Copenhagen Zoo

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Me, Jess and Katelynn went to the Copenhagen zoo today. It was beautiful out, sunny and 18. I think I got a bit of a tan. The best part about going to the zoo in April is that a lot of the animals have babies. I honestly thought I was going to have a cuteness overload.
The very first exhibit you see after walking in is the lions. And they had cubs. Both half-grown and little babies. They were all asleep initially but later they woke up and were wandering around. They were so cute I wanted to steal one!
Next we saw the monkeys. Who also had babies. You should have seen them running around! One of the babies got in a fight with one of the older, but still juvenile, monkeys. It lost. We were there when they got fed. For some strange reason they gave the monkeys food in a container. One monkey ripped it right open. Then one of the mother monkeys stole it from him. It was pretty funny to watch.
Then there were the penguins! If we'd really wanted to we could have just reached in and picked up one of the penguins, the enclosure was that low. It wouldn't have even been hard. A lot of the enclosures were like that which was really cool. You could get really close to the animals.
The wolf enclosure reminded me of home. Sadly they didn't have any babies that we could see.
At the bear exhibit there were two little cubs who kept play fighting. It was adorable. The mom just sort of ignored them and did her own thing. The male was kept separate. He didn't seem to like that too much...
They had the sweetest elephant exhibit! It was huge. There was also a baby elephant. And one of the elephants, for some unknown reason, decided to climb up onto this little stool thing. Nearly shoved the baby right over. She was a bit of a jerk.
Possibly one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life was at the zoo. Baby otters! Otters are adorable by themselves. Baby ottters? I almost had a cuteness overload right there! They were so tiny and made the cutest little squeaking noise. I think I should get a pet otter. We already have a pool, we're set.
We were actually at the zoo in time to watch the sea lions get fed. They did all sorts of tricks. One rolled over, another did a black flip out of the water, and another one balanced a ball on its nose. It was really cool.
We saw an okapi there. Okapis have got to be the wierdest looking animal ever. Weirder even than platypuses. They're like the bastard offspring of a giraffe, zebra and tapir. And tapirs are freaking weird looking themselves!
We were a little saddened that the giraffes weren't out in the field. It was kind of hard to see them. But there was a baby giraffe!
The zebras also had a baby. Also while we were there some of the zoo keepers were herding the zebras around. We were thinking they might be trying to teach them tricks or something. Who knows.
The last thing we really did, because the zoo closed, stupid 5pm closing time, was go to the petting zoo. They had baby goats. One of the babies kept trying to suckle on my fingers. Which was fine until he decided to use his side teeth to try and bite me. That was not cool. We tried to go see the hippos but the zoo closed. It stays open until 9pm starting in June and next month it stays open until 6pm. We're already planning to go again. But after Tivoli. The new ride there opens this Friday so we'll probably go next week or the week after. I'm beyond excited!
Oh. And that one picture of the road? That's a picture taken from my room. Guess what time I took it? If you guessed 4pm, you'd be wrong. It took it at 7pm. 2 weeks ago. And it's still only April. June is going to be...interesting.

