New Year Confessional from Around the World...

Time is ticking and the New Year is almost here.
As I sit and reflect on my year some of my life's greatest moments come to mind, and they all occurred this year. I am extremely thankful for all that has happened!

My year started with a New Years celebration in La Quinta, California with some of my closest friends and family.

My year pretty much started with me and crutches and physical therapy. I dislocated my knee in November 2010 and had to wear this huge brace on my leg and not stand on my leg for too long.
I also decided then to not drink coffee of any kind for 6 months. It was quite difficult, but I was able to do it.
I spent a lot of time focusing on school, but I was enjoying myself at the same time. What I thought was going to be my last year turned out to be extended into a second major.
In February I was also able to dance on stage with the CATARACS.
In March I decided that I wanted to study abroad over the summer and applied to Semester at Sea.
Then in the beginning of April I went to Las Vegas with my closest friends... Not only did I learn that I can have fun and work hard, but I learned how much better it is to be a girl.
Later in April there was the Royal Wedding and I walked for 26 hours with Relay for Life...
In June I left for Nassau Bahamas to start my trip on Semester at sea. From there we sailed to Barcelona, Spain. Then to Naples and Rome Italy then to Croatia then to Greece then to Bulgaria then to Istanbul and finally to Morocco.
I spent all of September hanging out with a wonderful friend and trying to find an internship.
A week into September I got the best internship in the world. I also found a great place to live. When school started it could not have been better, however I was very busy with work, internship and school.
And my Fall quarter ended with me being on set of a movie as an assistant.
Now I am enjoying my break being myself, having fun and relaxing.

Friendship

I've been thinking a lot recently about friends, who they are, what they do, and any other gory details friends might bring along for the ride. 

Friends come in all different forms shapes and sizes.

Such as in your pets....

Whether their much younger...

Or an inanimate object.

Friends are always there for you!

I know that I appreciate my friends each and every day because I know that  if something were to happen to me, they would be there for me.

One thing that I have learned over the years is that even if your mad at your friends and you get in a fight, there is always a way to figure out a solution to the problem or overcome the past. There is always a chance to move on. 

You do silly things with friends...

And you can always get away with it. They stand next to you when others call you names and back you up by saying "Ah screw them!" when you need to hear it. I know that I have counted on my friends on many occasions for that kind of help.

I am always willing to do anything for my friends because what would a person do without them.

Friends always tell you the truth when you want it, even though it may hurt at the time. 

You learn to move on and to fix yourself because they have the guts to break your heart. 

Sometimes they make mistakes too, but learn to forgive even though it is not always easy to forget. 

So what I am trying to say is appreciate your friends! Sometimes it is better to just stop being so hard headed and be the first to speak if you get in an argument, and sometimes it is best if you just listen while they cry. No matter what there is a friend for everyone in some way shape or form.

What do you do when.....?

So I have been thinking a lot about this, and it is probably because of all the Romantic movies I have been watching and all the movies that have some sort of love interest within them, but I have been wondering a lot about how people react and what they do when they fall in love or even just have a crush on somebody.

I am very critical of myself and sort of try to come-off as not interested because I don't like to pry myself onto men like some girls do, I actually don't feel comfortable doing that...

 I guess Im just very old school like that, but in reality that is just what I have grown up around... 

I want someone to speak to me with such passion about love that it's almost like they want to show me what true love is. 

I don't know what happened to those times when men "FELL IN LOVE" but it needs to come back because Divorce rate has been only growing.

However I don't want to miss out on what people call true love.

So my challenge is for you to comment on this post what do you do to get that person you fell for to notice you???? 

Back to School...

So today is my first day back at school after coming back from Semester at Sea...
School is quite uneventful when you are not on the ship with all the beautiful views and all the amazing people around.
I almost feel lost going from class to class in actual classrooms with no windows and full to the brim with a lot of people.
It does feel nice to see familiar faces, although I wish I was sailing to Brazil instead.
I guess this boring life will surround me for the next year and I just have to make the best of it.
I have started my internship and so far it is amazing... everything that I have hoped for it to be. I actually am excited for days that I go in and for the tasks they have me complete. I am stepping closer and closer to my dreams coming true and I thank god every day for blessing me with such a beautiful life!

The end... Im going home!

The rest of my time spent in Morocco was not as eventful I ended up just walking around the souks and the main square.
When I got back to the ship from Marrakech I knew I was entering a new faze of my voyage, the time where I was preparing to get off the ship, going home.
I had mixed emotions about coming home because on the one hand I was happy to be coming back to my family, my own bed, and a wider variety of clothes which I missed. But I was sad because I felt like I just made some of the best friendships that I have ever had.
I finished my final exams with passing grades of course, actually I got quite good grades.
We had a gender bender performance and convocation for the graduating seniors and all of us who were becoming Alumni, and of course we had the Alumni Ball.

