OMGOMGOMGOMG

Sorry I haven't posted in like, forever! It's been super busy though with me getting used to everything here. I went without internet for almost a whole week, and I didn't have my phone for that long either. I know, how did I live, right? I couldn't even check my facebook. It was a total bummer. I missed out on so much! Not to mention the food was awful in the place I stayed all last week, but thats what you get for a room that was dirt cheap. I also had a roommate who snored, and it was like I had signed into Hotel Boring (lmao). All people did was sit around and read, do puzzles, and watch TV. No one went out a single time I was there. I actually could not wait to leave and get back to my good old otthon (home).

My host family is the. best. in the world. ever. We all get along super well and we really just love each other like a family. There hasn't been a single conflict yet and I doubt there ever will be. My roommates are AMAZING and we've all agreed (in the local language, of course!) that we're going to be best friends for life. I'm already dreading going back home just because I won't be able to say ¡ahoj (hello)! every morning to my new "vriende" (friends).

Life here is the best. It soooo beats anything back home. My courseload is so light, it's like I'm not taking any classes at all. I get to travel wherever I want, whenever I want, and I don't even have to run it by my roommates. I just get on the bus and go. And everything's so cheap here, it's practically a free ride. Today I walked around this site that was founded in the late 1800s. The old architecture and the green grass and the wind whipping through my hair made me stop and think for a second, and it really helped me put my life into perspective. I felt a part of something bigger than myself, you know? It was like I was connected to all those people who had been at this place before me. People from centuries ago were just brought alive to me. It was such an OMG moment, and I just had to come back and write about it immediately.

My host family is finally making a decent meal tonight. After weeks of living off of watery eggs and coarse meats, tonight they are making me a local dish. I'm not exactly sure what to call it. It's  some kind of fowl, covered in a crumb-y coating, a red sauce of questionable consistency and a slightly moldy-looking milkish substance. Whatever it is, I can't wait to try it! Because that's what being abroad has taught me. It doesn't matter what you think you know about a place; you really can't know it until you try it out. That's what all you people who stayed home are missing out on. Sure, we might not have the same semester of parties and drinking and hook-ups that all of you do, but we have the rest of our lives for that. What we have is something bigger, something better. We're becoming part of a community other than our own, hurling ourselves far outside our comfort zones. We are trying out a new culture, a new way of life; and I, for one, plan to taste every new culture I can. This experience is truly making me a better person.

That's all for now! I'll check-in in a few weeks for all my loyal readers who can't wait to see what abroad has to offer me next! Nähdään pian!