Random Stuff

So here's the latest report from Denmark, the only place I've ever been where you have to check the weather report for wind. All year round. That's no lie. Tuesday it was going to go up to 15 and was sunny, so I put on a tank top. Then I checked the wind. Nearly 30 km/h. I grabbed a sweater. I needed said sweater. Today was also 15 and sunny. However the wind was only 9 km/h. I got too hot. Best part is, there are people wandering around in jackets in this weather. Not too long ago I wore a tank top. Apparently this was noticed. Katelynn had been told of someone walking around campus in a tank top and laughed when she found out it was me. It was 15! There were people in winter jackets! I don't get this. *Sigh* I'm such a Canadian.
Not too much is exciting here really. The sheer amound of sunlight has taken some getting used to. It's almost nine and the sun had yet to set completely. 8pm it's still sunny. I never have any idea what time it is because of this. The best part is that the days are only getting longer.
I've been going to Copenhagen a lot. It helps Oly's there for a good portion of every week so she meets me at the station. This is how I have yet to get lost in Copenhagen. I know the day I go by myself, I'll be lost for at least an hour. I'm actually heading in again tomorrow for a group meeting. It'll be fun. Our supervisor was shocked I hadn't yet gone to the Black Diamond, which is where we're meeting. Apparently it's one of the places you have to go in Denmark if you're a student.
Tuesday was Ben and Jerry's free cone day. I love ice cream. It made me happy. I also got a bunch of shopping done while I was in Copenhagen. Finally got a new charger for my IPod, since the one I bought with me decided to fall to pieces. Literally. And since my speakers just randomly died one day. I'm kind of pissed about that actually. That and I can't find my extra set of headphones. They're neon pink! They shouldn't be so hard to find. Ah well. I'll just have to buy a new pair when I'm in Copenhagen tomorrow. The ones I'm using know are on their last legs. Only one side works unless I get the cord and jack in the exact right position. This saddens me.
I went to the Undersea party which was a lot of fun. I ended up wearing my blanket as a toga. I am awesome pro at tying togas. I said I was an Oceanid or Amphitre depending on when you asked me. Yes. I am a Classics nerd. I was forced to take off my toga eventually as it's fleece and it was way too hot. That's when I said I was a sea anemome AKA I was dressed all in blue. One guy had this awesome King Trident costume. Full robe, crown, arm bands and trident. It was freaking sweet! I was only sad no one came dressed as Aquaman. If I'd had the right clothes I would totally have dressed up as him.
Oh and the reason I took a picture of that can is because every time I see it, Oly has a poster in her room and I see the cans around, I keep thinking it says Kylie. I'm totally bringing her back can.
Well that's all for now. Mostly I wrote this because Mom's been nagging. If I'm not careful she'll find some way to poke me from across the Atlantic. Just kidding Mom, I love you.

Belarus

So here's, and I'm sure Mom's saying "finally", my post of my adventures in Belarus.
I got off the plane and got through customs no problem. In fact the only problem that happened at the airport was me not being able to find mom immediately. We came in at different gates and I couldn't find the gate 4 of the arrivals. Luckily Rhona found me. Pat was not so lucky however. He got left behind at the airport.
We got to Chaussy and we had dinner at the orphanage. I was smart. I refused to do any of the many shots of vodka offered to me. There were a lot of toasts and it was fun. Afterwards me and mom went to Kaminka and I got to see Dziana and Veronique again and meet their mother Tanya and their cousin Angelina. Veronique has gotten huge. She's about 2 inches short of my height. I think she might be able to give Kylie a decent fight for the title of Queen Wookie.
The next day I got to see the Chaussy One school where all the boxes were. The mountains of boxes. We started organizing them. Man did my arms hurt the next day. It was kind of fun though. And afterwards the whole gym became like a maze. I kind of wish there's been some kids around to play hide and seek with. It would have been awesome!
That night we went to his cafe place for a bit. They finally got me to do a shot of vodka. Never again. I hate straight alcohol. Unless it's awesomely flavoured. Vodka is not. And I'm sad to say I got buzzed off that one shot. I am the hugest light-weight ever. Oh well. On the plus side, mom now has a picture of me doing my first shot of vodka. A proud moment for any mother to see.
One of coolest things we got to do was go see older Veronique and her 2 month old baby Kiera. Kiera is adorable! Also probably the most active baby I've ever seen. I don't think she stopped moving the entire time we were there. Mom got these adorable little slippers for her too. Ehee! So cute!
That night me, Veronique and Angelina went out for a wander around Kaminka. We had a lot of fun with my camera. They quite enjoyed being able to see the pictures as soon as I'd taken them. We took a lot of really random ones. I also met most of Veronique's friends. And I got to tease her about boys. It was a lot of fun. We also got into her school so Veronique showed me some of her classrooms. She got us in despite it being Sunday, 8pm and their blatantly being a security guard at the door. He didn't really seem to care though. I was impressed nonetheless.
The next morning I got to go on a delivery that was probably the most fun for me. We delivered boxes of toys, supplies and quilts to this daycare centre. There were only 3 students there. They had a lot of fun going through all the toys. The boy was very serious though. He smiled once when I gave him a candy. The 3 of them were adorable though. The older girl helped us sort through the toys. After we that we went into Mogilev and bought the daycare centre a new fridge since none of theirs really worked. I have never seen someone as happy as the woman who ran the daycare centre was. She did point out something that we found rather interesting. She was saying how she couldn't believe how people like us would just walk in somewhere and buy them a new fridge. We all had to wonder if perhaps we're strange for doing this.
That afternoon I got to meet 2 more cousins of Veronique and Dziana, Violetta and Valaria, as well as their Aunt Natasha. They had some of the longest braids I have ever seen. I'm also pretty sure they thought I was a little insane. So me, Veronique, Angelina, Violetta and Valaria went on a walk along with our fearless protector, Mishal. The dog. He followed us the whole time. He even waited outside when we went to their grandparents. We had a snowball fight, and then at their grandfather's, one of the younger two, I never really learned which one was which, played with my camera. She had a lot of fun taking pictures.
I have to say, Tanya is an amazing cook. Everything was delicious. And I think mom was happy because she actually got to witness me consuming vegetables. I was asked about it repeatedly. I am going to buy some more celery tomorrow and take lots of pictures of me eating it. Then send them to mom. That's what you get for bugging me about it Mom.
Now one story I have to tell is that of the banya. I had no idea what to expect. So me, mom and Tanya all strip right down and go into this sauna-like thing. Then I get to watch as Tanya whacks mom with birch leaves dipped in water. Mom seemed to enjoy it, I think because she was able to get warm. Then it was my turn to get whacked. Man those leaves are hot! I couldn't stay up there as long as mom as it was too hot. Afterwards we washed ourselves out of these bucket-bowl things. Tanya apparently believes me and mom are her children as she insisted on washing us herself. That was...unexpected. I'll admit to being a little surprised at first but I went along with it, no problem.
Oh and the one last thing that was...different about my visit. So on the way to the airport, Sasha, my driver, suddenly pulls over. I thought he was going for a smoke break. I was wrong. We got pulled over by a cop. I had no idea what was going on and for a little while got kind of worried. Especially since the whole thing took like half an hour. Everything turned out fine and we were on our way again. And the very first thing I did when I got back here to Korallen? I took a shower. I washed myself head to toe twice. Sadly, I still smelled like farm. But I got to see a baby bull. And his cuteness made up for any smell that lingered.
Anyway that's an account of my adventures in Belarus. I am back in Denmark and enjoying myself. I'll put up another post about what's been going on here in the next couple of days. Until then, bye!

