Hello, hello!
Today is a beautiful day, sun is shining, birds are singing, people are canoeing on the river outside my window, candy floss is whipping up on the branches of Strasbourg’s trees, and I saw 2012’s first wasp today. In short, I’m telling you what you already know: Spring is here!!!!!
Just a smattering of candy floss on this one, but I'll take it!
Filed under France, Saturday Spotlight
The worst part is the silence.
Grant bustled in nine days ago for a roar of trams, trains and travel. Since last Friday it’s been all go around here, whether we’re just messing around over breakfast, picnicking somewhere in the Strasbourg sun, or meeting up with Amanda (who is at once my study-abroad buddy and Grant’s sister) for drinks on St. Paddy’s Day.
No time for just lying around, we have places to be!
Filed under France
Here’s a short story for you: every time I title a new post, I write out ‘Episode…’ and then load my own blog on my browser to check what Episode number I’m actually on. And today? Today I had to scroll past one ‘Out of Office Note’, one reblog of something I posted on Raxa Collective ages ago, three Saturday Spotlights and two PinAddicts Challenges just to get to the most recent episode on my actual life. For this, I apologise. You deserve so much more, each and every one of you. And with Grant coming to stay in three short days*, I’d better rectify the situation tout de suite before I’m distracted yet again.
*EEEEEEEE YAYYYY OMG SO EXCITED HOORAYYYYYYYYYYY EXCLAMATIONS GALORE
Filed under Uncategorized
Did you guys know that I’ve also been blogging for the Raxa Collective? Well, if I had a penny for the number of times I’ve written, redrafted and posted something over there and then thought ‘It’s not worth going through all that on my own blog just to come up with the same thing’… (insert unnecessary end of metaphor nobody needs to hear). And I really feel like all my posts should be available in the same place, so I’m going to be reblogging some of the posts I’ve written for the Raxa Collective so you can all see everything I’ve written, all in one place! Omg how great is that!
Here’s my first post for them, about my trip to Nicaragua with Ixqui back in November. Enjoy! (And if you’ve already read it, sorry for the repeat!)
Love and kisses,
M. xox
One volcano-related assumption which I’ve had to let go of since arriving in Central America is that a volcano is a volcano.
Anyone who grows up in Scotland knows that mountains are not just ‘mountains’. There are mountains, but there are also ranges, hills, Bens, and Munroes. There are the kind that, although tall, the fitter of us can walk up without much in the way of equipment; there are others which may be smaller but are impassable unless you really know what you’re doing.
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Filed under Costa Rica
The only thing missing from the view from the Eiffel Tower…
Can you see the shadow of what's not here?
…is the Eiffel Tower itself.
I think Paris might just have given me an epiphany. You see, I think this one observation, however small and obvious, kind of embodies how I’ve felt about quite a lot of my life: especially last semester in Costa Rica. As the idea of moving abroad towered over me, I admired it, I dreamed up mental pictures of how it would be – me in a hammock drinking from a coconut, or shopping for mangoes at a local market, etc. – just like I admired and photographed Eiffel’s creation on that chilly Sunday afternoon in Paris.
Filed under France
What’s up, everyone! How are those reverse bucket lists going?
As I mentioned last time, I don’t actually take objection to the idea of writing a list of goals. It’s a good way of staying focused, keeping your priorities prioritised and reminding yourself what you’re saving up all those pennies for. Yes, listing your goals is great: maybe you just don’t make one called 500 Things To Do Before I Die. That’s just setting yourself up to be overwhelmed, disoriented and, ultimately, unsuccessful.
So, I’m keeping my own list short, relevant and to the point. I have more than my usual five for you today, but significantly fewer than 500! These are all the things I want to achieve during my semester in Strasbourg.
Filed under France, Saturday Spotlight
You know, a strange thing happened to me a little while back: I became interesting.
‘How does one go about doing that?’, you may ask. And I’ll tell you: not how you should do it, but how it ended up happening to me. Of course, I would never say that this is the only way of doing it: that’s the whole point of ‘interesting’, that there’s no formula for it. But for me, this is how it happened.
Filed under Uncategorized
That’s right, beeches, I’m in France! And not just anywhere in France, either – ohhh no. I’m in Strasbourg, the capital of Alsace, where French meets German, where Council of Europe meets European Parliament, and where I could wander through the streets all day and just take pictures.
As of yet, that has not happened. But it will. I have plenty of time to drink it all in.
I haven't done much photographing, but I had to snap the cathedral!
Filed under France
Hello, dear readers!
So, this whole long-distance relationship thing: it’s a double-edged arrow that Cupid’s sent my way, that’s for sure. I often receive sympathies when I explain that my boyfriend lives in America: mostly in the form of ‘Ohh, it must be so hard to go without seeing him’. Well, that’s true, it is hard. But it’s also tough when we do see each other. You see, flight taxes dictate that I spend much more time over there with his family than he does in Scotland with mine; and when he does visit, we have three weeks to get everything done. Visiting friends, spending coupley time together, travelling, seeing family (especially tough when your parents are divorced and the two sides of the family live all over the place)… it’s a lot to accomplish in a short space of time. Long story short: I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging so much, but when Grant and I are reunited, that pretty much becomes top priority: I hope you all understand.
See how my head is listlessly attached to his shoulder here? Yep, inseparable.
Filed under Scotland
Roamward Bound 