Home Sweet Starkville

So I know I've been home for 3 days now, but I thought I would just let everyone know how the "coming home" went. 


Sunday morning, we had to wake up at the crack of dawn (5 AM) to get up and get ready to leave by 6 AM. Hannah Rachel and I were extremely happy to say goodbye to room #5. We got to the airport 3 hours early....don't even get me started on that. We checked in and then sat around, sat some more, and sat around some more. The only funny thing that happened while we were waiting was that I convinced Max that he should use the wax strip I found in a magazine. He put it on his arm and ended up taking away a whole layer of his sensitive, white skin :) I'm so sorry Max!! 


We finally boarded the plane, and Max was my plane buddy again. We played Monopoly the whole flight, and I KILLED him. We got to the Toronto airport and went through customs without a hitch. We had to wait around some more but it definitely wasn't as bad as before, except for the fact that we were basically sitting in a terminal that Laurel's airport is nicer than. Anyways, we got on the tiny little plane and started our way back to Memphis. Max and I played the game of Life, but he was the one who killed me this time. 


We landed in Memphis (the heat getting off the plane was unbearable), Drew gave us a little spill about us being his favorite group of students ever, and then we went to meet our parents/whoever was picking us up. We made our way down to the baggage claim, and an hour later, with most everyone gone, Amanda, Tracy, Elisa, and I did not get our bags. Apparently, a whole cart of bags was left at the airport in Toronto, and of course, the Air Canada systems were down so I had to call them myself. After calling and talking to a guy from India (he was probably in India too) for an hour, they had all my info and said that my bag would be here sometime Monday. 


So Monday morning, I woke up and big surprise, I'm sick. I have no voice at all. I didn't feel bad, I just couldn't speak. So my mother made me go to the health center, where they told me exactly what I already knew: you have sinus problems. No duh. Anyways, I bought the medicine that I would have had already if my bag had come in when it was supposed to and left. Also, my bag never came in on Monday. 


Yesterday, I woke up still sick, but I could talk a little bit better. I received a call from a man who said that he had my bag and would deliver it sometime around noon. I should have known better than to believe him. I got a call a short while later saying that he couldn't find 21 Apartments on his gps and that he needed another address to take my bag to since he had never been to Starkville before. I gave him my boyfriend's address and he said that he would be here by 3 PM. 3 PM rolled around and I still had not gotten a call from the guy. I ran some errands and picked up dinner, and sure enough, as I was heading back to my apartment, I get a call from the guy saying that he is dropping my bag off. It was now 6:30, but I didn't care since my bag had finally gotten here. 


Everything made it back safely. My bag had definitely been searched through at some point while coming back, but nothing was missing or broken (especially the Neige I bought). R.I.P. duffle bag though. Somewhere during its haul back to me, the zipper heads along with my nice TSA lock fell off :( Sad day. That bag has been a ton of places with me. Oh well.


This is my final post. I know you all are crying and are very upset about it. I'm not. I'm not a huge fan of writing plus I'm not very creative/witty in the writing department. If you want to read that, you should read Hannah Rachel's blog. Anyways...I hope you all enjoyed reading about my trip to Canada. I had a blast and I strongly recommend that you visit there sometime in your life. It's like taking a European vacation, but you don't have to fly overseas and the flights only take 6 hours maximum. Quebec City is a little slice of French/British culture right here in North America. 


I would say until next time, but this is my last post. So....BYE!!

Less than 24 hours and counting!!

So today is our last day here, and what did I do? I slept until 12. Well I did get up at 9:30 to get breakfast before it ended, but I went straight back to bed afterwards. Hannah Rachel and I have done everything we wanted to while here, so I won’t say we’re bored, but we just don’t have anything else to do. So I slept late.

Yesterday, we took our final. YAY!! I made a 99 on it, so I'm definitely a happy camper. After the test, Hannah Rachel and I went to the Museum of Civilization. I like museums, but this museum had so much stuff and we just weren’t in the mood for walking through a museum. I do think that we should have gotten bonus points on our test though. We went to a museum without being made to.

