to explore alot of the rooms, and got to see where they hold official meetings for a regional parliament. We got some amazing pictures of the architecture, and then left for our new and 2nd to last hotel, and dinner.

We stayed with the roomates we picked! I got Megan and Haylie!! We stayed in a pretty nice place...in the middle of no where....we had some paella for dinner at the hotel. I sat with Dylan, Julia, Alexandra, Shiv, Avi, Chase, Edward and a few others at the other end of the table. We gave Stefano (bus driver) and Markus some thank you gifts, because tonight is the last night we have with Stefano! :( He drives us to our hotel tomorrow and we wont see him after that!!!! :(

We've got an early morning tomorrow to go to Madrid, because the bus ride is 4 ish hours long.

Day 16: Spain, Barcelona -- Day 4: Homestay

Today we leave our home stay :(

I gave the family some american tshirts from Old Navy, and they really liked them! We talked about my blog, college, summer vacations, and life in the car ride over to the school where we were all meeting.  I got some pictures with the family, and we were on our way.

We went to a mall, where I got to go into Zara, and Primark! I was most excited about Primark, because all of the british beauty gurus I watch on YouTube, go to Primark and buy cute clothes and things. We dont have a Primark in America, so this was the one and only store I wanted to go to in the mall.

Haylie bought a beautiful leather jacket, that was VERY expensive.. but very beautiful and worth the price. Emily, Donisha, and Austin bought some stuff at H&M, and were excited about it.

FINALLY! At Primark, I got a duffle bag, which Im sure im gonna need, and a cute makeup bag. I didnt have enough time to try on anything, so i just stuck to those two items. Austin was in the flip-flop section, and we picked out some flip-flops for Markus- he only wears flip-flops.....EVERYWHERE WE GO THATS ALL HE WEARS. I picked out the American Flag ones, to remember us by. Donisha got some dressed, and Austin got some ties.

After our fun time at the mall, we went to make our own paella! I sat with Thane, Austin, and Ana. We mixed and cooked our own food! It was very cool, and didnt taste too bad!! I kinda.. liked it! After that we went and saw some amazing work by Antoni Gaudi and we saw the Sagrada Familia!! We didnt go inside but were able to see the amazing construction on the outside.

We went to dinner, and saw some Flamenco dancers. We had a dinner and a show! Even Dylan, Heath, Tori, Ana, and Andrew went up there and danced with them!!

Day 15: Spain -- Day 3: Homestay

YAY! Today our small group went to the park where all the other delegates were. We had water balloon fights, and Edward got soaked.... I got Ms. Fields pretty good. Dylan, Andrew, and a few others had a truce that we wouldnt get each other.. and Im happy to say everyone stayed true to their word. I got Megan, which i felt bad about....but it was funny so it was ok. Aubrie was throwing one at Dylan..but she missed and hit an bench where an elderly man was sitting....the water got all over half of his back. She felt very bad, apologized, and the man said "its just water, it'll dry", so at least he was understanding.

We hung out for awhile, and then everyone but our small group went back to school (HA HA!!!!) at 1pm. We "played" volleyball-just hit the ball to someone and tried to keep it up as long as possible. We played some other games, laid down, hung out, swung on the "grunxador" (groon-sha-dough) -swings- and i made a weird bracelet out of a fresh branch of a tree and gave one to Holli and Laura. Holli, Nathan, and Aubrie got picked up and went back to their houses... while Chase and I walked back our houses..which was kinda far, but the walk was ok. I got to meet Laura's "almost boyfriend" they are super cute together!!

After walking home, Laura changed into her black outfit for her orchestra concert. They had a practice before they had the actual concert...so I got to hear some of the song they were playing... and they sounded amazing! I actually really enjoyed it. After practice I got to meet some of Laura's friends, and a guy came up to me and knew who I was. He said someone who's staying with him knows me, he said the name of the person, and it sorta sounded like Thane, but I knew Thane had a girl...so it couldnt be him. I showed him a picture of our group and he couldnt find his person...so I have no idea who this boy had...but he knew me! Aubrie, Nathan, and Holli came to support Laura and Catty. Our Laura-from our delegation- was also there, her girl played in it too, along with Austin's guy (who was the friend that sang in the all boys choir at Montserrat). Chase and his guy had to come late..but they got to hear one song.

