Praha Princesses

In the morning I awaited the arrival of my dearest Arielle! After that little smush picked me up at my hostel we were ready to go! Off to Bohemia Bagel we went!!! We got great brunch, caught up (must read Arielle's blog to hear about the Hungarian Catastrophe which is comical), and decided what we should do the whole week. Arielle and I walked around town and by the castle and what not on our way to the TOY MUSEUM. When we got there let's just say it was a little bit of a let down. The toys were creepy, they didn't have good facts. It was like this doll used to come on the train sets in the 1920s. Or this is a Christmas tree with ham hanging on it. Like not really anything exciting. However, when we went up to the second floor - my mind was blown. BARBIE LAND!!! The first barbie ever, bill clinton barbie, nascar barbie, barbie with a fetus inside her barbie, dior barbie. Like it was a dream come true for Barbie lovers like myself. However, I am so glad Barbie has changed her style throughout the years because the first barbie ever would now be considered ax murderer barbie. 

After exploring a little more Arielle went to class, while I just hung around the hostel anxiously awaiting 7pm because I was meeting up with GAIL AND BRUCE LEVIN. That is right - the levin's were in Praha. So I casually met them at the clock tower (which is by far the most overrated thing ever - like you really want to stand there to watch a skeleton ring a bell and then little men shake their heads as the clock turns to the next hour? Talk about medieval entertainment. Youtube pleaseeee). Bruce, Gail, and I sat at one of the outdoor restaurant tent things and had a nice cup of hot chocolate with rum. Arielle came and met up with us and then after a few hours we parted our ways with the Levins. But it was great to see them - sorry you missed out Danni (all we did was shit talk you anyways).

Arielle and I trekked back to her dorm and got Baguette Boulevard - which I wish that sweden has some nice cheap sandwich shop that isn't subway but whatevs. After a struggle of getting people out of their beds we attempted to go out - but the pub was closing in 20 minutes when we got there so obviously Arielle, her friends, and I went to their late night hang out - KFC. Yeah I know weird right cause all KFCs in the states closed and are bankrupt and like Kentucky Fried Chicken in Prague - but whatevs. At closing - which I would say closing at KFC is like a last call at bars - we headed back to her dorm.

In the morning Arielle went to class and I stayed snug in her bed until it was time to meet her for brunch. We went to her favorite cafe, Cafe Savoy, and the french toast was actually out of this world. We split french toast and a spinach, garlic, onion omelet. This place was great, words can't describe. Well actually they can but I won't. Arielle and I then tried to figure out what we should do for the day that was cultural. But it was kinda gloomy so what we did was get a thai massage. 

Let me explain this thai massage fiasco - so first, they are everywhere in Prague! It will be like 8 Euro Thai Massage so like that's tempting right? So Arielle and I were determined to try them. So we find this cute little one off of Old Town Square with lots of Buddhas and pretty stuff. We decide to get just the 15 minute foot and leg massage for 8 euros. It was great! And like great is an understatement. If I lived in Prague - weekly occurrence. So as Arielle drank our tea and basked in our late afternoon foot rub bliss - we decided we had to get the back massage. They have us a discount so like $15 for a 30 minute back massage. Done. So after our couples massages and our second cups of tea we were ready to take on Praha.

Which means we went to the Communism museum. It was a cool, it was a lot of reading. Not something I would recommend for people who are only going to be in Prague for a limited time, but worthwhile if you will be there for more than a couple days and if you like history. After that we went back to the dorm and went to this Italian restaurant near her dorm. We decided to get take out which was totally the move - way faster and then we could eat it in the comfort of our own bed. 

Then it was time for what I had been pumped for since day 1 of booking my trip - THE ABSINTHERY! So many of you know that there is a special kind of absinthe that is illegal in the states, that is obviously what we had to try. What I found upsetting about the absinthe is you get about a little more than a shot, but you are supposed to sip it. Like ewww idk why I would do that - not good. Wait rewind, so you ask for the absinthe, they pour it in a cup (at this point it is green). They then light it on fire and melt a sugar cube through a cool absinthe spoon. It was really cool watching it be on fire. Then eventually it turns brown and ready for you to drink. It is warm though which is not what I like but whatevs and it tastes like black licorice which is fine if you like black licorice. 

