There isn’t much to say about Amsterdam. I did a whole lot of nothing and saw the world through completely different eyes. What I can say is that the city is absolutely beautiful and was unexpectedly filled with great things to do. The cafes were so amazing and kind of seedy, I loved it though. When were weren’t laughing our heads off and smoking, we wandered the streets and saw quite a few characters. I quickly learned that the Netherlands are famous for their cheeses! Since cheese is my favorite food I was in my glory!! I admit I went hardbody on those cheeses. They were just.too.good. One night we were there we went to The Red Light District and saw a sex show. Absolutely amazing and So glad I decided to do it. The whole District was crazy and so different from anything the would even be considered legal back in the United States. It was weird to see how normal it was to the people who live in Amsterdam… just everyday life I guess. During our last day there we went to the Heineken Factory and got to see how the beer is made and produced. It was actually pretty interesting. After the tour we had a tasting and two free beers in their brewery. Very cool! Got to enjoy some beers with friends, always a good time. 

The weekend of April 12th my school had a planned trip to Sicily for everyone in the program. At first I was apprehensive about going on a school trip because I thought it was going to be too structured and rigid. It turned out to be a great experience and I got to bond with so many other people in the program, I otherwise would have not met.

We left late Thursday night for an overnight train to the island of Sicily. Everyone was all riled up about the trip and bouncing all over the train cars. Eventually the fun died down and everyone fell asleep. When we woke up we were in Sicily!

We started in Taormina. When we got off the bus it was absolutely pouring and to be honest, we were all miserable. We got to taste homemade cannoli’s from a family run local business and we visited an Ancient Theater. We then had time to grab some lunch and after we were meeting at the bus to head over to our hotel. My roommates and I got some real Sicilian pizza!!

When we got to the hotel I was SHOCKED at how nice it was! The hotel was right on the ocean and had a terrace overlooking the beautiful view. Once everyone got settled in their rooms we were all told to meet down in the dining room for an enormous family style meal. At 8:00 everyone in the program grabbed drinks at the bar then headed to the dinner. It was so delicious and there was so much food! I truly tried things that I still don’t even know what they are.

After dinner we all went back to the bar and literally took over the lower level of the hotel. People from the program were scattered on the terrace, down by the water, on the dance floor or playing pool. As the night went on everyone made their rounds! I met so many great people from all over the United States and it was great to finally know the people I have been sharing this experience with!

The next day was spent entirely on the beach! I got buried in the sand, we had a great lunch and together we spent most of our time people watching. Some brave kids went in the ocean but it was freezing so I didn’t even think about it. It was a great day at the beach! Not much to say about it besides that it was amazing!

After the beach we traveled to Palermo to got to our last city and check in to our new hotel. This hotel was not as breath-taking as the one before but still so nice. The program provided a bus into the city for dinner and took us home again later that night. Thankfully almost everyone took the opportunity to go into town and grab dinner. We ended up at a seafood restaurant with about 20 kids from the program. Again the meal was delicious and we enjoyed wine all throughout. After dinner we met up with even more kids and planned to go to a bar until it was time to leave. Surprisingly enough, we ran into a group of about 100 people singing and dancing in front of the church. When we weaseled our way in we realized there was a DJ up front. We ended up sticking around and dancing in the streets until we boarded the bus back to the hotel. The entire way home we belted out songs that the bus driver was playing for us. It was such a fun time. Once we got back a handful of kids went to bed while the others hung out outside and chatted until eventually we all ended up in bed.

The next morning was our last night. We took a tour of the historic city. We visited churches and learned about the architecture of the old ancient buildings. It was actually really interesting. After we walked through a local market and all of us were buying spices and fruits! I tried a traditional Sicilian rice ball! YUMM!

 The entire trip was more than I could ever ask for! I got to do so many great things and meet so many special people!