The flag of Quebec

Hockey, eh??

After the museum, we decided to go out to the mall again. We swore after the last time we went with Alex and it closed at 5 that we were not going to go again. However, we had nothing else to do, so we took the bus out there. We went to H & M to find 2 specific dresses, and we didn’t end up getting either of them. We then went to Zellers to buy a picture frame for the cute couple that runs the hotel we are staying at. We bought a 5x7 frame, and when we went to print out a picture for it, we found out that only 4x6 pictures could be printed out instantly. So on Monday, after we get home, I will be receiving calls about pictures that I ordered that had to be sent off to be printed. Oh well. We ended up buying a new 4x6 frame and just printed out a 4x6 picture. It’s so cute.

Left to Right:

Top: Max, Martin, and Drew

Middle: Amanda, Holly, Hannah Rachel, Delia, Katie, and Elisa

Front: Money (the dog), Allie, Candace, Thierry, Sil/Siv (not sure), Tracy, and Me

Last night, Hannah Rachel and I went out to dinner for the last time while we’re here. We ate at this really good restaurant called Mike’s or something, but I didn’t take any pictures of our food. Sorry :(  Ha

After dinner, the people in our group that stayed here this weekend (a couple people drove to Montreal) went out to Le Drague. We decided to be adventurous. The only word to describe the trip is: INTERESTING. As Hannah Rachel told me, I can now check it off my life experiences list. I didn’t even know going to a drag show was on my list until last night. Anyways...

Today, as I said, I slept until 12. Hannah Rachel’s cousin and his fiancé were in town today, so I was on my own this afternoon. I decided to go eat poutine at Chez Ashton one last time before we leave Canada in the morning. After lunch, I walked around for a little while trying to decide what to spend my last Canadian dollars on. I chose to spend most of it on macaroons from Paillard. Those macaroons were definitely worth the $10 that I spent on 6 of them.

Chocolate, caramel, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, banana/chocolate = best macaroons EVER

After getting the macaroons, I came back and took a short 2 hour nap, and when I woke up, Hannah Rachel was back. We decided to spend the very last of our money on margaritas and chips from the great Mexican place here. After drinks, we ate pizza with the cute little owners of our hotel. We decided to buy them dinner because they have done so much for us and I’m pretty sure we’ve taken a lot more of their food than they expected us to :) Oh well.

Hannah Rachel and I are now completely packed (I’ve been packed for 2 days) and ready for bed. The rest of the group is going out tonight since it’s our last night here, but we are going to bed as soon as the light show that plays every night is over. I can’t believe that I will be back in Starkville in less than 24 hours. I’m so excited! The next time I blog, which will be my absolute last time, I will be back in the comforts of my apartment. I can’t wait :) Anyways…we leave our hotel at 6 AM in the morning, so tomorrow is definitely going to be a long day, but we’re excited!

A Bientot!!

Only 3 days left!!

I am not homesick. I repeat again. I am not homesick. All I want is my own bed, not to have to ride the bus to get places, and to stop running into things. That's all. It's not a lot to ask for, I don't think. I'm complaining. I know I should be grateful. I'm in a foreign country (sortof) and today was our last day of class. Yay...I just need to get a better attitude. That's all. Ha.

So let me catch y'all whomever reads my blog up on the past couple of days because I just know you can't wait to hear about it.

Monday, I blogged that afternoon. It was rainy and we were being super lazy. After I finished with that post, Hannah Rachel got kinda stircrazy around 4:45. Holly's response: "We could go on a Chateau tour at 5." We hopped up and basically ran to the Chateau to make it in time for the 5 o'clock tour. We made it in time. The tour was extremely interesting. I had no idea that D-Day was planned over a span of three weeks at the Chateau Frontenac. We learned a ton of really interesting random facts, but I really enjoyed it.

