African amazing two weeks in Kenya

DRUMROLL PLEASE....................................................
My trip to Africa!! FINALLY. Kenya believe it took so long? Delayed partly because there is so much to share and partly because I get overly nostalgic and risk crying every time I think back on my experiences...
I’ll organize everything by topic so if you want to skip over the sentimental, life-altering epiphany sections and just read about LIONS, I’ll never know ;).

PRE-TRIP ANXIETY (understatement.):

Anyone who has briefly met me, or passed me in a grocery store… knows I suffer from severe decision-impairment. Every decision, no matter how trivial, becomes LIFE-CHANGING. Kenya was no exception. Traveling to Africa always sparks certain concerns (malaria, violent conflict, details, details..) If you can imagine the skype call with my parents......           

"How’s Europe??”          

 “Great. Is it cool if I fly to Africa for two weeks??”

A bit of advice: googling "African diseases" before your trip is not the best approach...My final decision came down to a thought bubble of me sitting on the beach in Spain drinking a margarita vs. sleeping underneath a mosquito net surrounded by lions in Kenya. This was a HUGE step out of my comfort zone but I couldn't imagine passing up an opportunity that I most likely would never have again. After sitting on the fence, jumping over, jumping back, clinging onto the fence, ripping the fence down, building a new fence.... I decided this was an experience I could not possibly pass up. Looking back, I can’t IMAGINE not going.

****Lesson learned: step out of your comfort zone as often as possible!!

Confession: I was so nervous and unsure about my decision after purchasing my (not cheap) plane ticket I secretly emailed Ethiopian airlines to see if the tickets were refundable IN CASE I had a last minute meltdown. They responded with a short and blunt – No and I was finally able to get excited about the trip (knowing I had no option).

THE TRIP BEGINS: 

Things didn’t become real until our drive from the airport in Mombasa to Gede, where we were staying. Free-roaming cows waiting to cross the street like humans, little mud huts, women balancing giant fruit baskets on their heads (they have special hats that help.. a bit of a let down, I know). It’s clear right away that we stick out.. even more so than we do with our huge fold out maps and “Traveling through Europe” books in Italy. 




I had to keep visualizing a little globe with a giant, red “you are here” circle over KENYA, AFRICA to remember how far from home we actually were.

THE PEOPLE:

The people in Kenya were some of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met. I felt like someone was slipping them money under the table to be nice to us!

MAMA EUNICE: “Head honcho” at Bambakofi school. Average bug chasing speed – 20 mph. Average walking to dinner speed – negative 2 mph. Unbelievably sweet and so hospitable.





JACKIE: 

Eunice’s daughter.  SO kind, beautiful voice and inspiring woman.

SAIDI: 

Our “tour guide” for two weeks. SUCH A GEM. Kindest human I’ve ever met, to date. Took us on the safari, showed us Milindi, Mombasa, the Masai tribe and insisted on buying us little woven bracelets on each stop along the way.

JULIEN:

Our “fearless” leader who earned his quotation marks after screaming like a 12 year old girl when his feet touched the seaweed at the beach haha. Nonetheless, he had 9 of our lives quite literally in his hands and we love him/can’t thank him enough for making this trip happen.



THE NINE OF US: 

Could not have been with a better group of people...Brought closely together by lack of internet and monster spiders. I was convinced by day 8 someone would snap and lash out but we all held it together
                                    

BAMBAKOFI SCHOOL AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS:
Bambakofi is a primary school in Kenya located in the Milindi district. It was created by a Swiss, nonprofit organization called ATKYE. The school has an excellent reputation and most of the students sleep there overnight.

It is crazy how quickly things become “home.” Two days at Bombakofi and I had that comforting “home” feeling walking into our small, bug infested, 150 degree guest house. When we talked about Switzerland to the kids we would talk about it like home even though just three month ago it was just as foreign and overwhelming. "Home" is most definitely who you are with, not where you are.

