How quickly this month has passed!


August passed with complete rapidity! I am about to begin the next chapter of my journey: Senegal, the main destination of this voyage I have undertaken. The past month has been an opportunity to transition from my life in the States to my life as a globetrotter, discovering new places with keen interest and curiosity. I am so looking forward to the unknowns of my time in Senegal and Africa in general.
Before commencing this next leg, I wanted to write a little about my dear friends in Nantes, Angers, Niort and Paris, France, that welcomed me into their homes on various occasions throughout this past month. In Nantes, my friends, Charles and Mady, and I walked around the city center, played a lot of board games in protest of the rainy weather, and socialized with their friends and Mady’s parents.


Angers brought me back to the Gouriou-Son family who hosted me while I studied abroad in 2008. It was so good to see them again and spend a day at their home where I have a lot of fond memories. We took two afternoon strolls in places I had never visited—Béhuard and l’Etang de St. Nicolas—in spite of having lived in Angers for three and a half months. I was pleasantly surprised to have the opportunity to see a couple new places in an area I thought I knew well.



I gallivanted around Niort, la Rochelle and le Marais-Poitevin, a unique natural reserve of trees and manmade canals, with my friend, Christèle. Although only three hours by train from Angers, this region was previously unknown to me, so it was an opportunity to catch up with a friend and tour a part of France I had never seen. We promenaded around Niort and la Rochelle and biked about 40 miles through le Marais-Poitevin.


Finally, I wanted to thank my cousin, Christine, once again for her hospitality in Paris. Having a place to stay in central Paris was such a blessing. I was able to leave some of my heavy items at her apartment, so I traveled around Europe a little more lightly. We reconnected over many dinners together and appreciated one another’s company. What exquisite visits with such fabulous people! I am so thankful for the relationships I have been able to maintain here in France and around the world. Next entry: Senegal!


Tip #5 for Traveling on 25 Dollars a Day: To find cheap restaurants and bars, research the location of the university area in the cities you visit. Where students congregate, there are always more reasonably priced establishments due to the limited budget to which most students adhere. Enjoy the funky and eclectic atmosphere of these neighborhoods and save a few bucks on your night out.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Going Bald So I finally went through the shaving of my head, which I have wanted to do for a long time. It was a really interesting experience: I did it while I was in Bicol because I wanted the staff to see me without any hair, as I had been discussing it with them for the past month. They are so great! No one said that I would look bad without hair or that I would be a disgrace or something, but they had some practical questions I needed to consider. One said: “You shouldn’t shave your head because the mosquitos will get you even worse!” And another said, “Are you sure you want to shave your head? You are going to need a lot of extra sunscreen!” Both of these comments are certainly true. Without hair, one loses her natural protection against the elements, but I was too set on shaving that I simply laughed and had a good time with their comments. I cut my hair short in stages, which you can see from the pictures. (The first was taken in May 2009 at my college’s research symposium. The...
Read more

Glimpse of Beautiful Ecuador

Image
In Cotopaxi National Park --> Since arriving at the end of September, I had been almost exclusively on the farm in Ibarra, in northern Ecuador. Although I have loved being on the farm, dedicating my efforts and time to the activities of this peaceful milieu, I was happy to be able to explore some fantastic parts of Ecuador. My boyfriend, Alex, joined me for a nine-day adventure around central and eastern Ecuador. We traveled to Cotopaxi National Park, where the second highest peak in Ecuador is located, to Tena and La Selva Vida (the rainforest) and to Ba ñ os, a breath-taking area of waterfalls and green-gilded mountains. I found this snow-capped peak quite mesmerizing, as it appeared from and disappeared behind the clouds. Cotopaxi National Park is about one and a half hours from Quito, the capital, so it was our first stop. We stayed at a fabulous hostel in the middle of nowhere at 11,000 feet, where all our meals were provided. Even though we did not summit t...
Read more

College Friends in China and Los Angeles

Image
Starting the walk up and down the Great Wall at Mutianyu Dinner potluck party at Esther's home My friends from high school and college are all around the country and the globe, so I was blessed to see three college friends this past February before starting a new vocation on Raspberry Hill Farm in Sullivan, WI. I started the month with a two-week trip to southern China to pay a visit to my friend, Esther, who works for the State Department at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, a city of 18 million people. She will be there for two years, starting back in November, so I was glad to have the opportunity to see her in her new realm of work and society. While she worked most days, I took my time to read and do CrossFit work outs, knowing that once I returned to WI, I would have a lot of items on my plate, transitioning into a new career. I enjoyed seeing her home, meeting her friends and eating and cooking together. She even hosted one of my friends from high school, who happen...
Read more