"Like the Wheel that Keeps Travelers Traveling On"

At the Louvre in Paris

Hangin' out in Salamis, Cyprus

 Today's post title comes from "Like the Wheel" by The Tallest Man on Earth. I started with Tallest Man on Earth lyrics for the Title of this blog, so it is only fitting that I end with his lyrics too since he's my favorite! As hard as it is to believe, this post concludes my study abroad adventure. Those three 

months certainly flew by! Having arrived back in the States on December 18^th after a 17-hour flight journey, I have had time to adjust and unpack. The flight home seemed rather long, and I almost missed the second one due to a short layover in Heathrow and because Heathrow is ginormous, but luckily I got to the gate one minute before it closed after running through the airport.  (Phew!) My suitcase was overweight at 27.5 kilos, but luckily I read on Cyprus Airways’ website that students in Cyprus are allowed up to 30, so I argued my case and didn’t have to pay a cent- Woot! Because I can’t sleep on planes, I watched four movies on the second flight to pass the time, and I was looking forward to seeing my twin sister Cassie and little brother Cameron waiting for me at the gate.  Cameron just got his license in November while I was away, so it was a strange concept to imagine him driving me home!

Cliff jumping in Agia Napa, Cyprus

  Anyways, let’s start wrapping up the tale of Courtney in Cyprus. First of all, a study abroad experience is unique to each individual. I’d like to say that I’ve changed a lot or learned something profound about myself or had some life changing realization, but I’m not sure I can claim any of those things. It’s funny because most people expect me to say something to that effect, but an experience of this caliber is hard to describe to anyone who wasn’t there. I’ve tried to convey my adventures using this blog, but I feel as if even my words cannot fully describe what it was like to travel to so many places in such a short amount of time! I think if I can claim anything, it is that I’ve strengthened my definition of what makes me: Courtney Amanda Haines. I will explain what I mean by this in a second.

The Pyramids of Giza

The Map of my Travels

            With Global Learning Semesters, I truly saw the ‘World in One Semester’ by traveling to 15 countries: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Vatican City, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands with GLS, and Egypt, London, and Ireland independently.  Highlights of

 course include seeing the Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Berlin Wall, the Pyramids of Giza, Big Ben, and the canals of Amsterdam, but my favorite moments were the ones that paralleled with a certain trait that defines who I am. For me, studying abroad proved to be the most rewarding when I put my already existing traits into the experiences rather than waiting to see how an experience would ‘change’ me.

Astronomical Clock

Vienna State Opera House

The Cliffs of Moher

Scuba Diving in Paphos

I have a fascination with intricate clocks, so the Astronomical Tower in Prague was a special treat. I love the joy found in a simple bike ride, so renting a bike to ride around the river in Strasbourg made my day. I enjoy attending theatre events, so my trip to see ‘Il Barbiere di Siviglia’ at 

The Vienna State Opera House was perfection. The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies, so The Sound of Music tour in Salzburg was a magical experience with snow included! I am obsessed with nature, so experiencing the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland was my favorite experience of all time! A good hike makes me happy, so traversing the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus was a highlight. I am independent, so I was able to plan a visit to the Cyprus Handicraft Service on my own. I’m always looking for the next adventure, so scuba diving in Paphos, Cyprus on my 21^st Birthday was better than any birthday I would’ve had at home. I like cultural experiences, so I will never forget trying escargot in Paris, halloumi cheese in Cyprus, Belgian waffles in Belgium, and Grill Cheese and Trdelnik in Prague. Dancing is fun, so I attended a Greek/Cypriot dance lesson, researched the cultural tradition, and wrote a paper and did a presentation on Cypriot Dance for my cultures class. I am an extreme budgeter, so keeping track of my expenses abroad in an excel spreadsheet became an amusing daily activity. As I predicted, food was the largest expense.

The Expenses Chart....haha

Goodbye, Cyprus!

            And last but not least, I am determined, which is how I ended up studying abroad in Cyprus in the first place! For those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning, you’ll know that I started learning about Cyprus 8 years ago in 7^th grade, and after researching the country, it became a dream to visit Cyprus someday. 8 years ago, I never would’ve thought that I would travel to Cyprus before graduating college let alone study there for 3 months in addition to traveling the world! The fact that I have fulfilled this dream makes me excited and inspired to see where else my goals and dreams will take me! Only time will tell, I suppose. Where will I be 8 years from today?! Perhaps there’s another blog in store for my next big adventure.

