(A longer) gelato break!

I am leaving tomorrow morning for my program's second and last field trip of the quarter! We are spending two days in Assisi and two days in Florence. Then our professor is letting us loose until we meet again during quiz section and discussion on Wednesday. Yes, that is correct, we are being given eight whole days to be away from Rome. Don't get me wrong, Rome is a wonderful city, but the novelty of being here has worn off and I can finally see how touristy and tacky some neighborhoods can be. So I'm going to take this opportunity to try on some masks in Venice and hike through Plitvice National Park in Croatia.

On another note, Pope John Paul II's Beatification mass this morning was absolutely INSANE. I took a nice long nap right after the mass and it's already eleven o'clock, but I have barely recovered since then. More on that at a later date. I'd rather not relive it right now...

Anyway, after several visits to the Vatican I have developed some new life goals:

• Have every single surface of my future home covered in frescoes or gilded with gold
• Read the second reading at a Papal mass
• Read a prayer of the faithful in Vietnamese at a Papal mass in an áo dài 
• Receive communion from the Pope
• Marry a Swiss guard 
• Have my Swiss baby kissed by the Pope

That is all. 

hd

Quattro e Cinque: "....yeah. I know."

"Yeah, because you totally look 

like you would shank someone." 

--to Erin being waved off 

by the security even though she made

 the metal detector go off on our way

 to mass at St. Peter's Basilica.

Tre: Villa Borghese

"Miss Hien, Italy is such a beautiful country with warm & welcoming people... 

You are going to fit right in. You are going to have an amazing time. 

You should take Kasorn's advice & make a side trip to Spain. 

Travel safe, travel often, bring back pictures... we'll wait here. Have fun!" 

--Tracy Love, in my going-away card from the UWMC Service League.

I'm not sick, but I'm not well.

Heard my dad's voice for the first time tonight and I just talked to my mom for the first time last week. I really miss them, but they know that I love them, I am taking good care of myself, and I keep them in my prayers constantly, so it's all okay.

Due Mezzo: Three Bruins and a Husky.

Staying in hostels has been an interesting experience. I'm going to admit it, the thought about sharing a crummy room with five strangers freaked me out at the very beginning but I found that it hasn't been too bad. The hostels that I have stayed in have been decently kept at the very least, which makes sense. I'm sure there are government regulations so that people cannot just rent out beds all willy nilly. Most importantly though, the people that I would share a dormitory with are just like me, penniless travelers who just want a good night's sleep. I don't mean that you can whip out your wallet and count your fat stack of bills or leave your passport lying around, but you can certainly count on meeting people who have traveled the world and have useful information and experiences to share.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I came back from teaching some Bruins a lesson. No, I did not beat them up, that would have been terribly unfair and just plain mean. What had happened was that when I met them earlier in the evening at my hostel,  they introduced themselves to me as two students and an alumnus from UCLA and so I told them I was from Seattle and studied at UW. It turns out that one of them was actually from Federal Way, Washington, but chose to go to a California school instead. I immediately asked what led him to making such a horrible decision and then just like that, the endless exchange of taunts and witty banter began.

Gelato break!

Okay... I know that I am extremely behind in my blogging, but I promise that I haven't forgotten about you! In fact, I'm working on about seven days' worth of blogs right now. I am almost completely over my cold and I finally put away my clothes in my closet and hung my pictures on the wall above my bed -- I should start being productive very soon. And don't let this picture fool you, I'm actually really busy with lectures and service learning to attend, readings to do, and personal matters to take care of as well! Well, I guess you wouldn't know since I haven't been updating the blog. Geez, what a terrible cycle.

Anyway, I'm leaving for Naples, Pompeii, Capri, and Sorrento early tomorrow morning so you definitely won't hear from me until late next week. My professor informed us that we shouldn't bring along our laptops unless we want them stolen rendering me unable to stay connected with the world via the interwebs.

So, this blog is taking a brief gelato break!

