Imagine walking into a supermarket and browsing the items on the shelf, not being able to read any of the labels on the packages.  It’s an odd feeling, for sure.  Although it is really fun; browsing the isles trying to guess at what some things are, and trying to interpret the French on a few things.  Grocery shopping is much more interesting abroad.  The toilet paper, for example, is available in many colors- pink, blue, and purple, to name a few.  Sliced ham is available only raw (which we only discovered before checking out), and apple juice is sold in giant juiceboxes, sans straws of course.  I have never had more fun shopping before.  Not even shopping for shoes.

Less than 24 hours after arriving in Metz, France, we were given the opportunity to explore the city- and it was gorgeous!  The buildings were ornate, with intricate carvings; beautiful buildings I’ve only ever seen in magazines.  The cathedrals in the city- notably, the Cathedral Saint-Etienne de Metz, are beautiful buildings with ornate flying buttresses and numerous spires, and most importantly (for me, at least)- the stained glass windows!  They are phenomenal; each window covered in millions of beautiful panes of glass.  Interestingly, the stained glass windows in Europe differ in that each pane in the window is a single color.  Most American stained glass windows features multi-colored panes of glass.  The exception to this were the stained glass windows created by famous artist Marc Chagall.  These windows look very different from all of the others in the Metz cathedral; the colors are more vivid, the panes larger, and the lead lining the panes spread on top of them to define the forms he creates. The windows themselves have immense history surrounding them; from the reasons why Chagall, a Jewish artist, agreed to make the windows for a Catholic Cathedral, to the imagery he depicts.  The windows within the Metz Cathedral represent the largest surface area of stained glass in a Cathedral in the world.  And they are breathtaking!

Marc Chagall stained glass windows

Aside from its beautiful Cathedrals, Metz is an amazing city.  Filled with beautiful buildings and streets and parks, the whole city is just amazing.  I don’t think the pictures I’ve posted here can begin to describe it, but I’ve included some- the outside of the Metz Cathedral, the Chagall windows, and some beautiful scenery.

Cathedral Saint-Etienne; the Metz Cathedral

With so much amazing architecture to describe, I nearly forgot about the food!  There are what seems like HUNDREDS of little bakeries in Metz, and oh my goodness, are the pastries delicious!  Each one is hand made, and many are fruit or coffee flavored.  Today I had a coffee-flavored macaroon shaped into a little mouse, and it was probably the best dessert I have ever had.  It had ears made out of chocolate-covered coffee beans, and little chocolate eyes, a nose, and a tail.  I almost felt bad for eating such a cute pastry! (On a side note, one of the first French words I’ve learned on this trip is chocolat.)

My little mouse dessert!

Living abroad is amazing.  Certainly different than life in the US, but a very pleasant different.  It’s amazing how fast you begin to pick up the phrases you need; just the other day I bought bus tickets by myself, after speaking to the woman in the convenience store about what I wanted to buy.  While my French is a bit broken and my grammar is far from perfect, I’ve learned enough to get my point across for a few things.  Bus tickets, finding things, and names of groceries.

Tomorrow, though, is the real test. Hopping on a train  to Luxembourg, and navigating the train station.  But for now, au revoir!

We have arrived! After a long journey with little sleep, the whole GTL crew has landed at various airports and convened in Metz, France. It is my third day in Europe, and my, it’s certainly been a whirlwind so far! 

After arriving in Frankfurt around 6am on Mother’s Day, Matt Waples and I walked off our plane to a dreary and rainy Europe. That’s okay though, because after going through customs and collecting our luggage, we found our way to a hotel right next to the airport (we arrived a day earlier than most people, so we decided to split a hotel room for that extra night before the shuttle would leave the following day). Once we were checked in, we each took a nice 6-hour nap. Thanks jetlag!

What to do with an extra day in Europe? Explore! That’s exactly what Matt and I proceeded to do. We woke up, made our way down to the S-Bahn (a German subway system) and grabbed a train into the heart of the Frankfurt. 