A few of our beds were in the Bambakofi school guest house. I (naturally) chose the geico/bug infested back corner bed........ We each had a mosquito net that closely resembled the “princess canopy” I dreamt of as a child.


Everynight there was a little surprise creature waiting for us outside of the guest house. One night it was a giant scorpion spider. I tried to play it cool, mostly to compensate for my over dramatic fear of lizards.... Eunice came out and I QUOTE “This is one we want dead.” “We don’t have the medicine for that one.”.......Cue to PANIC… Eunice grabbed bug-killing spray and chased it at tornado, cartoon character speed.

KENYAN CULTURE:
The one rule of the roads in Kenya is “stay left”. There would be cars coming straight at us on the road and all it took was a casual swerve to the left.... 

It was difficult to ask the questions we wanted to without sounding ignorant or unintentionally offensive ("Where are all the zebras?!") We wanted to learn as much as possible from Eunice and Jackie but it was important to be culturally sensitive. On that note… I did find out that the Bachelor plays in Kenya and Jackie watches it! Making it multi-cultural and acceptable to watch back in the states....
Shopping was an eye opening experience. TRUMPED the leather markets in Florence. If you so much as looked at a necklace you were throwing yourself to the sharks. Imagine a mix of NYC chinatown, the little kiosks selling junk at the mall and a flock of vultures.

Our second day we were lucky enough to go to a nearby community to see how most Kenyans in the Gede area actually live. I’ve always felt grateful for what I have but you really don’t have a true sense of how fortunate you are until you see people living this way. To them food, shelter, water is all that is necessary. They live in mud huts, eat one meal a day, sleep on the floor but they are friendlier and happier than anyone I've ever met. I don’t think American or developed culture is superior in anyway, it’s just different. When these people need something they make it with the resources available, they don’t run to the nearest target…… (guilty.) 

Visiting the students around Bambakofi was one of the few/only experiences I’ve had this semester that could truly not be imitated by Vegas or Disney. Kinda sad, but true! They do an excellent job.

SAFARI:
What am I a celeb?? This was handsdown the coolest experience of my life. A little disappointed that we weren’t in a cliché, African safari-looking jeep, but I got over it. We visited the “Sabo East” Safari. 
This wasn’t like at the zoo when “sorry, Larry the Lion is sleeping right now.” The animals were EVERYWHERE. To the point where about an hour in we were bored with the zebras, gazelles and giraffes (yawn.) The only animal we weren’t able to see was the rhino. There are only four in the entire park because pochers hunt them for their tusks :O. I’ll google image it for my album and no one will know the difference...

“Hungry, Hungry Hippos” gave me unreal expectations about standard hippo activity. They don’t really do anything but wiggle their ears and wade in the water....

We got to stop at a little store outside of the safari with wild monkeys and crocodiles (casual.) 

One of our safari vans got stuck in the sand an uncomfortable 50 feet from a half-eaten gazelle carcass… no one else seemed to be the least bit concerned but I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone has been mauled mid-safari.


We stayed at the Red Elephant Lodge. Super nice, huge pools, buffets, etc. etc. Kinda crazy how there are massive five star resorts and then just 5 miles down the road people are living with literally nothing.

Our blue safari the following day was unbelievable. We saw dolphins, held starfish went snorkeling and had an amazing lobster lunch.We got to watch and participate in a tribal dance after lunch! There was a dance-off of sorts. Ofcourse all I could come up with under pressure was the shopping cart. Next time I’m having a dance-off with a Kenyan tribe member I’ll plan ahead...…........


BAMBAKOFI STUDENTS:
The first day I asked Eunice if the students were ever rewarded with candy during class. She stared at me blankly for a few seconds and then for the first time in my life I legitimately think I heard crickets.