We were served a beautiful formal dinner all of us dressed in our best attire. The Captain of the Ship Captain Krstanovic who took photos and was present at both dinners for all 650 of us.

I ordered the Steak with the Bruschetta appetizer. The food was delicious.

After the dinner was a dance party on the pool deck where one of my friends who is a DJ played music for us all.

We had a blast until 11:10pm when they made us stop the music, but everyone decided that they wanted to stay out longer so everyone sang songs together, it was a very exciting moment and I felt like we all were sort of united after the long time we spent together. It was also a little sad because it felt like we were saying good bye.

The next following days I spent packing and mentally preparing to go home, but I don't think that it is possible for me to go home.

I am never home, I am always at another stage in my life that is leading me to an unknown destination.

I flew home at 4 pm on Saturday August 20th. I arrived at Palm Springs airport at 9:30ish pm and was picked up by Tom, whom I am very thankful for picking me up and helping me tremendously in preparing for this whole trip!!!

I entered an empty home because my mom was out of town until the next day. I went straight to sleep because I was so tired from all the excitement of being home and all the traveling that I have been doing.

Right now, I am taking life slowly, making sure that I have all my priorities in order before I make any rash decisions. What will happen I do not know.. but time will tell... hopefully another adventure that I can cherish in my memories forever.

The life of a Sultaness!

I came to Morocco 2 days ago and did not expect greatness out of it because our ship docked in Casablanca and as the wikitravel page said, there is absolutely nothing to do there apart from going to Rick's Cafe and seeing the Mosque that is there.
So my friends and I decided to get a VILLA... yes indeed it is a villa. When people talked about these I thought that it would be costing a lot of money, but in fact when you put 3 people in each bed, some people sleep on the couches, and some people sleep on the lounge chairs on the terrace, and you fit 20 people all together it is really really affordable.
So where is this VILLA you may ask?
It is in Marakech, if you still do not know watch the last season of America's Next top Model because the show was in Marakech, Morocco.
How we got here?
Well we took a train and before we got on this train we were expecting to be in comfortable first class where there was air conditioning and and designated seats. We did not get this!
Because there was so much people going to Marakech that were on the ship, there was no more first class seats left and all of my group and a lot of people from the ship had to be in the second class, only other class there is. This class consists of seats where you may find them, and if you are unlucky you stand in the hall. There was no air conditioning so it was really really hot, and we all crammed ourselves into one compartment. 8 people in a small compartment with tinny openings for windows and limited airflow was very painful for all of us, but we survived through it.
When we finally got to Marakech it was already 2:30 pm and we were starving so since it is currently Ramadan in Morocco most restaurants are closed until sundown. So we went to Mcdonalds.
After eating we got taxies. The taxies literally drove through the smallest streets that we did not expect the taxies to fit, somehow we survived and fit in them.
The area looked horrible, we were in fear of what this Villa was going to look like, it was dirty and horrifying ugly in the alleys. Then the taxi drivers got into an argument, well a fight, they were yelling really loudly and the other taxi driver made our friends get out of his taxi as we drove away. We were scared for our lives because we did not know where we were, where the taxi driver was leaving our friends, and where we were going. Our taxi driver parked in a square that looked like a trash dump, maybe not as horrible, but it wasn't all that great. We saw our friends from the other taxi emerging from an alley and it took some of the fear away. They walked us through alleys and into a little street where little 5 to 10 year old boys decided that it was okay to slap mine and the other girls butts, pinch us, touch us, and yell different words at us. This was not okay and I did not want to be there at that time.
He finally knocked on a door and a man opened it. As we stepped through this door we entered a palace.
Literally this place looked so beautiful, that is when I knew I was in the right place, except I was shocked as to how cheap it cost for the looks of it.
When we entered the door in front of us was a courtyard with a small pool a living room next to it, and a dining room next to that when we stood in the center of the courtyard we saw a balcony that went all around the top floor. and above that was a tarp through which we could see the sky.
This was unreal to me. The man that greeted us showed us our rooms and we just took a room on who called it first. They were all extravagantly beautiful!!!
All but 2 rooms were on the second floor, one was on the bottom floor and one next to our private terrace where there was also a laundry room and a massage room.
This place was incredible!! and all to us.
There is breakfast included in the price and we can go on camel rides, and get massages and hamams and pedicures and anything imaginable for not very high prices.
So that night we went to walk around and see what is situated in what area and we wanted to sleep early so that we could go camel riding in the morning.
The next morning I woke up at 8am and walked down to a really delicious breakfast. Then we went Camel riding which was a lot of fun. After camel riding we went to a restaurant to eat lunch and then we walked around the new town area. After all of that we took taxies back to our VILLA and swam in our pool.
I am loving Morocco and advise everyone to come here!!!

