Wandering and Wondering

Dearest Adventurers,

It would be remiss of me to sit here and type that everything has been unicorns and puppies and sparkles since I arrived in Budapest. Over the past couple of days, I've found myself wandering this beautiful city and wondering why I decided to move halfway across the world. I'll admit that I've always prided myself on my adventurous spirit. So why, then, have I felt so alone? The chance to live in a foreign city is finally mine, and here I am missing family and friends and the pups and home. Who is this girl with all these FEELINGS and where has her aforementioned spirit of adventure gone?

Hungry in Hungary

Jó estét,

That means good evening in Hungarian. (For those of you wondering, it's pronounced: yaw (long a) eshtayt.) Today was my first full day in Budapest, and I had such a weird night, that I didn't really leave my apartment until one in the afternoon. My jetlag was quite a bit worse than usual, and I just couldn't make myself get out of bed. So when you add a crazy case of jetlag, plus the nerves that come from knowing you're going to be living in a new country for five months, you get a girl with no appetite. But, let's get to the interesting stuff...

Hej and Bonjour!

The Danish Crown

I haven't forgotten you all! Since arriving in Geneva, things have been a little crazy, and we don't have the most reliable internet connection. Things are going well here. It's nice to finally spend some time with the people I spend the majority of my life with (online, that is). So far we've met with the World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. To say it's sort of surreal to be in the headquarters for such big, well-known organizations would be a bit of an understatement. There's not much I could tell all of you about our sessions that wouldn't, most likely, bore you to tears, so you'll just have to take my word that I'm learning lots of great things!

Two For One

You guys get a two-for-one today. I’m going to be writing about yesterday’s trip to the South Shore and our final day in Reykjavik, which we spent horseback riding and wandering around downtown. I’m going to bullet-point it out for all of you, because I’ve got some packing and sleeping to do in order to be ready for tomorrow’s flight to Copenhagen. Let’s get to it:

On Hákarl and Other Adventures

Horses at our first stop, the farm.

It's twenty past midnight here in Reykjavík, which means I should most definitely be in bed. But, I know if I go to sleep now, I'll forget to write about some crucial part of yesterday's trip. I'm going to attempt to keep this much shorter than yesterday, but we'll see how that goes.

It's Not An Adventure Unless Someone Gets Hurt

Downtown Reykjavik

Hello, hello!

While this is the first day I'm posting, it's technically day two of the trip; someone, who may or may not go by Linda, slept most of the day away yesterday. In her defense, she was heavily medicated due to airplane jitters. But, it all worked out because yesterday was the windiest, rainiest day EVER. Anyways... On to the good stuff.

Twenty-Eight Before Twenty-Eight

Since my birthday falls so close to the New Year, I've taken a page out of my friend April's book... Instead of making those often not kept "resolutions," I make a list of however many things I'd like to do/see/accomplish before my next birthday. Despite my best intentions, I didn't make it through many of the things on my 27 before 27 list. I'll make no excuses except to say that I let myself get too caught up in the craziness that was 2013. Now that my life has some sort of direction (graduate school), at least for the moment, I'm hoping 2014 will be a little more cooperative than last year. So, here's my 28 before 28 list, may the odds be ever in my favor.

1) Pick a classic novel that you've never read and go for it!

2) Go to a Renaissance Fair.

3) Travel to a new country.

4) Take a sewing class.

5) Re-read a favorite book.

6) Blog more often.

7) Host an outdoor movie party.

8) Make a music playlist for every month this year.

9) Give up soda.

10) Attend a Yoga class.

11) Successfully make yeast bread.

12) Donate to a charity.

13) Go to tea in London.

14) Eat a macaron in Paris.

15) Finish an entire New York Times crossword puzzle with no help.

16) Go star-gazing.

17) Send more "just because" letters to friends.

18) Enter a photography competition.

19) Try a weird and unexpected food.

20) Attend a fencing match.

21) Practice my German language skills.

22) Have an Indiana Jones movie marathon day.

23) See a movie at a drive-in theatre.

24) Fly a kite.

25) Throw a surprise party.

26) Take a PhotoShop class.

27) Give up all forms of social media for one month.

28) Finish and graduate from Grad School!