Currently I am in Sweden! I decided to pay a visit to my friend and roommate who is from Lund. She is a great girl, and showed me around her area of Sweden. I took a plane from Paris to Gothenburg, which was a bad idea, since Malmo is only thirty minutes away from Lund and has more flights. I took a train ride to Malmo, which was expensive to buy in the station, and took quite a while. I realized after the train ride that there is no seating arrangement for second class, so I unknowingly sat in a spot that was not in a compartment, thinking I did not have a seat. When I arrived in Lund, I was surprised to see it was a very cute little university town. The ancient church from the 11th century sits just a few minutes from the train station. It was under construction when I visited, but it was still very nice to look at and photograph! Julia took me to her family home where we had a delicious spaghetti meal very casually. Then we went on a bike ride to a pier that sits on the sea overlooking the view of Malmo and the bridge to Copenhagen. There were saunas and a nice restaurant/bar.
The next day we caught a ride with her parents to Helsingborg. There we saw the Kärnan fortress, and walked down nice decorative steps to the city center. I tried to get out some money, but realized a five dollar surcharge is added to every transaction with an American card. Then we decided to catch the ferry over to Denmark. The ticket was about 30 dollars for the ferry and all public transport in and around Copenhagen and Lund for two days. Very nice! When we landed in Denmark we were right next to Hamlet's castle and in a cute little town called Helsingör. We had a danish and a cider, then caught a train down to Copenhagen. That took about forty minutes, but it was along the sea, so it was beautiful. In Copenhagen we walked past Tivoli to get to the main shopping street Stroget. It was a nice town with lots of vintage shops and cute coffee shops. The people living there were very eclectic and I noticed there was an amazing English bookstore right near the main street and Tivoli. I will be heading back there tomororw, so I will have more to report by the end of my journeys :).
When we took the train back to Lund we got off and headed to Julia's favorite bar and restaurant in her town, which is called Basilica. We order food for about 128 SEK, which is about 20 dollars for a salad. If you want to drink, get ready for expensive. About 10 dollars for a pint. It was a nice place though, and I got to meet some of Julia's friends. We then took the 137 bus back to her house, which left from the central station.
The next day I headed out for Stockholm, more on that adventure later :)

Montpellier- Week 2

La Vie en France
Oh how much has happened in the past three weeks, I must say it is probably the most I have experienced in such a short time! The French has been difficult for me to adapt to, and it has been rough finding French friends- but I am fortunate to have great students in my program, and a wonderful host family. When I arrived to France I went to Paris... where I sight saw and met Borja's friends from his university years in Bordeaux. They were great. One of the couples invited us to their house, where we ate a very delicious meal- with salad and cheese at the end "frenchie style". I enjoyed roaming the streets of Paris with a loved one, and trying to take in so many new things at once. On the first day, I made the mistake of wearing rain boots. Wow, I had no idea that rain boots could be such an attention getter! I wish I had documented some of the faces I got as I walked the streets, I couldn't tell if they liked them or were surprised. Then, after three wonderful days of discovering the beautiful city of lover's, Borja decided to splurge and take us to dinner at a fruits de mer restaurant right next to our hotel in St. Germaine. We decided on a beautiful seafood platter! It was something I had never had, including snails, oysters, mussels, and sea urchins. It was very salty and fresh tasting, but I do not know if I will partake in this type of meal anytime soon. This is because shortly after my arrival in Montpellier, the morning after precisely, I became very sick. I had a bit of food poisoning I believe, and could not join in on the first day festivities for my program.

I was feeling much better the next day, and could join my classmates and program director. It was nothing too exciting, but it was good to see the ghetto university campus where I will have a few courses during my studies. I could not believe how backwards the campus was. Computers from the 1990's, graffiti EVERYWHERE, students smoking weed everywhere, and buildings with chairs hanging out the window. I guess this is what you get when you only have to pay 70 euros a year for university.

I have to admit, I do enjoy the quad at UPV. My friend Ann and I went there one day before our art and archeology class and enjoyed watching the students rolling joints, and smoking their cigarettes.

The food here is pretty fantastic, and I have eaten a fair number of baguettes and delicious pastries which you can find on every corner :). There are also the numerous bars, located in wonderful Gothic structures.

These pictures feature the most popular bar with my friends, known as Le Baron Rouge, where there are very nice bartenders. As you can see the girls in my program are taken by these French patrons! It is a great wine bar that serves really great cheese and saucisson platters, as well as delicious drinks. Not to mention that beautiful architecture!
Then there is my thirty minute walk to and from my house. It is nice to know that every day I have to walk for this far in order to reach a place to lay down! There are many interesting sights along this walk, including this mural on a door covering for a hookha bar. (kind of feels more L.A. than Montpellier). Other scenes along the walk are a delicious boulangerie, as well as a number of bars and alimentation shops.
There is so much to do here! I went to the beach this weekend, and had the pleasure of getting in to the art museum, free of charge, due to my student status here in France. I hope that next time I write, I will have experienced a little bit more of Europe to report. A bientot.

The beginning

First hour into six months on my own. No mother, father, or anyone to make me feel at home. Perhaps that will be something that will be learned on my journey. Being in myself being my home.
Already I have lost my passport, misplaced my boarding pass, and realized I am probably the most unorganized person to walk the face of the planet. In some ways it would be good to keep this a private blog. I mean, I don't want it to get out that I, Anna Hamer, am privately perturbed :). I will miss my friends, family, and professors. At the same time, I know this is going to be the beginning of a chapter which is my life.