After the AMAZING concert, we walked back home, which took about 20 minutes, but we got to talk so that was cool! We had a cheese omelet with potatoes for dinner, which was very good! I actually really enjoyed it! The recipe is her grandmothers, and I loved it!

We had another late night, and an early morning tomorrow, because we leave our homestay and get back with our delegation. Im not excited to wake up at 7 because Ive been waking up at 9, and 10 at the house........

Day 14: Spain -- Day 2: Homestay

Today, our small group went up to the Montserrat Mountain to check out the church and the all boy choir that sings there. Holli's girl, and mine, knew a friend that used to be part of the all boy choir... its a great honor, and they sounded amazing.

We waited in line for a few hours, touched the ball that the virgin Mary was holding (for good luck), and then had our lunch on the step in front of the church. Laura's mom packed our lunch..we had sandwiches, and bananas!

Laura had saxophone lessons/practice but was an hour late because when we got on the train to go back down the mountain, we didnt get off at the stop, so we went back up the mountain, and down one more time! So after going up and down twice, we finally got off the train and waited for the right train toward Barcelona. Once we got off at our next stop....we almost missed our next train, we had to run!


Laura and Catty (i dont know how she spells it--Holli's girl) had choir practice at 8pm, and was 2 hours long...  Heath's girl was also at choir practice, but he didnt come inside like Holli and I did...so we face booked messaged each other so we had something else to do.

After a late night, Laura and I had some great pizza her mom made!!! There was four cheese and BBQ.. they were both very good, but cheese was my favorite!

I go to bed pretty late, and tried to catch up on my journal and blog... but i dont have wifi... so I have to find somewhere else to upload.

Day 13: Spain -- Day 1: Homestay

Today we set off for a cave/river/hike this morning! we hiked up to a cave where they discovered bones/skulls of our ancestors. We learned about the different stages, and the growth of "homo" through the stages. Like how homo habilus was the first to use their thumbs, and create tools and what not. Later, we got to swim in the river...which was very cold but cool!! Dylan recorded some videos on my gopro, I'm excited to watch them! After swimming for a bit, we had a great lunch! It was one of the BEST sandwiches I've ever had. (chicken, lettuce, mayo, and bread--plain but it was amazing!) After eating, we got to try and throw a spear into a target board...it was very hard, and only a few got the spears to actually stick into the board!

We drove a few hours, and made it into Spain! We stopped at a gas station, and the food change was immediate from France...alot of the foods were completely different from the other stations.


NOW  WE GET TO GO TO OUR HOMESTAY!!

My girl Laura had a concert, so she couldnt make the pick up, but I got to meet Laura's parents--Pere, and Angels. They took me to her music school, where I got to meet her, her friends, and a few of her teachers. After the initial meeting, we went on a walk through the shopping center where her father works, and her mother rehearses for the plays shes in at the theater. Everything was close together, and very interesting to look at. They have alot of stores that are like our stores...with different names...so I thought that was cool.

I was given a little tour of the theater where her mom performs, and the building her dad works in! We drove to a hot dog/burger place, where we met up with Nathan, Chase, Aubrie, and Holli. We all ate dinner, and then went to a place where Holli's girl goes. (this is really hard to explain....so bare with me) Holli's girl takes part of some Catalonia/spain activity where they make human towers by climbing up the backs of people, and stanging on their shoulders...creating a multilevel tower of humans.

After seeing this, which was VERY interesting, we went home, where I got my own room -no wifi, or air- but it was very nice, and very sweet for them to take me in.

Day 12: Carcassonne

Today we headed to the castle where they filmed Robin Hood!

The first thing we did after breakfast at the hotel was drive to the village/town by the castle. We got into small groups, were give 7 euros each, and was told to buy lunch in FRENCH with this money. My group was Aubrie, David, Nick, Heaven, and Brianna. We got some very good bread at a bakery, but had horrible pizza at some restaurant. I had one bite, and was done! After that gross lunch..we were walking back to our meeting spot, and we ran into ms. bostick. She told us to go to The Picnic and get some crepes! So we did! It was amazing! We all got Nutella crepes, and they were very very good. 

Im happy I was able to get real crepes in France!