That building looks cool—Okay, let’s go see it! This brief dialogue appropriately began Matt and my somewhat haphazard exploration through Frankfurt. We wandered around and took in all the culture that Frankfurt had to offer, which, as it turns out, is more than the industrial stereotype that most travel websites give it credit for. The sleek, modern look of Frankfurt is attributed to the massive rebuilding that occurred after Frankfurt was bombed mostly to the ground in World War II. That being said, there are some old cathedrals and buildings that give off a cool mix of old and new styles.

“Hallo! Ich spreche ein bisschen deutsch.” Matt and I got to use some of the German we had learned in our respective middle and high schools. Even after not taking German for over a year, I was surprised by how much came back. I can’t wait to use more German on future trips! Matt and I ate dinner at a little German restaurant right next to the Main River, which runs through Frankfurt. The cuisine was interesting, but quite good!

After catching a train back to the hotel from a long day of exploration, Matt and I grabbed some rest before heading off to Metz with the rest of the shuttle the following day. The flight with most people on the shuttle was delayed that next day, but we were all accounted for in the end. The shuttle left for Metz, France that afternoon (Monday, May 13, 2013). Unfortunately, I don’t remember much of the bus ride, because I slept through most of it. When I did wake up, however, I awoke to beautiful German, then French, landscapes out the window. Rolling hills and lush, green grass made me excited to travel on future weekends throughout Europe.

Yesterday (Tuesday, May 15^th) was a full day of orientation and exploration both on the GTL campus and in downtown Metz. The orientation was fairly straightforward: lots of rules, advice, and common sense information. It was helpful though, and I appreciated all the orientation info sessions. In the afternoon, some busses took everybody at GTL to downtown Metz. Metz is awesome! It’s a beautiful city with plenty of rich culture and history. Everybody was treated to a short bus tour through Metz, which was informational and a good overview of the city. I’m definitely going to check out Metz some more during my time here!

I’m so glad and fortunate to be in Europe! Au revoir!

The French are trying to teach us how to speak and cook on the first day here. Our neighbors are students who go to GTL and will soon be interning in Paris. They cook, clean, and study all by themselves. I went to the food market called Cora and bought groceries because just like my neighbors, I will have to cook, clean, and of course, study. 

All these times I always wondered what it would be like to live in another country, somewhere in Europe… Well, the answer is pink walls, small cot, and a tiny cell-sized room. 

Now, for a word problem. Rome is halfway down the boot of Italy. Metz is in the top right of France. The cheapest flight to Italy goes from Frankfurt Hahn, which is three hours from Metz by a train and bus combo, to Bologna, which is a 2 hour train ride from Rome. A night train to and from Rome takes around 16 hours and can get me there by Saturday morning. What is the best way to get from Metz to Rome and back, minimizing cost and maximizing time?

It turns out, a combination of flights, buses, and trains. Friday, I took the night train from Munich to Venice, springing for a couchette. Then I took a train from Venice to Rome, arriving before noon. I spent all of Saturday and Sunday in Rome. Sunday afternoon I took a train to Bologna, flew out of Bologna to Frankfurt Hahn, spent the night in the airport, and took a bus the next morning to Frankfurt main where I got a train back to Metz. Please, hold your applause.

The first thing I noticed about Rome was that it was warm. Really warm. As in, no-jacket-required warm. It was absolutely glorious. The next thing I noticed was that my high school teacher lied to me: no one in Rome spoke Latin. Et tu Brute? But really the only vocabulary words I needed to get by were “Gelato” and “Pizza”. Also, everything was old, even for Europe. There were ruins everywhere and all the crazy-driver filled streets were cobblestones. My feet hurt at the end of the day. Rome was the first city I had visited that I could actually see myself living in long-term, if everyone would just start speaking Latin again so I could understand them.

