Descriptlets, Volume 2

The goal is to write about something, a feeling, an object, an emotion without actually saying the word itself. These came from an exercise I did last semester while in England and Italy.

Theme: darkness.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel, somewhere far off in the distance was a pin-prick of white light growing larger by the second. Out bud lights were turned off-probably in order to help us sleep after our long flight. Someone's watch glows next to me showing the time of 11:32pm. Approaching the now very larger hole I realized that the light was only a street lamp. The stars twinkled above, bright, but hardly providing any usable light.

Theme: Colourful.

Our guide to the museum asked us how many shades we saw in the grass. One man shouted out immediately, "One! It's green!" But that was definitely not the answer our guide had in mind.

"No, look again. Are there not shades of different greens? And look, there are yellow flowers, purple in the stems, pink where the stems fade, brown in the dirt, black, mocha, grey, chestnut, and silver flecks also in the same soil. Look closer and I think you'll find a few more shades than green."

Theme: Senses.

The rumble of a large approaching vehicle shook my toes-al ten of them. It was probably still far off in any case. WE though it would be a good idea to at least be ready when it came. It was sweating hot and we were hoping for an air conditioned Sita bus. I zoned out at the bus stop and the next thing I knew I could smell the gas fumes and the bus we needed to take was 20 feet away. Desperately I looked around at my travel companions and tried to say something intelligent to make the bus stop. They only problem lay in my lack of knowledge of the Italian language. I could feel the panic rising in my throat, it tasted a lot like acid. ALmost out of hope that we would reach our destination before sunset I heard a small, sheepishly distinguishable, "'Scusie?"

Thanks for reading!

I'M HERE!!!!!

I made it safely and soundly through about 8 1/2 hours of flights, two airports and two plane meals (which were quite good actually) and now I am sitting in an internet café with like eight other people listening to live music via a singer and a bass player. The funny thing is that the singer just said that he wrote a song for a very famous stand up comedian in the US...I've never heard of him. 

After leaving Minneapolis we arrived at the Amsterdam airport around 11:00. I got a few minutes of sleep here and there but it's hard staying in one position for 7 hours. There were in-flight movies in front of each person built into the seat back. I didn't watch anything because I was really tired to begin with and then I decided to take a Dramamine so I could maybe get some sleep to set my body's clock closer to the time it should be. I didn't do much other than listen to my iPod (thank you Ryan for the earbuds!!) and sleep. 

The flight attendants came around with a chicken dinner and potatoes, a bread roll with butter, crackers and cheese, and a brownie. All normal drinks were free...it was fun and the food was really good. They closed the sliding things on the windows to block the sunlight so we could sleep. And then in the morning we got some sort of egg and cheese McMuffin thing. Then we had a layover at Amsterdam and had an hour flight to Edinburgh. 

We got picked up from the airport by someone and taken to our campus flats that we're staying in for 3 days or so. We each have our own rooms for the most part or share with one other person in each little apartment. We even have a kitchen and dining room! And my room has two little corner windows that open at the top...no blankets though that I've seen yet...maybe I'll find some later. 

We all had about an hour and a half to grab dinner and get back for a short meeting with the leaders of the trip and everyone else. Me and five other girls wondered around a little bit until we found a pub of sorts that had cheapish food (mine was £6). I ordered "Highland Chicken" which was a chicken breast stuffed with haggis and mashed potatoes on the side with this weird salty, light-colored gravy. It was really good! I'm surprised at how haggis tasted. I don't think I'd order it again but I liked it enough of each about 2/3 of it.

After our meeting we all agreed to check out this wireless café that we'd seen while searching for dinner. And that's where I am now! But I have to let someone else use the laptop now...Pictures and more blogging later! 

Thanks for reading!

Á Travers L'étang

Roughly translated: "across the pond".

So in two days I will be on a plane traveling abroad to study on location in England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and hopefully Italy. I am studying literature, drama, and writing as we travel Western Europe. I don't know when I'll be able to blog when abroad, but my goal is to update whoever reads this thing as often as I have time, an internet connection, and whenever I have something interesting or witty to report. Perhaps I'll meet and become best friends with some international celebrity. That, I will dutifully report. But since travel such as this is all new to me, you may also get the occasional "I accidentally walked into the wrong bathroom!" story or the "Got mugged again. Bummer of a day" too. Read at your own risk.

I'm kinda nervous to fly and to travel in places where I don't know what's going on. I mean, I don't even use public transportation here where I live! But hopefully I will find a travel buddy who knows what they're doing and is not afraid of me tagging along looking like a lost puppy. BUT WAIT! What if I get over there and suddenly have this revelation and I just KNOW what I'm doing and how to navigate the trains? Though highly unlikely in all probability, I'm hoping for the best possible statistical outcome between the two methods of getting from Point A to Point B. 

One thing I am not nervous about is being away from my family. Though I have never been away as long as a semester, (10 days is the longest) I think I tend to do alright on the homesickness scale. I miss people, but only those who I talk to everyday and really depend on for support and friendship. Which may or may not include my family depending on the day. Only kidding. But I think the thing I'm looking forward to the most is just learning to rely on myself and seeing what I can accomplish outside of my home or house. Home=university, house=where I live during summers :)

In conclusion, finally, to sum up, and altogether, I hope that I will be okay and fine on this trip, including growing in my faith and ability to navigate public transport. Also perhaps packing a suitcase. I will try to update as much as possible, but not bore you with the typical stories you hear from travelers like "the airline lost my luggage" and "so apparently it's the rainy season and I don't have a jacket". Also, if you find anything I write interesting or commentable, please let me know by dropping a comment in the box located through the "comments" link at the end of each post. I love to hear from you mysterious few readers! Until next time, au revoir et...

 Merci pour lirez!