After that, we (like always) walked to where we were going. Our local guide talked to us about the history of the castle but I dont remember anything. We were shown the different "layers" of the castle/kingdom, and the walls/towns surrounding the middle. We went into the church, which as very beautiful, with a huge shell (like ocean shell) and the stained glass windows.  The gargoyles were actually pretty creepy... so they did their job. 

Jason was being a creep the whole time taking pictures of me and thane. Thane and I tried to get him back by taking pictures of him, but we were never able to.  

After our local guide left, we had some free time! Megan bought a table cloth, Dylan was mistaken for being gay because he put a pink girl case on his phone and the owner of the store said "he likes boys, no?" and meg and heath said "we're not sure" and then Dylan puts a zebra one of his phone, and then either meg or the owner goes "definitely!" and it was HILARIOUS! Dylan didn't even know what was going on until we told him after we left the store. 

I got an amazing raspberry sorbet, and watched the boys play with swords, shields and bows for 5 year olds. Some/most of the boys bought a sword or dagger, they thought it was cool. 

After the castle we went to the new hotel, where I roomed with Haylie and Briana. I Went down to the pool, and watched Dylan and Heath goof around.

Day 11: Avignon

HAPPY FATHERS DAY! 

Today we got up early, and finished packing and left for Avignon. We went to the Rhone Cemetery this morning where we got to honor our fallen soldiers during WWII . We learned about the military strategies and the military plans they had. Our guide man talked about D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, and gave us some stories about two of the people who were buried there. There was 860 people buried there, only 1 was a woman. There were two sets of brothers, whose headstones/cross's were side-by-side. I found only 2 Arnold's but I was only able to look at half of them. 

After we left the Rhone Cemetery, and drove to Avignon. We stopped at a gas station; I got an Arizona Tea, and a ham sandwich. I tried a chocolate covered waffle, and it tasted like a chocolate donut, and I ate some chips that tasted just like pizza. And sense a little more than a third of our group is sick right now, we had to be careful about sharing foods. (we even segregated the bus; sick’s in front, healthy in back. )

We arrive in Avignon, and walk to lunch. I sat with Dylan, Haylie, and Austin. We had quiche and some nasty salad. For dessert we had some fruit cups, it was a good lunch. After lunch we walked to the Papal Palace. I didn't really enjoy this tour because it was a self tour (we had walk about and do everything our selves. I didnt really learn anything, and we didnt get any background info before we went. I know that the sculptures in there were very weird and I didnt like them. After our group finished, we walked around the city. We ended up at McDonald's where all the boys for Royal Cheese's because in Pulp Fiction John Travolta says "do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in France? A royal with cheese" so everyone got one. I didnt like the mcflurry I got, but it was alright.  

I got to buy post cards, and sent them out!!

We headed to dinner and it ok.. not much to say about it.

Day 10: Cannes and Nice

Today we woke up early, met up with our local guide, and she showed us around Cannes, and Nice! I got to see where all my favorite actors have walked, and go for the Cannes Film Festival each year. They also have a "walk of fame" where they have some actors/directors hand prints and autographs. I didnt find Johnny Depp's, but I did see Tim Burtons. I also saw some amazing stores like Chanel, Prada, Gucci, and Miu Miu (Hailee Steinfeld models for them). After a little hike a mountain where we saw a great view of Cannes, we went to a local farmers market where Jason and I bought Raspberries! THEY WERE AMAZING! I absolutely loved them! After losing Laura for a few minutes, we left the market and went the city some more. In Monaco I had gotten a pin for Cannes so I wore it today. I has a film strip on it, the word Cannes, and the iconic leaf and award on it. 

After Cannes, we took a bus ride to Nice, on the bus i sat next to Chase. I learned some stuff about him, his family, and his pets. It was a pretty nice bus ride to Nice. In Nice, their beaches arent sand, they are pebbles. I took two little pebbles with me, and took some pictures with Megan. And I recorded some videos for a fundraiser video for P2Ppayyourway. 

We walk alot and Im kinda really annoyed by it... I know we are here in Europe where they walk everywhere, but we've been doing it enough. 

After the LONG walk to lunch, we had escargot and a bad salad. I actually really enjoyed the escargot, and would have eaten one or two more, but they didn't have any more ready to serve us. After tjhat meal sitting with Chase, Jason, Michael, Haylie, Jess, Josh, Alex, and Nathan, we walked BACK to the bus. 