Coming to Bambakofi is a priviledge for these students and an honor. They stay motivated from 8am until 10pm everyday, their incentive is education, not candy pieces...
The games the kids play are just like what we used to play pre-iphone, laptop, facebook days. Fun little games where you take turns dancing or clapping your hands together (is there an app for that??)The students are so polite. They stand up when they talk and are so soft spoken. They we’re very quiet at first. A mixture of blank stare responses and “was that just English?”

We went on “nature walks” with the kids which they were unusually excited about. We later realized that it was "take advantage of the sub teacher" time and they weren't usually allowed to walk outside of school grounds. They knew exactly what each tree grew and was used for. I was imagining a “nature walk” in America. "And to your left you have your GREEN tree."
The kids are extremely smart and knew everything there was to know about Kenya. Our first day teaching they asked me what America’s biggest export is..  I had no idea what to say... I felt like I was on some kind of game show. "Are you smarter than a 5th grade Kenyan student??"

FOOD:
The food we ate was by NO MEANS torturous. A standard lunch was rice, palenta, beans, cabbage, weird green stuff and a giant plate of fresh fruit. Our very first breakfast we started spreading the sugar (for our tea) on our bread. American’s expect everything to have a topping. Eunice whispered to Julien “would they like butter or jam tomorrow?” No response needed..


However, by about day two I came to the realization that I have a legitimate chocolate addiction.. Louise, a professor from Tech who was visiting, offered us her trail mix one day. To be honest I'm not too sure if it was actually offered or just mentioned... we accepted regardless.

We decided to ration the m&ms and  I felt like we were one m&m away from a Mean Girl’s "animal world" scene. I SWEAR this trail mix had a less than average m&m count....

INTERNET/CELL PHONE DEPRIVATION:

It occured to me a few days in that we are so dependent on the internet we have completely forgotten how to entertain ourselves. It’s refreshing to have real, non-cellphone-interrupted conversations with people. Crazy what you can learn about people when you’re not facebook stalking or drooling over pinterest food..

You take so much more in without a cellphone. Think of all the things you miss out on when you are staring down at your phone reading Kim Kays tweets!! Shooting stars, cute babys, animals, famous celebs, fire breathing dragons.. ya never know.

Internet deprived activites: Day 4 Whitney started playing “name that tune” with a water bottle and tree seed and I couldn’t help but laugh. We came up with all kinds of games and I felt myself resorting back to the things I used to do at sleep away camp as a kid. 

On our way home we realized we had free wifi connection at the Mombasa airport. No one could hide their lit up faces. Conversation immediately died… I ran into at least three chairs and we almost waited for our plane at the wrong gate.... Our generation is DONE FOR...

BEACH:

Literally indescribably. Crystal blue waters, completely empty. American beaches = Miley Cyrus Walmart BrandKenyan beaches = Vera Wang wedding gowns.

NIGHT LIFE:

Our second to last night we went out with Saidi’s nephew. The drive there I was in full-fledged (silent) panic mode. Here we were a group of 8 girls (and one Ashvin) with two Kenyans we've never met about to go CLUBBING in Africa. I could hear my mom and Kelly in my head yelling and waving red flags.

The night ended up being a success! Julien danced like a dad, Val danced with an 80 year old man in marijuana leaf printed pants and I struggled to get "Say My Name" played.

SWAHILI 101:

Jambo – hello

Asanti – thank you

Caribou – your welcome (not actually spelled like the coffee shop but I like it better)

Rafiki – friend

Nakupenda – I love youUsinipige – Don’t bite me

Kenya was thick, delicious, gourmet icing on my four month European vacation. Truly the experience of a lifetime that I’ll never forget. 

NOW WHAT??

As cliche as it sounds, the nine of us came home and really wanted to make a difference. We fell in love with the students at Bambakofi and Kenya in general. The students at Bambakofi are more driven then my entire high school graduating class combined... they deserve the opportunity that most of us have to attend universities and earn degrees. To most it is unattainable. Students graduate from Bambakofi and more often than not cannot pay to continue their education. Our goal is to take these students "Beyond Bambakofi" and help fund their secondary and university educations. We are calling this THE TAALUMA PROJECT. :) We are working on creating a nonprofit organization with help from Brinberg. More to come !!!