Copenhagen and Packing

Well I'm better finally. Me being sick is the reason I haven't put a new post up in a while. I haven't done anything so there was nothing to blog about.
So I went to Copenhagen on Friday and met up with my friend Oly there. We went shopping. She showed me 2 stores where we get student discounts, Urban Outfitters and something with the word Top in it. I think it was the Top Shop but I could be wrong. Oh and apparently Tivoli opens next month so we were talking about going soon. Oly was telling me about some of the rides and about the new one. I'm pretty excited. While we were in Copenhagen I was looking for some cool Danish souvenirs and found none. Everything in the stores we went into was super lame so I'm going to pick some up in the airport on Friday.
Speaking of Friday, I head to Belarus then. I'm actually in the midst of doing laundry for that very reason. I'm excited. I just have to pack...and clean up. Seriously need to clean up. Oh well. I've got time. Anyway that's all for now. I'll do a post once I'm back from Belarus so look forward to it.

Sick Again

So I realized I haven't posted anything in a while and since I'm not moving today due to me being sick again I figured now was a good of a time as any. On the plus side I'm not painfully sick. On the downside dizziness is not conducive to getting anything that required movement done. And my fever isn't helping any.
As to what I've been doing lately, well there's not too much to tell. I haven't been doing anything all that interesting. Went to a lot of parties. Went to class and worked on the group project. Oh! Got my first essay assignment for History and Culture. The thing is only going to end up being like 400 words. Hurray for super easy work! History and Culture is also the class where my prof definitely showed a clip from South Park which made me laugh. It didn't help it was the Metrosexual episode. I had the crab people song stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
It's weird. Since I've been here I find myself doing my dishes and my laundry more often than I ever do at Bishop's. Not really sure why though. Well the dishes might have something to do with the fact that I cook a lot more here than I do at school. It helps that there are no microwaves in the building. They sell microwave food in Denmark. I've seen it in the grocery stores so I don't understand why we don't have microwaves here in the kitchens. I mean we're university students. Microwaves would be awesome.
Anyway I'm going to go take a nap now. I'll try to remember to post more often.

Barcelona

The story of Barcelona really begins with me trying to get there. Which also happens to be the next segment on my bus disasters. So I go to the bus station in Granada to get a ticket to go to Barcelona and my credit card was declined. This wouldn't have been such a problem if any of my other cards had worked or if I'd had enough cash on me to pay for it. Neither was the case. A bit upset, I then went to the Granada airport to see if I could get a cheap flight. The flights were twice the amount of a bus ticket. More upset now than before, given that my flight back to Denmark was leaving from Barcelona, I returned to the bus station and tried calling the numbers on the back of my card. None of those numbers worked. That is when I had a breakdown and called mom. Mom called the credit card office from home and we got it all sorted out thankfully. So I left Barcelona at 11:30pm. The bus ride ended up being 11 and a half hours. Which was not so much fun. So finally it's morning and the bus stops. The bus driver announces Barcelona Tarragona. I assume Tarragona is a reference to the station we're stopped at. It's not. Tarragona is a whole other town 5 valleys over from Barcelona. I got off. Then, when I finally found out that I wasn't in Barcelona, I had to take a train. Finally I got to Barcelona and after getting lost a couple of times, I found my hostel. Though I did have one funnt thing happen on the bus ride to Barcelona. This woman sitting across from me asked me, in Spanish, at one of our stops if I was travelling with a man. When I said no, I was travelling by myself, she was shocked. Apparently this is not done.
Not knowing any of the tourist attraction in Barcelona, I ended up just wandering the city. I found this one main strip that, had I had any money on me, would have bankrupted me. It was full of cool little stores, street performers and outdoor pet shops. The pet shops sold, among other pets, duckling and chicks as well as full grown chickens and ducks. Also a lot of turtles. I had a ton of fun. One of the street performers, the on dressed in the Greco-Roman style, was awesome. He asked me where I was from and when I said Canada he remarked that it's cold there. I agreed. Then he reached into his little bowl-thing and pulled out a glass-rock thing that had a snowflake engraved into it and gave it to me. It's my Barcelona souvenir.
The weather in Barcelona was beautiful. The day I had to wander it it was +16 and sunny. So naturally I was wearing a tank top. Apparently this is not natural in Spain. I got strange looks all day and there were people wearing winter coats. Heavy winter coats. I was sweating. On the plus side I got a little bit of a tan.
One of the girls who was staying in the room with me was from Chile but she's been living in Paris for the last couple of years so she speaks French. I spent the afternoon with her, where I spoke French because she spoke very little English, and we went up to the old Olympic Stadium and giant castley museum. I got some great pictures from there and we had a lot of fun.
So on my way back to the hostel, I had to get up at 4am so I wanted to get some sleep beforehand, I get off the Metro at my station. As I'm walking I notice 2 familiar figures. Bella and Monique, 2 Australian girls who'd stayed in the same hostel as me in Granada. The last time I'd seen them they'd been on a bus for Valencia. The three of us were shocked and amused at the coincidence of us meeting up in a city the size of Barcelona. I asked them which hostel they're staying in, saying it can't be Graffitti, which is the hostel I was staying in. Yes it was. So I led the way back to our hostel. As we go, they tell me how they had just spent the last 4 hours in a Spanish Police Station. Apparently while they were eating, some guys stole their bags but Bella managed to stop them. Which was a good thing because their passports were in there. So when an undercover cop arrested the guys who'd tried to steal their backpacks, Monique and Bella had been forced to go down to the station to fill out an incidence report. The only problem was that neither of them speaks Spanish.
So the next day I woke up early to head back to Denmark. I had to catch a bus from Barcelona to Girona to catch my flight. What I didn't know, but soon found out, was that the Metro doesn't run that early. So I tried to walk since it was only a few Metro stops from where I was staying. I managed not to get lost but when it was 25 minutes until my bus, the last one that would get me to the airport before my flight was due to leave, was supposed to depart, I flagged down a taxi since I didn't know how far away the bus station was. It was a good thing I did. I'd never have made it on time on foot. So after panicking and thinking I was going to miss the bus and thus miss my flight, I finally got to the airport and was able to get back to Denmark. Other than a mild misadventure with, yes, a bus, I got back to RUC without much difficulty. And I'm glad to be back. Here at least I know how things work.