Summertime and the living's easy

Yikes- was my last blog posting really July 1st? I am slacking... big time! Updates upon updates:

4th o' July
July 4th, the American day of Independence (and subsequently one of my favorite holidays) was strange for me. I gathered up my American friends for a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. It was really nice- we drank lots of wine, ate lots of food, and I even managed to spit a few watermelon seeds (in the spirit of America, of course). There were other Americans out and celebrating, but I really lacked the festive energy that I am so accustomed to. It was fairly blasé. Fun, but uneventful.

 Road-trip to the Netherlands
The following weekend, I went on a little roadtrip to the Netherlands with a group of 8 friends from school. We rented 2 cars, squished into them, and fled the city of Paris. We drove through France and into Belgium, stopping at a truck stop to refill the tank and our stomachs. I found a candybar for sale called Big Nuts. Naturally, I started laughing hysterically, yet no one followed suit. I then proceeded to explain the sexual innuendo to my French and Spanish friends/car-mates, and thus became a source of hours of amusement and joking. We piled back into the car and drove, finally arriving in the Netherlands sometime after midnight.We arrived in the small town of Tilburg where my Dutch friend Niki's cousin lives. We were to stay at his apartment studio, and sleep on whatever surface we could find. The 2nd car of friends finally arrived, and we all sat down for a drink. We quickly got changed, and out we went. We had an amazing night there- the music in the bars and clubs that we went to was amazing. Drinking ensued (not me though... I wasn't really in the mood) and everyone started to really... loosen up. We danced for hours and hours, literally shutting down the bar. We walked home at around 5 am, fell into our sleeping arrangements, and took a nap. I don't think you can consider it actually going to sleep, but we dozed off for a few hours.

We woke up at around 8 or 9, and the girls went on an exploration to the grocery store to buy goods for breakfast. We got a bit lost, and probably spent a bit too much time getting food, but eventually made our way back to the apartment. I have to say, that was the first time in my life that I've ever seen so many bicycles. There were bikes for as far as the eye could see. The roads and traffic were designed to accommodate this national biking phenomenon. It was unreal, truly unreal. So, we eat breakfast, pack our things, and smushed back into the two cars. We drive for about an hour or so until we reach the city of Utrecht where we met Niki's friend Mark. He graciously allowed us to stay at his apartment for the night. We dropped our stuff off, and headed out the door by foot. It was a beautiful yet quirky walk. Again, bicycles were everywhere. Gorgeous flowers were in bloom, ducks swam in the canals, and the color orange became incredibly apparent. There were orange flags and balloons all over the place as everyone was getting ready for the World Cup final match the next day. We continued our walk to the train station and stopped at a store to buy drinks. Niki bought a quart of what looked like an orange juice container but in fact was yogurt. So, for the remainder of our lovely walk on a sunny, 85° day, Niki drank his quart of yogurt with a smile on his face. Call me strange, but I found it to be hilarious. We arrived at the train station, bought our tickets, and raced to hop on the train to Amsterdam. It was a short train ride, and shortly we found ourselves in one of the most famous cities in the world, notorious for legal prostitution and marijuana. Of course we witnessed those things, but the city itself was beautiful! Everyone was biking, or puttering down the canals on small boats or rafts. It was quite Huck Finn actually. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, was dressed in some sort of orange garment. We explored the city, heard an amazing musician performing in the street, laid down in a park, and enjoyed having the freedom to do as we pleased. The afternoon passed by quickly, and it soon became night. The sky grew heavy and it began to pour. We raced for cover and ended up in a bar. We had a drink, but it became evident that we were all exhausted. I may or may not have fallen asleep on the table out of sheer exhaustion.We schleped to the station and hopped on a train back to Utrecht.

After an actual night of sleeping, we awoke feeling refreshed. We piled back in the cars and drove down to Breda, the city where Niki studied. If I had thought that everyone was wearing orange the previous day, I was mistaken. Now, everyone was really wearing orange and anxiously anticipating the big game. Breda was a cool town with many restaurants and a gorgeous park. We decided to take advantage of not having anything to do until gametime, and relaxed in the park for a few hours. It was wonderful. After a few hours, we headed off to meet with Niki's family that had driven to see him. It was great to see them again (I had met them prior and love them!). We had a bite to eat and then went to the main plaza in town where a giant screen was set up to watch the game. Unfortunately we arrived too late, and the plaza was already at capacity. We found another corner in town that was essentially a giant outdoor blockparty. There was orange everywhere (obviously) but to the extent of which it started to hurt my eyes! It's a harsh color. We packed in with the crowd and watched the game. It was fun being in a country that is in the midst of such an important event. Everyone was generally friendly, except for the Dutch girls. They were terrible. My back began to really really hurt at one point, and I needed to find someplace to sit. My friend and I made our way through the crowd and tried to get into the bar- the only people that gave us a hard time were the blond Dutch girls who literally were shoving us and giving us the stank eye. Not such a fan. We watched the game from inside the bar. I had warned my Spanish friend Victoria that she cannot root for Spain and must be very careful. She did a great job of containing her excitement when Spain won. It was quite depressing to be around all of the Dutch people though- but probably not as depressing as they felt at the time. The game ended later than expected, and we raced to our cars. We drove throughout the night, alternating drivers and people to keep the drivers awake. We arrived in Versailles at 5:30 am to drop off one of the girls. We slept for an hour at her house, and then hit the road back to Paris. It was brutal. We finally made it to the rental car agency at La Defense after having gotten lost, and refilling the car, at around 8:15 am. We paid, and then walked umbrella-less through the rain with all of our bags. It must have been quite a site to see us 5 girls carrying bags and air-mattresses, drenched and exhausted, while the businessmen raced to grab a croissant before heading into the office. I took the metro straight to work, arriving at 9:20AM with bigger bags under my eyes than in my hands. I couldn't keep my eyes open for the life of me, and my boss graciously let me go home before lunch. It was an amazing weekend that I won't ever forget.

Other news
I received all of my grades and letters of acceptance, and I am officially enrolled at RMS for my final year of undergraduate school. Now all I need to do is get an apartment (the story about that is so long and frustrating that I don't even have the energy to tell it again) and renew my visa (again, the story about this is so long and frustrating that... well, you get the drift). In two weeks I'm going to Berlin for the weekend, and I am SUPER excited. The weekend after that we head off to Milan where one of my oldest childhood friends will be meeting up with me on her way back to the States from having been living in Israel. My dad bought my tickets home yesterday, so I'll be in America the first two weeks of August.
I can't believe I really managed to do all of this... living, studying, and working in a foreign country by myself. I had a surrealistic moment yesterday morning while on the escalator to my metro. I really live in Paris. This is my life. I'm not just a tourist, or on a silly "study" abroad program for a few months. I'm in France. I did it. I really did it.