HAKUNA MATATA. :)

Prague - Czech!

This weekend was our last weekend traveling (cue violin symphony L). I can hear the “but it’s our LAST weekend” excuses chiming in my head…

Despite the 48 hour continuous rain spell we were welcomed with… Prague is prague-ly the coolest city in Europe.

Slight prague-lem on our train ride there… On our first train a short announcement came on in German and all of a sudden everyone started filing off of the train. Some woman was nice enough to fill us in that the train was on fire! Call me crazy but when there’s a FIRE shouldn’t it be announced in more than one language? A blinking light or two?? We ended up switching to a different train and had sprinting (waddling) full-speed (hiking backpacks, rainboots and all) to catch our connecting overnight train in Zurich.

17 brutal, fidgety, painfully boring, spine-disalligning hours later…

We made it to Prague! We walked through Old Town Square and all it took was some traditional Trdelnik (we renamed swirlies…) and we were in love.

For dinner we went to “The Pub” where you can race against other countries in beer consumption. Essentially a keg in the middle of your table as you eat. Shocked America/college towns haven’t pioneered this! Afterwards we headed out to Karlovy Lazne – “The biggest music club in central Europe.” I found the oldies floor where the rubics cube-looking floor lights up like a disco ball and every song htat plays is one you can’t help but sing along to.

We danced until 5 am and then (cue “it’s our last weekend” excuse) we went to the Charles Bridge to watch the sunrise. This was the first time I’ve been sun rise ring leader instead of whiney girl dragging behind in broken heels.

6:00am – google search “sunrise time in Prague” – seriously what CAN’T google do??

6:30am – sit on bridge and try to decide which way is East..

7:00am – waiting…

7:05am – waiting…

7:10am – waiting…

7:15am – come to the conclusion the sun has rose but it’s impossible to see through the massive rain clouds..

7:20 – Marlee permanently fired as sunrise pact leader…

Something learned: 100 czech crowns are equal-ish to 5 US dollars. And I thought Euros felt like monopoly money…..

Ciao for niao!!

                                                                    John Lennon wall!

Crepe-land.

Paris, France.
"The City of Love"
"The City of Lights"
"The City of Pretending Americans Don't Exist"
"The City of Chocolate Croissants, Crepes, Cheese, Baguettes and skinny people??"

Favorite things:

• Dogs that look like just like their owners and walk around with their chins in the air. French dogs are a breed of their own. An American dog wouldn't sit patiently and posed as their owner eats a ham and cheese sandwich.... That's for sure. 
• Unhealthy daily crepe intake. "But we're in Paris!"
• The Eiffel Tower!! At night it sparkles every hour and it is impossible not to smile. It is your standard "What is the significance of this tower again?"- monument mixed with the Disney Cinderella Castle. AMAZING.
• All kinds of interesting people.... street performers, metro riders, shop owners, beggars. Even saw a few cliche Parisians in barrettes. :)
• You can pretty much climb up any major monument/tourist attraction in Paris. Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel, Notre Dame.. apparently looking and "ooh ahh"-ing isn't enough for us dedicated tourists.

Our hostel was FAR from luxurious and had terrible service. Don't worry I funneled all of my anger into a bad review on trip advisor. :) Probably shouldn't have expected much booking off of a "hiphophostels" website haha.

French was a tough language to master. I felt like any attempt at "excuse moi" or "oui oui" would be taken as mockery. So I went with the blank stare and Spanglish instead...

Friday night we went to the Lourve museum and saw THE Mona Lisa. Highly underwhelming.. but I saw it! 