When in Istanbul do as the Istanbulu's do...

The day before we got to Istanbul, Turkey we had to go to Pre-Port which is basically the Deans telling us all about what the country we are entering is like. We learn about the economical standing, what to watch out for, like pick-pocketers, what not to do, what to wear, and whole bunch of other information so that we don't end up in a jail. One of the presentations was on the top 10 things to do in Istanbul as an Istanbulu would do them.
So they counted as:

1.Turkish Bath (Hamam)
2. Turkish Delights
3. Apple Tea
4. Nergali (shisha, hookah)
5. Blue Mosque
6. Hagia Sofia
7. Grand Bazaar
8......
9......Other things which I do not remember because I did not do them.....
10.....
So yes I did not complete the list of things to do in order to be like the people of Istanbul, but I did do some things that I didn't expect to do.
On my first day upon arrival I went to the Grand Bazaar with a class tour, I also went to the Spice market on this tour. I was able to purchase some Turkish Delights which were delicious of course. The Grand Bazaar was big and filled with people, a lot more than I expected. The shops themselves were a lot different than I expected as well because it looked more like an indoor mall than a Bazaar.
On the second day I was going to walk around the city and maybe make a reservation for a Hamam (Turkish Bath), but after I entered the Hamam the next thing I knew I was handing over my credit card to the people at the front desk and them handing me a little tile with some words on it and a scrubber. I did not know what to expect. I entered through the entrance to the women's side and I was handed this towel like thing and underwear that I put on. I was led then into a large circular room with a risen platform made of marble in the center this lady took my towel off laid it on the circular platform and told me to lay face down on it. I laid not knowing what to expect. She then used the scrubber and scrubbed me clean from head to toe. It felt great because it was like an exfoliating massage. After I went into a Jacuzzi and a warm water pool. All together I stayed for maybe 3 hours at the most.
The third day I took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul, which was not very interesting, it was more of a spot to say that I was in Asia and that is all. Then I went to see Hagia Sofia which was really big and looked a lot like a Mosque, but it was a museum at the time. Then we went to the Blue Mosque which was closed at the time for prayer so I could not go inside.
On the fourth day I decided to stay on the boat and tan because in the early morning I had a boat tour of the Bosphorus which was really interesting and I was able to see a lot more than I expected. I saw a lot of palaces and universities and expensive homes.
On the fifth and final day I set out to see the inside of the Blue Mosque and it was big, but I was expecting it to be more spectacular. Although thinking about how the whole thing was hand painted was pretty cool.
So that is my 5 days in Istanbul... Can you count the extra things that I did and the things that I was able to check off of my list???

The Land of the Roses.... Bulgaria!

Oh Bulgaria….
I was in Bulgaria for 4 days and I enjoyed each and every moment of it.
Well maybe not all of it because on the first day I had a Field Program for my Economics class that was on The Communist monuments and such things that are still standing in Varna. If I knew that it was going to be the way it was I would have not gone on it and just written a paper with all that I already knew from my family.
There was an older tour guide lady who told us her life story pretty much and how she couldn’t baptize her children in the city and how the only reason she had a passport was because her job provided it for her, but in reality it wasn’t hers at all.
She talked a lot which was what bugged a lot of the people that were on the trip with me. We thought it would be like interesting and we could see photos and maybe some museum, but we were sitting in a bus the whole time while it drove around and she talked and occasionally pointed out things that we drove by.
Although the next day I had a Jeep Safari trip. This was probably the best trip that I signed up for out of all the countries that I have been in. We took 10 Jeeps and drove through the forests and we could see what was around. Then we went to a sunflower field and to a little village where we tasted Brandy. The Brandy did not taste that good. I had it barely touch my lips and my whole mouth burned. After that we tasted Honey and that was delicious. Then they drove to a spot where we shot air-soft guns and finally to a spot where they gave us lunch. We had Shaschwicks and Tomatoes and cucumber and it all tasted so good. We drank beer with it all and they played music for us and sang and even taught us a dance.
At night in Bulgaria I went out dancing with my friends and when I wasn’t on a trip I was at the beach near a Volleyball stadium where they were having European Beach Volleyball competition. I actually met 2 guys that were from Poland also that were playing in the competition which made me happy.
I watched some of the games that I could see from the beach, but mostly focused on my tan.
Overall I enjoyed Bulgaria because it was a good break from the strikes and protests in Greece.

