Some time with some of my Favorite people

The last two weeks have been pretty crazy, seemingly a normal occurrence here during #StudyAbroad2012.

After I got over my Tunisia hangover, wrote some papers and took too many tests my Mom and sisters were in Rome. After walking around Rome for the afternoon and seeing Castel del Sant' Angelo with Anne I went to their hotel, that was right behind the Spanish Steps.

After running up to my mom in a pretty dramatic fashion up a marble staircase in Rome we got ready to hit the city hard. Mom and I ditched the girls and went for a walk to the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. We picked them back up and walked to Piazza Navona for dinner at the famous PEAR PASTA RESTAURANT, the restaurant whose name I still do not know, but is my favorite in Rome. We ate too much, the girls started to pass out at the table from jet lag and off to bed we went.

Sunday morning we woke up and made our way to the Vatican, walking all through Rome and getting caught by the Rome marathon going on that day. We decided to go up to the top of St. Peters, which was trying with the crowds on the beautiful day, and because of Moms fear of heights and small spaces.

After we survived that debacle we went back to the Hotel and re-grouped we went over to the Colosseum to visit Fr. Paul. We went to Uncle Jim's favorite restaurant in Rome and had a very nice time meeting and having some amazing food.

The next morning we went over to the JFRC so that they could see where I spend my time in Rome. My mom and sisters were happy to meet my friends, and of course with Colleen and sweet baby Annie. We found my room had completely been switched with Zachs stuff on my side of the room, and mine the opposite, all the way from the clothes in our closets to every pin on our pin boards. It was fun to put that stuff back.

The girls left and I buckled down for a week of crazy tests and papers. That was all pretty boring, except for our tour of the mayors office in Rome, with a night out at our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood. I ran back to finish a paper that was due for my fiction class, and prepare for my travels to Paris the next day.

I finished my quiz and papers that morning and had class until 5:30, hopped right in a cab and made my way to the airport. Once I got to Paris, and made it past the Arc di Triumphe I got completely ripped off by the cab driver I walked in to find the mom and sisters in the lobby waiting. We were all tired so we drank some wine and went to bed.

Friday morning we made our way to Versailles which was beautiful, well the gardens were beautiful, my favorite part of the actual building were the hardwood floors (to my defense they were pretty busy, and I have a noted distaste for Baroque architecture).

Afterwards we went to the Sacre Cour did some shopping and came back to the hotel and got some dinner before our bike tour of Paris. I was a little skeptical of the bike tour to be completely honest, but after doing it, it was simply the best part of the entire trip in Paris. We got to see so much of the city, ending with an hour long boat cruise on the river SEINE. Our tour guide Dave was really funny, crazy, and it was a lot of fun. Michelle, Nicole, and I flirted with a bunch of the tour guides in training and ended walking past the Eiffel Tower.

Saturday morning we went walking around the Arc di Triumphe and got some lunch before we sent Nicole off to her early flight. Then we went out for more shopping and to see Notre Dame. Later at night we met up with Erika, Michelle's friend who came in from Munich for only like 12 hours to see Michelle, it was pretty funny. We sat by the Eiffel Tower and chatted until after 3 in the morning, Making our way to the airport at 6:30 was pretty interesting to say the least, especially after losing an hour to the time change.

I got back to the good old JFRC before noon, which was a welcome change to my crazy late night arrivals, we sat in the sun in the courtyard and caught up on each of our crazy weekends. Mitch's family was on campus, and it was really funny to see everyone else meet his family and see how hilarious and similar they were to each other. Zach and I went out in Piazza Navona, aka my favorite area in Rome and got more Pear pasta, I missed Italian food during my three days in France.

It's been a crazy few weeks, and now I am starting to count down my weeks left abroad. I do not want to talk about it. In exactly a month from today I will be taking my last final. I guess I'll focus on the fact that before I go home in May I still have 11 more cities to visit.