After we headed to the Eiffel tower and had some crepes and wine. :) Why can't the Washington Monument sparkle?!?! Wouldn't hurt would it??

Saturday morning we saw the Catacombs (piles of bones underground!), Notre Dame and the Museum d'Orsay. We got to Orsay 30 minutes before they closed and ended up running through it like chickens with our heads cut off trying to see the "important" things. I'm noooo art enthusiast but I ended up loving the museum. Degas and Signac are my favorites and what's cooler than being able to say I have fav artists??

Sunday I took my Eiffel Tower jumping pic and although not prime weather conditions, I got it first try! Reason enough to love Paris. 

We stumbled into an awesome open air market near the Eiffel tower and took our time exploring. I've developed a fascination for outdoor markets in each city, they're all so colorful and different. Ended up buying a ring and a big baguette to help me look more native. :)

We walked down Champs Elysees to do some shopping and by shopping I mean drooling over Louis Vuitton and Gucci... We waited in line to get into Abercrombie which was SO over-the-top it was comical. A gate entrance with a huge garden and half-naked-cut-out-poster-looking models to greet you at the front door. 

Last stop we headed to Versailles to see the palace. Once home to Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. As if a palace of nearly all gold wasn't enough it is surrounded by acres and acres of perfectly maintained gardens. The Louis' even had a "thrown room". Which got me thinking, Delta Gamma president should have her own thrown. :)

We explored for hours and then headed back to Paris for dinner and more Eiffel Tower-gawking. Paris is stunning and definitely somewhere you could spend weeks exploring. Tough to leave but ALWAYS a treat coming back to the Montarina.

Caio for Naio!

PORTUGALlivanting around SPAINtacular

Some lessons learned:

I’m scared of waves

I’m beginning to think I’m narcoleptic.

They don’t wear sombreros, eat quesadillas/burritos or drink margaritas in Spain.

Tapas are for skinny people.

First stop: Madrid, Espana!

We arrived to Madrid EXTRA hangry (hungry/angry) and we’re sent to a nearby restaurant for traditional Spanish paella. Not our best meal… unidentifiable seafood and greasy rice… one has to wonder why a city nowhere near the coast would specialize in seafood dishes…

We took our first of many siestas (naps) and headed out to a HUGE 7 story club called Kapital. They had different music playing on every floor but don’t worry we managed to find the American 90s jams floor and I even go in some Destiny’s Child Kareoke. The Spanish don’t go out until 1:30am and casually leave the club when the sun rises at 7am. Nocturnal-ism. I gave it my best shot but my internal clock is still hating me.

I woke up Saturday morning with yep, you guessed it pink eye. -__-

The group tried to be nice but I could tell they wanted to put me in a giant bubble. Not a happy Spaniard but I pushed through and made the best. We went to a great tapas place for dinner called El Tigre. They served huge mojitos and unlimited tapas along with it. It was crowded, sweaty and loud but delicious and worthwhile.

Sunday the guys had tickets to the Real Madrid and Spain soccer game so we tagged along to try to scalp tickets. I was the girl who played soccer as a youngster strictly for the orange slices at half time… Long (not really) story short I ended up falling asleep for the entire game. Not just the casual head on the hand eyes getting heavy, full on laying down with my scarf as a pillow. In my defense we were in the nosebleeds, I was running on roughly 2 hours of sleep, and was still pink eye inflicted. Not my proudest moment but don’t worry great pal and Delta Gamma sister, Jill managed to catch pics at every angle and even a video of me nodding off.

Stop 2: Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon was BEAUTIFUL. I start every blog that way but something about Portugal was especially pretty.

Miles, Bryan and I took a surfing lesson Tuesday morning and it rang in as almost as frightening as night sledding. It occurred to me as we were walking out to the waves with the oversized board I wasn’t even capable of carrying that BOOGIE BOARDING scares me, let alone surfing…  Our instructor was blunt about the terrible water conditions with comments like “these are not waves for beginners ” and “hopefully we don’t run into the rocks”.. I did a lot of nervous laughing and silent praying but it ended up being a more than worthwhile experience. I was the only girl and clearly scared out of my mind so our instructor stuck with me and helped keep control of my board/my head above water.