"How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens" -Alexander The Great

This quote speaks the truth... I did a lot in Greece, and not much at all at the same time....
Why is this???
Well Greece is going through some financial difficulties as a country and they have a budget deficit of about 145%, which yes is a lot. So it was very difficult doing much especially since on the first day Hilary Clinton came to Athens to give a speech at the Acropolis Museum and then wanted to see everything that there was to see in Greece. Because of this almost all the streets were being shut down for her to get by without traffic.
That first night I also went  to see the brand new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 2.
The next day all taxi's went on strike and blocked all the streets so that tourists could not get anywhere. I believe that the government was making changes so that it would be cheaper and easier to obtain a taxi license and they thought it was unfair to them and they decided to hit where it would hit the most, the tourist industry.
Luckily for me I was able to see the Acropolis and the Museum the first day. So the rest of my stay in Greece I pretty much spent on the boat, apart from going out to dinner on the second night and on the third day I went to the city to go shopping with a friend of mine. At 9pm we decided to take a bus back to port, and the bus went on strike. I made sure before we even started shopping that the bus would be running and how often it came to a particular stop. We waited for almost an hour for the bus to come, and it never came. So we ended up asking a nice gentleman on which metro to take and how to get a metro ticket and all that, he was kind enough to take us almost all the way to the port.
I also went to get some wine the last night with a couple girls and we had cherries with it. The man that served us wouldn't take any money from us so we left him a tip which he tried to give back to us 3 blocks away from the restaurant, we refused to take it.

Here is a little song to honor Greece...

So yes this was Greece... I survived.

Photos....

Bahamas~

Barcelona, Spain~

Naples, Italy~

Rome, Italy~

Dubrovnik, Croatia~

Athens, Greece~

Bosphorus~

Varna, Bulgaria~

Istanbul, Turkey~

Where have I been?????

Last time I wrote I was in Greece... well today I am in Istanbul--Constantinople... TURKEY!

Between then and now I was also in Varna, Bulgaria.

This trip is becoming better each and every day, although I do miss home.

I will post up photos and videos when I am back home because internet is really minimal now a days...

I will write more another day!

For now~ So Long Friends!

The Pearl of the Adriatic.... Dubrovnik, Croatia

"Once upon a time there was a Princess and she lived in a castle guarded by a fortress of walls. The streets within this fortress were smooth because at night little elves came and polished them clean. There were many hiding places for the Princess within as well. On one side of the fortress there was sea and an island which was used as protection, on the other side there were mountains..."
Okay so that is what I think of when I think of Dubrovnik.
It was beautiful and it really looked as though in the middle of the night elves came to clean everything spotless.
There is a big nightlife in Dubrovnik ranging from the pubs and bars to nightclubs on the beach and around old town.
The beach in Dubrovnik is a stone beach and because we were there on the hottest couple days of the summer thus far.
When I was actually at the beach I was tanning more with my sweat than with any kind of tanning oils or lotions because literally 5 minutes of laying down and I was drenched.
So this is Dubrovnik...
I will post up pictures next time because I haven't collected them all on my computer.
Greeting from Piraeus Greece by the way!

The Rest of Rome and Croatia!

So far this trip is amazing!

We arrived in Dubrovnik Croatia yesterday in the morning (July 11, 2011) and the port alone is beautiful!

Rome was the time of my life as well, I didn't think I could see all the monument in the time that I was there, but as the locals say you need 3 years in Rome to see everything. I was able to go to the Vatican, to see the Pantheon, and walk where the Romans have walked.

Me with all of Rome!

Fontana di Trevi

My mad photography skills

Colosseum!

Center of the Vatican

Jan Pawel II

Vatican and Saint Peters Basilica

Pantheon!

Now I am in Dubrovnik, Croatia and the weather is beautiful and so is this city.

I hope that everyone is having a beautiful summer as am I!

Greetings to all!

My Voyage thus far!

