I'm going to GREECE!

On the 23rd of February I, for the first time in my life, will be going to Greece to visit my friend Manny.

Expect posts on Greece shortly thereafter.

Greece (!)

I couldn't be more excited if I tried.

Bad Blogger! Bad Blogger!

I fail at blogging.

And apologize for my absence-- I have absolutely no legitimate excuse as all I've been doing as of late is reading, eating, watching movies and shopping. I suppose the crux of the matter is that when i get lazy, i get really lazy. It's that whole "i don't want to do things half-assed" deal. (might I add that that's CLEARLY b.s.)

But in all seriousness, England was amazing. I saw tons of BEAUTIFUL buildings in Oxford and felt like I was perpetually on a movie set, ate some great food, drank some great drinks (Mr.Pimm's lemonade, anyone?) and had a blast.

I crashed on Lyds' dorm floor on a hiking pad with a sleeping bag and thoroughly enjoyed my poor man's trip to England. We crammed a lot in a few days, so here's a bulleted list of half of what I did.

* Shopped
* Explored pretty much all of Oxford University
*Sat next to a professor wearing a pink button-up and a checkered bow-tie in a coffee shop where he actually said, "oh, poppycock!" in normal conversation!
* Read
* Went pubbing
* Saw Hairspray and Transformers (both were good but WOW-- I'm so in love with Hairspray it's not even funny)
* Ate from the wonderfully amazing Kebab stands (and the Crepe stand, too!)
* Took the bus to London and explored in record time
* Silently giggled everytime I heard a British accent
* Saw a bunch of flooding
* Met some really interesting people (yes lyds, I am including Mr. New Zealand)
* finally ran into my great friend Cates, with whom I had a week's worth of communication errors
* spent far too many hours wandering around bookstores
* and... much more, none of which I can remember right now.

Suffice to say, I had a blast and England's amazing and someday I will live in a cute little village with a stone house surrounded by a wonderfully colorful English garden. And cats. I'll have cats too. And two Alaskan Malamutes named Apollo and Helo. And life will be swell. And I'll be able to incorporate the word "swell" into everyday conversation because I'll be in England and it's okay to say swell in England.

And... it's actually nice in Stavanger today (a rarity) so I don't know what lies ahead for the day.

Perhaps we'll go wandering amongst the scenery.

But that's all for now!

Until later, my loves.
A.

Alanna went to England!

Well, I went to England last week to visit Lyds. I'll write about it in more detail tomorrow, but for today, here's a picture post! They were all taken in Oxford or London, just so ya know.
until tomorrow,
A.

Four Days into my Trip

[picture of the day: Me, my sister B, and my friend M on the peak of Preikestolen]

Well, it's been an interesting past couple of days. I'm here in Norway with my sister and my dad and his family and having brought along a friend, we've been exploring and hiking around!

Wednesday, the day we arrived, can't really be accounted for. Jet lag + pouring rain = not much done.

Thursday was a day for exploring, where M and I wandered around downtown Stavanger, seeing the Harbour, the adorable shops, and walking into every single shoe store in the city where we drooled over all of the adorable Victorian ankle boots that are apparently back in style.

Friday we hiked Preikistolen. Now if I, like most Norwegians, were insanely toned and incredibly in shape with the blood of Vikings running through my veins, this would be no sweat. A 5 hour hike that culminates in a cliff 2,000ft above a fjord? Child's play. (Which it actually is-- I couldn't keep track of the amount of kids under the age of 5 doing this hike.)

For my blubbery, sloth-like American body with an injured knee, this was not the case. Nonetheless, 5 hours of huffing and puffing and grunting and complaining resulted in some spectacular views of the fjords, not to mention attractive Norwegian men running (!) up and down the trail (and when I say "trail" I use the term lightly. As in a "see the blot of red paint on that rock up there? It's the trail! Now, choose your very own path of boulders and climb to get there!" sorta way.) sans shirts. It also was a time for great conversation with my dad, B and M. And, wonders of wonders, it didn't rain! Which really is a miracle in Norway. Seriously.

And then yesterday was a very chill day (I read the new Harry Potter!!) and then M left to go home this morning. le sigh.

And it's raining again.

But I leave to go visit L in Oxford tomorrow! Where it is, unfortunately, raining but hopefully a warmer rain. So I must be off to finish packing for it's an early morning waiting to be had!

I may update from England, but most likely not. In which case, expect an update in a week!

bye!
A.

In Stavanger

Well, I'm currently in Stavanger, Norway visiting my family with my buddy Miranda along for a few days.

Not much to report as of yet. I'm trying to get over my jet lag and Miranda and I went a wandering around downtown Stavanger today, which is, might I add, the cutest little cobblestoned harbor city in the world.

Tomorrow I think we'll go hiking somewhere in the mountains.

More later, once more has occurred.

-A

So... I went to the U.P.

I recently spent 10 days in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my mom, sister and extended family. Here are some pictures from the experience! They were taken mostly while wandering around my great-aunt Ina's property or while kayaking lake superior at sundown.

Lady sings the "I've got jet lag" blues

[picture of the day: some graffiti from the Bat Centre, featuring Zulu condoms going to war with AIDS.]
Well, I've been wide awake since 4:30 this morning, so I decided that it was finally time to do something productive with my morning. And, since the final copy of my paper is due at midnight tonight, what better way to use my time than update my blog!

All of our various flights went well . However they were, of course, terribly uncomfortable, and I also COMPLETELY lost my voice somewhere between point A and point B, leaving me with a rather dismal whisper. Most people in this situation would be like, "finally! A reason to not talk!" But for me, that whole not talking thing really doesn't work too well. If at all. So I've been whispering away like an overly talkative kid playing hide n' seek.

It's good to be home. Seeing my mommy and sister, my wonderfully wonderful and terribly cute kitty, making cupcakes, sleeping in my own bed, swimming in my own pool.

But I do miss South Africa. It's a great country and a great place to be. I loved practically everything about it, and I really can't wait to go back. This whole experience was just so awesome and enriching. I learned so much, experienced so much, and really loved it.

I guess I don't really have too much to write. My trip has ended. And that's that.

Which means this blog will go on temporary hiatus until yet another voyage comes up. Luckily, it's Summer which means there will be at least two more trips yet to blog about so it's not the end yet.

So farewell for a while, my friends.

A.

p.s. my other blog, the poor neglected thing, will be being updated more frequently now. I promise!