Once we got back we visited a small fishing town outside of Lisbon called Cascais. We walked up to a place called “Hell’s Mouth” a little cove on the coast that makes a growling sound as water splashes it. We watched the sunset, caught some amazing views and got dinner.

Last stop: Barcelona, Spain!

Favorite city so far. Another repeated blog phrase... We took our first bike tour of the city which was awesome- minus almost being mowed down by moving traffic several times.. I had NO idea what a huge deal this Gaudi fella was. No doubt, his architecture was beautiful and unique but come on he’s talked about like he single-handedly BUILT Barcelona. He was killed by a tram in the 1920s and ever since they have been outlawed.

My favorite thing in Barcelona was the the Boqueria, an open air market with fresh fish, fruit, candy, chocolate spices, waffles etc. An outdoor Wegmans, essentially. Our last night in Barcelona we bought shrimp and supplies at the market and cooked a dinner together at the apartment. Group bonding/ major teamwork activity. I stepped up to make Sangria (cut up fruit and dropped it in the premade sangria…….) Really made me question my cooking abilities. It might be time to expand from easy-break Pillsbury cookies when I get back.

Our last night in Barcelona we stayed up to watch the sunrise on the beach. I was limping on one heel and freezing cold. The sand felt like SNOW. Jacob was nice enough to give me his pants to stay warm (mostly to shut me up..) We were quite a sight to see.

Our journey back to Lugano didn’t go as smoothly as planned… and wasn’t planned at all to be quite honest. We took a 17 hour overnight train from Barcelona to Milan and then realized there were no outgoing trains to Lugano for the next 4 hours. We made the best and hung out at a nearby unlimited Chinese buffet. Stuffed ourselves with unlimited sushi, Chinese, pizza and managed to waste sufficient time. We met a women straight out of “Eat Pray Love” who is traveling around Italy by herself for 3 months. She travels purely off of where people tell her to go and says yes to EVERYTHING “within reason.” It was clearly some kind of mid-life crisis, but inspiring, nonetheless!

Ciao For niao! 

As NICE as it gets :)

Highlights:

Dramatic arrest scene outside the bus station (kinda)

Nutella/banana crepe. Enough said.

Yacht party… oh wait..

Nice Carnival parade that I’ll most likely have nightmares from until I’m 30

I’m always that girl wearing flip-flops across the drill field when there’s still snow residue on the ground so naturally I found myself in the French Riviera mid-February. :)

We got to Nice Friday and immediately went out in search of the beach. We explored and I got a nutella and banana crepe that I was holding out on until France (muchhhh more authentic). AMAZING. I don’t think I spoke during/20 minutes after consumption.

We went out to Wayne’s Bar at night. The tram there costs one euro and when you get on you’re supposed to slip your ticket through a stupid little machine to “validate” it. Since one euro is SUCH an investment…. we attempted to hold onto our tickets and not validate them so we could reuse them. Things didn't go quite according to plan and we were rushed off the bus by police and forced to pay 30 euros for having invalid tickets. I tried playing the dumb American card and even shed some REAL tears but got zero sympathy (not so “Nice”)… Sooooo 30 euros for a 5 minute bus ride and the right to say we were DRAMATICALLY arrested on the streets of Nice, France?

Fancy-shmancy ticket validater

Saturday we visited Monaco and Cap D’ail. Monaco - the second smallest country in the world and home to the most yachts, unreasonably nice cars and excessively rich people. Don’t worry I blended in in my VT hoody and running shoes. We partied on a few yachts (...took pics from every angle) played poker at the Monte Carlo Casino (...took jumping pic outside) and bought a few Valentino gowns (...walked past the designer stores).