Rome is huge, and every part of the city is packed with monuments, ruins, and markets. It’s hard to know where to start, so I just started with the closest thing to the train station: The Foro Della Pacia – the Forum of Peace. It was expansive and only half there, the other half had been lost some time ago. From there I passed the beautiful Altar of the Fatherland on the way to the Trevi fountain, which was absolutely gorgeous. It was crowded with tourists, so I took a side-street to get away and grab some Gelato.

After eating way too much Gelato, I headed to the Pantheon, which is a temple originally built to honor the gods of ancient Rome. It is lit entirely by natural light, all stemming from a giant hole in the middle of it ceiling. The whole building looks quite a lot like a giant eyeball. It was slightly unnerving.

Although all the ruins of Rome are interesting and full of history, the best part of Rome is the Villa Borghese, a garden expanse in northern Rome. The gardens themselves are lovely, and a welcome break from the snow-covered branches in France. It has palm trees and shade and non-stop tweeting birds. And did I mention it was warm?

The Villa Borghese stretches on for a few miles, littered with statues and a few lakes and some great museums. The best museum, in my opinion, is the Borghese Gallery, which contains a plethora of sculptures and a section devoted to ancient instruments. It’s supposed to be lovely, but I wouldn’t know. It was booked out until Tuesday, which I think speaks for itself as to how magnificent this museum is.

Sunday morning I got up early to go shopping at the Porta Portese market. Porta Portese is one of Rome’s oldest markets and only open Sunday mornings. The market is split into two roads that make a V. The left side of the V is primarily a clothing and accessories market. The right side is mostly an antique market; with some stands trying to sell what I assume is a bunch of junk they grabbed from a nearby dumpster.

Rome may be known for some sketchy shopping, mainly for imitation high-end brands, but I was having no luck. I had a routine down-pat that I assumed would work wonders. I would start eyeing and picking up purses from a vendor. When he asked me if I needed any help, which they always do, I would say, “These are nice purses, but I was hoping to find some brand-name items.” Most of the time all I got in reply was, “No, these very nice.” I was sorely disappointed and went home without a fake Prada bag.

After the market, I went to St. Peter’s Square to see the new Pope’s Sunday Angelus. The square itself was magnificent and stuffed full of people all there to see the Pope. Around noon Pope Francis appeared in a window of the Apostolic Palace. He said buongiorno, followed by a bunch of Italian words I couldn’t understand.  I think most of them were prayers, since other people in the crowd were chanting along with him.

Overall, Rome was a beautiful city and I was glad I was able to make the trip down to Italy. The city was so full of history everywhere you turned. There were monuments and ruins everywhere in the city. It was the first city I could see myself actually living in. The pace of the city was so fast, with people darting around everywhere in Vespas. Maybe I’ll go back someday.

The first thing we did (after eating some authentic Italian pizza, of course) was to leave Rome and head to Vatican City. Walking through the Raphael rooms of the Vatican museum is an incredible experience. Every surface in the room is painted with a different beautiful mural, each with its own story and complex meanings. Originally intended as papal apartments, they were painted by Raphael and his followers in the early 1500s, but have been used as reception rooms in the papal palace. Perhaps the most famous fresco here, The School of Athens, [pictured below] was painted by Raphael to portray truth acquired through reason, as a series representing the transition from classical philosophy to religious faith.

Clearly, it was well worth the cost for us to take the paid tour: we learned of the history underlying the exhibits in the Palazzo di Popolo.

After the Raphael rooms, we were allowed a tour of the Sistine Chapel. Of course, it is very famous. I never understood why, exactly, until I was permitted to wander through it. The walls and ceilings are not only very beautiful frescoes, but they all tell stories that impart meaning on the viewers. The ceiling, painted by Michelangelo, tells the biblical stories of the creation of man and mankind’s fall from grace. The walls, commissioned later, tell the opposing Old-Testament story of the life of Moses and the New-Testament story of the life of Christ. Regardless of one’s belief system, these paintings are beautiful and meaningful, and it was awe-inspiring to absorb them.

