So much fun in Europe!

Oh, there's so much to tell! The past couple of days were by far the most adventurous! Europe is way more fun than any place I've been to. Today I'm heading out to Munich, Germany. The group should be leaving to the train station in a few minutes. I'll write all about today and the past couple of days when I come back, or else I will have forgotten all the details!

The Perfect Moment

I got back to my room tonight at around 11 o'clock. We had sessions going on all day and later I toured downtown Salzburg with a bunch of people from the program. It had been a very tiring day and when I changed into my pj's I had no intention of leaving my room to meet up with the others at the Schloss bar anymore.

Later I decided to go out and discover the place at night. It was dark and a little bit chilly, but the nice chilly. I walked towards the lake and I felt safe. I had not felt that safe since I last was in Lebanon. I sat at the bench facing the lake for a while. It was very romantic. It felt like it was the perfect time and place to fall in love. You think there is no such thing as the perfect time and place to fall in love, but tonight I found out that there is. It was that place at that moment. The feeling of the chilly breeze was perfect. The sound of the water was perfect. The barely lit scenary of the lake was perfect. Just perfect - only I went back up to my room more out of love than in love.


Photo of where I sat taken at daytime.

Introductions, introductions!

Last night, I couldn't fall asleep until 6:30 in the morning. Sad - I know. Hopefully by tomorrow my body will have adjusted to the time, although it doesn't seem like it. It's past midnight and I'm here blogging. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my body will find its way to adapt eventually.

Today, new students were checking in. I believe there are 52 people from all over the world here. They're students from China, India, Chille, Mexico, Namibia, Uganda, Germany, Jordan, UK, USA, and other countries which I can't remember right now. I met up with five girls from Lebanon who arrived in today. I realized we're a pretty big group for a small country. We talked about Lebanon the entire time and that made me even more excited about going home after this. Only I have to say I would hate to leave Salzburg.

The first day of the seminar was all about introductions! Students' introductions, faculty introductions, program introductions. I realized I still feel a little nervous when I'm up infront of an audience. This worries me especially after a year in broadcast journalism. Anyway, the day went by very quickly. We had an official tour of the Schloss Leopoldskron which by the way it turns out that no Sound of Music scenes were actually filmed inside it. A replica of certain rooms in the palace were built just for filming. The only real Salzburg scenes were shot outside the Schloss. Still, that was a huge disappointment.

Plans for the free weekends may include trips to Vienna, Munich and Prague. So I'm really looking forward to the next three weeks. Now, I will try to force myself to sleep.

Beautiful Beyond Description

I got to the Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg about ten hours ago. I have already walked around the place and have fallen in love with it. You probably think I fall in love with every place I visit, but no seriously, this place is like no other place I've visited before in my life. I have only been here less than a day and I already feel that I don't want to leave. It's just magical. I feel like I'm in a different time - like a different era. Everything is so colorful, beautiful and has a lot of history to it.

I didn't walk for long because I was tired. I went back to my room to rest for a while and woke up now - 7 hours later. I couldn't tell if it were Monday or Tuesday, but it definitely felt like I had been sleeping for the past whole day. I'm so glad I didn't miss the first day of the program!

The trip from Washington D.C. to Salzburg was long and stressful, but now that I've made it to this gorgeous place, I see it was definitely worth it. After much trouble at the Delta Airlines desk and after being chosen for the "random" security check for probably the 100th time in my life, I finally flew out of Washington D.C. It was so crowded since flights were being cancelled and delayed because of the bad rainy weather. I left D.C. on Sunday, July 27, at 5:54 p.m. and arrived in Cincinnati at 7:20 p.m. I had to catch a flight from Cincinnati to Frankfurt which was scheduled to depart at 7:35 p.m. (This explains why my bags were missing in Salzburg) I can't remember the last time I ran as fast as I did. International flights were on the other end of the airport, so by the time I got there, almost all of the passengers had already boarded. Eventually, I flew out of Cincinnati to Frankfurt on a trip that was 8 hours and 45 minutes long. AAAAA!!! (That's me screaming) That's always the connection I dread the most. Not that I'm afraid of flying, I just feel trapped and so uncomfortable. I killed the first four hours by watching two movies: 21 and Fool's Gold. They were entertaining - kept me awake for the first half of the trip. For the rest of it, I slept like a baby.