            One thing I have realized by studying abroad is how big the United States is! Cyprus is the size of Maryland, and traveling so easily between countries in Europe made me think about what I’m missing with so many unvisited states! I hope there are many road trips in the future to find adventures right here in the good ol’ US of A.

            This is the first blog I have ever done, and I am proud that I kept it up to date rather frequently. With over 1,300 page views to date, I must of course thank all of you for reading and being interested in my travels!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

-Courtney <3

"Packing My Bags and Giving the Academy a Raincheck"

 Hello there! If you are reading this, then you have found your way to my first blog post- Congratulations! 

For those of you who are interested in following my adventures in Europe, I suggest you subscribe to get updates because if I were you I would forget to check back. Now if you're asking yourself: "Courtney's going to Europe??" then allow me to fill you in. When I began my study abroad search, I was originally going to pick one of Muhlenberg College's organized Theatre trips to London or Italy or the Business trip to Maastricht. I'm sure any one of those programs would've been an awesome experience, but I was looking for something that gave me more independence and a little less 'Muhlenberg in Europe'. I began my search with one country in mind- CYPRUS! Why Cyprus? Well, when I was 12 years old, my 7th grade teachers at Northeast Middle School asked us to pick a country that we wanted to research for various projects resulting in slideshow presentations at the end of the year. We had to pick two countries that we had heard of and one that we knew nothing about. My countries were:

1. Germany

2. Ireland

3. Cyprus

Cyprus was obviously the one I had never heard of, and as any good teacher would do, I was assigned that country. My 7th grade year was the first time laptops were introduced into our classroom, and the objective of the country projects was to demonstrate the many ways we could use our laptops. I researched Cyprus for projects like travel brochures, original poems, a history report, a persuasive essay to travel to Cyprus, and of course the final slide show.  After doing so much research on Cyprus, I fell in love with everything the Mediterranean Island had to offer, and it became a dream of mine to travel to Cyprus one day. So, that's why I began my search with Cyprus. 

August 20th, 2011 was the day I began my search, and Google brought me to Global Learning Semesters' website. I was very happy to learn that not only does their International Business program take place in Cyprus, but it also travels to 10 other countries! This opportunity sounded amazing to me and I knew this was the right program for me!  

Here's the link to my program if you want to check it out!

Once I discovered my dream program, I had to work on getting Muhlenberg to approve it since they only allow students to travel on approved programs for the credits to transfer and for financial aid to help pay for it. When I inquired about petitioning for my program, I was informed that not a lot of petitions get approved, and I was afraid that my dream opportunity might slip away. Basically I had to fill out an application and write a really good essay about why the program should be approved. The petition was due in October, but I had to wait until February for the board to review the petition and make a decision. After having to wait for 3 months, you can imagine how happy I was to hear that Muhlenberg had granted their approval --- I submitted my deposit to Global Learning Semesters that day!  :)

Anyways, that is the story that brings me to today. It is Monday and my flight departs on Thursday!!! I have been counting down the days since earlier in the Summer when I was at 75 days....now I'm down to 3. Packing my bags was super frustrating seeing as I swear I did not over pack, and yet there's not much room for more. I had to upgrade to a bigger suitcase that we had once I realized that my smaller one wasn't going to cut it for 3 months worth of stuff. I also took out a few clothing items that I deemed unnecessary. I am tempted to upgrade to an even bigger suitcase, but I think I'm going to resist that temptation....

This post is already longer than planned, so I will save my last minute thoughts for another post right before I leave. I guess you'll just have to subscribe after all....haha. ;)

For your entertainment value (and mine) the titles of my posts will feature fitting lyrics from songs; that way I get to share travel updates and some of my favorite songs at the same time! Today's post is from 'It's Time' by Imagine Dragons to express my current state of bag packing and leaving Muhlenberg "the academy".  Also, the title of my blog is from my favorite artist of all time- The Tallest Man on Earth. His lyrics are so poetic and filled with meaning, so it seemed fitting to honor him with a blog title from 'The Wild Hunt' by The Tallest Man on Earth.

 A few days ago out of boredom and anticipation, I painted my nails with the flags of the 11 countries that I will get to see, and I wanted to share them with you. From left to right: Greece, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands (they have the same flag with slightly different blues, so I just counted that as both) and CYPRUS!

I hope you are excited to read about my adventures! I have never kept a blog before, so it should be interesting to see how often I update it. Stay tuned for posts about my journey to 11 countries!

Till next time!

-Courtney <3