After the absinthery we went to Chateau Rouge - this random bar. It was fun. But let's just say there are some things you can find more easily there an a cannoli in Italy (circa to when Amanda and I spent an hour looking for cannolis). But like accessibility was key at Chateau Rouge. Once we left Arielle forced me to get a fried cheese sandwich because apparently it's a thing. It was good - I would have preferred some sauce because a mozzarella stick in a bun isn't the best but whatevs. The weirdest part was Arielle asked for a sausage, a single baby sausage, and they gave her a 4 sausage sandwich. She then took 3 bites and offered it to some random guy on the street. I told her not to cause that's weird - but the weirdest part was the boy took it and ate it. Like granted Arielle doesn't seem like a criminal who will drug your food or put glass in it. Still it was weird. Then it was bed time.

In the morning I met Arielle and her friends at Choco Cafe for lunch. Brilliant idea of a restaurant. They serve this hot chocolate that is basically just melted chocolate in a cup - I got mine with strawberries and bananas. It isn't the consistency of pudding, more soupy, but not the liquidiness of actual hot chocolate. It's like fondue maybe. Idk but it was good.

So after Choco Cafe (which was like 2 hours later - cause it's amazing). Then we walked around and went up to this amazing look out by a castle and church. You could see all of Prague and there was cute little walking paths (so no falling down a massive muddy hill fiascos occur again). We spent a long time just looking out and walking around this area because it was so cute.

So we went back to the dorms eventually and waited for Cori (Arielle's amazing roommate- hi Cori!!!!) to come home because she had been with her dad and brother all week. For dinner we went to this fun little restaurant where you cook your own food. I was lazy and ordered a burger (but like it was one of the best burgers ever if that is any consolation). So like Arielle and Cori had a burner at our table and they would just cook their own chicken it was cool. Then we had to stop at KFC so Arielle could get wifi and BAM! Congratulations on the Teach For America internship this summer Arielle - so proud. So we decided to get celebratory desserts at the easter market. Chocolate covered bananas on a stick was prime.

Back to the communist dorm we go to get ready to go out for the night. We were going to a club Retro - which is totally the scene on Wednesdays (Hi Kath Sherbin, Hi Jess Ruiz). I would now like to rename Retro Wednesdays as "make out with a czech boy" wednesdays. Literally the only thing going on in that club it seemed like. But whatevs. Retro Wednesday was a good time. Then obvi we got late night at KFC - but like whatever we ordered was not what we wanted. Arielle kept saying "Be Smart Box" because it was supposed to be fries and tenders but Cori got a sandwich in a hot dog bun and I got a chicken wrap but whatevs. All I know is the white dipping sauce is the shit. Then it was KFC closing time. So we hopped on the tram - passed out - and woke up 20 minutes later and were the most ready for bed.

In the morning I packed as they got ready for class and then we parted our ways. I had a great time though, Prague was quite the success - and even more of a success is - guilty confession time - I didn't buy a metro/tram/bus ticket once, thanks for the honor system Prague.  So shoutout Arielle and Cori for letting me stay with them!!! Couldn't have asked for a better time.

As for now, I am back in Sweden just preparing for my exam on Thursday and chilling out enjoying the cold the never ceases to stop. Otherwise life in Sweden is the same old same old - meatballs, pancakes, nations, ikea. You know the drill.

Until next time….

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Running Praha Solo

Walking 45 minutes at 5am to the train station to catch a bus to the airport is how my trip to Prague started. With 2..5 hours of sleep, I was ready to go. By the time I got to Prague I had napped a little on the plane but was still exhausted. I got to my hostel at 11am and they said I couldn't check in until 3pm so just leave my bags and go walk explore. So there goes my napping plans. Thanks.