Until next time,
hd

P.S. Old Bridge Gelato by the Vatican. That's a €2 cone and you can have up to three flavors with whipped cream. Get some. But don't get lemon. It's very unexpectedly sour. Even when you expect it, it's still really sour.

Due: Pinch me.

"Because I would do something stupid like pack two spare toothbrushes 

and forget to grab the toothpaste." --upon opening my duffel bag.

Friday, March 25th, was officially my first day in Rome! I didn't think ahead and had no plans for the days leading up to the first day of my program (I was too focused on getting to Rome in one piece), so I decided the night before to pack up half of my belongings into an empty bag that I brought with me. The thought of dragging my unnecessarily large duffel bag half way across town gave me chills, especially when I could just avoid the entire ordeal. So Friday became my walking adventure from the Termini to Campo de' Fiori, the location of the University of Washington Rome Center.

Uno: Holla, Holland!

"I wonder if Amsterdam would get mad at me if I took a brick from their street." --while staring at a loose cobblestone on my way to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum.

It was Thursday, March 24, and this is the sight that I woke up to a couple of hours before my plane landed in Amsterdam. Well, I wouldn't really call it waking up since I did not actually get any real sleep. My flight was scheduled to be 9 hours and 40 minutes long so the plan was that about an hour into my flight, I would knock out only to wake up from an restful, 8 hour slumber at 7:55 am in Amsterdam. Perfect, right? Except I didn't know that so many passengers were bringing their babies on board and that many of them had the capability of crying for 9 hours straight. About two of them exercised this ability quite liberally. Ah, well, you know as they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

My voice of reason.

She, stepping out of the bathroom: Oh my gosh, the bathroom smells amazing.
Hien, with her eyebrows raised: Wow. Someone thinks very highly of herself.
She: THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT.

A place to call home.

Ah, I have finally come to the realization of why I have been unable to write for the past couple of days -- it's because I have been staying at hostels and living out of my bag. I don't exactly have a space of my own that I can decorate with pictures or hang up cards from my loved ones. Without a safe little haven that I can mark up and call my home, I have been in sort of a funk and can't think correctly.

And all this is from a stop by Erin Murray's apartment. It's so absolutely adorable!!

Woof woof!

Just came home after teaching three Bruins what it meant to be a Husky (a Catholic Husky even). REPRESENT! 

However, I just realized that I hadn't even talked about Amsterdam yet, so this amusing story will have to wait until another time. Sorry for the cliffhanger, I'm a jerk, I know.

Goodnight!
hd

P.S. Woke up this morning to the beautiful sight of the sun streaming in through the window and the crackling rumble of vespas zipping through my alley... and the first thing that popped into my mind was, "Hands up, and suddenly we all got our hands up, no control of my body. Ain't I seen you before? I think I remember those eyes, eyes, eyes. Eyes, eyes, eyes, ee-- aw, dang it."

How is it that Usher is so catchy??

Postcards From Italy.

Well, not really, since I'm still in transit right now -- I scheduled this blog to be published while I'm up in the air on my way to Rome and passed out in my seat. Just wanted to share one of my favorite songs and thought that now would be an appropriate time. :)



(The video is more of a placeholder since it refuses to cooperate on blogger, so please click on it and watch it on youtube instead.)

By the way, I considered stopping by France for a bit during my trip, but I thought that would be too dangerous. Why? Because instead of doing something normal like view the Eiffel tower, have a glass of wine, and eat a baguette with pâté, I would more than likely hunt down try to find Zach Condon (the singer of this band, Beirut) and force beg him to marry me be my friend (he's already married). That may take several weeks but once I have my determined face on, several weeks it is going to take! I'm supposed to attend class regularly though, so that's why I decided 'no' in the end. My dear Zach France will have to wait for another trip.

I'm actually writing this a week ahead, but please know that I miss you all already.

♥

...and I hope that you're not lactose intolerant because it's --

--DARY!!! 


This trip is going to be LEGENDARY!! Landed in beautiful Amsterdam and giving my parents a call before I head out for flowers, food, and shopping!

