Frenetic Summer!

There is only one word to describe my life these days...Frenetic! So much to do, so little time! My flight to Morocco is booked...August 8th is the big day that I will be flying from Cincinnati to Casablanca.

So, what to do with the next 6 weeks? Well, between two trips to DC for my Fulbright orientation and High Atlas Foundation event at the Moroccan Ambassador's house, a trip to Michigan to finish up some work stuff, a few days of AIESEC's Summer Conference in Indiana, a trip to see my parents for the 4th of July, and planning the rest of my move there isn't a whole lot of time left to really enjoy NYC.

I have a whole list of fun things I want to do before I leave...but we will see how many I actually manage to do :)

Luckily I will have a bit of a break in August when I will be travelling around Europe before I start Arabic classes at the beginning of September in Fes. Look out Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, and Germany....I am on my way :) Oh, and maybe to Serbia or Egypt too!

Urban Adventures Part II

Urban Adventures Part II
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

Last weekend we had a plan for a REAL outdoor adventure. We had reserved the campsite, bought sleeping-bags, organized tents, and were ready for a weekend in the real wilderness(the hinterlands of New Jersey.) Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't like the idea and heavy rains came on Friday with no sign of stopping.

Most people would have given up on camping, but my innovative friends decided to invent a new sport...URBAN CAMPING. Saturday night 10 of us convened at my apartment for a crazy night of candle-lit non-electricity activities, roasting smores on the stove, singing camp-fire songs, and sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. It was almost like real camping...except for the part where we ordered Thai food for dinner, or the part where we turned the air-conditioner on because it was too hot.....ok, truth be told..it might have been BETTER than real camping!!!

Urban Adventures Part I

Urban Adventures Part I
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

My NYC friends and I have been experimenting with self-organized Urban Adventures over the past few weeks. Two weekends ago we rented bikes and trekked 30 miles (50 KM) around Manhattan and Brooklyn, including riding over the Brooklyn bridge. Since Brooklyn is as close as you get to "the wilderness" in New York City, it was a fun-filled adventure complete with trees and grass. As we sped through the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant we passed all the hassidic jews wearing their traditional sabbath dress. When I realized that they were staring at the strange half-indian, 1/8 irish, 1/8 australian, BIKE GANG traversing the streets even more than we were staring at their funny hats...I thought to myself..."Only in New York."