3 June 2008

Since my last posting, my exams are completed.  Siggggghhhhhhhhh...  What a relief THAT was!  I was so happy when I turned in the last exam, that I nearly jumped for joy and said to myself, "Now what?!"  Kidding.  I went to meet up with Dan after work, but since I was done about an hour before he got off of work, I went to the bar next door to where he works for a little celebratory drink.  I ended up meeting a new girlfriend.  Her name is Claudia and she's originally from Mexico (Dan came downstairs really quickly to say hello and he introduces me to her).  She's the bartender and she was so much fun to talk to!  Also met a local man, Ben, who gave me some interesting stories about his travels.  He has never been to the US, so I gave him a few ideas of what I thought would be the best to see.  NYC was #1 on my list.  Everybody who comes to America must go to NYC!

After Dan got off work, we went back to his house.  There was where a couple of his friends who flew in from Australia were.  He had been talking about them so much, it was great to finally meet them.  They had decided they wanted to go out for dinner at this Punjabi place called Tayyabs.  It was probably, by far, the best dining experience I have had since I got here!  Other people who have been there are those like Tina Turner, Gordon Ramsey, Sade, Cher, etc.  Yummm!  It was a great celebratory dinner!

The next day was the first day the new Sex and the City movie was out.  My friend from work, Karalynn, and I purchased tickets a few days in advance.  Before the movie, we went to this really cool little wine shop for dinner.  It was called Vinoteca.  Unfortunately, we had bad service, but it was still good.  She has been there many times and never had bad service.  I think it was just our luck of the draw.

The movie was PACKED!  Sold out, actually.  I couldn't get tickets together with Karalynn, but we were on the same row making hand gestures to one another.  ha.  Kidding.  When the credits were starting to roll, the entire theater clapped.  It was funny!  Reminded me of when I arrived in Miami from a long journey from Argentina.  Everybody was so happy to be there!  Well, I have to admit, I was jumping in my seat as I could not WAIT to see what was next for Carrie Bradshaw and the girls.  Afterwards, I was so happy with what I had seen (aside from a few minor cheesy phrases).  It definitely didn't leave me disappointed...  Can't wait to see what happens next, if they do decide to film a sequel.

On Friday night, Karalynn met up with Dan and I at a wine bar for a couple of drinks.  After the bar, we met up with Weijer and a couple of his Dutch friends that were in town.  We hit the town!  It was so fun!  I haven't gone out like that since I have moved here and missed it so much!  I wasn't prepared to go out properly as I had just gone to the gym and was in my Friday work clothes (usually jeans and a not so cute top).  Ah well.  Still had a great time!  Weijer's friends were very interesting to talk to.  Marcell works for a large pharmaceutical company, conducting research on new forms of medicine... animal testing.  I had a lot of questions to ask him, as they test on rodents and dogs.  But, after speaking to him, I felt a little better.

Saturday, Dan and I went to Stonehenge.  If you haven't heard of Stonehenge, it's just some UFO circle in the middle of England with a few rocks that were placed upright over 5,000 years ago.  I just made it sound like it's not a big deal, but it really is amazing to see the massive rocks and then stand there trying to understand why they put them there in the first place.  What does all of that mean?  Scientists have continuously tried to figure out the puzzle for many years and have come to a somewhat satisfactory resolution.  If you're interested in learning more about Stonehenge, check it out on Wikipedia.org!

Sunday was very laid back.  I went shopping at TK Maxx... ha.  Why did they have to change the J to a K?  I don't get it.  Or a K to a J... not sure which was where first.  Anyway, I didn't mention this before, but I am moving in with Dan until I return back to the US in August.  So, I wanted to find a couple of baskets where I can put some of my clothes in them.  Dan doesn't have any room for me... he doesn't even have a closet!  So, I have to try to make myself as invisible as possible, which may be very difficult to do.

Monday, I went to an Aqua Aerobics class and I LOVED it!  It was so much fun!  I can't wait to go back!!!  I think they have another class on Thursday evening with a different instructor, so it should be interesting.  Can't wait!

At this very moment, I am packing up my dorm.  Dan is driving over on Thursday, so I have to have everything in order and ready to go before then.  At the moment, I'm trying to sell all of my bedding and kitchenware in hopes of recooperating SOME of the money I spent.  So far, I'm not having too much luck, but I did just post the ads online this morning.

Lastly, my most exciting news is that I'm going on a European vacation!  I need to leave the country on the 16th of July, as my visa expires on the 15th.  Originally, I thought I would go to Turkey for a couple of weeks to visit Elcin, but she said her Grandma is sick, so she wasn't sure of what her schedule was going to be like.  Instead, I will be traveling from London to Amsterdam to Copenhagen to Oslo to Stockholm to Hamburg to Prague to Salzburg to Bern to Paris and back to London.  I'm SOOOO excited!  It's going to be by train, so I will get to see the countryside.  I'm planning on taking late train rides so I can sleep at night, but Dan told me to take a train during the day from Salzburg to Bern.  He says it's so amazing!  Salzburg is where the Sound of Music was filmed, so as you can imagine... the HILLS ARE ALIVE!  It's going to be so great!  And I'm going to have so many pictures to show you when it's all said and done. :)

Until next time...