Don't worry guys I'm alive.

I think this was just about the shortest month ever. In this short month I've realized that time flies when your having fun. And that life just gets in the way sometimes. And that life is what happens when your busy making other plans sorry cliche vomit. Actually, I have been so busy that I haven't even had time to take out the garbage in our bathroom which actually contains a moldy avocado pit. Sorry Liza.

Anyways, I just got back about an hour ago from Belfast and the weekend before that I was in Paris so we have SO MUCH so catch up on. I hardly know where to begin but I guess I'll start with that today is the first day of the rest of your life. And by that I mean another cliche. But I guess I'll start with Belfast because it was a short trip and fresh in my mind. Our program organized it so they picked us up bright and early in the morning. It was only a 5 hour drive which was a pleasant surprise because there were rumors that it would be 9 hours. We had an hour long break at a mall which made me feel like I was in America because a) a mall is a mall is a mall and b) they too have annoying salespeople in the middle of the mall who barrage you and who I have to quickly walk by and lie to ('SORRY I'M MEETING SOMEONE' is my go to excuse) and also the women who curl little girl's hair whose scalps are covered in millions of bejeweled hair clips and fake hair extensions.

We got to Belfast around 3 where they called out our names and room numbers. Of course I got put in a room with 22 other girls. TWENTY TWO. I'm all for hostels and saving money and kind of living in squalor but 22? girls in one room? That means 44 feet, about 15 pairs of Ugg boots which collectively smell like 879 feet, and at least 15 girls I knew would be coming home at an ungodly hour which was a horror to imagine because I was still EXHAUSTED from Paris.

But I of course smiled and took my key, put my things down and then walked around with some friends to explore. However, it was cold, rainy and the 9 euro boots I bought at Penny's (the equivalent to Target) were living up to their 9 euro reputation and pretty much asked mud and cold water to slosh around and inside my feet. Even with the dreary weather the city was still bustling and my friends and I wandered around City Hall, the Theater and did a lot of people watching (which I think is one of the best and most interesting ways to get to know a new place). The next morning we woke up early and went to the Giant's Causeway (ranked the 4th greatest natural wonder in the UK, BOOYA) which was very cool and so beautiful. The weather cleared up which was really nice, blue skies and sun so we could see the Causeway in all its glory and listen to all the funny myths and also learned about the geology of the place. Our tour guide is also a geology teacher at a nearby secondary school- she told us how Gaint's Causeway used to be a volcanically active place which is why the rocks look the way they do (like flat 6 to 8 sided cylinders) because the water that ran down them cooled them into how they look today. She also told us the myth, which the trusty and true Wikipeida explains as, "Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn." And there you have it.

When we got back to Belfast we went to a pub to watch the rugby match (don't laugh, I actually get really into it albeit I don't understand, I just scream loudly and mimic everyone else's reactions). The heads of our program did warn us however not to go into one pub because it would be extremely unsafe as they are a Loyalist pub. Of course that pub was located directly across the street from our hostel. But we found an Irish one which was warm and welcoming. Then we had a big dinner at a nearby Hotel which was exciting and fancy seeming. We went to pub next to it after and but when everyone else left for a club, I stayed with a couple of people to finish our Guinness and then hit the hay. That night I was so tired (and also made a make shift curtain/fort with towels) so I had a very good night's sleep. This morning we woke up and went back to the hotel for a lecture about the murals around town depicting the politics of the area. It was so interesting and really sad, some of them are so disturbing and violent. The lecturer is a professor at the college in Belfast and as a hobby has been documenting the murals for the last 30 years. He explained it not as Protestants vs Catholics but Nationalists vs Unionists, which makes it a political issue not so much religious.

Then we had a bus tour of all the murals, some areas we had to drive by because it wasn't safe enough to go out. They told us that its safe nowadays, but just in case they only let us walk around certain areas to take pictures. We also went to the place where the Titanic was built! It looked waaaaaay smaller than what I was expecting, but I can see how in the early 20th century it was mindblowing. Then we journeyed home and here we are.

Moving right along. I left with three friends last Thursday for Paris. Remember my London/Uezbakistani boarding pass mix up? Well this time I typed my name as Abby Moly Robbins instead of Abby Molly Robbins. Not that big of a deal you would think especially because of how graciously they reacted towards my more major mistake on my last boarding pass. It was no big thang on the way TO Paris but on the way back? Wow. First of all the airport was a zoo with lines up the wazoo and then once I was almost through it, a man told me I had to go ALL THE WAY BACK because it said Moly but my passport said Molly. I felt that wave of panic I've described before because I just waited on that God forsaken line and what if I missed my plane and what if they charged me because it was spelled Moly but alls well that ends well and it ended well.

I'm not sure why I started describing the end of my trip either. But we landed in France and had to take an hour long bus to get to Paris which was easy enough, and then had to take the metro to our hostel. Not so easy. After 5 years of French classes I'm embarrassed of how little I remember, but being in France made me realize I remember more than I thought, I just need to move there I think and be forced to speak it all the time. But anyways. We get to the metro, I ask for my ticket, and then its Audrey's turn which ends up with her getting yelled at and money and a ticket thrown at her. Teal and Dayna somehow manage getting yelled at but not money thrown at them, and then we stared at the metro map for far too long and then realized it was the wrong map and then called the hostel for directions. We soon made it and the hostel was a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower which was all lit up sparkles every hour on the hour. It was such a pleasant sight. We checked in, ran to a small food store to get things to make dinner (always tryna save a buck) ate real quick and then ran to see the Eiffel tower. I was just so happy to be there and hear French and see beautiful old apartments and cafes and wishing I lived on every block I walked past.

Now I'm sleepy and will make this a To Be Continued Post. Keep you on your toes and asking for more.

Liza just informed me she took out the trash and that the avocado pit looked like it was growing cotton on it. What a gal.

Until tomorrow!