We took at bus ride up a mountain, where we meet some local teens, and played games "with" them. Since there wasnt that many of them and over 40 of us, us People To People kids just played with each other, and the French kids sat down, kissed ALOT, and smoked cigarettes. I played badminton with David, Nick, Jason, Ana, Thane, and anyone who joined in. David and I powned Alex and Ana in foosball, and then lost against Jason and Thane. Then when Ana and Alex gave up playing Jason and Thane, we stepped in again. We were losing (we had 4 they had 7) and they kept getting goals. We ended up have 5-8, we came back and WON THE GAME!! IT WAS THE BEST COMEBACK EVER!! 

The french teens made us some BBQ, we ate hotdogs and chips with fruits and veggies. I personally didnt like the hotdog things, so I gave mine to Aubrey, and just ate a carrot. It was actually very good...i enjoyed that carrot. 

At the hotel, went and explored the hotel, Megan, Austin and I met up with Jason and Dylan and went to the lobby for wifi. We didnt have very much time there, and the wifi wasnt very strong. I will also have a late night because we have to pack for the next hotel tomorrow...  which means our France portion is almost over.

Day 9: Monaco

Today we got a local guide and went to the 2nd smallest country- MONACO!! I sat next to Alexandra on the bus, and she helped me out with some of the levels on my games on my phone. This place was beautiful! We saw the outside of the aquarium that was literally right on the water, and the high school thats right next to it. We got to see the official changing of the guards, where the grand prix takes place, and had some shopping time! I bought a tshirt, two pins for my lanyard, and had some of other peoples foods. I really enjoyed seeing Monaco, but itd be VERY expensive to live there. We drove on the same street as the racers do, which I thought was very cool.

After that we drove to lunch, where I ordered ratatouille, but got a cheese pizza that was huge, and couldnt finish myself, and an amazing apple pie with raspberry puree!!

After we ate, we went bowling in the same place where we ate. We barely had time to bowl.... we only bowled 4 or 5 times -only a half a game. Chase, Megan, Doniasha, Brianna, and Ana were on my team.. I got 2nd place!

After lunch we went to the perfume factory, where we learned the history of perfume, how they make it, and how the different types of perfumes are made. They gave us smell testers, and I bought a very expensive bottle of perfume.  I probably shouldnt have done it, but it was a "heat of the moment" buy, I didnt look around for other stuff...so i couldve gotten the eaux des toilette which was double the oz's for the same price--even though id have to reapply during the day with the toilette, I still would have gotten more out of it. But with the perfume I did get, it came with a free travel size one that we had to fill up our selves.. well back at the hotel when i filled it up, i kinda knocked it over on the desk and spilt some of my SUPER expensive when i was trying to put the cap on the travel one. I tried to screw the cap on the travel one, and it wouldnt work... two minutes later that one tipped over too. i had to use the room key and a cup from the room to get it back into the original container. I was so upset, but the room smelt really nice! I later realized I was putting the wrong cap on the travel size, i was trying to put the regular size bottle cap on it. 

At dinner, up a very tall hill, we had meatballs and rice! It was actually really good! I sat with Brennah,  Megan, Dylan, Avi, Shiv, Sandra, and Vrishti. It  was the funniest meal Ive had so far!! The boys were SOOOOO funny, and we got "yelled" at for laughing so loudly because the restaurant had other patrons. We were outside, which was nice because nice breezes would come through, and would cool us off after sweating to get up there. We had a chocolate mousse for dessert, and Avi asked if we having a chocolate mouse, not mousse.... it was hilarious. And made the list of stupid things people have said on the trip or have done on the trip. 

At the hotel, we made bracelets for the kids we are meeting tomorrow. But since i had limited time before the perfume would soak into the cup/dry up i stayed in the room and cleaned up my mess. I guess the lesson of the day was, buy cheap perfumes that you dont have to do anything to except press it to spray.

Day 8: Boat, Train, Bus--FRANCE!

Today we leave Italy, and go to France. Went on a boat ride-starting off in The Golfo delle Spezia-Monterosso and went to one of the Cinque Terre's (5 lands). We got off, looked at the amazing waters, and the cliff-side houses. We werent able to hike the famous "love" trail because the cliff/path had fallen and is currently closed.