Last days in Africa (for now)

The last days in Africa were a blur. We went and saw the great mosque and bought some Tunisian rugs. We saw one being made and then moved quickly into buying mode. I didn't buy one which was stupid, it would have been the best $500 I ever spent. FAIL. I broke my own rule of "If you want it, buy it". I am ashamed. But nonetheless we made our way toour last stop of Hammamet Tunisia to relax for the last two days ofour trip. The hotel was great, there was a huge bar where they put on shows and the JFRC tore it up. The next day I woke up at 6:30 to go onan optional excursion to two more Roman cities in ruin. We went to Udna, a small Roman town that was founded by Augustus. There was a really well preserved amphitheater and temple that have only been excavated in the last few years.

The best part is that it was raining and cold. So we were all soaked through three layers and went back to the Paradise hotel. I went and got a haircut at the spa, but I was in the minority. I'm pretty sure every single JFRC student got multiple spa appointments. It was hilarious to walk in there. We were definitely taking advantage of the 2:1 euro to dinar exchange rate. On our last night we went to a Cuban club, Habanah in Hammamet. It was really fun, we danced, danced and danced and went to bed happy. When I woke up and realized I was Romebound I actually wasn't looking forward to it. I didn't want to go home, which never happens to me.

Africa has been amazing. I cannot wait to come back, see as much as I can, and never stop coming back. This semester and this trip specifically have made me so thankful for the amazing opportunities I have and seem to keep getting. It also made me realize how obsessed I am with Loyola. Not that I wasn't before, anyone can tell you, I mean I have Loyola socks, that's big for me. I was sitting on the bus to our optional excursion to an aqueduct and ruins of the roman empire how hilarious and random it was that I was there. All of the classics and history majors were sitting around me, and my communication degree program stuck out like, umm a huge white tour bus in a small Tunisian medina.

The point was that I had the opportunity, even as a communication major to come on this trip, and I have learned about so many other things at Loyola that had nothing to do with my degree choice. This next statement is a little ridiculous, don't tell my college friends,but I LOVE THE CORE CURRICULUM.

In all seriousness this trip has been amazing, and has provided me with some amazing new perspective, made me ask a lot of questions, have a lot of fun with some great people and learn more than I thought I could in such a short amount of time. Shout out goes to Mike Beazley and Sander. This trip was surely a mess to put together and there were some bumps along the way, but they worked really hard so we could have the time of our lives.

Until next time Africa, until next time.

Sickness in the Sahara

We woke up early to head out to get on the bus to the Sahara to get our camel and Saharan camping on. As I walked to breakfast in our shady little cave hotel I heard a bunch of people had gotten sick apparently from the food at the super shady hotel the night before. Damn you Hotel Riadh. Next time I am is Sousse I will not be staying there. Obviously.

Well in the end 22 people were sick and really sick. We were supposed to leave and take a long bus ride, instead us that weren't sick went to a local berber village and saw the way they lived. It was really interesting to see the simple life, one of the berber women gave us bread and we were happy, it was amazing bread with olive oil (Tunisian Olive Oil) and honey. We then saw the way the woman made the bread. It included grinning grain by hand with two stones that spin. It was really interesting to see all the effort they have to go through to make such simple things like bread.

We went back to find the sick bus, and it ended up that we had to go to a local clinic so they could get treated. Three hours later we were done, and I was just happy I hadn't gotten sick. We made our way south to Douz for lunch and camel rides. When we got there it ended up that a bunch of the sickies weren't going to come to the camel ride or camping in the Sahara. They passed out in the hotel all day and night. Sweet Rachel, Anne and Zach and Cole were all sick, which kinda ruined the tent of 8 that we were suppose to sleep in, but somehow I forgave them.

