Week 1! ...Already done?!?!

ThI can't believe I'm already finished with my first week here! Sorry for the incredibly late post friends! 

Anywho, here's what's happened so far:

1. I arrived: normally I would say in one piece, but my bags didn't arrive until after me. Also, the movies weren't working on the plane.

2. I moved in: I'm living in the hip town if Recoleta. What I've come to learn is that when one refers to 'Buenos Aires' they could be talking about two different things. When people outside of Argentina refer to Buenos Aires, they mean the capital city. What is news to me (and I think many of my readers (aka Estie, my parents, and a few very good friends)) is that the city Buenos Aires is divided up into smaller sections, one of which is also called Buenos Aires and is the capital of the capital city. Within that capital is Recoleta (where I am) and Palermo (which is the other cool neighborhood in the area)

3. I met people: first off, I'm living in Mechi's apartment! She's great and teaches Brazilian dance which is really neat, but she's from Argentina. Her mom Fanny is also around a lot, and I usually speak the most Spanglish with her. There are two other girls living here: Clarice and Ilse. They're really great to be around, and they've both lived in Argentina/Buenos Aires/Buenos Aires/Recoleta/Palermo for much longer than I have, so they're great at answering my lost and confused questions. Other than those two, I've met Emma, Alec, Scott, and German at the Roads2Argentina mini-orientation (by the way, GoEco, the program I thought I would be on, just put me into the Roads program, so yeah). Yesterday I did some bumming around with Emma, Alec, and another friend from roads Sylvia. But I'll tell you all about that in a bit.

4. I volunteered: saying it like that implies I only did it once, when in fact I did it twice, so yeah. And I plan to do it many more times. But let me give you some details! The organization I'm volunteering for is called L.I.F.E which stands for Luchemos para una Infancia Feliz y con Esperanza. This translates to "We strive for a childhood with happiness and hope." We work with children in the most impoverished area in Argentina, la ciudad oculta, the hidden city. It's called this because in 1978 when the World Cup was held in Buenos Aires, the military dictatorship in Argentina wanted to hide the extreme poverty from the world press, to have the image of  Buenos Aires and Argentina,

remain, in the eyes of the public, pristine and sophisticated. Their solution hiding this area of BA was to build a wall around it. Since then, it has had a terrible effect on the people who live there. It has become the part of town nobody stays in after dark if they don't have to, not even the police. Drug use, robbery, rape, and swatting are everyday occurrences. What LIFE does, is provide a small window of time for the children to come and play and color and be children. Many of them don't have parents who can or will care for them and they suffer from serious lice and tooth decay. Two of the girls I've met had lice so bad, they had to just cut their hair. Despite this, these children have adapted to this life. They know they will be hungry and cold most nights, and they do not complain. They know no other way of life. It's very sad, so you try your best to bring smiles to their faces. On Thursday of last week I brought my camera, and captured some of the moments I experienced. It was also birthday party day, when LIFE brings cake and celebrates the all the birthdays of the children that month, it's very touching. 

My friend Natalie who's really great with the kids, and I've also been hanging out with outside of LIFE!

Myself and Luna, taken by one of the slightly older girls

5. I hung out: there is SO much to do in this city. Just yesterday I went out to the Recoleta cemetery, and it was a beautiful day to walk around. We saw the tomb of Eva Peron, and just had a nice time! Afterwards, we walked around the market that's set up right in the park outside of the cemetery and listened to some music as well. Then we got crazy and went and saw X-Men: Days of Futures Past which confused me a lot, but overall, it was a really fun day!

Friends!!

There was a singular moment when we all wondered if this cat was sleeping or dead..it was sleeping. 

As far as this photo goes, I had taken a much nicer one...except for the couple making out in the corner, so skipped it and chose this one instead.

I really am having a great time here, stay tuned for more exciting fun times. 

As always,

Julia Rose

Surprise! I'm back!