After we got a few minutes of free-time, we all got on a train....well not all of us. There were 3 kids, and one leader that didnt make it onto the train. (Andrew, Joseph, Michael and ms. Bostick) We got off on our stop, and had to wait over an hour for them to catch the next train over to us. Some people played Ninja, and some (including me) played games on our phones- Icomania, 4 pics one word, etc; gossiped, talked, or just chilled. (Chase said he wished he was left behind...because it would be cool.....what a weirdo!)

Once they FINALLY came, we headed to lunch.. our bus driver met us at the train station and skipped his lunch break just to get us. Once we got to the restaurant, all of our food(cheese lasagna type pasta) was cold and hard...so it wasnt a very meal, but there was nothing we could do about it!

Later we took a 3 ish hour bus ride to FRANCE!! Markus wasnt very informant when telling us there would be a sign for France... so most of us missed what we thought was THE sign (which I got a picture of) and didnt say a thing about the ACTUAL sign, so EVERYONE missed it.  And of course, Markus took us the wrong way AGAIN, and we had to turn around when looking for dinner. We got dinner at a place that looked like a french Ikea food court. The first french meal wasnt that great--bad ham, good fries and mashed potato, good soda, very bad creme brûlée, and amazing bread.

Our hotel in Nice called Campanile wasnt the "best" but "ok". My roommates are Megan and Ana, and we have three nights here! When we first walked in the room, there was only two beds in this small room..so i went to go find a leader.....and so did like 20 other people wondering if we got the right rooms. There ended up being a pullout bed underneath Megan's bed, which I slept on.

The wifi wasnt the greatest- if your phone or laptop closes or locked your internet timed out and you had to log in every single time. My laptop keeps on having connection errors, and my phones wifi was super slow.

Day 7: David & Pizza Making

YAY! Today we went to see the statue of David! It was sooo cool, and larger than I expected! His hands are very disproportionate to his body. Pictures were not allows....(but I obviously had to take some!!)

After seeing David, we did a walk around the city with our local guide. She showed us the Gate To Paradise, a pretty river, churches, and a golden hog that I cant remember the name of. After finishing out city walk, we went to lunch were we had REAL ITALIAN PASTA! I ordered cheese pasta, while some ordered black pasta in seafood sauce. The black pasta was made of squid ink, so it turned everyones teeth, and mouths black(temporally). I was very pleased with this mean, I had 2nds on pasta.
After finishing the pasta, I sent out my post cards, and got to go to a leather factory. They taught us how they made the jewelry boxes, and how they used iron and gold paper to "stamp"/"engrave" letters onto the pieces. Edward was called out as an volunteer, and he stamped on a crest or some sort of logo/icon onto a little piece of leather. They lady said that he could keep the little piece of leather, and he got so excited because him and his dad love leather.
Since we are in a large group we got 30%off (I believe) if we spent over a certain price. Sorry mom, I didnt buy anything there, but parents you'll be sure to see what everyone else bought--some even bought purses and brief cases that were about $200! (yes, in america Dollars!) Avi tried on some leather pants, and some of the boys (shiv, dylan and robin) but on leather vests.

We had dinner at a farm/hotel/hall/large area, where we made out own pizza and ate it!!
I was the 2nd person to finish spreading out my dough, so me and Haylie got first pick, and best choices for ingredients. I had tomato sauce, LOTS of cheese, and some corn! Once a few people at our table got their food, I started eating, and it was AMAZING!! I ate the whole pizza except for the crust(it was kinda burnt), and we had chocolate mousse for dessert!

After that we headed back to our hotel, and had about an hour of free time--most played capture the flag...some of us girls sat on the side, played games on our phones, gossiped ;), and watched the others play.

The Heat

Perfection!! This movie was hilarious! Two very funny women together in this movie, made it perfect. Sandra's character was total opposite from Melissa's... Which made it so funny to watch them "work" together!

You laugh during the ENTIRE movie... the scenes from the day that Sandra and Melissa meet are hilarious! Especially when Melissa's character is looking for some thing in her bosses office.... PERFECTION! 

6/5 glasses!!! 

Day 6: Pisa

Today we had breakfast, packed up and left for Pisa! (last night I hit my head very hard on an open window door and was scared I had a concussion because I hit my head so hard I could feel the pain on the back of the roof of my mouth. I got a golf ball sized bump on my head..and it hurt realllly bad!)


Once we got to Pisa we had about 2 1/2 hours just to walk around, explore, take pictures, and shop. My group was Tori, Jason, Megan, Heath, Edward, Haylie, and Alex. We got some great pictures, bought some fake ray-ban's, I ate a McDonalds burger because I didnt eat the fish for lunch, and bought some gifts.

The tower was really cool, and the pictures we all got were great!! (THANKS MEGAN!!)

There isnt much to say about today because we had a 3 hour bus drive to Pisa, hung out in Pisa for a few hours, and then had an hour drive to the hotel for dinner and new rooms. My roommates are Tori and Desiree.

Day 5: Assisi and Full On

Today we woke up at 6:30 and went to breakfast at the hotel. We got in the bus and went to the Full On, building! They put us into groups, mine was TEAM SHARK BAIT (oohh hahah). We had Jess, Angelica, Adriana, Megan, Jason, Heath, Brennah, Vrishti, Doniasha, Heaven, Laura, Haylie, Sandra and our leader Steph O! (We honestly had the BEST group!!) The first thing we did was we went up to a grass field and did a maze game where we werent able to talk at all or mark the mat with anything. The goal was to get to the end of the checkered mat without talking and without getting "beeped' we'd get beeped everytime we stepped on a square that wasnt the path to the end. If we do get beeped we have to retrace our steps exactly or we get a 1 minute penalty. We ended up finishing in 13 minutes, but got 4 minutes of  penalties, so 17 minutes. After that we went for a very long walk up hill to the castle wall to repel. Only about 5 of us in our group was able to repel because a massive storm came in and it was a safety hazard.

The point of full on is to change your perspective--or know that you can. If your scared of something and think its going to end badly...it will so you can change your perspective so it wont. We talked about comfort zones, and how everyone perceives everything differently. We set goals for our life and the point of today was to "Make IT happen" and we have to figure out that that IT is.

We went to a little gelato shop where we had to learn Italian and order our gelato's in only Italian. Then we went back into the building and were told that we were going to break a piece of wood only with our hands. We had two options, soft break, or hard break; the soft break is where you had to kneel and sit all the way down, put your dominate hand on the wood and the less dominate on the block holding the wood up, focusing all your energy in your hand, and only lifting your hand up no more than an inch and slamming it into the wood to break it; the hard break was where you had to lunge and do a movement with your arms three times, the third time bursting your hand into the wood, and bending your legs and going down with your body. Everyone in my group broke their wood, only a few chose the soft break. I did the hard break and was surprised that i was able to break this large block of wood!

After breaking the wood and having everyone sign it, we talked about how our decisions and actions dictate our life. If we hesitate, we might lose out on opportunities. We have to set goals for ourselves, and change into what we want to be.

I really enjoyed full on, and it made me realize that I need to step out of my comfort zone more often, and do things that are offered to me... if I dont like it or its not for me, I can change my perspective and do something else.




After taking some group pictures, we left Full-On and went to dinner. Of course, Markus took us up very steep hills that never ended...not to mention it was raining and slippery.  We got to the restaurant, wifi had "ok" wifi,  I ate Turkey with a very good potato and bread.

I got to talk/bond with my bus mate Andrew today.. which was nice. :)

We've got a late bed check- 11pm, but a 6:30 morning again.  Tomorrow we will be going to Pisa!!! (3 hour drive--megan and i want the huge seats again!!)

Day 4: Assisi

Today we checked out of our hotel in Rome, and left for our 3 hr bus ride to Perugia (Assisi). I sat with  Megan and watched Warm Bodies on my laptop! We had a break at a gas station, and then went to meet up with the Monk at the Basilica of San Francesco. He told us about the steps he sent through to become a friar, and how he lives his life.

After the very nice meeting and the blessing he gave us, we went back to the bus and lots of people bought some sort of pig sandwich... everyone loved it..it wasnt my thing.

After driving for like 15 minutes we ended up on this town on the hill called Assisi(uh-see-see) .. after walking up steep roads we got into two groups. The first group went to meet the mentally/physically challenged. We had like 25 ish minutes with them, and sang them some songs. Then we switched and my group went to the streets to walk around.. and explore. I bought some amazing fresh milk chocolate.  

After both groups were done, Markus took us up a big hill, which killed all our legs.. haha Some looked around the church up there...some just flirted with the british or french girls at the bottom of the hill (AVI!!) Markus took us to dinner...which wasnt to great.

