We plan, God laughs...

This is one of mom's favorite sayings. She always uses it when I go into control freak mode. It's suppose to remind us that no matter how hard we try the plan can always go astray. God has His own plans in mind, particularly when your trying to get to Amsterdam on a one way flight from Houston.

We left Houston yesterday at 3:40 without problems. We got into the air. It was a pretty smooth fight. I ate dinner and got to watch When in Rome and even got about an hour of sleep (which is all I usually get on a plan). I was marveling at how we'd just reached the halfway mark 4.5 hours when I heard a disturbing word come from someone's mouth, "Newark, New Jersey."

We were halfway there, floating over the Atlantic Ocean when most of the major European airports were shut down due to the ash cloud from the Elkjoiudoaidufoaiudfapoifu (name is paraphrased here) volcano in Iceland. Before I knew what was happening we were in New Jersey at 1:30 in the morning refueling before heading back to Houston. Now we're all camping out in the lobby of a hotel that has given us rooms but don't quite have then cleaned yet.

Needless to say I haven't slept in 24 hours. I'm tired and hungry and somehow have managed to travel for 14 hours and not actually have been anywhere yet. Ah well, we plan...

Bears, Books, and Bags.

How exactly do you go about cramming three months of clothes, bedding, personal, and school supplies into two suitcases weighing less that 50lbs? I'm convinced this is impossible unless you have the packing skills of a squirrel hoarding acorns for winter. Fortunately, my mom possesses such skill. It's not that I'm concerned with getting everything over there as much as getting it all back- when I don't have Mom's superhuman organizational skills.


For any of you who want to do a study abroad or an extended stay somewhere in the future, here's a trick, fill one suitcase with cheap items- undergarments, socks, pillows, bedsheets, towels- and throw them out before you come back, that way you can fill the bag with whatever you buy when you're over there.


I've over packed. I know this right now. I have too many tops, WAY too many pants/shorts. But these items combined are outnumbered by the books I've packed. How do you guesstimate how many books you'll read in three months? Or if you'll feel like fiction or nonfiction or even a biography? The only answer I found was to pack for all possibilities, and in doing so realized that I don't have many non American books: Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, The Diary of Ann Frank, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame about cover it. I guess this means I'll be taking a trip to the bookstore.


Lastly I want to introduce you to my friend. His name is Maas, and he will be making the trip with me. Alright, 'tis all for now! I'll see you when I get to Maastricht!

*** note, due to technical problems I can't upload my pictures. I'll work on them later, promise.

"The Travel writer seeks the world we have lost- the lost valleys of the imagination"- Alexander Cockburn

It took me a really long time to name my blog, I spent a good thirty minutes flipping through my quotation dictionary before settling on a title. Ultimately the question was "what do I want to do with this blog?" Alexander Cockburn gave me the answer, to write about something that perhaps wasn't lost as much as it just wasn't discovered in the first place. I want to show my friends at home the unique world of Europe with it's ancient history, cuisine, customs, and languages. So let me tell you a story...



For three month (May-August) I've been given the opportunity to study in the Netherlands. When one thinks about studying in Europe, usually England, France, or Italy comes to mind, but the program through my University allows me to participate in a full study abroad experience and do it in the summer complete with three day weekends every week (some weeks I have four day weekends) and three solid weeks of traveling at the end of the month. So, why not the Netherlands? We'll do something a little different, and the best part is I don't have to be fluent in Dutch.

The area I'm going to be studying in is known as the Limburg region (the area shaded in light blue). Maastricht is the red dot at the very bottom of the map. Most of you who know me know that I'm full of random tidbits of information and I shall not disappoint in this blog (I hope). Maastricht argues itself to be the oldest city of the Netherlands (apparently another city claims the same thing and no one is sure who's telling the truth).

***Also, for your random knowledge, I was pleased to find out that the people of the Netherlands are averaged to be the tallest in the world. Yes! No more towering over all my friends, (sorry Amanda).

Anyway, back to Maastricht. The city gets it's name from the Maas river which now runs through the center of the city (traditionally, though, it flowed around the outside walls of the ancient walls). The picture at the top of my blog is of one of the bridges that crosses the Maas into the city proper.

Ok, so geography lesson over! All in all, I would like to say that I'm so excited (and a little nervous, not going to lie here) about this trip and the opportunity to write about my travels. So, stick with me, and let me take you to the lost valleys of the imagination... I think the trip will be fun.