I almost didn't go to the camel riding. I mean, Luke Jorwic on a camel? Really? But we went, got our head wrapped and got on some camels. The scene of 65 people getting on camels was pretty funny, except that it was super unorganized and as Michelle says my Lion came out and I just wanted to tell everyone to do. I didn't, obviously and we eventually all got on camels, as soon as I was on top of a camel I was loving it, looking into the Sahara I was happy I didn't let Loser Luke (LL)1 skip this experience.

Right as we entered the desert from the camp, Wills camel went apeshit. He was right next to me, and I saw his camel bucking him off, Will tried to stay on, but he got thrown off, off the front of the camel. He luckily stopped dropped and rolled away from that Camel really fast and popped up with a hilarious hair flip. As the camel guide was violently hissing at the camel will was offered a horse to ride which he said no to (apparently people get stolen on horses in the desert, they warned us) and he decided to get back on the camel. I was proud. I would not have gotten back on a camel that threw me off. Well the next hour was pretty much just me trying not to get thrown off a camel, but it was really interesting and beautiful to see. The Saharan sand is so soft and such a unique color (#StillBeige).

We went back to the hotel and got into some 4x4 vehicles and got driven into the Sahara to camp. The campsite was really cool, and we were greeted by traditional African live music.

We claimed our tents, it was coed. So risqué. We danced a little, and went into the tent to eat. The food was really good. I'm obsessed with Couscous. Sander said there was a really good Tunisian restaurant in Paris, my mom and sisters better prepare themselves because we are going. At the end of dinner Sander gave us a little speech about like when holding sand, if you close your fist the sand will fall from your hand, but if you open your hand the sand will stay, and that we needed to open our hands to the Sahara. I ate that shit up, I love sayings. We went out for more African style music and dancing.

Then we started sharing scary stories and after hearing that someone on campus had lived in a house with a secret room where the Columbian cocaine cartel were still actively trafficking drugs, and that people had been scratched by ghosts I was just so ready to go to bed. We went to bed, with all my layers and stayed asleep until I heard rain pounding on the top of the tent. Our tent was the only tent that didn't get super wet on the inside. Tents in the Sahara usually aren't that worried about rain.

We woke up and headed back to the hotel, we ate quickly and headed back out in the 4x4's to see the Chott el-Jerid salt lake. There were 14 of these matching SUV's, if anyone knows me they know I love two things. 1. When things match, and 2. Cars, so I was all about matching cars.

About an hour later we were there and it was one of the most unique things I have ever seen. The stillness of the water with the. Mountains in the distance and the reflections was so beautiful. I know I'll never see anything like it again.

We then went and checked out one of the largest Oases in Tunisia with 400,000 palm trees. Apparently the size of an oasis is measured in how many palm trees they have, and not hectares. There were also 24 mosques you could see from where we stopped, showing a really religious town of only 22,000 people.

Next we went dune diving in the 4x4's and visited a village that was constructed for a Star Wars film. It was cool, but all I wanted to do was get back in and do some more dune diving. That we did. We had the best driver ever, he was a bad ass, and even when there was roads, he wouldn't take them. It was an awesome experience. We then drove up small mountains roads up really beautiful canyons towards our hotel. We got to the Tamerza Palace hotel and it was gorgeous. It is a 5 star hotel which we didn't expect. It was gorgeous, and lunch was amazing. Again I love Tunisian food.

We headed to our rooms (which were amazing, with crazy views of the desert. I threw my stuff down and headed back to the 4x4s to go see two more mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza. We hiked around for about an hour and a half, looking around and the rock formations of sedimentary rock were beautiful and the waterfalls were great. We went back to the hotel, had a drink by the indoor fire with a full service bar. It's crazy how different your accommodations can be from night to night. We had another amazing dinner, bought some wine, and went quickly to bed.