Call me Captain McAwesome.

About to leave for the airport with my mom and my oldest brother. I would say more but words are coming out in a weird, nervous order or words don't even come out at all. Just abrupt and excited screams.

I can't sit still for more than two seconds. What more can I say anyway? Except that it's obvious that this trip is going to be LEGEN-- wait for it......

I'll come back when you call me, no need to say goodbye.

"Just because everything's changing,
doesn't mean it's never been this way before.
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
as you head off to the war.

"Pick a star on the dark horizon
and follow the light.
You'll come back when it's over,
no need to say goodbye."

I'll be back. :)

Well, if I try to stay in Europe I'll be fined a ridiculous amount of euros and thrown into jail if I get caught anyway.

...but it's also because I love each and every one of you oh so, so, so very much. (Haha.)

My biggest fear.

I really hope that I don't forget to pack my toothbrush.

As embarrassing as this is, I have actually forgotten to bring a toothbrush once. Or maybe twice. Okay, I have probably gone without a toothbrush for at least three weekends.** I know, I'm hopelessly scatterbrained, now quit badgering me.

That reminds me of when I was still working with this great organization called Thiếu Nhi Thánh Thể a few years back and I was a counselor for the annual camping trip one summer. Basically, my job was to be the mother hen for a group of campers, ranging from 6 to 16 years old, by making sure that they were all well and hydrated and also to guide the older kids on how to be a leader for the younger ones. The fact that I was a counselor kind of made it forgivable for me to forget my toothbrush because I was in a position of power and the kids had to talk to me whether they liked it or not anyway. Not that they didn't want to talk to me of course, I was a lovable counselor. I also managed to scrounge up some mouthwash which may have helped.

Anyway, I remember that in my group was a little boy that I'm going to call Kay. Now, at that time, Kay was 6 and a half years old, had a round shaved head and a round body to match, and he really liked chasing butterflies. In other words, he was completely adorable. He was also the youngest and (naturally) the slowest out of all the kids in that group. His marginalized position as the burden also made him vulnerable to being bullied and so I took him as my responsibility that weekend. I gave him piggy back rides when his feet hurt too much, I held his hand when he was scared at night, and I even carried him to the bathroom once when he told me that he wouldn't be able to make it if he had to walk. When three days and two nights had finally passed and it was time to say goodbye, he ran towards me, threw his arms around my legs, and as he hugged my knees he said to me, "I'll miss you, Chị Hiền" (older sister Hien).

Oh dear. My heart started to melt all over the place in messy pools. Especially when I knelt down and hugged him back, completely speechless.

The impossible contest.

The first person who figures out where I was studying today wins a prize (a.k.a. a souvenir from Italy)! The winner can request for almost anything except for the mitre (Pope's hat) -- I'm afraid someone has already called dibs on that and I can only pull so many strings.

Here are the clues:

(these are two drawings that were made in the woodgrain of my workspace. I can't take credit for these drawings although I wish I could -- waaay too creative to be done by my pen!)

You need to tell me:

• In which building is this workspace?
• On which floor?
• What can you see to the right?
• What can you see to the left?

Goodluck (you're definitely going to need it)!

Also, be sure to wish me luck since my last final is tomorrow. So exciting. And so hard to care and keep studying..... :)

-hd

A picture.

(I can only hope to be able to tell countless stories that are as great as this one.)

-hd

Some things never change.

Before I went to Japan four summers ago, I pondered if I would still be funny in another language...

My sister told me not to worry because my face would be funny in any language.

Thanks, Minh. Thanks a lot.

Goodness!

In fifteen days, my plane will have already taken off for about three hours. I am expressing my emotions in the most eloquent fashion possible when I say that I'M FREAKING OUT.

Focusing on schoolwork and caring about my grades is getting exponentially difficult with each passing hour. Not saying that it was easy in the first place. Wish me luck and good luck to those who are going through finals as well!

hd