One of the rooms in the Chateau.

Our guide showing us the layout of the hotel. We WOULD get a maid as a guide.

There are 3 third floors...It's easy to get lost.

If you make a wish while walking down, your wish will come true :)

The view.

After the tour and some laying around, we decided to check another item off our list of things to do while here. We walked over to a hotel here that has a spinning restaurant on the top of it. We somehow were able to get in and sit at a table. An hour and a half later, after drinking some ice cider, we had made a complete loop around. The view was incredible.

Tuesday, we had class. Big surprise. Drew did have another surprise for us. He took our whole group out to eat at Portofino. It was just as amazing as the first time we ate there last week.

Chicken fettuccini

Chocolate caramel surprise. Anything with "surprise" in the title HAS to be good :)

After eating such a big lunch, everyone in our group just hung out all afternoon in the lobby. We basically just took over the whole lobby. We just lounged around eating popcorn, stolen bread from the kitchen, and Nutella. For some reason, someone suggested that we go get waffles after everything we had already eaten today. So naturally, Hannah Rachel and I tagged along at the mention of dessert. 

Bananas + Chocolate + Ice cream + Whipped Cream + Waffles = 0 calories

Calories consumed on vacation don't count. We know for a fact :)

Yesterday, we had more class. As part of class, we had to go on a scavenger hunt around the Old City. My team was Max, Tracy, and Katie. We dominated. 

Last night, Drew took us to see a movie in French. It was called "Le Sens de l'Humeur." I didn't understand a word. We were lucky it was a comedy, so we could just laugh when everyone else in the theater did. Movies spoken in a different language with no subtitles are not fun. I have definitely decided to stay away from foreign films. 

Today was our last day of class!! We had a quick review for our final that is in the morning, then Hannah Rachel, Max, and Holly had to give their presentations. HR gave hers on Quebecois music, and she taught us the national anthem. I haven't ever had a song stuck in my head as long as I have had the Canadian national anthem stuck in mine. At least there's an English version I'm learning some new French :)

Tonight, Hannah Rachel and I did some laundry, studied for the exam Facebooked, packed (I know we still have 2 full days left, but we are ready to get home), and ate at a cute local restaurant. A croque monsieur with asparagus hit the spot tonight. 

So I'm pretty sure that I am only going to blog 1 more time before we leave and then maybe one more once we get home, but after this trip, I'm finished with blogging. We are parting ways. Blogging just isn't my forte, plus I just don't have enough to say to blog as often as some people do. Anyways....look for a post in the next 2 days!

T-minus 6 days until Starkvegas

So here I am again. I am sitting myself down to write this post, and it is taking everything I have not to open up a new tab to Facebook or Twitter. When I started this blog, this was fun. Now, I equate writing these posts to writing a literature analysis or maybe pulling teeth. The latter is worse for me, but every person hates different things. Oh well.

So Saturday, after I finally posted about last week, Hannah Rachel and I were supposed to go to the city across the river, but we decided to sleep in instead :) Later though, Hannah Rachel and I took Alex out to the mall. Little did we know, but the mall closed at 5 pm. What mall closes at 5 on a Saturday?? The only thing that I absolutely needed to buy while we were there was a carry-on suitcase. We literally had to jog through 2 of the malls to make it to a suitcase store. We made it there at 4:58. I have never made a decision so fast. I picked out and paid for my new suitcase in less than 2 minutes. The owner of the store had the audacity to say, "It's fine that you came in so late, but only because you bought something." I left happy that I had a suitcase, but I will not be returning to his store anytime soon.

Saturday night, my dad, Alex, Hannah Rachel, and I went to eat dinner at the Chateau Frontenac. I only took a few pictures before we went into the restaurant, but it killed us not to be able to take pictures of all of our food. We know better than to look like tacky tourists who have never been to a nice restaurant before.

We thought that this was the only menu, and we were very scared. The only items on this menu were ostrich, emu, and loin of red deer, but thankfully there was a larger menu inside. 

