week six and seven.

man, i can't believe it's are already nearing the end of october. holloween is just a week away! things have been moving so quickly that last week i was unable to write about my experinces. but it's okay, i'm enjoying the active lifestyle. last weekend i had my second arrival camp with all the exchange students from wien and burgenland. there were about thirty people in all. the camp only lasted for one night, but i wish it could have been longer. i have made some really great friends here and it was so nice to see and hang out with everybody. that is one great thing about afs, they really give you a chance to get to know people from all over the world. my best friends are from america, new zealand, denmark, and finland. but i have met people from over a hundred different countries. i think it is so wonderful, and i am learning so much from everyone. last week babsi was in mentenegro and i was alone. things were a little boring, but over all positive. i spoke german at home a lot more, and spent more time with my host parents. i also went shopping with a few girl from my class, and it was nice to spend more time with them. i am starting to go out a lot more by myself, and i have figured out all the u-bahn and s-bahn lines. it's wonderful because it means i now have the ablility to get myself to and from just about anywhere in wien. it has given me such a strong and independent feeling, and it's great to know that i am really learning my way around the city. but i am still mostly meeting other exchange students and i feel like i should be hanging out more with native austrians. i'm still a bit too shy to ask out the people in my class, but soon i will. i am also struggling to completely switch over to german, because everyone here speaks english. but i am making an effort and i am hoping that within the next two weeks i can almost completely stop speaking english. so far this weekend has been pretty low key. on friday night babsi and i went out to a party, but had a hard time geting home. we left the party around 12:30, hoping that we could catch the last u-bahn. unfortunately we were too late and had to walk in search of a night bus. we walked for over and hour and witnessed some interesting things, including a man being chased down by a police officer and another one being loaded into an ambulance because of alcohol poisoning. the nightlife here is definitely intense, and people do some crazy things. eventually we found a nightline, but didn't end up getting home until after three. it was a long night, but to make up for it, babsi and i had a really low key day yesterday and just stayed in. today is sunday, and i think we might go ice skating! i hope so because it would be so fun, even though i am quite bad at it. on monday we don't have school, and friday as well. i'm looking forward to the short week and on friday afs is having a holloween party that i am also excited about. their parties are always so sweet, and i love any excuse to dress up!
by the way, i'm sorry i havn't been posting any pictures of austria, i have been taking a lot but have yet to take them off my camera. later babsi is going to help me put them on a zip drive so hopefuly within the next few days i can upload some. this blog is looking a little boring right now.

week five.

another amazing slice of life in austria. each week seems to go by faster then the last, and it is getting harder and harder to keep up with writing. this week was more relaxed, but not boring. on saturday babsi and i went to a large sale that the local church was having. we shopped for a few hours and bought some really amazing stuff. everything was so cheap, and it was a relief because things have been expensive compared to the states. there were so many interesting, unique, and surprising things. they had everything from typewriters to ball gowns. i bought a hat, skirt, handbag, and suitcase, all for around five euro. one of the coolest things they had were two boxes filled with postcards. the funny thing was that most of them had already been written on and mailed from all over the world. i though this was especially cool. many of them were very old as well, i got one that had been sent in 1935. i have no idea why they were there, but i still found it amazing to see little pieces of the lives of total strangers. on sunday i went with babsi and her dad to the final casting for austria's next top model. babsi had gone to a casting sometimes before i arrived in austria, and had been called back. out of over three thousand girls, only three hundred were called back, and out of those only twenty were selected to go on the show. on sunday morning we left the house at five, and didn't get back until one that night. babsi had to bring seven weeks worth of luggage with her, because if she was selected she would go to the model house that night. the day was very long, and was filled with waiting. but the location was just beautiful, and i took many wonderful photos. in the end, babsi made it to the final twenty, but decided not to go on the show. school was a big factor in her decision, because today she left on a school trip to montenegro, and if she had missed it it would have been bad. she also said it was extremely difficult to have the cameras around, and the whole thing seemed very fake and contrived. reality tv, is not the most honest thing out there. she also said that many of the judges were very mean, and after such a long day she just wanted to go home. i think the decision was a wise one. i'm on my own for the next week, while babsi is in montenegro, and i am trying to use it as an opportunity to make new friends. tomorrow i am going shopping with two girls from my class, and i am looking forward to it. school is still a little difficult to follow, but as my german gets better so does my understanding of everything else. i can't wait until i am somewhat fluent. austria will seem like a totally different place and i will relate to it in a totally different way.

week four

this week i turned seventeen. babsi made my birthday feel very festive. in the morning i woke up to a decorated kitchen, complete with a birthday banner and candles. after school we baked a cake with one of babsi's friends from panama. it took us almost two hours to grate the chocolate, grind the walnuts, mix the batter, and get the whole thing in the oven. but it was definitely worth it. we topped the cake with marzipan and coco powder. it was quite delicious. the three of us spent the evening in the backyard listening to music, dancing, and just goofing around. every week i get more and more accustomed to being here. my house is really starting to feel like a sanctuary, the way houses should. everything is getting more and more comfortable. this week was full of shopping. my sister and i visited two different shopping streets along with a giant mall. the love the clothes here, but everything is expensive compared to the states. i think i am managing my money well though, and i am trying not to buy things too impulsively. it is amazing to walk around the city. vienna is a wonderful mix between majestically old streets and modern conveniences. the architecture continues to surprise and delight me. everything is outlined in flowers and gardens that seem to cascade through the streets. it is truly beautiful. i am trying to take as many pictures as i can, but they really don't do it justice.
this week i was introduced to my host grandma. she is in her mid to late eighties and is such a sweet woman. on saturday babsi and i helped her around her yard. there is a large pine tree on the side of her house that sheds needles all over the grass. this distresses her, so babsi and i raked them up for her. the whole time she wanted so badly to help and feed us. she made us hot chocolate and once our work was done we enjoyed it alone side some traditional austrian cookies. it was a very sweet afternoon. that night babsi and i went to a huge birthday party for a kid in our school. it took place in a majestic building in the city center. once again the marble staircases and old portraits contrasted with strobe lights and fog machines. the party was really fun but there were so many people there. the guest list topped nine hundred. everyone received a free glass of champagne upon entering the party, but for most it was just the beginning. by the end of the night the floor was covered in broken glass and spilled drinks. it was interesting to see parents and body guards along side the mass of drunk teenagers. the openness of austria continues to surprise me. babsi and i poured ourselves into the house around 4am, exhausted from a night of dancing. i had made the mistake of wearing heels to the party, and by the time i got home my feet were completely dead. all in all, the weekend was really fun, but i am looking forward to school tomorrow. after two days of staying up late, it is always nice to return to the normalcy of education. once again i am excited to see what austria has in store for me.