The One Where It's Been Three Weeks

IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED:
I've made videos of our adventures. I'm almost caught up. I'm going to combine week 8 and 9 so I'm hoping to get another one up next week. But in the meantime, I have a bunch of the past weeks! Feel free to check them out!

CLICK HERE!


If not, carry on.

So... my bad.

It's crazy how life can just get away from you. You just get into a routine and life just keeps happening whether you'd like it to or not! So I apologize for the lack of updates. I'm hoping I can touch on some of the highlights from the last few weeks and redeem myself.

The biggest trip that was made after Bratislava was to Italy. It was incredible. We took a night train to Venice which was an experience all in itself. I was on the top bunk, so I didn't sleep particular well just because I was terrified that train was going to suddenly stop and I would tumble off the bed to my death. But overall, I would definitely do a night train again. You go to sleep in one country and wake up in another one! It's like magic!



Venice was absolutely wonderful. It's not like another other city, there's something slightly magical about it, in my opinion. We did a city tour all together but then we were free to roam where we wanted. A group of us decided to just get lost in the city. We wandered the streets, shopped and ate. I was able to find gluten free pizza and pasta which was incredible! Because last time I went to Venice I just lived off of gelato.



Something that was pretty interesting was that during one of the days we were there, the main square started to flood. Sea water was coming through the drains and at some points the water was about a foot deep. We decided to just embrace the experience, so I got soaking wet from my knee down as we played in the water. Everyone probably just looked at us like we were crazy young Americans, but I was okay with that because that's what we are!



One of the mornings when we were in Venice, we decided to get up insanely early to walk to the square to watch the sunrise. It was so worth it. Almost nobody was on the streets so we got to experience Venice in a whole new way. And the sunrise was beautiful. If anyone goes to Venice, sacrifice a few hours of sleep to do this! So amazing.



Another thing that Venice introduced me to was... bed bugs. Yup, our hotel had bed bugs. And we got bit. Thankfully, we caught sight of them before we went to sleep, so we moved rooms. But we were laying in the bed long enough for me to get bit 5 to 6 times. Every hotel since then, we are pretty good about checking for those little pests. Haha! It's okay though, it makes for a good story.

The second half of the trip we spent in Florence. I like Florence but I feel like after Venice, it was alright. I know I'm going to get fire from people for saying that, but it wasn't really for me. We did have some good times there though! We did a lot of wandering, we visited some beautiful gardens and churches, and ate delicious food. Having Celiac, I had A LOT of meat and cheese. So much meat and cheese.



We took a night train back to Vienna just after a couple of days in Florence. Since then, it's been a lot of class, homework, internship, and just low-key hanging out.

Class is going well. I like the German class I'm in more than I thought I would. It's really awesome because everyone is friends and we all try to help each other. It's really a no-judgement zone. It's a lot of quizzes and tests but overall, I like the class. The Art and Architecture class is a little rough. It's usually 2 to 3 hours of lecture so it can be hard to focus. The field trips we go on I usually really enjoy because we get to get out of the classroom and see what we're learning about in real life.

My internship is going really well too! I'm working for an event planning company. The last two weeks I've been in their marketing department helping them with research, which I actually enjoyed. This week and next I'm with the Events department. I've only been there once in their department, but I think it'll be great! Everyone is very nice and welcoming. I went to lunch with some of my coworkers last week and it was really great to get to know them and to hear their opinions on Austrian and American things.

On a separate note, something that I love about this program is how everyone is like one big family. We have our differences, but all together we all get along and love being together. Cindy, the professor, has most of her kids with her in Vienna. So the last few weeks, I've been at Cindy's quite a bit. She has two sons who are here then 5 adopted little girls. They are a lot of fun. They are always up for visitors, playing games, and having movie nights. It's been really fun to get to know the whole family better.



There's been so many things I've learned here in Vienna. I actually have a tangible list I've started to make. I think I'll make it into a whole separate blog post near the end of the trip. But it's so cool to see God working in my life. I knew that I was supposed to come to Vienna for a big reason. It's been really cool seeing the puzzle pieces come together to start to show that reason. This experience has been absolute incredible... indescribable really. I am so blessed to be here and to have this experience. And I still have about 30 days to make even more memories, learn more lessons, and see even more amazing things.