Welcome to all my friends and semi-dedicated readers! I understand some of you are less than excited that I'm posting in our mutual Facebook group [Rory, I'm talking to you ;)] or that I've come up in your newsfeed or again, but I'll soon be heading off on to another adventure, so I've got to let ya'll know, its practically tradition at this point.
So, I'm sure you'd like to know where I'll be going this summer. I didn't want to make any announcements and here it is: Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Though I doubt many of the people reading this are unfamiliar with this wonderful place,  I don't feel like writing a ton about it, so read this fact monster page here! Or if you are too lazy to do that, you could just watch this video of Madonna. I will tell you a single fun fact: Argentinians pull on the earlobes of the birthday boy or girl for each year of their birthday. Which sucks for me since I'll be there for my 20th birthday.
This trip will be significantly different than the ones I've been on in the past. For starters, this trip will not be with Travel for Teens. Obviously, I would still love to be a counselor for them in the future, TFT is how I fell in love with travel. If I had never found TFT, I would not have had the courage to take a year off before college and travel if it weren't for the amazing counselors that taught me so much about the world we live in. I would still love to change someone's life the way they changed mine. But for this summer, I'm headed down a different path.
The program I'll be with this summer is Go Eco! They actually have a lot of cool different programs on their website, and it was definitely a tough decision picking one. I was really interested in their Great White Shark conservation in South Africa, where I could've gone cage diving multiple times a week. But there was a 60% chance I would get there, get on the boat to the sharks, put on the scuba gear, and completely back out. But maybe one day!
The program is a type of community immersion. I'm hoping to work with children teaching English and generally having fun. Plus kids are 45% less likely to use words in Spanish I don't know. While there I really really really am hoping to improve my Spanish. I changed my Facebook language to Spanish, but all that's really done is make me read the disclaimers from different iPhone apps about posting on my wall more closely.
I'll also be taking Spanish classes and living with other young people like me interested in volunteering.  Hopefully I'll make some hip new friends who are interested in traveling around with me to visit some of the sights.

 Hm... What am I missing? Oh right! I leave Saturday. My accommodations have been really unsure until today---so here's this post coming to you within 72 hours of my leaving.
So you should start getting ready to read about my newest adventure sooner rather than later.
As always,
Julia Rose

WHAT A YEAR (2013 recap)

My goodness, how long its been since I last posted on this blog. Sorry friends.
Of course I've been a little busy. In the past twelve months I've been lucky enough to enjoy 4 continents, nine countries, and gained an endless amount of friends and memories. I'd like to take a moment to give a quick shout out to a few people.
1. (the most important) For this I would like to quote Dan Quail: "I'd like to thank my parents...especially my mother and father." Without the endless support of Susan and Andrew, I would not be the person I am today. I realize how lucky I am to have you two as my parents, and though we fight, I owe it all to ya'll. I can only hope to make you as proud to be my parents as I am to be your daughter. I love you guys!
2. Jenna and Fisher (the sibz). I haven't seen much of you guys this year, I'll admit to that. But I do miss you more than you probably realize when I'm away. I constantly do think of you and in this next year I'm going to try to be a better sister...so get ready for that. You babies know I love you. And to my other family: I couldn't thank you guys enough for really loving me and always letting me know that I'm loved all over the country/world.
3. My home friends (you know who you are) the people who have tolerated my endless repeated stories and adventures, who actually made the effort to keep track of me, and who read my posts. Its sometimes amazing to me how awesome of friends I do have. I'll never be able to correctly communicate how much you mean to me. Thank you.
4. My Year Course friends-We've had our adventures. Because of the whole program and especially my section 2, I have learned more things about living with people and growing up than I would have anywhere else. Though I'm not best friends with everybody, I do hope we stay in contact. The other day, it occurred to me how little I realized how strong our bonds can be. As different as we all are, we still love Israel and we chose to take a different path than our peers and live life in an amazing place. I talk about my Israeli life constantly, and the kick-ass people I was lucky enough to meet. Even if we weren't that close during the year, it'll never be too late to become close. We've shared a unique time in our lives we'll never be able to repeat. So hit me up for any reason you want, I'll always be glad to hear from you. :)
5. My Thailand/Cambodia babies and TFT- I've said it before, every summer/TFT trip I learn something new about myself that causes me to grow and mature into a better person. But this year (potentially my last) has been pretty amazing. While we all became very familiar with the Bangkok airport, we also became familiar with each other. I was taught yet another level of responsibility and ya'll saw me through it patiently. Thank you for not being insane, or at least pretending not to be insane while we were together. The friendships I've made with Lydia and Jordan too have had a lasting impression on me as well..I hope to see all of you in the future. :) And to the friends of TFT trips past- I obviously want/need/hope to see you all too.
6. Tulanians- ah yes. How can I find the words to describe the people I met and befriended during my first semester at college? I can't. I'll be honest, I was nervous. I've traveled around the world but never felt like I entirely belonged somewhere. I honestly believe I belong at Tulane. I was lucky enough to find a roommate who semi-tolerates my messy habits and still manages to be my best friend. Same goes for my fantastic suitemates. I live in a building with surprisingly normal people, who have become my go to people truly. I live in a building that really is quintessential. Its (usually) quiet when it needs to be, and the people are genuine. Seriously, if you're considering Tulane, ask me which building. But generally all the people I've met are just my favorite kind of people to be around, I don't have one particular word or phrase to describe it, but I feel as though I'm a part of something at Tulane. Which is all a misfit girl could hope for. Its because of the people I was lucky enough to surround myself with that I was able to succeed in New Orleans. I'm more than ecstatic when I think about the future at school, because its really going to be my our next greatest adventure.
7. My readers, statistics show that a large number of you are from Russia. So thats pretty cool! ...so yeah.

