Onward to London

Cliff Walk, Newport, Rhode Island, USA. 23 June 2016.

Hey there from DC!

I’m concluding the American leg of travel, and getting ready to leave tomorrow. It’s been interesting to be back, I won’t deny that there was culture shock being back in the States. THE GOOD: People speak English. I can actually communicate what I want without stressing! THE BAD: The food here is hugely disappointing after being in Europe. Croissants and baguettes aren’t even close. Plus, they cost quadruple and taste a fraction as glorious, and I have to remind myself consciously that this is America, not Europe, and the food just isn’t the same. So thrilled to be going back. In America, I’ve been to New Jersey, New York, Newport (Rhode Island), and here in Washington.

New York

The visa rant: getting a French visa has been the most outrageous and stressful process of this entire trip, and I suspect it’s similar with other countries too. I started (18 months ago) by calling consulates to try to get answers about combining travel in Rennes and Paris (through two programs and a two-month gap) and after a lot of wishy-washy, uncertain answers (that wasted about six months’ time), the final answer was “no.” I couldn’t get one visa for both programs, so I had to do Rennes as a tourist, then get a student visa for Paris. So, after fighting several consulates very hard, I sucked it up and bought a $700 flight back to the States and abandoned two weeks in London to wait around for the visa. I’ve had a good time hopping around the East Coast, but the consulate experiences have been harrowing to say the least, and have necessitated traveling from Washington up to NYC (nine hours round trip, plus the travel expense) for a silly twenty-minute meeting. But, I’m now free to visit France in autumn!

Some cool stuff I’ve done in the States for my two-week return:

1.      Saw the DC Monuments again! Feelin’ so American.

2.      Had real, honest-to-God New York bagels. They were wonderful, shoutout to Dina and Yael for lunch, and to Thomas and Marin for showing me some of Manhattan!

3.      Walked clear across Newport, Rhode Island and saw the Atlantic from this side of the coast! The Cliff Walk is incredibly scenic, highly recommend, and the mansions are awesome.

4.      Walked along Ocean Avenue, listening to “Ocean Avenue.” Life goal accomplished.

5.      Cried internally when I couldn’t order wine at restaurants.

6.      Drew ink sketches of every place I went (I’ll post them all up sometime).

7.      Saw Les Misérables! Yep, I’ll admit it, I’m a French major and had never seen Les Mis until today. It was so beautiful though, shoutout to Lauren for showing it to me! Now I’m gonna try to read all 1500 pages in the original French, wish me luck.

8.      Got a beautiful and personalized tour of the US Capitol from Ben – it was so in-depth and fancy, plus we got to go to the cool restricted areas. Woooo for having friends in high places.

9.      Followed the Brexit with a passion. Will report on any cool (or terrifying) things I see in London.

10.  Tried Newport sea salt taffy with Cam and Liam, would recommend!

Washington, D.C., USA; 1 July, 2016.