Alghero, Italy

Four days in Alghero (Sardinia, Italy) hardly seems like enough.

We started with an overnight stay in the London Stansted Airport (not something I highly recommend..) and taking an early flight to Italy. Much to our delight, it was sunny and beautiful when we arrived. We got upgraded to a nice apartment with a balcony that viewed the seafront. I really cannot complain.
We made incredible meals, walked everywhere, ate more pizza than was probably necessary-but we had to pack it all into four days! I feel in love with new type of fruit and got my feet wet in the mediterranean. Little did we know, but Alghero has a period of time called a 'ciesta' where everything closes between 1pm-4pm. Once we figured this out, we had very relaxed days.
It was exactly what my sanity needed.
I am currently in Norway staying with my good friend Diana, but I'll save that for another post.

Here is for the pictures, which can say much more than my words:


The view from our Balcony

It's been a full weekend to say the least.

Earlier today I participated in Amnesty International Street Theatre. About 70 Atlatnic College students took the streets of Cardiff in order to raise awareness about human rights. While nice in theory, people were a bit disorganized and shouted a lot and scared some of the passer-bys. This was when I developed my own rule about protests: If, at any point, you feel even slightly uncomfortable with the situation immediately leave. It seems like a very reasonable rule to me

Tonight was the North American Bonfire. I'm not sure I've had this good of a night in a while. We gathered anyone and everyone who had a slight relation to the US or Canada and we assembled around a big bonfire (thank you girl scouts for fire-building skills!) and talked, make s'mores, cooked bacon, played guitar. Just an all around feel good sort of night.

Tomorrow I will be making pizza from scratch, watching a South East Asian national evening, working in the coffee lounge, and catching up on work.

Never let it be said that AC is a boring place to be

What is America?

There is something new that I believe in: the power of cultural identity. My American pride gives me a real identity and there is so much more to be being American than big dreams.

Last night was the North American National Evening-a night where the USA and Canada gets to put on a show for the rest of the school about our culture. Jokes aside, the evening was fantastic. From reading the New Colossus to singing Wagon Wheel to introducing the audience to the monsters of America I think we really gave them a true taste of our beautiful country. Best of all, we ended the evening with a dance to the song 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga. To be frank-it looked almost professional. (I promise to put up the video of it soon)

Even better than ending the evening with an incredibly good feeling that we had done our country justice, I now have this bond with my fellow Americans. I have this second family here, and without them- I would be lost. Together we have all rediscovered what it means to be an American and that is a beautiful thing. We are a truly diverse group of students from all states and all walks of life-it's very American. Maybe in order to truly understand your own culture you have to leave your country.

Today, I am proud to call myself American.