The view from the restaurant. 

For dinner, we had salmon tartar, Caesar salad made at our table (it was especially interesting for me, since I just learned how to make homemade Caesar dressing!), sorbet (this was supposed to be a "palate cleanser, but it was mango, cinnamon, and pepper flavored. Gross!), steak, creme brulee, and bananas foster. Needless to say, we were very full as we walked back to our hotel. 

Sunday morning, we slept in again. Around lunchtime, a few of our group (Allie, Tracy, Candace, Hannah Rachel, Drew, and me) rode the bus out to the waterfall we went to last weekend. It turned out to be a beautiful day, so being outside by the river was a lot of fun.

Making the hike up the river from the waterfall.

Everyone else had the same idea as us. 

A few of us decided to try and walk across part of the river to a small rock "island." It was quite dangerous.

We made it across!!

The group that ventured out hiking (minus Drew).

Sunday night, a group of us (plus my dad and sister) went out to the Mexican restaurant here. It was good, but it wasn't as good as the first time we ate there. Hannah Rachel and my dad got the biggest (and most expensive) nachos I've ever seen. After dinner, we went and got dessert, and then I said my farewells to my dad and sister, since they left at 4:30 this morning. There was no way I was going to get up that early to say goodbye. I guess I'm just a terrible daughter. 

Today, we had class, just like every other week day. I know that this whole trip is for the class and everything, but we are seriously tired of class. And who wouldn't be?? Summer school is no fun, especially if you are in another country, but we only have 6 full days until we get back to Starkvegas for rush recruitment week(s). I wouldn't say that I'm homesick. The title of this post makes it sound like I am, but I think I'm just ready to be done with class and tests.

All we did this afternoon was buy the rest of the souvenirs we needed to get for people, work on projects (Hannah Rachel), and watch all the TV shows that we're behind on (that would be me. ha). Nothing real eventful. At least I made myself blog. Maybe I'll blog within the next few days. That might be a wishful thought, but I really will try. Later!!

I am such a "HAM" (as Delia would say)

I apologize for not blogging in forever a couple of days (I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for my next post. ha). Nothing terribly special has happened since our trip to Montreal, but I'll fill y'all in on the details anyways. 

Monday, we had class. Nothing special happened, but I did get my first test back and I made a 100! That afternoon, Hannah Rachel and I just walked around for a while in the Old and Lower city. We decided upon eating at "Le Cochon Dingue," which means The Crazy Pig in French. It's a Quebecois restaurant that specializes in what else, pork! Hannah Rachel and I opted out of ordering pork, but we did order an amazing croque madame, that had goat cheese and pesto on it. It was wonderful. 

We did discover our new best friend that night. The Funiculaire. It's like an outdoor elevator, or "inclined railway," that allows us to bypass the most treacherous hill from the Lower city to our hotel. The $2 it cost to ride up was totally worth it. 

At the bottom.

The view.

Finally at the top.

 The best invention EVER. 

Tuesday, we had more class. Again, nothing special. After class though, some of us went out to eat in la basse ville and then rode the bus out to the mall to shop. I bought WAY more than I needed to. 

Tuesday night, Katie, Hannah Rachel, and I had our group dinner with Drew at L'echaude. It was absolutely wonderful. We weren't able to take any pictures, but I had Brie macaroni, steak frites, and creme brulee for dessert. That night was the first time I had had creme brulee in a long time, and it was soooo good. 

Wednesday, we had class again, just like every other morning. After class, Hannah Rachel and I heated up our Chef Boyardee, and then I napped for a little while. Early afternoon, Drew took a small group of us out to a used bookstore. It was a pretty cool place, but I couldn't fully enjoy it because they had no air conditioning and it was 90 degrees outside. 

Trying to find some good books. 

Wednesday night was the "big" event of the day. We got dressed up and went out to eat at Portifino, a really nice Italian restaurant around the corner from our hotel. It was yummy but super expensive. 