I was dying of hunger though so I stopped at a little italian restaurant and had a pizza and pina colada. My waiter totally judged me because 1. it was a sunday at 11:30 am and 2. I was alone - but hey I had to start this trip off right. So after my lunch I just wandered around the city and saw a bunch of the areas and buildings you are supposed to see. Obvi went to the Lennon wall and did some selfies with Lennon. 

When I was walking I found this like huge nature area so I started climbing the path, like it was a pretty big hill! So when I get to the top I find out that it is where the Petrina (or something like that) is. Which looks like the eiffel tower but is a lot smaller and in prague. So after my adventoursous climb I am walking back down. There are so many different paths to choose - so I go with what Robert Frost has always told me - take the road less traveled. So I pick to go down these stairs. Well fuck you Robert Frost because the stairs ended and I was stranded in the middle of the hill. It was muddy and slippery and I was wearing nice boots. So I casually did a run to a tree and have it break my fall, then run to the next tree and stop. Eventually there were no more trees and I didn't look to slippery so I started walking. Well I slipped and my life literally flashed before my eyes. Next thing I knew I was sprint slipping down this whole hill just praying I didn't end up a mud monster. Eventually some cement saved me and that's when I decided to just follow the crowds on some things.

I stopped at the Easter Markets in Old Town Square and enjoyed a really great nutella and banana crepe (Rendezous needs to step up their game back in AA - just saying). After wandering around Prague and just exploring on my own I headed back to the hostel. I got some paprika chips and a yogurt (because I was still full from the crepe) - so Paprika chips were my dinner but like let's be real they are so good. If anyone from a chip company is reading this blog, please start making Paprika chips in the US  - plzzzz. I just chilled in the hostel for the rest of the night conversing with one really cool girl who was traveling from Geneva and one really really really really weird girl. Like I can't even describe how weird she was - but all I am saying is if I hear one more person tell me that the American government bombed the Twin Towers I am going to freak. I then showered to escape the wrath of this cray cray girl. So that was my day in Prague alone - it was a great day.

Praha - to be continued....
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"What is an Ikea?" - Firenze friends do Sweden

Sorry about the recent hiatus from blogging. I just didn't think my audience would be too amused by my daily mundane activities. Here is the short version - everyday I wake up run, go to class, come home, chill and every few days I work in the pub or wander around town and overall just live like a Swede (eating meatballs and hard bread - the usual). But other than that nothing too exciting has happened until recently. So I will pick up with the excitement resumes.

Thursday I went to Stockholm because Annalisa, Emily, Jay, and Tommy were visiting fpr their spring break. It was good to see them again, well at least Ani, Emily, and Jay - Tommy meh (jk Tom, love you). But when I first got there we went to the Vasa Museum. Which is a really old viking ship that sunk and then they brought it back up and it is all in tact and everything. It was actually a really cool museum and we got in for free because Ani said we were all 18, so like now I still got 20 dollars in my pocket. Whoot. The only thing that upset me was that we weren't actually allowed on the boat! Like what? Bummer. The museum is closing for a couple of months soon though so it was nice to be able to see it before it closed. 

After that Jay got this weird wrap that had like mashed potatoes, hot dog, and something else in it but he liked it so whatevs. As we were on the bus a lady had a really cute dog and we tried to trade Annalisa for the dog, but she wasn't as thrilled with the trade as we were. Then we obviously went to Max Burger for a late lunch. And all I have to say to Annalisa is - Did I get a mozzarella stick? Did I? After lunch we attempted to ice skate but like the ice skating rink was more of a circle of ice cubes so we just decided to walk around town and explore. So we went to Old Town which is the cutest little area of Stockholm. It is so quaint and has cute little shops everywhere. On the way we passed Parliament, the Opera, and some castles. Stockholm is the shit.