I really am one damn lucky girl. Stay tuned for what's to come: Argentina? Antarctica? Australia? Anywhere. Because my life is truly one big incredible adventure.

As always,
Julia Rose
P.S. WAIT I FORGOT! Happy New Year :)

CamBROdia

So, I've made it to Cambodia! I has a wonderful time in Koh Phi Phi, but honestly, it smelled kind of weird and was too tourist-y.

I did have a lot of fun snorkeling though. Our shark trip was cancelled, so instead of that we spent the afternoon snorkeling around and venturing into the island where the Leonardo DiCaprio movie "the Beach" was filmed. I haven't seen it, but from what I've been told its a pretty strange movie. We enjoyed seafood that evening before packing up for our next transition. 

And now I find myself here, in Siem Reap Cambodia. I'm very excited for the day tomorrow, so if you'll please excuse me, I am off to bed

As always,

Julia Rose

Hello & Goodbye to Chiang Mai

So, the Internet in Thailand is not so awesome, so I apologize for the wait. But here's my first blog post!!

Day 1: a good 48 hours of flights. I met all my campers! Jacob S (who was also on Classic Italy with me last year!), Alena G, Collier R, Hannah S, Cristina I, Helena T, Jessica RW, Niha K, Gonzalo E, Francesca R, and Julianne K. Luckily, I got a really great group. Also all of our flights went perfectly well, which is awesome. When the group arrived in Bangkok we met the lead counselors Jordan and Lydia. They're pretty cool too. As a group we flew to Chiang Mai and then drove to our accommodations. 

Day 2: our activities for the day were jungle cooking and visiting some pretty amazing temples. 

In jungle cooking, we literally made our meal. Pork salad, grilled chicken, Nam-Prik (which is like Thai salsa), steamed/cooked mushrooms in banana leaves, and other things and sticky rice (which is present at almost every meal). It was quite delicious and I took some really artsy photos. At one point, Julianne and I snuck away to explore a bit, and we ended up milking an angry goat. It's a lot harder than it looks my friends. 

After lunch we traveled into Chiang Mai and I got to visit my first Buddhist temples! The first one was Wat Doi Suthep. The legend of this temple in particular is that a expensive white Elephant belonging to a king was set free with a piece of Buddha. This elephant traveled through the jungle and let a roar out at the top and died. This prompted the king to build a beautiful temple in that spot. Everything is lined with gold, I'll post photos as soon as I can. 

Wat Chedi Luang was the name of the second temple we visited that day. It's super bedazzled, I kind of want to copy it for my new wall paper in my room. Very very beautiful.

Then we spoke with a monk, he began every response to a question with "Well, you know..." And that slightly bothered me, but otherwise was very interesting. They don't eat after noon, which I could never do. So I guess becoming a monk isn't in my future, plus I'm a girl and I don't really want to shave my head and eyebrows, but whatever. 

We finished the day the Sunday walking street market. I bought a tie-dye shirt. "#awesome" (-Lydia said that..her and Alena are helping me type this blog post aloud."

I also bought a silver ring for my collection and stretchy pants. The total for the end of the day was about 500 baht. Which equates to $16.66. Everything is really cheap here and it's awesome. Then we went to bed.

Day 3: Rock climbing and repelling. I was excited because I already knew how to tie all the important knots on my harness. One concern I had though was that they didn't use stopper knots there, for the extra security, so, hmmmm. I still had one anyway. 

It was a real mountain, not a fake rock wall. Which is surprisingly challenging. But, I handled like a pro of course. What else would you expect from me? 

The next thing I did not handle as well was repelling. I've repelled before, but it was maybe like 10 feet, at least. That day, I repelled about 120 feet, so it was a little different. Also in the times I have repelled before, I had the wall right there. It was just me, in the air, like 100 feet up. Pretty scary. 

That evening we had a barbecue, sort of American themed. Which was quite pleasant. We also played Mafia, but I don't want to talk about it.

Day 4: our busiest day yet! We began the morning a little grocery market for 15 minutes, it was cool, but everyone was itching to get to our next activity.