I woke up early and took a 5 star shower, having not showered since Monday to Thursday. Stephan would be proud. We headed to the Red lizard train on the buses. We looked into Algeria as we left our hotel. We took a train through the Seldja Gorge and canyons, stopping to "hike" and take pictures. The train was super old and some of the cars were very nice. It reminded me of the train from Wild Wild West, the Will Smith classic. The canyons were gorgeous showing some more of the sedimentary rock. The shadows the clouds put over the rock formations were really interesting, it seemed like the clouds were so close to the mountains.

At lunch, in another gorgeous hotel, one of the JFRC students ran in to a JFRC alumni who had taken the Tunisia study trip in 2004, and went on to be a FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, and now works for an NGO in the states working with preserving relics of the Roman empire. She was on a trip with potential donors to her program. It was a crazy coincidence and a real testament to the impact the trip can have. We then got on another bus ride to see the Roman ruins at Speitla.They were another example of ruins of the Roman empire, additionally this was one of the places the US army fought during World War II.

Only three days left in Tunisia. I don't want to think about it.

Tunisia Day 3 and 4

Waking up from Discotheque was funny to see a few dozen tired Jesuit school students make there way onto coach buses. We were a little behind schedule.

We went to the World War II cemetery where over 2700 soldiers are buried, representing only 39% of the soldiers that fell in North Africa in the war. The trip was very meaningful because we were joined by Jim, a former west point instructor and World War II scholar. The Tunisian who runs the cemetery led us around and showed us examples of the fallen soldiers stories, including a medal of honor recipient and brothers who died protecting each other. The experience was extremely moving, and taught me a lot about WWII I didn't know before.

Next we went to the Byrsa Hill, the spiritual center of the Cartheginian Empire, and the Sanctuary of the Tophet, as well as the Punic Ports, which were the military and economic heart of the Cartheginian empire. The ruins there were beautiful as we're the views to the water surrounding the port. We had an amazing Tunisian lunch,and made our way to the Bardo Museum.

The Bardo Museum once served as the palace of the Husseinite Beys, who were the rulers of Tunisia from 1705-1957. Currently it houses the most renowned collection of mosaics from the Roman Empire. We ended the day after a bus ride on Tunisia's southeastern coast in Sousse.The hotel we stayed in was very nice, except for the odd shape that reminded us all of a creepy maze. There were motion activated lights in the long and twists hallways that didn't always light up. The common areas were an assault on the senses but were a really great time. We got some Tunisian wine which was really good, and some more sheesha before getting ready for our 6:45 wake up call.

Day 4

Woke up to one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen off of the balcony at the hotel. I only took a couple of pictures because Icouldn't stop staring at it. Then we went to El Jem, the 6th largest amphitheater from the Roman Empire. It was very well preserved, moreso than the Colosseum (the largest) and we were able to get up to the top and climb around more than in the Colosseum.

We then went to another museum nearby where we saw more mosaics that were really beautiful and we realized how much the Romans were obsessed with mosaics of the four seasons. We continued south from Tunis and watched as the scenery changed to more sandy and desert like although we were not yet there. We stopped for many a photo opp and the bus driver Ramsey continued to impress. Stopped at a spice market and bought some mint tea, obviously. Then we went to a bar where some scene in Star Wars was filmed. We ended our night at the hotel that was really interesting, we called it the cave hotel because each bed was in its own little cave like hole.

Then I went to bed, excited to go camel riding and camping in the Sahara the next day. Oh what little did I know what was about to happen.

Tunisia days 1-2

We were on the buses at 6:45 to leave for Tunisia. I did not know whatI was in for. We got our sack lunches, and loaded our aggressively overfilled backpacks under the bus. At the airport we waited in a typically long Italian line for our boarding passes, and made our way through security to wait 2 hours for our flight. Oh to be early. Much espresso and nutella bombe later we were on the way, only to be in Tunisia an hour later.