Tasty ricotta and spinach ravioli.

After eating, Delia started teaching me Ebonics. I learned all sorts of phrases like "chicken head," "HAM," "pie," and "slang." We chilled at the hotel for a little while before walking over to Le Drague to celebrate Allie's birthday by singing karaoke. I will have to say, I was a little apprehensive about going to Le Drague, but it was alot of fun. We watched all different types of people get up on stage and sing. Our group contributed the songs: Umbrella, by Rihanna; Baby Got Back, sung by Jean Maximillian; and YMCA, sung by Holly Claude, Delia, Martin, Elisa, and Jean Maximillian. Hannah Rachel and I left around 1 am, but everyone's party went on for a while longer. 

Max getting Baby Got Back.

 Dancing Queens. The most appropriate song of the night :)

Thursday morning, everyone was definitely dragging. No pun intended :) However, Drew came into class and said he had a surprise for us. A take home test and no class on Friday!! The only condition was that we have to attend a French movie one day next week. I'm not complaining at all. 

Thursday morning was really dreary. It was raining really hard, so after class, I took a nap. I got up around 3, got ready, and took a taxi out to the airport to pick up my dad and sister. Well, not only did I have the wrong time that they were "supposed" to be getting in, their flight was also delayed an hour. I had gotten there at 4 expecting to see them, and they didn't end up getting here until 7:30. Big mistake. I took a taxi back into the city, checked them into their hotel, and layed in their comfy bed for 3 hours, watching French game shows and anything I could find that was in English the whole time. 

They finally arrived at the hotel at 7:30, and we promptly went out to eat at a pizza place down the street. It was really good. After dinner, we rushed over to the Cirque de Soleil show to get in line. You have to get in line super early to get a good spot to stand to watch since the show is free. The show was amazing. I had no idea what to expect from a show that is performed under a freeway overpass, but it was really good. 

  

Doing a headstand while walking on a tightrope. Not my cup of tea. 

I can't even do 1 hula hoop, much less 3 or more of them.

These guys just fell off walls willy-nilly. Of course there were trampolines underneath, but I still wouldn't do it. 

After Cirque de Soleil, we walked my dad and sister up to Rue St. Jean to go get some of the fabulous waffles with ice cream, but sadly they were closed, so we settled for McDonald's McFlurries instead. We took my dad and sister back to our hotel to show them where we have been living the last two weeks, and after they left, I went straight to bed. 

I am so happy that we did not have class Friday morning. I needed a morning to be able to sleep in a little bit. We slept until 9:30, walked downstairs, ate breakfast, then came back and got in bed. We later went and met my dad and sister for lunch and some shopping, and when we parted ways, Hannah Rachel and I did laundry again. By the time we got done, it was time for our river cruise.

I’m not going to lie, but I really thought the cruise was going to be a snoozefest really fun. The food was not great, but once the sun went down and the man dressed in 1750s garb finally shut up, DJ Prime started playing. We burned up the dance floor. Ha

Doing the Cha Cha Slide. 

DJ Prime.

Max and Tracy "slow dancing" 

Our group stood in a large circle on the dance floor and just danced. We had many admirers. No one knew the moves to the Cha Cha Slide or even YMCA. So everyone just stared at us and tried to follow along. It was so much fun. It really shouldn’t have lasted 4 hours. The last 2 were the best by far, but it was still fun.

After the cruise ended, a few of us walked up to Chez Ashton for some late night poutine. I am going to be so disappointed when I get home and I can’t order poutine anywhere. We are just going to have to resort to making our own, which should be very interesting.

Anyways, I’m sorry I have been such a lazy blogger this week. I even had to make myself sit down and write this post. I promise I will try not to pile 5 days of blogging into anymore of my posts. Today, Hannah Rachel and I are taking Alex shopping at the mall. No telling how much money will be spent. Later y’all!!