After that we walked around a little longer and went to the H&M's and then decided we were going to the Ice Bar so we had to find wifi to do the reservations so we went and chilled in 7-11 for literally 2 hours. Here is how the 7-11 saga begins. As we are in 7-11 Jay and I decide to get candy (cause bulk bin candy is the shit) so we bought soooo many gummies and I decided my favorite are the sour octopi. OMG. Annalisa had a magnum bar. So as we were doing the reservations on our phones - Tommy remembers he lost his book - so Jay and him go to find it - Annalisa then eats a second ice cream bar. By the time they get back we have the reservations but Annalisa credit card alerted her dad that she spent 180 dollars not swedish kronor so we had to wait for her to call him. In the meanwhile Tommy tells us this story about how he lost his book in H&M and asked the girl who found his book out - Anna Sven. Too bad she got sick and had to cancel on him - Tommy could have found his wife. Bummer. Better luck next time Tom.

So then it was time for the ICE BAR! Which was soooooo cool! We put on this big coats with gloves on them and walked into a room completely made of ice and our drink glasses were made of ice. It was the best. Ani, Jay, and Emily got some drink called the snowflake - but obvii Tommy and I got tequila sunrises. TEQUILAAAAA. So that was super fun and after that I took the train home because I had class in the morning. Hmmph.

So after class on Friday Annalisa came up to spend the night with me in Uppsala which is hard to describe because ridiculous would be an understatement. I gave her a quick tour around town and got her a semla (the swedish cinnamon flavored bun filled with almond cream treat sent from heaven). Then we went back to my apartment and made pizza - it was actually so good. I think Annalisa still might be a little upset that it wasn't mac and cheese pizza but she will just have to wait for Mesa back home. Then we pregamed and went to the club. To spare you all from the ridiculously detailed account I could provide (from what I gathered from other's knowledge) - it goes like this: Go to club, introduce Ani to all the workers, take tequila shots, go to dance floor, lose Ani within 10 minutes, leave the club (without Ani and without my keys), wait until Ani finds her way home at 6:30 am, go to bed at 7:30am, wake up 9:30 to meet Jay and Emily at train station, somehow survive. All in all I'd say Annalisa in Uppsala was a success.

We then met Jay and Emily at the train station because Tommy was "too tired" to come. I gave them a personal tour of Uppsala, we went to the castle, the church, a museum, store torget, and just walked around. We then decided Ikea would be the best place for lunch! We got to Ikea and with so much despair they weren't serving meatballs due to the "horse meat" fiasco that had occurred early. But like I was totally prepared to eat horse meat, sorry Black Beauty. Whatever type of chicken I ate though had a wonderful sauce and was so good - Ani enjoyed her french fries and cookie and Emily her swedish pancakes. We then took a tour of Ikea, but I still didn't learn - what is an ikea?!? 

After that we took the bus back to my apartment to show them the wonderful building of Flogsta I live in (jokes - I live in a shithole). Then we went to town and made sure to get Emily and Jay a semla and Jay got princess torte as well.It was all delicious!!! And then I had to say my goodbyes - but unfortunately the next time I will see them will probably be in America - Annalisa most likely at a McDonalds.

This week I just have class and don't have anything exciting to do - but on Sunday I am traveling to Prague!! So Arielle get ready!!!

Peace, Love, and Swedish Gummies

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Paninis. Gelato. Cannolis. Pizza. Leather. That is Italy

Literally everything about my trip to Italy was based around food. We woke up in the morning and went to the best panini place in the world, where you build it yourself and is double the size of your face. Gives Maize&Blue Deli a run for their money. The peccarino cheese spread was the move, all I'm saying. Then we all wandered around Florence just looking at the sites and spending a lot of time in the leather markets. Literally I wanted everything, if I studied in Florence I would be two things - poor and fat. Rough times. However, then after searching around and haggling some Annalisa and I got this cute leather purses for 15 euro and Emily got a hot pink belt for her dad (lawlz). Annalisa and I went to get gelato and see the Ponte Vecchio during the day before she went to class. Gelato de niri round 1 - amazing. Round 2 - just wait.

Then while my Minnesota friends were at class, Amanda, Heimberg, and I hung out. All I have to say is Italy needs to pick up their efficiency - we waited in line for them to get train tickets for probably 3 hours (okay only like 45 minutes but still). We just walked around and stopped at the markets again so I could grab some souvenirs. Our mission was to find a cannoli, so we literally went to 10 different places and none of them had cannolis. Finally we found one and damn it was good. Def not something I would want another one of for like 6 months though - so much cream. 