When we got off the plane we went through customs got our bags and were greeted by our buses and your guides we would have for the week.Surprised by the amazingly warm and sunny weather, we made our way to the American Embassy. When we went there 5 different people talked to us, first the Ambassador to Tunisia gave us a quick intro before heading off to a meeting and then we heard from the press secretary for the embassy. He talked about the differences in the press since after the revolution in January 2011. The censorship ofmedia was so complete, and how that impacted his job of liaising with Tunisian press. He also told us how the revolution in Tunisia was the start of the Arab spring of revolutions such as those in Libya,Syria, and Egypt. He also said that the mission of American diplomacy in Tunisia is to support them in developing their democracies. Just a week before we were in Tunisia, they hosted the "Friends of Syria" conference as a show of support for their ongoing issues. Hilary Clinton came in for it, and the event was a great success.

Thirdly an odd political specialist spoke to us, not much of which we could understand or comprehend. The fourth person we spoke to was immensely interesting. He is a Tunisian who was involved with the revolution, using underground blogs and video sharing websites to spread their messages before and during the revolution. He now works with the American embassy to help them with cultural affairs.

Some interesting notes from him were that no one person can be attributed for the revolution except for 3 individuals who told Ben Ali to leave. Additionally the revolution was long time coming. The revolution was not caused because of joblessness and poor conditions in Tunisia, but it was because of a lack of dignity and being knowingly lied to by their government.

After that man spoke to us, we were supposed to leave the embassy, but we could not. Our bus was parked in the middle of a demonstration that had started in front of the Embassy. Let's just say I left that out of my "Yay got to Tunisia Safe" email I sent my family that night. So we went to hang out in the multipurpose room of the embassy to wait out the protest. There we hear the man in charge of cultural affairs of the embassy talk about what he does. They do things like bring in documentary filmmakers, hip hop artists, and graffiti artists to LYASE with the Tunisian people.

It really hit me, as I knew little about the Tunisian revolution how crazy the change had been. Only just over a year ago, people of this country couldnt speak their minds, they were constantly followed by both secret and normal police. Over 10 percent of the population were police. It is so unthinkable to me that this was possible to go on so shortly ago, and that it still goes on today in other places.

As the day ended we stopped at the hotel and had dinner and then went up into a small mountain town to smoke sheesha and have traditional mint tea. It was a really unique and traditional time, our group almost took over the mountain top establishment, but there were still enough Tunisians to give us knowing glances as we tried to walk leaving after smoking sheesha.

Day 2.

On the second day we woke up and had a lecture more about the history of Tunisia. It was really interesting. Only being freed from the control of France in 1956 there were only two presidents before the revolution. The interesting thing that I didn't know (how stupid and ethnocentric I am has been a main theme of of time in Tunisia) is that Tunisia has always been a secular state, and it actually had and has very liberal views towards women. When we later asked Tunisian women if they ever felt marginalized or not equal to men they emphatically said no. That is something that I'm sure would not be said by Americanwomen.

We then took our buses (Bus 1 was where the party was at with Sander and Ramsey the driver) into Tunis to have lunch in a 15th century palace (of course #LoyolaLunches) and met with a group of 40 Tunisian students who are studying constitutional law. There were three Tunisian women at our table Yusk Sahid and Ikram who we talked to about their perspective on the revolution, and American culture. They said some very interesting things about their identity, Tunisians in general haw a very well defined view of national pride something I didn't know. They also don't relate to the Arab world at all, they instead identify with North Africa and the Mediterranean.

After lunch we went through the medina with our new Tunisian friends and did some serious shopping, while still having more and more discussions about Tunisian culture. Sahid told us that she was in the demonstration the morning that Ben ali fled. We walked out of the medina and down into a catholic cathedral, which was really simple and beautiful. We walked past the square where the Ministry of the Interior is where a lot of the demonstrations took place last year. We then went back to the hotel for the amazing Tunisian dinner and some drinks. Along with some light raging at the discotheque attachedto our hotel with some vintage Destiny's Child and fishbowl drinks.

That was only the first 2 of 10 days. Strap in blog buddies, strap in.