Next stop was Cap D’ail a little, secluded, awesome beach  right outside of Nice. You could sit for hours doing absolutely nothing and be happy as a clam. J

Saturday night there was a huge “Carnival of Nice” parade through the city. Creepy is a complete understatement… Imagine your scariest reoccurring childhood nightmare + the Zoolander brainwash scene.

After the parade we found a gelato place called Fennochio with the most flavors EVER. Beer, tomato basil, lavender, rose, sesame, olive (list goes on). I played it safe-ish with salted caramel – same comatose state as the crepe feast. Yum.

Sunday was “Francely” as “nice” as it gets. J We ran along the beach and up to the Chateau Castle Hill some fortress-y thing with a perfect view of the city. We sat on the beach and soaked up the FEBRUARY*** sunrays. I tried to lay in a lounge chair that cost 20 euro… and we walked through an awesome open air market. Fresh fruit, soaps, flowers, veggies and DON’T WORRY I managed to find basil, olive and tomato spread samples. 

Do things from the market really taste better or is it the “I got it at the market!” appeal???

We ran back to catch our train and had a bizarre encounter with a strange, old woman. She stood glaring at us at the train station, followed us on the train, paced back and forth past our seat for 5 minutes and then whispered “it’s a shame your bags are here ladies I’d like to speak English to you.” Straight out of a horror film. I swear I heard the eerie, high-pitched violin playing in the background. I was 99% sure we had been voo-doo-ized but so far all is well!

Something learned: Public transit is no joke. Rules are rules y’all.

VeNICE, Italia

Just got back from Venezia, Italia! Definitely one of the most touristy places we’ve visited but rightfully so! It is so beautiful and unique. We felt very in our element among other “MUST not miss a photo-opp” travelers.

Crazed tourists exhibit A:

There are no cars on the main island of Venice, just channels of water with cute little gondolas and singing men wearing funny hats. There are also the less charming but still cool water taxis and ferrys. Our hotel was EONS away from the main island of venice which was both good and bad. We were able to see more of Venice and ride the gondola downgrades but also had to travel close to an hour to get to the mainland and walk down more than a comforting number of dark, graffiti-ed alley ways…

Carnival = the perfect mix of mardis gras and Halloween + gelato

Wish I could give a little synopsis on the history and origins of the venetian carnival tradition but we all still have no idea.. haha Everyone dresses up in crazy costumes and meanders the streets. We saw people dressed as Spiderman, car fresheners, zombies and Kelly was even attacked by “ghostbusters” running around with a net, leaf blower, huge light and music. We all bought masks which ofcourse for me was a decision making nightmare..

^Mile's mask 

I couldn’t help but think of the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas as we walked through the city. Further confirming my theory that you can travel to Disney and Vegas and experience Europe for 1/16^th the cost :P justttt kidding. But which is the real Venice below???

A.

B.

One things for sure you can’t get lost wandering aimlessly for hours on end at the venetian hotel butcha CAN in the real Venezia. Venice is tricky to navigate. You can’t help but feel like you’re in a mouse maze. We stuck to the wander-until-you-see-something-importantlooking/GELATO-approach. Never fails.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Destiny’s child say my name has FINALLY rung through Europe. The last place I would ever expect, a random hole-in-the-wall bar in the middle of Venice. This was enough to make my weekend/semester complete and push Venice up to top three favorite cities.

Saturday we took a ferry to the island of Murano, famous for it’s glass blowing. I somehow managed to miss the live glass-blowing demonstration but it’s youtube-able so I’ll just pretend. The glass was beautiful. Everything from tiny glass hippos to jewelry and pretty bowls with no apparent function. Every store I envisioned myself accidently knocking into something and starting a domino effect of glass sculptures… so glass souvenir shopping was short lived for Marlee.

Something learned: Italians are NOT in support of multiple ice cream samples before you make your choice...