Okay so I understand that my posts have not been posting, and I don't know why.
So I was able to get on the ship without any problems. My room is very small it has 2 beds a small Tv that is literally 5 inches by 5 inches a tiny fridge and a descent bathroom for the size of the room. My roommates name is Vicki and I am so excited that she is my roommate because we get along very well.
So the voyage from Nassau, Bahamas to Gibraltar was great we had no extremely sized waves.
Classes on the other hand are hard, I have 10-20 pages of reading everyday per class so I'm taking 3 classes so I have about 60+/- pages of reading depending on the chapter that we have to read. I had classes for the first 12 days and then we got to Barcelona, I already had a test in 2 classes and on class has quizzes every other day.
When we got to Barcelona, Espania I walked out of the boat with 2 other girls that I got to know through class just knowing each other over time (the rest of our friends went on field trips that they previously signed up for). We walk all over La Rambla and went to the Boquaria market (it might be spelled differently, but I don't have much time to write this).
Barcelona is beautiful with historical buildings everywhere you go. I was sure to see Sagrada Familia, Bari Gotic, La Rambla, the Beaches, and of course the night clubs.  On one of the nights me and the girls went to see Kaskade, a famous DJ in Opium night club. We met a lot of people from all around the world in Barcelona and loved each and every moment.
So pretty much we spent our nights in Disco's and our days walking, lets just say I walked so much that if it all added up I could probably cross a State maybe even more.
I am right now in Rome, Italy. I met with my mother today and we are staying together in Rome near the Trevi fountain.
Before coming to Rome I was in Napoli a city south of Rome in the Campania region of Italy. I went on a tour of a winery there, one of the oldest that is also protected by the Italian government as an Archeological site. I also went the Museu de Archeologica in Napoli where artifacts from Pompeii are being exhibited, but due to protests I was unable to see those artifacts. I was also able to take my friends out to Pizza at Pizza Brandi (the restaurant where Pizza was originated in the 18th century)

Thank You to the Key Family for not only telling me about Semester at Sea, but for treating me and my friends to the great Pizza Margherita!

I am very tan and very very happy with what is happening in my life. I feel so proud to be able to do this and I hope that you are all proud of me.
My next stop is Dubrovnik Croatia. I will write again when possible.
If you would like to you can email me at:
pczachowska@semesteratsea.net

Sending you all greetings and Love!!!

Photos are coming Soon...

Saving Our Planet and Ourselves!

I have always been a strong believer in philanthropy. 

From buying these heart stickers as a little girl to help raise money for sick children in Poland with 

Wielka Orkiestra Swiatecznej Pomocy 

(click on the link above to donate, google has translator to help with language barriers)

Even when I did move to the United States my best friends whom I would write letters with would send me these stickers.

When I came to college I learned a little bit more on how to be able to help save the world. I started by joining the Make a Wish Foundation at my school where students came together to raise money to grant one wish to a dying child. 

It has been very important for me to give back to the world.

Almost 10 years ago my younger cousin who was at the time 6 years old was diagnosed with lung cancer and because I was so young and did not understand much of what was happening and because I was half way around the world away from him there was nothing I could do, I wished and prayed that he would get better. My prayers were answered after a long time of hearing about all the things happening in the hospital. 

From then I knew that I wanted to somehow be able to help others in the best way that I knew how. 

In 2010 I learned in my sorority about Relay for Life, yes I have heard about it before, but I never really knew what it was exactly. I signed up the moment I knew that this was near and dear to my heart. I stayed at relay for 26 hours in 2010 walking with friends who supported me and the cause. In 2011 I signed up for the second year in a row knowing that I had to help as much as I could together with my school we were able to raise $33,821.96 and I was able to walk 26 hours for the second time.

I have done other things as well such as marches for breast cancer, helping Habitat for Humanity, working with Reading is Fundamental, and participating in many other philanthropic events.

Now I am thinking of other ways to save the world and something that I have always thought was a big way was to

  SAVE THE PLANKTON ! 

Plankton, yes that little one eyed dude that was on the famous cartoon Spongebob.

What many people may not know is that Plankton are very important to our world. And unfortunately they are on the very bottom of the food chain, I am not saying go kill whales.

Plankton absorb over 50% of all the CO2 that we produce by burning fossil fuels and producing about 90% of our air. How does this happen you may ask? Well plankton float on top of water, meaning they float on top of all of the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and any other fresh water watering hole you may find. Plankton are like plants and they survive by taking in sunlight, CO2 and water and creating air out of it, there are other ways that different kinds of plankton do this, but I will not get into detail on those. 

Plankton are killed daily in large numbers by being captured in nets, burning from the ozone layer, and even from the garbage they may come upon that falls into the oceans.

A way you can help save plankton and save our planet in more ways than just SLOWING OR POTENTIALLY STOPING GLOBAL WARMING or even CREATING FRESH AIR TO BREATH WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT TREES, you can drive your car less often, walk or ride your bike to where you want to get because it's also good for your health, you can make sure to recycle, cut up plastic can net things to not hurt animals, or even by buying reusable water bottles instead of buying that 24 pack of waters that you will throw the plastic bottles away into normal trash anyway.

LETS SAVE THE WORLD PEOPLE!

If you would like to donate to any of the organizations click on the name that is attached to a link.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS!