Au Pair in Barcelona!

I am really excited, I just confirmed to Gemma that I will be their Au Pair for the next two months! From July 15th to September 20th I will be with them in Barcelona helping the girls, Monica and Claudia (7 and 10) work on their english while I can work on my spanish and live in a beautiful country! They are taking a couple week vacation in beach towns and I can't think of any better way to spend my summer! more details to come...

Paris!

Mary Ellen, Denali and I arrived in Paris from Shannon, Ireland after planes trains and automobiles. We woke up really early the 27th of June to drive four hours to the airport, then we hopped on a flight, and boy do they pack you in on ryanair, and got to Paris to a small airport...form there an hour bus ride, a 40 minute metro, a t10 minute taxi and then some walking to the hotel we arrived at a really nice one! It was worth it!

We are staying in the Saint Germain neighborhood and had a nice dinner in the area and woke up early on Sunday to start our visit! From mass at the Notre Dame to the Louvre we walked all around the Seine river. Mary Ellen and her granddaughter Denali, Mj;s sisters daughter who is 14, went on a boat ride while i met my good friend Noemie. She was my french roommate in DC studying at AU last spring just to remind you. I met her at the Opera and we shopped a little in the summer sales...I came to Paris at the right time! Then we had the best ice cream in Paris where we waited 20 minutes for two amazing chocolate and coffee scoops. Since its hot here we sat byt he river where people just hang out, then walked more and more...I swear that woman can walk forever. It was a great day.

Monday...today, was great as well. The three of us started out shopping in Saint Germain and I got some nice white linen pants since it is soooo hot. Then we visited the Luxembourg gardens and stuck out feet in the fountain...and on our way out we heard classical music and singing...we stopped by and thought oh how great a little concert with higher schoolers in the park. Then they start singing America the Beautiful and we are like wow we thought the French hate Americans...but it ends up being a music group from Cinncinatti...weird. Then we walked aroudn the Ile de St. Louis, the little island behind the Notre Dam, and Mary Ellen bought me a beautiful brown parisian purse for graduation!! I love relatives. After being convinced to keep walking we took the metro to walk around the Sacre Coeur and Monmartre...after a pasta dinner I am satisfied!

I'll keep you updated....

Bisous du Paris

IRELAND!! Finally!

I have about ten minutes left on the internet so I have to make it quick. But basically as of the 8th of June my dad, Mj, and my little brother and I have been traveling around the south of the country and made our way back up to Dublin where we started. We went from Dublin to Ballyvaughan to Galway to Aran Islands to all the little cowy small towns in between then into the county of Kerry, the Dingle penninsula, to the cork county to the town of Callan, Baltimore, Kilkenny, Kinsale and my Dad has been driving the whole way, about two thousand kilometers. I have been scared on many accounts and Callan and I are constantly holding the chicken bars...all I can say is I am glad I don't have to drive on the wrong side of the road!

The first castle we saw...not to be the last for sure~!


The Cladaugh museum and original jewelry show in Galway city.


Mary Ellen (MJ's mom) and I drinking our first Irish coffee


Me and cal!


We saw some beautiful sites on the drives!


We also saw lots and lots of cows!






These flowers are everywhere!

Vienna

Last week I was in Vienna for three days and I walked all around the city! I met my friend Gabi who I worked with in Nicaragua who now lives back in Austria where she is from and then I took a flight to Dublin.

This is the river I stayed on in Vienna in a little apartment on the right hand side with a Viennese friend.


On the first day I took a three hour self-guided walking tour and here are some great things I saw...




Here is a beautiful rose garden.






Here I am with Gabi!


A great little vineyard restaurant outside Vienna I went to with a friend, Noah.


We sat outside.


Taking the tram back I saw there signs and thought they were funny.

From Salzburg to Vienna

After a week of talking about issues like ethnocentrism, migration, globalization,a dn global citizenship in depth, we had a huge dance party and dinner banquet with all the advisors, professors, and students. We are leaving the Schloss (castle)and going our separate ways. There were about 60 students from Texas, Lousiana, Florida, Illinois and California participating and we all had common values and goals underscoring our unification under global citizenship. This seminar was really just the beginning as far as taking what we learned and applying it to our lives and enrichign others with the humility, openess, human value, and commonality we all have or should have.

So now I am heading to Vienna on the train which is about two or three hours and I will be there for three days mainly to visit Gabi, my former co-worker in Nicaragua last summer. We will only be speakign in spanish so that will be interesting...a US Anmerican and an Austrian communicating in spanish...but it is our common language since she does not speak english very well.

Hope you are well!!! Because here, Europe is amazing (even with unpredictable weather in Salzburg!)

Love it!

An email I just sent to my parentals!

Hey there,
I just got out of a great lecture with a woman, Champa Patel, who works in the UK with trafficking and it focused on creating inclusive societies it was really amazing...I definitely have renewed faith and passion!!
Love you!
Devon