Dacy
I somehow forgot to post this flyer for a Study Abroad information presentation. Well, here it is now, and there's still time to make it on Thursday. Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad,
Dacy
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Budapest was incredible. Arriving by train really made me yearn to take an entire Europe trip by train. It was such a beautiful way to see a lot of the country. I hear that taking the train through the Swiss Alps is a gorgeous ride. It's definitely on my travel list. But back to Budapest. The 7 hour train ride from Prague to Budapest was well worth the time and money. No airport security hassle, no hassle at all really! We bought the tickets the day before we left and it was smooth chugging on the train tracks. Glorious countryside, quaint villages, and an amazing sunset in the rain. All ending in a lovely train station in Budapest. I could not have asked for a better train trip. We booked massages at Széchenyi Spa Baths, something I was specifically looking forward to because there is nothing I enjoy more than being in water! We took a mediocre walking tour (perhaps one of the most lackluster of the many I did during my Euro travels), but it didn't put a damper on the amazing scenery. We ate really good Hungarian food, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name. Sad business because it would have been nice to find a recipe online and try to re-create the meal. I suppose I still can, it'll just take more research. Budapest was one of the top places I wanted to visit during my study abroad and it was everything I imagined (save for the serious heat!). We met some really great people on our walking tour and had a great last night. I'm sad to say that after this post, there's only one city left from my travels. It will be sad to post the final update, but I've already got photos from my time back in the States to post. I hope I can continue posting and updating. If there's one thing I learned while being abroad, it's that there is beauty, adventure, and something worth photographing anywhere you go.
Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy Well, this broad is broke. No joke. I've been back for a good few months now and it's mostly been me catching up on responsibilities and getting back into the swing of working. I'm lucky to have a job to come back to and a steady paycheck. My job has always been so good to me.
While I wouldn't change anything about my study abroad, there are obvious parts of my experience where I could have been more frugal, whether it was groceries or eating out or even travel expenses. But even the splurges were balanced out by penny-pinching, like taking a 12 hour coach ride from Canterbury to Amsterdam or squeezing into a 12 person dorm room that felt more like a prison than a hostel in London. In retrospect anything can be done better, but poor decisions and mistakes are bound to happen. It is what it is and you get what you get. I could say that something like Glastonbury was an unnecessary expense, and before I went I did feel guilty about spending the money. Yet, the experience of going to one of the most well known British music festivals was well worth the money. Not just because of the amazing time I had, but because it was genuinely one of the most British things I did while in England. I saw a lot of UK bands, spent the entire weekend with a fun bunch of Brits, and even experienced the inevitable combo of rain and sun and mud. Like the perfect cup of English Breakfast tea, I was steeped in British culture. Study Abroad was also educationally important, as I was given the chance to experience a different method of teaching. I took a Literature and a Creative Writing class, both of which operated in a manner I was unaccustomed to, but quickly adapted to and enjoyed. There is a considerable amount of independence involved in the Literature classes. Rather than spend weeks discussing one book, as was my experience in undergrad American universities, the UK system went through about a novel a week plus essays to emphasize critical points. It was up to the students to pick and choose the topics of interest and to conduct more in depth research to bring their own input to class. All the travel, all the late nights with cheap wine, every pound I spent, I don't regret. I met some wonderfully unique and interesting people and made lifelong friends. It was all worth it and I would go broke all over again if the opportunity arose. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone without hesitation. Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy We'd been told by a few people to visit Kutná Hora for the Sedlec Ossuary, or the bone church, but never made any solid plans to visit. We had already planned to take the train from Prague to Budapest and since Kutná Hora is only an hour from Prague, we decided to take a detour. It was worth the few extra Koruna's to take the time to see hundreds of hundred year old bones. The Sedlec Ossuary, which is an easy walk from the train station, is a morbid fascination and an absolute delight for those with macabre tendencies. Having just written poems on the mouth, I was particularly drawn to the jawbones and teeth (or lack of teeth). It's so rare to see what lies beneath all our flesh. The church is unfortunately rather small, but the amount of bones housed within the structure is pretty dazzling and the bones photographed beautifully. There are two, maybe three, other churches within walking distance and they offer a special deal if you go to all of them, but as Justin and I were on our way to Budapest, we didn't visit. Perhaps another trip. Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad,
Dacy Our first day in Prague felt overwhelming and crowded. It was also right after a slightly scary experience getting to Catania airport in Italy, then spending the night in the airport, and catching a connecting flight in Rome, We were tired and emotionally drained and probably not at the top of our game for sightseeing/tourism. The Charles Bridge and surrounding area was so packed with tourists, it just felt like we couldn't get a moment for ourselves. Yet the beauty of Prague shone through all the mayhem and the tourism. The architecture alone was inspiring and breathtaking. The views from the tower at the Klementinum were just unbelievable. It's hard to not enjoy a place that can give you so much just from simple observation. We also spent time at the Vyšerhad Cemetery which was further from the center of Prague, but worth every extra step we took. It was creepy and lush, full of strange busts of long dead people...just what a weirdo like me wants to see while on holiday. I have more pictures from the Czech Republic, but will post them in another blog because I feel like they need their own space. Also, it gives me even more reason to look back on these pictures and reminisce about the beauty of Europe! Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad,
Dacy Just a few from Syracuse, Italy and the teeny tiny island of Ortigia. By far some of the most beautiful water I've ever seen. Despite the slightly seedy experience of getting lost in Catania on the way to the airport, Italy was an amazing place. Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad,
Dacy This is the last of the poems from my time abroad. I'm working on a new set which will be loosely related to these poems. Read and enjoy and check back here for more poems in the future.
And to commemorate the end of these poems, I shall include some mouth drawings by my dear friend, Gaby, who at my insistence drew these and scanned them so that I might use them for my final project (which I did not actually use, much to her chagrin). The topic of the mouth still hasn't been fully explored for me and I look forward to a time when I can address it again in whatever artistic form comes naturally. These mouths, your mouth, my mouth, are all fascinating, mysterious, disgusting, and ultimately wonderful pieces to a larger beautiful whole. They are what feeds us, breathes life into us, how we communicate and express emotion. Mouths are central to life and it's important to ponder just how strange and precious they are.
Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy Oh, you know, just a couple pictures from a roll of black and white film I shot in January. It's only taken the entirety of my stay in England + a month or two since I've been back to develop, but no big whoop. It's done, right? I'm getting close to being done with all my film photos and that is so sad. Having these photos to go through makes the transition back to reality all the more bearable. I get to have all the little moments again. Sigh. Until next time.
Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy I finally made it to Fromex, Long Beach's local photo shop, and got four rolls developed. Two B/W and two color. Since I didn't label any of the film, there was no way of knowing which rolls were from which cities. It was a gamble and I surprisingly chose two rolls from our first stop, Barcelona. Even better, I chose one color and one b/w. Since I've already written about Barcelona, I won't yammer away anymore, except to say, I can't wait to go back (however many years that may take, I don't know). That's all for Barcelona. Can't wait to see the rest.
Your Broad (No Longer) Abroad, Dacy
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DacyLimFrom Long Beach, CA to Canterbury, England and back. Archives
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