FOTOS Para Ti

Pictures Finally, JAcked them from other people. Jaja. the bottom pictures is the view from the plane. The lake picture is from the beach Algarrobo, where we went for Orientation. The one with the people is the school, Campus Oriente, where we are doing our intensive language program.

In Firenze

Currently traveling around Italy with the family. We went to paris last friday (6/19) and flew over to novo mesto on tuesday (6/23). Then we took the train to Venice on the 25th, and we are now in Florence.

I had so much ice cream! only if all ice cream tasted like italian gelato. the yogurt flavored gelato tastes so much like pink berry :)

venice was very nice; but public restrooms were impossible to find and the signs indicating directions to the ferry were completely unhelpful to say the least. and we met lots of rude vendors... we found a nice little shop in San Toma today and ran into a horribly rude owner. my mom went inside to look around and i was browsing the window display before entering because i was eating pizza. a few minutes later my mom came out huffing and puffing and told me that the owner told her to get out of the store; my mom was holding some pizza wrapper (from my pizza) and he yelled "oil! oil! get out!;" my mom tried to explain that she wasnt touching anything with that hand and her other hand was clean. but he continued to yell and slammed and locked the door behind her. what a terrible man! he couldve said it more nicely for goodness sakes... he completely ruined our day.

I dont understand why these people are so arrogant and impolite, knowing tourists bring them so much income. i know its bad karma on my part to wish something bad upon him, but i cant help myself from hoping so. of course we also met nice people; but our encounters with these ill-mannered people completely ruined my perception of italy. maybe im just being naive, but i dont think its too much to expect a highly touristic area to be more considerate of the tourists.

in any case, venice was beautiful. its hard to imagine people attempting to construct such a place in this century.... and harder to believe that people even thought to build a city on water such a long time ago. on a different note, all that water made me think of mermaids... hehe me and my mermaid obsession.

excited to go to the uffizi gallery tomorrow. im going to have to go to sleep soon if we want to beat the long lines as much as possible. im so tired from walking around today that im probablly going to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

ciao,
linda

21st birthday in Novo mesto

I am finally 21! yay! I thought this day would never come! Turning 21 in Slovenia has made this day all the more special.

I woke up late for work this morning and was in a hurry, so I had forgotten about my birthday until later in the morning. I didn't mention it to the others, because I was too shy to do so...but was hoping that someone would remember. Gladly, a few of the coworkers had remembered and said happy birthday to me and put a smile on my face.

After lunch, I went outside to join the others for coffee and was surprised by a birthday cake made specially for me! They had all remembered it after all~ and I received a map of Europe as a gift. It was such a thoughtful and unexpected gesture I almost kind of cried :) I was so happy. It's part of the Slovenian culture to kiss the birthday girl/boy on both side of her/his cheeks. So I received plenty of kisses today~

Back from Florida...

So I just back from Disney! We went to three different parks: Disney World, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios.

Disney World was pretty much the same park as Disneyland, which was kind of lame. I was just like...I've done all of this before. But their castle was HUGE! Disneyland's castle is nothing compared to this castle! Here's a comparison.




The next we went to Epcot. Epcot was my favorite. It's the park with the huge ball, which is actually a ride! Most of the park consists of a bunch of different countries that you walk through, like France, Mexico, Germany, China, Japan, and others. Sorry Linda, they didn't have Korea.



We spent our last day at Hollywood Studios. Unfortunately for me, when we got there, we found out that there was a Star Wars convention there that weekend. There were Star Wars nerds all over the park ugh. They even had a Star Wars parade, which I videotaped a little of. Will on the other hand was really excited. He got so excited at the parade any time we saw a character.






We were also in Orlando during the NBA finals. I was really surprised, because I didn't see much Magic pride in Orlando. In LA, you see Lakers stuff everywhere, but there were only a few things here. This box was inside one of the parks...go Lakers!



Lots of picture opportunities...



Random Story: On the second day, Will flooded the toilet in the hotel. There was a hole in our floor, so the people below us had a toilet water pouring down in their room. I felt kinda bad, because they were an old couple and were sleeping at the time. They moved us and the old people out of our rooms and into upgraded ones =D. Will was so embarrassed, but I thought it was funny! Overall, it was a pretty good trip.

