So at the last minute I ditched David the LCI student who wanted to take me to Budapest to see his home town, because after Budapest neither of us had any idea what would I would do after that. I then attached myself to Leslie's group, which is going on a super-touristy pilgrimage to various sites in France and Portugal. I had asked some other friends if I could go with them, but they told me no, there were too many people and it would make things too complicated.
In France we'll be visiting Lourdes and Paris at the least, and in Portugal we'll go to Fatima during the feast day which marks the anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady. Which means that Fatima will be packed.
Here are some fun highlights of what looks like a crazy, crammed, overscheduled 10 day break:
- Camping! Fatima will be so packed that apparently Leslie is commandeering a tent. So we can camp. In Fatima. For three days. Hopefully with a bathroom for a shower, or something. God only knows.
- Huge crowds in Fatima because of the feast day, as previously mentioned.
- Sleeping on a train overnight for 4 of the 9 nights involved in 10 day break.
- Sleeping on a train to Paris.
- Sleeping on a train to Fatima.
- Sleeping on a train to Lourdes.
- Sleeping on a train to Gaming.
- Extreme tourism! Apparently our schedule is jampacked with sites to see, things to do. I was kind of hoping for something a little more relaxing and adventuresome, but it sounds like if something goes wrong, it REALLY goes wrong.
- Staying with nuns in a convent! The only payment they ask for letting us stay with them is that we do a holy hour with them. This part isn't so bad.
So I'll take my camera, a ton of clothes to pack around, and I guess some soap since it looks like we'll be pitching camp unless I want to go out of my way to find a hotel and meet up with my fellow campers (and possibly get really, really lost).
I guess I am pretty grateful I have a plan. So I really shouldn't complain. Before that, I was looking at a bleak little stay in Gaming, because I don't think mom and dad would approve me wandering around Europe on my own, nor would I really approve of it. I'd probably wander into the blue and never come back, unless some kind European decided to pack me back to Gaming over their shoulder once they found me alone in the wilderness...eating berries, dressed in leaves....
Midterms are this week. I aced the metaphysics exam, I'm almost positive, and I think I'll be able to BS my way through Christian Marriage without a hitch, but I'm worried about medieval history. I'm good at remembering reasons why things happened, but not the order in which they happened or the dates or people that made them happen.
I haven't been really inclined to study this week. I got really stressed out about having no plan for 10 day and got depressed, and some of the people on campus have been really aggravating me with a holier-than-thou attitude, so I have been holing up in my room or in the tea kitchen and doing my own thing without bothering much to socialize with people.
I think I have needed some down time, whether to recharge from previous socialization or to prepare for 10 day break, I'm not sure which. But I spent some time chilling with Clare eating Croatian cookies and watching TV and that helped, and I've been zenning out playing SimCity during some 'study breaks', and today I plan to do some serious studying and then after that just let the knowledge percolate and do some writing.
I really miss home, actually. I can't believe I've been here half a semester. It sort of feels like I'm missing out on Europe by having to study all the time, and my weekends are slipping away. By the time I'm back in the States it'll feel like it never even happened and it was just a rapid fire dream.
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UPDATE
Apparently according to Scott the RD, it is perfectly normal to be doing the amount of train traveling we're doing, and we're being smart about it by taking night trains so we don't have to pay for hostels, staying instead in sleeper cars. So I guess that's good.
Also, we have located a place to stay in Lourdes, so we aren't camping there. Fatima is still anyone's guess though.
I want you all to know that today I ate the healthiest meal at the Mensa today that I will probably eat in the entirety of this semester, and that I'm making a note of it because a) the healthier foods were actually available!! amazing!!, and b) I had the willpower to go for them instead of other things.
- One spinach dumpling thing that didn't taste too bad even though it looked absolutely disgusting
- A bowl of peaches
- A bowl of cooked cauliflower, carrots, corn and peas
- An apple
I feel like the world might be ending soon.
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