Then, we found ourselves in St. Peter’s Basilica. Again, the place was fraught with religious sculptures, paintings, and relics. Meandering through the walkways, seeing these incredible works of art and architecture contrasting life and death, salvation and damnation, was hauntingly beautiful.

After afternoon gelato, some wandering, a hearty pasta dinner at a romantic Italian restaurant, and a full night’s sleep, it was time to explore Rome on Easter Sunday.

Because many tourists were at the Vatican that day, many of the secular Roman historical attractions were less crowded. Therefore, we started our day with some exploration of the Roman Coliseum. The 2000-year-old stone structure is amazingly intact. It is very easy to imagine the throngs of Roman spectators bustling through the walkways, sitting in the tiered seats, watching some great spectacle of animal against man.

Afterwards, we walked through the Roman Forum and the Palatine hill, the ruins of many ancient Roman government buildings and palaces. The buildings and structures are incredibly intact and well-put-together for the tools that the Romans must have used – such structures would be expensive and time-consuming, even with modern tools.

Wandering through the streets of Rome, experiencing the juxtaposition and coexistence of ancient and modern throughout the city was a very new experience for me. The people of Rome today are familiar with and proud of their history, and they gladly help others to learn from it. Rome was an experience I will never forget. 

Our first destination in Fiji was The Hideaway Resort on the Coral Coast of Viti Levu. Boy, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. The Fijian people accept tourists with world renowned hospitality and accommodations, and as college students accustomed to youth hostels and dormitories, we were on top of the world living in sunny, picturesque beach-side resorts! Here are some of the scenes that were ordinary at Hideaway:

After our stay at Hideaway, the group headed off the “mainland” and into the Mamanuca Islands, an island chain that is the most popular destination for visitors to Fiji. The resort we stayed at, Mana Island Resort, was more isolated and “unconnected” (NO INTERNET!) than our previous stay. During our stay on Mana, I tried my best to get out and explore the amazing oceanic tropical landscapes.

After Mana Island, my fellow travelers and I were faced with an impending reality that none of us wanted to swallow: Our time exploring the Pacific was soon to come to an end. After Mana, we headed back into the “large city” of Nadi, staying at the Tanoa Skylodge. Though Nadi was not as “tourism-oriented” as the other resorts, our location was appropriate for the time of the semester we were about to encounter: FINALS. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest tragedies I will be able to claim in my life is that I spent a day IN FIJI studying for a college final!

Though my time in the Pacific has come to an all-too abrupt end, I can make the indisputable claim that I have had a fantastic life experience that will stay with me for as long as I live. 

We spent our first two weeks in Brisbane, located in the state of Queensland. Brisbane, uncertainly, has had more beautiful fortnights than the one we spent there. It rained… every day. This was not a new occurrence, as flooding had been going on throughout Queensland for quite some time. Still, the location of Brisbane provided some unique hiking landscapes. While in Brisbane, the program took a trip to Lamington National Park, which is unique because of the diversity of biomes that are included in such a small range of land. Through a break in the rain (I’m telling you: it never ended), I managed to capture a snapshot of a waterfall in Lamington:

After Brisbane, we were all eager to head towards a more… accommodating climate. Sure enough, our next stop was sure to provide exactly what we needed. After an overnight bus trip north up the eastern coast of Queensland and a two-hour ferry ride, we arrived at the destination to which I had been looking forward the most: Heron Island.  Located on the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef, Heron Island is anything but developed. Our sleeping accommodations were with the Heron Island Research Station owned by the University of Queensland:

The island is also a temporary home for large migratory bird populations. A researcher from the station who was conducting research on one particular species allowed us to come around on her “rounds” with her… and here are the adorable chicks that we got to examine!!!!

Paradise doesn’t really come close, and neither do these pictures…

My stay in this alpine haven town did not last long, however, because the following morning some comrades and I piled into a van and began a most anticipated adventure: conquering the Routeburn Track—one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks” and named one of the two “most beautiful walking areas in the world” by Sir Edmond Hillary.

