Help back this business, I see potential

I've just pledged $30 to help kick start a friend's business, Branch Clothing and you can too! Please help my friend Chris Z. make the American dream come true and pledge $30 to receive a pair of the custom hand made shorts. Chris is one of the kids I've met through my study abroad program and he is about to go home and start the revolution on his self made business. He's got all the right elements--the ideas, the determination, the innovation, the willingness, and a nifty new bus to sell his shorts out of. Now he just needs $2,000 to make it happen so the wheels can start rolling!

Now check out the website where you can pledge too!

I'll be rocking a custom pair of shorts this summer and ya'll be jealous if you didn't get on that!

Los ultimos días

Another inspirational quote from a fellow study abroad friend...

This describes exactly how I feel. It was a strange feeling to come to Spain and get adjusted, but it's even weirder as I prepare to leave. My life has changed, my eyes have been open, and there is no way that can be reversed, except I have to go home and fit back into the way my life used to be... but with the new me. So then it's different. So very hard to explain.

“You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, I told him, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you'll never be this way ever again.”

          -Azar Nafisi

Young wild and free

 

Feeling sentimental on my last days of studying abroad, so there will be sentimental quotes to go along with this feeling. A girl in my program posted this quote and it was too good not to share...

 

"You have four years to be irresponsible in college. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does"
 

              -Tom Petty

Spanish takeover

Learning Spanish is pretty challenging and frustrating at times, but I have to say things like this make me happy to know the language. Will Farrell is coming out with a new movie, Casa de Mi Padre, where he speaks in Spanish the entirety of the production. Watch the trailer, then watch the interview with Jimmy Kimmel below, never laughed so hard listening to something in Spanish.

That shit cray

To say the least, Amsterdam went above and beyond my expectations for how insane it was. Whether this is good or bad, I don't know. All I know is I went, I saw, I lived through it, and that may be that. I'm only going to brief on my very first impression of Amsterdam.

I was traveling with one other girl, and our first impression of Amsterdam was undeniably shocking. We got into the city late at night, determined to not let this expensive over run tourist trap leave us penniless, so we walking and public transit were necessary.

Conventional shop? Try again, this is a red light district brothel

After getting of the train we are not only trying to navigate a foreign city, but we don't know the language, it's dark out, and there is a carnival going on in the center of the city because we of course arrived on a holiday weekend. We definitely could tell we were getting closer to our hostel, we we just having trouble finding the last road, when we noticed a row of buildings ahead. I saw a windowsill lined with a glowing soft red and a small red lantern on the side of the building. In my mind I was thinking, wouldn't it be funny if the red light district had red street lights? Well, my silly thoughts became reality as we came upon the red light district, face to face with prostitutes who were clearly on the clock.

Knowing prostitution was legal in this country did not prepare me for the shock of seeing it in action. These women are on display in windows or glass doors and there are no secrets nor are there black curtains with misleading signs, it's perfectly clear what happens in behind those doors.

Needless to say myself and the gal I was traveling with were scared shitless for what we had just stumbled upon. We quickly decided we were not going the right way, and when we finally found our hostel it was still smack dab in the middle of the red light district. As we were checking in, just across the street we could see one of the ladies of the night working her window.

However, the next day as we toured the city we learned the red light district is one of the safest sections in the entire city. Among other things, our tour guide thought it was important to learn more about Amsterdam than just sex and drugs. For example, did you know Amsterdam has more canals than the city of Venice, Italy? That's a fact and that's me pictured on one of them.

Becoming the person we're meant to be

In this final month of studying abroad, my life has taken a turn I never saw coming. I know that life doesn't throw things at us when we cannot handle them, therefore it's true that everything happens for a reason. I've been catching up on my solitary thinking and trying to work out all the kinks. However, thinking only does so much, it's time that tells all. 

All I know is I cannot control the actions of others, the only thing I can control are my own. Although I wish things were perfect, I know what doesn't kill us make us stronger. The path I'm on now is the right one. I found there is a constant battle within myself of what to do with the situation at hand, but I know I have to make myself happy, and do what is right for myself. 

I'm not one to quote Facebook, but the other day I read an interesting quote and I hope it finds it's way to the right people. As individuals, we make our own decisions. We make our own lives. At some point we have to step back and decide who we want to be. 

~~~

 

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

That awkward moment when...

You're host mom makes dinner and leaves you alone in the kitchen with your Spanish roommate and says that "you two should chat." And the most awkward part about it, is that you don't.

Oh weird, that just happened to me. And now I feel guilty because I've probably never spoken much more than a full sentence to him at once, and I've been here for about 4 months now. I've still got one more month to make up for lost time... probably won't.

Meh. Lo siento.