We got new roommates and room assignments here in Perugia.. wifi's only in the lobby or in one corner of a hall, so theres about 30 kids in the lobby using wifi and playing Mafia. (I also got stuck in the bathroom......hhahah it was really funny!! When I FINALLY got it open there was about 10 girls outside the door seeing whats going on... it was great!)

Day 3: Vatican and City Quest

Today we had an early morning going to the Vatican! We got to see the amazing sculptures and breath taking murals/painting. We almost weren't able to see the Sistine Chappell, but we managed to get in. We weren't supposed to take pictures (but of course...I had to snap a few), and then we were headed to Saint Peter's Basilica, but we weren't able to get close because the president or major was there. We went for amazing pizza right on the outside of the vatican, and was able to get wifi!! Two men came into the restaurant and started playing their accordions!! It was really cool!

After the great pizza, we took a metro ride to the Spanish Steps! We started our City Quest to find the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and another Piazza. We spilt up into small groups and were off to find these amazing landmarks. We asked locals where the monuments were and asked them some quiz questions like "What is the most popular souvenir bought in Italy?", and "how many columns are in the first rank(of the pantheon)". Some groups ended up having a hour left after finding all the monuments, and were able to rest, shop and hang out.

After the fun City Quest, we all got two scoops of gelato! I went for Strawberry and Snickers, it wasn't a good mix, so I'm glad there was more strawberry than Snickers. We had a pretty good dinner, we chose between fried cheese or breaded pork.. I chose the cheese. We were also given a dessert that lots of us didnt enjoy......

We got back to the rooms with 2ish hours before bed checks, and Adrianna hung out in the room! We played a weird computer game called Happy Wheels, and I was given some jobs to do as a Junior Leader. I have to call everyone at 7:45am making sure everyone is up, making sure everyone signs birthday cards, and i have to talk to ms fields about doing a group "thing"--dance, something saying P2P, or something creative for our trip and that everyone in the group can do.

Day 1/2: Travel and Rome

YAY!
Today is day 1/2 of our trip!!
We left Arizona at 9am and arrived in Chicago at 3pm and then took a 9 1/2 flight to Rome, Italy at 5pm!

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDRA!)

They played The Blind Side and The Guilt Trip during the flight..(I watched Warm Bodies on my phone) and served us dinner- mash potatoes with chicken or risotto (Sandra and I got the mashed potatoes)

After spending almost 10 hours in that plane, we finally landed in Italy! We went through customs and got our baggage and met our manager Markus. Since we got out of the airport faster than expected, our bus driver took us around the city and got to drive around the forum, and the colosseum. Then at lunch we had a french dish with rice(not sure if it was risotto or not) and tiramisu..which I found out I didnt like :(

After lunch and singing to Sandra, we went to the colosseum! We met a local guide there, who taught us about the history of the structure and the significance in Rome's history. After taking tons of pictures, going up large steps, and walking around, we left the colosseum and went to the Roman Forum and learned more about the history of all those buildings as well.

Our local guide left us, and Markus directed us to the restaurant for dinner. We walked for atleast 20 or 30 minutes..... which was painful and made everyone thirsty!!!! Once we got to the restaurant and found out that it had wifi, my hole table freaked out and iMessaged, instagramed and snapchated family and friends. With my feet hurting like crazy we walked to the bus... and took an hour drive to our hotel.  we picked our meals for tomorrow and got briefed on what is expected and necessary to go to the vatican, and our roommates for the next two days! (mine is Adrianna!!)

Room checks and outfit checks for tomorrow were fine.. finally got a password for the wifi and was able to write this and post pictures in instagram. @laurenannarnold

We've got an early morning tomorrow, and a day full of walking!! (poor feet)

The Purge

This movie was kind of a let down. I expected it to be a scary creepy movie... But it was just creepy and suspenseful. 

The story line is good, and your heart he's racing at a couple of parts... But it might not be what you expected/ wanted it to be. If the main guy knew that the product he was selling wasn't impenetrable... Then why didn't he create a safe room or a bunker just in case a situation like this happened. 

The masks were very scary... And the actions of the "killers" were just creepy!

I'd recommend this movie to teens+

Who like scary/suspense/thriller movies 

2/5 glasses