Then I met back up with Ani, Jay, and Emily so we went to dinner with Adam and Jack at this cute little pizza place where it was a pizza and drink for 5 euros. Literally Emily knows the best deals. The restaurant was doing some construction and redecorating, like literally as we were eating they were painting the wall next to us it was so funny. Also we all got what we thought was "sausage" pizza but ended up being cut up hotdog on pizza - it was  just goofy. I was so full from all the food I had ate the whole trip though I could barely eat half of the pizza.

We went back to Jay's apartment to chill and drink before we went out. Unfortunately Emily spilled red wine on her white shirt, but if you ever need a good way to get red wine out - SALT. It will soak up all the wine. Brett came over which was nice to catch up with her. After awhile no one could decide where to go, besides Adam was determined to go back to Di Niri for more gelato so they ran there. It closed at 12 but we rolled up at 12:05 and still got some. Everyone was telling me to get the nutella flavor gelato so I got that and raspberry mixed. But all I am saying it is wasn't nutella gelato - it was homemade nutella. So I literally ate a cone of nutella - not complaining.

We then headed to the bar where it was 4 shots for 10 euro -so 4 tequila shots for me and 4 for Ani. After trying to get Tommy some ladies we headed to secret bakery obvi and totally convinced some girl who was talking to Tommy to come with us. Like she was a freshman studying abroad (totally DTF). I think we spent a good 45 minutes at secret bakery. We walked home and the only thing that I was upset about all night was I was totally trying to watch Project X when we got back but Annalisa's roommate was sleeping (thanks Maria - plz try throwing something at Ani again - I dare you).

In the morning I woke up at 630 to pack and head to the train station. I was literally in a Nutella coma. I don't think I can eat nutella for a good couple months. And all I have to say about my travels home is that the Italian train system is stupid and doesn't make any sense. I bought a ticket, but validated it incorrectly I guess so they tried to make me pay some fine. The guy didn't speak any English though and I don't speak Italian so after showing him that I had no money in my wallet he wrote down something on my ticket and just let me be. But it was like a 10 minute ordeal of him waving my ticket in the air and showing me some italian brochure and I was just sitting there like "yeah no".

But after a long day of travels and actually being full still from all of the food I ate in Italy, I got home and made some wonderful swedish meatballs for dinner, before I started studying for my exam that I thought was today and showed up to the exam but it was all in Swedish and realized it was tomorrow. Whoopsies. I have a ball tomorrow night though so updates should be coming soon.

Until next time....... 

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oh ps - thanks to CAROLINE CHEVAT - i am now addicted to this horrible trend of harlem shake videos... this is one might be my fave - hotties underwater what is better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkNrSpqUr-E 

#wheninflo

Obviously I went to Florence's version of Tio's (shoutout to the server from my birthday - we still love you erika?). But Annalisa and I met up with Amanda, Jen, and Jen's friends from home to have margz and such. Obvi Ani only order chips with cheese and nothing else. After a little bit Raleigh was like "6 tequila shots for the table plz". I was so down and let me tell you these were massive tequila shots. The table behind us gets up and leaves and I notice that they left like over half a pitcher of mojitos, and who wastes that shit? Not me, so I sniped that up and we drank their pitcher. Then 10 minutes later they casually stroll in from a smoke break. Whoops sorry about it! Thanks for the drinks boys. So we took that as our cue to peace and left for the Lion's Fountain Bar.