Portret neke gospe

On Wednesday (June 10th), I went to the local theater to see a play with my coworkers at the hostel. The play was called Portret neke gospe (or Portrait of a Lady), directed by Matjaž Berger. It's a play based on Henry James' novel The Portrat of a Lady. The play was staged at the "Anton Podbevšek Teater (APT)." What was really interesting about the play was that the audience was seated in a circle around the stage. 

Though I knew I woudn't understand anything, I decided to go anyway, because I usually enjoy watching plays and also thought it would be interesting to guess what the play was about. 

What I thought it was about: After watching the play, I had absolutely no idea what it was about (I didn't know until a few minutes ago that the play was based on Henry James' novel...well, I havent read the novel yet, so I guess it wouldn't have mattered). Some actors were dressed in white and some in black... and one of the female actors was dressed like a nun... and gospel singers came and sang on the stage... and people kept throwing white pebbles in the air... So... I thought that perhaps it could have been about heaven and hell and the main character (Isabel Archer) was stuck in the middle trying to overcome the temptations of Satan's minions.

What it was actually about: (I guess if you've already read the novel, you know what it was about.) Basically, it was actually about how Isabel Archer (who receives a big inheritence) had to confront all the men that wanted to marry her.... and later becomes a victim of a scheme plotted by two men... My coworker told me that the play was very strangely staged to begin with, so it was hard for them to understand it as well. I guess it was one of those highly artistic plays.

All in all, it was a great experience~ I was really glad that I had gone. 

Isabel Archer

Linda 

From Zurich to Ljubljana!

These photos are more views of Zurich from the airplane~






















These are views of Ljubljana! The capital of Slovenia! It looked so much like Zurich that I couldnt tell the difference until the flight attendant announced that we were about to land.
It was very beautiful~ and also very, very green.

I am planning on hopping on a train to go to Ljubljana next weekend so that I can get a better look at the city. :) hopefully ill take a lot of nice photos, so that I can post them on the blog.

From LAX to Zurich

Here are some of the photos that I took before landing in Ljubljana.

The first two are of me and my mom at LAX airport. And at the back you can see the Swiss International Airlines airplane that I rode to Zurich~ I was really excited to leave~ and my mom was very happy for me but also very sad to see me go...














These photos are views of Zurich from the airplane. It was so beautiful!
So much green!

Disney World!

I'm leaving for Florida on Wednesday! Will and I are taking a 3 day trip to the real Magic Kingdom. I'm really excited, because I was only 2 the last time I went to Disney World and I don't remember a thing. I know that it's not as cool as a different country, but I'm still excited! I count this as traveling =P

Unfortunately, I have to get through finals before I go. It's really hard to concentrate on finals when I know that I have an amazing trip planned. Boo finals. I really can't concentrate. I'm blogging as another means of procrastination.

-Elaine

Safe and sound in Novo Mesto!

I have safely arrived in Novo Mesto! It was a very, very long flight. i think it took around 15 hours... plus minus a few hours... whew! glad that is over

It is now my 7th day in Novo Mesto.

Its beautiful here. There is a river (Krka River) that flows through the city, and the water is emerald green (I shall put up a photo later). And the people here are all very nice. the main sqaure looks like a large film set. really cozy and pretty. the streets are really clean and very safe.

Yesterday, one of my supervisors asked to take a photo of me on a swing in the hostel's garden; it was for a local newspaper that will be publishing a story about the hostel. Hopefully they will use the photo of me, so that I can appear in the newspaper! if they do use it, i will be sure to put it up
(check out the hostel: Hostel Situla (http://www.situla.si/en/))

My voltage converter broke today... all the stores are closed for the day, so i have to wait till tomorrow.... soooo frustrating.... my laptop ran out of battery right when the converter broke! just my freaking luck!
im using the computer at the hostel's cyber cafe, and the keyboard is different so i keep making mistakes and having to go back to correct them...

ive learn some slovenian words!
hvala means thank you
dober dan (dan for short) means good day

more updates to come very soon

ciao~
Linda