James McDonald

"Around people I don't know, I'm totally at a loss" -Barbara Streisand

Spring break saw GLS'ers traveling all over Europe. From Switzerland, to Italy, to Austria, our group had representation all over the continent. I was fortunate enough to visit the French Riviera and experience the Carnival celebration in Nice, France, win (and then lose) 8 euros in the Monte-Carlo casino in Monaco, and even more fortunate to survive hiking the Cinque Terre trail in Italy. After being lost for nearly 5 hours, we finally found the correct trail only after crawling through thorns, balancing on the edge of cliffs, scaling vertical rocks, and falling into creeks on the reg. In a race against the remaining sunlight, we made it to Vernazza with less than an hour of light left. We moved on to Florence for the remaining part of our trip. After haggling down street leather vendors, avoiding fake rolex salesmen, and eating way too much pizza, pasta, and gelato, we managed to visit some great art galleries such as the Uffizi and the Gallería Académia. I also snagged an illegal picture of the statue of David by Michelangelo! My only regret is that I never gelled my hair and rode a vespa around the city. I was totally DTRAVAGMH (down to rent a vespa and gel my hair) but we never got around to it.

As everybody's spring break week came to a close, we were faced with a reality check as our work placements were to start the following Monday. I work with a company called FareShare that collects extra food supplies from major food distributors and then redistributes it back out to food kitchens. However, some people have struggled with internships that do not exactly fit what they wanted to experience. This has caused for a stressful week for many of my classmates.

This weekend was my first in London in over a month. We used it to experience new parts of the city and find other nightlife besides our usual hotspots. "Barbara Streisand" by Duck Sauce has found its way onto my ipod, as this techno song seems to fuel all of Europe's pubs, bars, and clubs. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to relax and not stick out as a tourist, but in the next month I will be in Paris, Amsterdam, and Alicante, Spain, so I don't think the feeling will last long.