We got there before it was super busy so not only was it 2 dollar shots (like they accepted dollars) but the bartenders gave us some tequila shots - so why not keep the tequila on a roll. This is the bar where we wrong our names on the Michigan shirt on the ceiling and defaced the OSU and MSU shirts. Sorry about it. But as Amanda would say "Have you ever heard of Michigan??".  I was def trying to get more free shots from the bartender, especially cause he was hot and rumor has it the bartenders take off their shirts at the end of the night so I was trying to convince him to take off his shirt early. Sadly it didn't work, but I got a free beer so whatevs #wheninflo

After awhile we left and were under this weird notion that we were going to get into this club Yab for free. I really didn't understand any of the situation. Jen was schmoozing some bouncer (classic) who knew her brother and Lane was talking to some kid, idk - I was just chilling like 6 tequila shots deep. So after failing to get into Yab, because whose paying 15 euro to get into a club? Not us. We dipped and went to the secret bakery.

The secret bakery is heaven on earth. It is this little bakery that sells warm croissants at 2am for 1 euro and you have to be really quiet and knock on a door in an alley. I got nutella croissants - literally amazing. As we were walking home Ani and I ran into Jay and Adam who were headed to secret bakery so we went back with them. I think Ani had like 4 croissants. As we walked home Annalisa tried to convince us she could do a backhand spring round off. FALSE.

to be continued..... 

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Pisa. Pizza. Priza.

Number one travel tip - when meeting up with friends, make sure you have an actual meeting spot in case your phone doesn't work or better yet - they give you the wrong phone number. After trying to get like 6 different people to let me borrow their phone and getting denied each time (cause Italians are definitely just so friendly) I just wandered around the airport trying to find Ani. After waiting because her train was delayed Ani and I got on the bus to go take a pitstop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa before heading back to Florence. So for any of you who think that picture is photoshopped (JIBBY) - it's real life. It was actually really funny watching everyone taking touristy pictures and some people do super goofy things (http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/leaning%20tower%20of%20pisa). 

Then we just hopped on the bus back to Florence and first thing we did as we were walking back to Ani and Emily's apartment was get gelato obvi. I had gelato everyday I was there. Italy would be very dangerous for my waistline if I lived there. We were supposed to go to soccer game but by the time we got in the ticket places were closed. So Ani gave me a self-guided tour of Florence and we went to Gusto Pizza. It was AMAZING. For those Minnesotans reading, it was like Punch Pizza but like authentic and better. These random boys in line behind us started talking to us and ended up sitting with us because it was so packed. When we were about the leave one of the boys turned to Ani and said "so are you umm going to finish that". Like sure help yourself rando. After walking around some more we went back and made homemade nutella brownies thanks to Pinterest (I was def taking the "allowed to break lent in italy" thing super serious).

In the morning Emily and Ani had class so I went for a nice run around Florence. I was finally able to run in shorts compared to thermals, wool socks, hats, and mittens like in Sweden. I also had to run off the gelato that was consumed and too be consumed. When Ani got back from class we walked around and got some lunch, followed by gelato obvi and then met up with Emily, Jay, and Adam and headed up to Fiesole which is about 20 minutes outside of the city and has the most beautiful view of all of Florence.

We went specifically at 3 because it said online the museum closes at 5, but we get there and it closed at 1. Cool. Thanks. And there isn't really much else to do up their, and I wanted to get a picture overlooking the otherside, so I causally hopped the turn-style and then some lady came out yelling "SENORINA SENORINA" at me - so I just pulled the "I didn't know and I don't speak Italian" card and hopped back over. We decided to walk up the hill. Then we ran into a crazy lady - I think she is known as the "crazy fiesole lady" because she was trying to hack into someone's mailbox and a car told us to get her to stop but like we didn't understand what was going on. Then Emily said "oh what a cute puppy" and the bitch started yelling "ugly girls ugly girls" in Italian and just being like a witch.  After exploring for a little we sat a pub and chilled for a bit, but don't tell Annalisa's group project group that because she lied and said she missed her bus and was stranded in Fiesole and had to walk home.. alone... Okay, that's exaggerated but still. 

Emily, Jay, Adam, Tommy, and I went to this little restaurant for apertivos (while Annalisa laid at home in a Ritz Cracker Coma). Apertivos is like appetizers, so we all got a drink and a full buffet for 9 euros. It was great except Emily and Jay asked for Miami Vices and they didn't really know what it was so they had to explain it and their drinks were double the size of ours - hmmmph. My margarita was literally straight tequila and Tommy's long island had no ice tea in it - but whatevs the bolognese pasta was amazing so no biggie. 