Our Montreal Adventure

Yesterday’s adventure to Montreal started at 5:50. That was the time that Hannah Rachel and I had to get up so that we could get ready to leave on the bus at 7:30. We got up, got dressed, made our way to the bus station, got breakfast, and were on the bus by 7:20. Let me just say that I am now a spoiled charter bus passenger. We had FREE WiFi and electrical outlets on the backs of our chairs. I will never be able to ride on another charter bus and not miss the ones we rode on today. As soon as the bus left the station, Hannah Rachel passed out, and I read a past issue of Hello Canada that I stole from the hotel found on the coffee table in the lobby. The trip took exactly 3 hours and 15 minutes, and we were off the bus and eating lunch at a nearby Subway by 11 am.

After eating lunch, Hannah Rachel and I began to make our way down to the better part of town, but we weren’t able to do that without first walking through the Quartier Latin. This area was kinda sketchy, but we made it out alive, despite seeing at least 3 different ambulances and several cops making arrests. We finally made it down to the main shopping area, and we couldn’t help but stop by H&M and Forever 21. We had put off doing any kind of shopping until this week. We didn't go crazy, but items were bought at both stores, each hurting my checking account a little more each time. I was even a nice big sister, and I bought my younger sister a few things from the only Forever 21 in Quebec J How sweet of me! Ha

When we had had our fill of shopping, we decided to try and explore the Underground City. The internet wasn’t kidding when it said that you can get lost down there. It was very confusing, and it apparently can go on for days. 

This was just a tiny part of the underground city. It looks like an empty mall, and it goes on forever. 

After not knowing where we were going for a little while, we finally decided to head back up to the main level. We decided that while in Montreal, we should probably do something “studious,” so we walked down to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, but not before stopping at Holt Renfrow. Holt Renfrow is an extremely pricey department store that I can only compare to Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. It had everything from Zac Posen to Carolina Herrara to Michael Kors and even Manolo Blanik. It was crazy fabulous and light years out of our price range.

We finally made it to the museum, where we looked through some of their collection, which included my all-time favorite: Monet. 

Degas is my close second. 

There was even a little bit of Picasso. 

They also had a collection of items that either featured Napolean Bonaparte or were owned by him. It was all tres interresant.

Napolean's shirt, hat, and boots.

After finishing with the museum, we decided to try and visit the old part of Montreal, or Vieux Montreal. We hopped in a taxi and rode over to the cathedral over in the old city. The cathedral was built to somewhat resemble Notre Dame in Paris. The chapel connected to the back of the cathedral is known as the “Wedding Chapel.” The chapel is booked up to 2 years in advance for weddings, so anyone that gets engaged now will have to wait until Summer 2013 before they can get married there. Both the cathedral and the chapel were absolutely amazing.

Old Montreal is very similar to Quebec City, and one street in particular looks exactly like one of the main streets in Old Quebec. Hannah Rachel and I walked down the street just looking around, and we decided that it was time to eat. At 4:30 in the afternoon. We found a place that served pastas, veal, steaks, etc. Our food was absolutely amazing. I didn’t take any pictures of my salad or my veal pasta, but I did get a pic of dessert! 

The whole time we were sitting eating, we would hear cheers coming from the street and from the restaurant’s bar. The USA women’s soccer team was playing Japan for the World Cup, and all we could hear was cheering. We were so frustrated that we had no idea what was going on in the game that we got our waiter to give us updates every so often. Too bad the US lost…

After diner, we did a little souvenir shopping, and then decided that we were ready to head home. We hopped in a cab, and we made it over to the bus station in time to catch the 6 pm bus. We had originally planned to leave at 8, but we had done enough walking and shopping in Montreal, and we were ready to go home. We were able to get on the bus at 6 and we were back at our hotel by 9.

I am very glad that Hannah Rachel and I got to go on our little adventure yesterday. It was nice to get out of Quebec City for a day and to be able to say that we’ve been to Montreal. We don’t have any major adventures planned so far for the rest of the trip, but you just never know J

Later!!