Elephants. Yes my friends, elephants. We did not ride them though. We actually learned about how abused these poor creatures are when they're forced to perform in shows and give rides. The place we spent the morning at was a refuge for 35 previously mistreated elephants. There was all really cute baby to, but we weren't allowed to touch it. Unless we wanted to get trampled by its mom and her friends.

Right after that we went zip lining through the jungle. I took my camera up into the trees with me (although my father would not approve--sorry daddy!) and snapped some pretty sweet photos. Hooray!

We then went to the night Bazaar. Which was awesome and had knock off everything. Ray bans, beats headphones, Gucci, you name it. HMU (hit me up)  if you want me to hook you up. 

Days 5,6,7 and half of 8 were community service days! We completed part of an addition to a kindergarten in an obscure village 4 hours outside of Chiang Mai. Lydia says it was near the highest mountain in Thailand. We stayed in the homes of local villagers without a real bathroom or shower. And yet, we all survived. I stayed in a home with Helena, Jessica, and Cristina. It just happened to be the nicest one in the village. We could close our windows and had a nice big room to ourselves. 

I actually had a lot of fun on this volunteering trip. I got to paint a lot of murals and interact with local children. We didn't finish the addition, but we really did do a lot. I'm proud of us no matter what. 

Day 8: yesterday. A travel day my friends. We left Chiang Mai for Phuket. Took two cars, two planes, and a boat to get to our hotel on Koh Phi Phi.  I got a little sunburned, but I still look good.

And then today, day 9, we're snorkeling! The rest of the group is actually scuba diving, but Lydia, Alena, and I are not. And that's what gave me the perfect window of time to write this post, we're in an area where there are just too many boats for us. But it seems like in a few minutes, it will be our turn! So that's all for now folks!

As always, 

Julia Rose

You didn't even get the chance to miss me! Lets go hang out in Thailand! ADVENTURES

Here we are friends...three weeks after I arrive home from my nine months abroad, and I'm off again.
This time on the wonderful amazing Travel for Teens trip to Thailand!
But before I get to that, I want to mention how much I really do miss Israel.
Towards the end I struggled, part of me wanted to be home so badly, but part of me never wanted to leave. Israel will always have a piece of my heart, and I can't wait to go back. Shout out to those people in charge: Ido, Miri, Gal, Gal, Kate, Betty, and all my wonderful teachers. And I'll never forget my section 2 favorites, or any of the other friends I've made. This year would not be the same without each and every person I've met and come to truly know and love. You know who you are!