And the saga will continue......

Ciao x0x0x

Wut u doin? Nuthin chillin @ the Hostel Inn

Since being back from Budapest, life has been just chilling. Especially when I went to the ice sculpture garden the other day - that was especially chilly. There is an ice sculpture garden in Uppsala and sculptures all around the city. They are brought in from Lapland, Sweden which is about 5 hours north of me and very cold. I think that eskimos actually live up there and their made mode of transportation is dog sledding - which is cool unless you were forced to read the book Stone Fox in grade school, then dog sledding doesn't seem so cool. Spoiler alert: the sled dog dies. Not the best read for a second grader (or third, and fourth - thank you Mrs. Hoffman for that torture). Sorry for the tangent.

Currently I am sitting in a hostel in Stockholm alone trying to amuse myself after a wonderful afternoon with myself. I had to stay in Stockholm for the night so I can be closer to the airport because I have an early flight to Florence in the morning!!! HIIII ANNALISA!!! HIIII EMILY!!!! So excited to see you guys. So today I took the train to Stockholm and then walked around a little bit. Then I went to a coffee shop (wish it was the other kind of coffee shop but whatevs) and did some studying for my test thats next week - which I need a 50% to pass. It should be a real toughie. So obviously Ani and I will just be in the library the whole time I'm in Florence, jokes. I will study when my flight is most likely delayed as usual - thank you RyanAir.

On Ash Wednesday though I went to mass because I am like the most devout Catholic ever duh. (Momma aren't you proud??) Although the reading is always the same I left more confused than usual, probably because the whole mass was in Swedish and the only words I understood were Corinthians, Joel, and Amen. But the best part of the church was that they actually had nuns wearing habits and everything #oldschoolnunswag. So much more stylish than Sister Jean and Sister Katherine. But anywho hopefully my Lenten resolutions won't be too hard this year. I decided to give up sweets and run at least 50 miles. The running will be a breeze but the sweets might pose a little bit of a problem due to the care package (the most epic care package ever actually - LOVE YOU MOMMA) Leslie sent me with homemade oreos which is like my version of kryptonite. I stored them in the freezer though so ROOMMATES DON'T EAT THEM!

I had my last class for my Swedish Politics class on Thursday so now I have an exam and then I will be starting my next class which is going to be international sustainability and research development which seems cool so I am excited. And I switched out of Religious Life in Sweden to Comparative Welfare States for my third course because even though Sweden is like 87% Lutheran I think 100% of them are atheists. And I would totally rather learn about how it is a social norm to have kids at 20 because of such a stronger welfare state compared to some outdated religious stuff that I probably learned and forgot in my 13 years of Catholic schooling. But back to the babies - it is like super normal for people who look younger than me to be toting around babies like they are a fashion bag. But I mean they are cute babies so I am thinking about getting one too.

Also last night we went to a nation - which is referred to as the "meat market" by locals which is funny because let's say if that was a deli back home, I didn't want any of the meats they were selling. It was fun though, but the main reason we went was to escape the infamous corridor party. So I like in a building that is in a neighborhood of 10 identical buildings, all with 7 floors and 2 corridors of 12 people on each floor. A lot of times the corridors will throw parties and when I say parties I mean ragers. I think they are really fun but usually super crowded. However, the party last night was on my floor!! My side of the floor was very anti-party because no one wants to clean up that shit. So we locked our conjoining doors and pushed the couches in front of the doors and our plan was successful! Yahoo!!!!

Sorry this post was so scattered and random, but it is hard to organize your thoughts when the computer keeps telling you it is going to timeout on you because I can't find any punctuation on this stupid Swedish keyboard that is missing the O key. Underratedly the hardest part of traveling is when you get to a different country with different letters in the alphabet so their keyboards aren't the same as American ones. No thanks to you Mavis Fucking Beacon, I am not an internationally savvy typer.

Until next time... Ciao Bitchez
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