Unsurprisingly, our three-day two-night trek through the Southern Alps did not disappoint.

The weekend was perhaps one of my most enjoyable memories of my trip Down Under. Walking through this undisturbed landscapes, marveling at the dramatic geology of the region and the beautifully pristine alpine lakes, I have vivid memories of moments in which I was purely taken aback by the sheer beauty that this land held.

As I mentioned early, Sir Edmond Hillary named two most beautiful walking areas in the world. The Routeburn was one; the other was another New Zealand walking track in Otago known as the Milford Track. I am now determined to return to New Zealand one day and complete the Milford Track.  Undoubtedly, I won’t be disappointed.

The next morning we woke up and headed down to the harbor. Me, Taylor, Lindsey and Mark decided to explore Circular Quay, which is where the famous Opera house and Sydney Bridge are. There was a great little market going on so we got to do a little shopping and eat some good food. Also there was a cool street performer that we stopped to watch and Mark actually got called on to be a part of her act. It turned out to be a great morning laughing and walking around the city. Next, we jumped on the ferry to go to Manly Beach where we spent the day laying out and watching surfers along with a little shopping and ice cream on the side! Manly is a very touristy area and filled with tons of people! We jumped on the ferry back at the exact right time to catch sunset over the Sydney Bridge and Harbor! I had never seen a sunset so beautiful — not even on Heron Island!! By the end of the day I was exhausted and had a research paper due Monday morning so the rest of the night was work!

Monday came and for Biology class we headed to Long Reef Marine Park to collect data on species diversity and abundance on different areas in relation to their exposure to wave energy! The view from the park was breathtaking and had many of the guys longing to play the golf course which over looked it! All in all it was another great day of Class!

It is now Tuesday and I am sitting in Gloria Jean’s Coffee shop waiting to head up to the top of Sydney tower for another day of “class” This time its for my science, technology, and human values class and we will be hearing about the urban development of Sydney while overlooking the entire city from many meters up! I will have to update y’all on that later along with my other Sydney adventures. Tomorrow I’m off to the Blue Mountains!

I’m not real sure where I left y’all off, but I’ll start with our trip to the Australia Zoo! I love that over here a day long trip to Steve Irwin’s zoo is considered class, nonetheless I feel like I am learning so much while I am here! The Australia Zoo was completely set up by Steve Irwin and is still run by his family! We got to hold baby alligators and watch all the shows on crocodiles, snakes, platypuses, koalas, otters, tasmanian devils, and more! This zoo was so well organized and clean. They truly care about the animals here.

Lamington National Park. Here we hiked 4 trails and did a canopy walk in the tops of the trees. Sadly, my camera died halfway through the hikes, but I still got some amazing pictures of the beginning. This hike was through a very wet rainforest and the tree canopy was so thick that at one point it was pouring rain, yet we could not feel a drop. We got to see wild wallabies and kangaroos just chillen in the forest which I found so cool! Also the waterfall that the trails ended in was breathtaking! It was quite a nice day of “class”

For the upcoming weekend we went to Gold Coast, Australia. We headed to the train for a 90 minute trip south of Brisbane to Gold Coast. Here, we finally caught some great weather! This weekend didn’t have much to report in the way of great adventures, but I had a ton of fun! We laid on the beach, played around with some surf boards, shopped, and went out all weekend! Somehow Lindsey, Mark, Scott, and I ended up with an awesome hostel set up! The other 12 people in our group got stuck in large 6 person rooms with sets of bunk beds and communal bathrooms, but the 4 of us got an apartment to ourselves with private rooms and bathrooms, our own kitchen, living room, and even a balcony! Leading up to the weekend here there had been massive storms so a lot of the time we were there the beaches were “closed.” However, I learned that closed to Australians merely means proceed at your own risk so we were still able to layout and swim on the beaches as well as watch some amazing surfers! I had never seen waves so high in my life — up to 12 feet tall at any time. Overall, the weekend was amazing. Just to give you an idea.. Gold Coast is considered the Las Vegas of Australia!