Anyway, enough of the emotional crap! Lets go over what I'll be doing in Thailand! I'm including various links to various websites, but I'll try to give my own summary of each place I'll be at!
The dates I'll be there are from June 28, 2013 to July 14, 2013.
Friday, June 28; Day 1: The flights. I'm flying out to LAX, where I will meet my fabulous campers. Then as a group we will fly through Tai Pei/Taiwan in China at 1:35 AM. Which is so funny, because my little brother Fisher just returned yesterday from China. He even took after his sister and blogged while he was there, how cute! But we don't spend much time at all in Tai Pei (which is actually an island off the coast of China), before we hop on our plane to Bangkok!
Saturday, June 29; Day 2: We arrive in Bangkok at around 11:35 AM, Thailand at last! But we're not quite finished with planes yet. The group then has an additional connecting flight to Chiang Mai! We finally arrive at 4:00 PM after a very very very long day of travel. Luckily, the rest of the night is really just time to recuperate after probably more than 24 hours of traveling.
While you imagine me sleeping, let me tell you about Chaing Mai! Built in 1296, Chaing Mai currently has a population of 200,000 people, and is the second largest city in Thailand. 700m north of Bangkok, Chaing Mai is a cool hip university town known as 'the rose of the north'
Sunday, June 30; Day 3: A jam packed day! We visit the Elephant Nature Park (which is exactly what it sounds like) and go zip lining all before lunch, you can bet I'll have my camera EXTRA charged that day. That evening we get to explore the Bazaar, which I've read is quite the sight to see!
Monday, July 1; Day 4: We spend the day at the Crazy Horse Buttress. Which is nothing what it sounds like it would be, its actually a rock climbing experience. Basically, it covers a large portion of what I did in my Outdoor Ed class senior year: climbing, caving, and rappelling (you should be jealous of that, because that was my gym class. While you ran laps around a circle and played flag football, I was kayaking, skateboarding, and climbing stuff. Shout-out to Colegrove, that was an awesome class). We do that all day, before returning to our hotel and having a relaxing BBQ. Hooray!
 Tuesday, July 2; Day 5:  We kick the day off with a jungle cooking lesson, followed by an adventure to Wat Chedi Laung. Which is this really cool Buddhist temple from the 14th century. After that we go to the walking street market to finish the day!
Wednesday, July 3; Day 6: Finally, the first day of volunteering! The project our group will be focused on is developing a school in a remote village. I'm sure many amazing stories and photos will come from this day, I'm so excited!
Thursday, July 4, Friday, July 5, and Saturday, July 6 are all community service days as well! These are days 7 through 9!
Sunday, July 7; Day 10: We get up nice and early to leave Chiang Mai. We get two more flights to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Phuket. If you think we're done there...you're wrong! Then our group takes a ferry to Kho Phi Phi!  Koh Phi Phi is a collection of six small islands, which look absolutely beautiful!
Monday, July 8; Day 11: The group goes scuba diving! I, alas, do not. If you were previously unaware, I have asthma. While I normally wouldn't let that stop me, I just don't think I use my inhalers enough to be sure I'll be fine. Its a bummer, but I can always come back, right? :) After the group goes scuba diving, we get a tour of an island called Phi Phi Ley, where the movie The Beach  with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed! I've never seen that movie, but thats still cool.
Tuesday, July 9; Day 12: Get psyched, I'm going swimming with SHARKS! Which I did previously in Fiji, but I'm still so excited to do again! We then get a lovely sunset tour of the island on a longboat. I can just smell the photo opportunities.
Wednesday, July 10; Day 13: I get to travel to Angkor Wat! Which is actually a Buddhist place of worship in Cambodia! My cousin Jessica spent time there! So maybe it will become some sort of family trend, I wouldn't mind that. After that wonderful experience, we meet the rest of the group in Kanchanaburi. It has a lot of cool WWII history and cool scenic things.
Thursday, July 11; Day 14: In the morning, we will visit Hellfire Pass. A forced labor camp that was once run by the Japanese army. I actually remember reading a little bit about this place while at the Genocide Museum back in Rwanda, so what I do know of it, isn't very good. After that the group has the option of either going Lawa Cave or to the Tiger Temple. I personally think I'm going to the tiger place, how could I not? But we'll see of course.
Friday, July 12; Day 15: SHOUT-OUT TO MY CHOIR OPERA PEEPS: because this is where my one night in Bangkok begins. Actually, its two nights in Bangkok. But regardless I'll just be picturing Joey D walking around a bunch of frozen people singing/talking the solo. And the choreography by Rae L. good times. And because many of you won't get this reference, don't worry about it.
Saturday, July 13; Day 16: The day before this and this day as well will be spent exploring the amazing city of Bangkok. Then at night we have our final dinner, sadness!
Sunday, July 14; Day 17: Our flight leaves Bangkok at 3:15 and before I even know it, I'll be back in America.
This trip is going to be a whirlwind of color and culture. I'm more than excited! Of course, I'm not as excited for the weather that is making out to be in 100s range for the next two weeks.
This is more than just an adventure, its THE adventure! I've been dying to go to Thailand, expect many stories, many photos, and at least one blog post.
As always,
Julia Rose

Nine months later....

So..I guess this is it guys...my final post from Israel.
WHAT?
I leave Israel on June 4th, 2013 at 1:00 AM. I'll arrive in JFK at 5:40 AM of the same day. I have to go through customs and recheck my bags for an 8:30 AM flight back to Chicago. And finally, at 10:19 AM, I'll be home. It sounds so simple that way.
But its so much more than that. I'm closing the door on this chapter of my life. Next is Thailand and then Tulane and who knows what else? But I've had those ups and downs this year, sometimes I just wanted to go home. But I stuck around. I think that makes me a stronger person, right?
I'll probably have more closing remarks when I actually get home. I'll give those and details on my Thailand trip in a week or two.
I just really can't believe it.
I keep having these flashes of memories from my first few weeks in Israel. Sitting in the Michala (where we took classes in Bat Yam) on our first few days, getting talked at while we sat there sweating. I didn't really know anyone. I know I've come so far from there, its insane.
Here are some things I can do now:
1. Take the public bus
2. Make pasta
3. Make an Israeli breakfast
4. Ask how much something costs in Hebrew
5. Get myself from one part of the country to another by myself via train or really long bus ride.
6. Navigate through a country where I REALLY don't speak the language and still be confident to get to my destination.
7. Go to the clinic and get days off without really being sick
8. Go grocery shopping
9. How to hitchhike
But that's only a few.
For now, I'm kind of sick of goodbye blogging.
So...
as always,
Julia Rose