welcome back, me.
hey everyone. I wonder if I'm still on all of your friends lists? it's been just over 5 months since my last entry. the summer has gone, and I'm already halfway into my 7th semester at uconn. and a lot has happened.
the day after my birthday, I went to my orientation at american eagle. I've been working there ever since, so just over 5 months.
on may 15th, I got on a plane headed for france. from there I was supposed to transfer to a flight to belgrade, serbia about an hour after I landed. my first plane was about an hour late, and when I finally got to the gate for my second flight [I had to take a shuttle which took about 10 minutes], they had closed the entrance to the gate and wouldn't let me on. I completely freaked, and, to make a long story short, air france couldn't get me on a flight until the next day AND they couldn't find my luggage. I stayed overnight in a moderately depressing hotel where I got free food and other stranded americans bought me beer. I got to belgrade the next late morning and my luggage miraculously appeared [yay :) ]. I spent about 3 days in belgrade with my dad. the first day [may 17th - a tuesday] was when I got in, so I slept most of the afternoon and then went out to eat with my dad. I ended up sleeping late [almost 4 or 5 in the afternoon] on wednesday due to jet lag and just hung out with my dad at night. I spent thursday late morning and afternoon exploring belgrade by myself since my dad was at work. I bought a slice of pizza and walked around a fun shopping area. that night we left for tunisia. tunisia was amazing! we spent about 5 days there. we stayed in the renaissance hotel, which was actually in gamarthe [?] while the capital of tunisia is tunis. tunisians speak both arabic and french, which I somewhat know, so I was able to get us around. tunis is well known for the medina which has souks; the medina is the older area of tunis, and the souks are the little shops there. it's very reminiscent of aladdin, where the shops are small and close together and sell antiques, tourist items, regional items, etc. we went there 2 or 3 times while in tunisia. the other half [or more like the other two thirds] of tunis is the newer section of the city. the architecture is amazing; you can see the influences of french and arabic cultures merged into the buildings. we also visited sidi bou saïd, a beautiful town on a steep hill next to the mediterranean ocean. the entire town's houses, buildings, etc. are white with blue shutters, roofs, and doors. it is picturesque. the views from the hill are amazing. in ancient times, romans invaded the city of carthage. there are incredible amounts of ruins and artifacts left over from the period. we went to different sites and museums, and it's just amazing history. the food in tunisia is very delicious. they eat a lot of seafood being that it's right on the ocean, as well as spicy foods. harissa is a spice that they use in pretty much anything, but especially mixed with olive oil as a dip for bread. I bought harissa and saffron, which is really cheap there.
here are the pics from my trips to serbia and tunisia.
a couple of days after the fourth of july, my great aunt passed away. it was very sudden. she was still very active at just 70 years old, having played golf and softball for most of her life. she was a warm hearted person who always said what she meant and meant what she said. it's still a shock to me.
when august rolled around, my family and I left for a 2-week cruise of the mediterranean.. while I would LOVE to tell you all about it, I'm gonna save that for my next entry, which I promise will be in less than five months.
the day after my birthday, I went to my orientation at american eagle. I've been working there ever since, so just over 5 months.
on may 15th, I got on a plane headed for france. from there I was supposed to transfer to a flight to belgrade, serbia about an hour after I landed. my first plane was about an hour late, and when I finally got to the gate for my second flight [I had to take a shuttle which took about 10 minutes], they had closed the entrance to the gate and wouldn't let me on. I completely freaked, and, to make a long story short, air france couldn't get me on a flight until the next day AND they couldn't find my luggage. I stayed overnight in a moderately depressing hotel where I got free food and other stranded americans bought me beer. I got to belgrade the next late morning and my luggage miraculously appeared [yay :) ]. I spent about 3 days in belgrade with my dad. the first day [may 17th - a tuesday] was when I got in, so I slept most of the afternoon and then went out to eat with my dad. I ended up sleeping late [almost 4 or 5 in the afternoon] on wednesday due to jet lag and just hung out with my dad at night. I spent thursday late morning and afternoon exploring belgrade by myself since my dad was at work. I bought a slice of pizza and walked around a fun shopping area. that night we left for tunisia. tunisia was amazing! we spent about 5 days there. we stayed in the renaissance hotel, which was actually in gamarthe [?] while the capital of tunisia is tunis. tunisians speak both arabic and french, which I somewhat know, so I was able to get us around. tunis is well known for the medina which has souks; the medina is the older area of tunis, and the souks are the little shops there. it's very reminiscent of aladdin, where the shops are small and close together and sell antiques, tourist items, regional items, etc. we went there 2 or 3 times while in tunisia. the other half [or more like the other two thirds] of tunis is the newer section of the city. the architecture is amazing; you can see the influences of french and arabic cultures merged into the buildings. we also visited sidi bou saïd, a beautiful town on a steep hill next to the mediterranean ocean. the entire town's houses, buildings, etc. are white with blue shutters, roofs, and doors. it is picturesque. the views from the hill are amazing. in ancient times, romans invaded the city of carthage. there are incredible amounts of ruins and artifacts left over from the period. we went to different sites and museums, and it's just amazing history. the food in tunisia is very delicious. they eat a lot of seafood being that it's right on the ocean, as well as spicy foods. harissa is a spice that they use in pretty much anything, but especially mixed with olive oil as a dip for bread. I bought harissa and saffron, which is really cheap there.
here are the pics from my trips to serbia and tunisia.
a couple of days after the fourth of july, my great aunt passed away. it was very sudden. she was still very active at just 70 years old, having played golf and softball for most of her life. she was a warm hearted person who always said what she meant and meant what she said. it's still a shock to me.
when august rolled around, my family and I left for a 2-week cruise of the mediterranean.. while I would LOVE to tell you all about it, I'm gonna save that for my next entry, which I promise will be in less than five months.