After an amazing weekend in Gold Coast with the first pretty weather that Australia had brought us it was back to work for our last weekend in Brisbane. Classes went by quickly with many great trips back to South bank in between. On Friday we headed off to Moreton island for the day. About 20 of us decided to do a day long tour of Moreton island which was about an hour ferry ride away. The weather was not perfect — but at least it didn’t rain! We were kept super busy starting off with a 10 am snorkel on 4 separate ship wrecks! I was so excited to get into the water and see some great stuff. The wet suits they gave us are my favorite I’ve ever worn. I know that sounds dumb, but I seriously felt like a ninja in my neon green and black wet suit. The snorkel provided us with sharks, sea turtles, and fish galore! Next, we ran to the other end of the island where we embarked on a 4-wheel drive adventure through the sand dunes at the higher elevations. This was such a cool experience, I wish I had pictures to explain it! We drove the ATVs all along the waters edge and then also through tracks and dunes. We could get up to 40 km/hour and have some real fun flying down some of the hills and around the curves! I wish I had pictures of the amazing views up there of the entire Pacific ocean. Once we were done with the ATV adventure we grabbed a quick bite and then headed to the sail boats! I had never been sailing before and I actually had no clue that there was an actual skill to being able to sail. Christo, one of the guys on my trip, took me and Lindsey on his catamaran with us and showed us the ropes though. With the conclusion of our sailing excursions it was time to head back to the ferry and get back to Brisbane before an overnight bus ride to Gladstone so we could catch an early ferry to Heron Island!

The bus ride was surprisingly fun! I had downloaded an entire season of Criminal Minds that me and Mark watched until we passed out and then awoke to being in Gladstone! The ferry ride over to Heron Island was quite a bumpy one! I, luckily, didn’t get sick, but many others had a hard time for the two hours of massive swells. Heron Island is absolutely beautiful and a rare gem to be able to experience. It is located on the southern end of the Great barrier reef. The entire island takes 20 minutes to circumnavigate and the closet land is 80 km away! The only things located on the entire island is the University of Queensland research station (where I stayed) and a small resort for special guests. The only reason we even got to go to this island is because our program director is a renowned scientist and has many permits for research on protected parks so I am very thankful for that! I got to scuba dive so many times this week it was incredible! I had never seen such diverse sea life! Just to name a few — I saw lion fish, fire corals, sharks, sea turtles, manta rays, octopus, lobsters, crabs, and more! My favorite fish were the parrot fish — they eat coral and then poop out sand, which creates islands like Heron Island. There were also so many neon blue and yellow fish. I just couldn’t believe the vast array of colors seen under the water. No one on the trip had a camera that could go 60 meters deep so sadly I have no evidence of these incredible dives. I think the most amazing thing to me was that if you didn’t chase the animals then they gladly played with you! The manta rays would circle us and play just like all the other fish. We also got super lucky that the currents and wind conditions were kind of bad meaning that many of the resort guests could not go on the dives, but because we were researchers we were allowed! One night we ate dinner and watched the sunset over the jetty and then the next morning awoke at 445 am to watch it rise on “shark bay” I will never forget those views looking out on crystal clear water with no land in site. Class on Heron Island was amazing also. Over the course of the week me, Mark, caroline, and Leonid had a project of analyzing the giant clam populations on the reef. Our goal was to determine distant gradients as related to size of the clams. Once we determined where the clams thrived our goal was to understand all aspects of that microhabitat and what allows them to survive here. We measured things such as nutrient levels, wave energy, oxygen content, and more. This week has thoroughly excited me for my future career working in biomedical science. I loved getting a tan while doing field research. I also learned so much from the researchers that work full time on Heron Island. They even let me help them capture a sea turtle and tag it to monitor its diet and habitat to determine why the turtles population is decreasing so rapidly. All in all this week was my favorite by far!