The airport in Frankfurt is pretty. It's big, neat and well organized. Signs are all in German and English, so I didn't have a problem finding my way to my last connecting flight to Salzburg. By the time I got to my gate, I had two hours until boarding. So again, I fell asleep. I think it's the first time I actually fall asleep in an airport. Then I slept during the hour and a half flight. At that point, I believe it was night time for me, so I couldn't help but close my eyes.

Now it's almost midnight in Salzburg and my eyes are wide open. Let the fun begin!

Austria, here I come!

I hope Austria is ready for me because I'm SO ready to fly now. I've packed my suitcase - still need to toss in some last minute things, of course. I've got my Lebanese flag and spirit and I'm ready to make the best of this trip. This won't be my first trip to Europe though. I've been to England twice before, and I fell in love with London. I liked it better than any other place I've been to. Well, maybe I loved it just as much as I loved Chicago. But, Austria will definitely give me a different feel of Europe. This will also be my first time in a place where I don't speak the native language of the country. I'm not worried about that at all. My English will most probably get me where I need to go. Besides, the sound of a foreign language appeals to me. I'm sure I'll pick up some words and phrases while I'm there. On my way to Salzburg, I have to make two stops. One is Cincinnati, OH and the other is Frankfurt, Germany.

I hope I make it to the Schloss Leopoldskron alright. Yes, that's where I'll be staying for this program. I've decided to call it "my palace" because it's not everyday you get to stay at the Schloss Leopoldskron. So while I'm there, I might as well call it mine.

The Schloss Leopoldskron - front view:

My NYC Experience

Now I can check New York City off my list! It had been on my list of "Places to Visit" ever since I've come to the States. I figured if I don't make the trip now, I won't do it anytime soon. I thought, a free ride (Thanks Adam!), spending time with great friends, and seeing New York? I'm definitely up for it!

When I got there, it was ridiculously hot and humid. But at that point, I didn't really care. I was too excited about being in the number one city in the country! The city was very crowded. People rub against you as you're walking down the street, and they even have signs that read "No Stopping," which means you need to be on the move all the time. The buildings are very tall. When you look up, it feels like they're about to fall on you. (I don't know if that was just me, but that's how I felt.) Huge store signs and ads pretty much make up the city lights which are beautiful. It was very vibrant - very alive. That's how I saw NY.

I spent the weekend at my friend Sarah's place (Thanks Sarah!), another Fulbrighter from Lebanon. That's one of the great things about being a Fulbrighter. You have friends everywhere you go. There, we met up with two friends of mine. It was hard to see everything in just one weekend, and plus the heat didn't help at all. I saw Madison Square Garden, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, Bryant Park, Empire State Building, and other places I don't even remember. I enjoyed walking around Central Park the most. It made me smile to be around happy people. Some were dancing, playing music, rollerblading, kissing and taking pictures. It's true what they say: New York City is awesome.

First things first; my name is Samia

So when my roommate told me that she's writing about her adventures in south eastern Europe on her blog, I thought to myself: why don't I write about my adventures this summer? (which I hope there will be plenty of) Growing up, I've always kept a journal and I always enjoyed writing. So here I am. I'm not sure for how long I'll be able to keep it up, but I'm aiming for a little over a month from today. This means I'll be writing all throughout my trips to both Austria and Lebanon. I suppose I will appreciate the effort I put into keeping this after I'm back from both trips. I still enjoy going through my older journals even though most of my reactions are: "Oh my God, what was I thinking?" But regardless, this will definitely be something to reflect back on.

Lebanon is my home country. Before moving to the States for school last summer, Lebanon had been where I grew up and lived my whole life. I can't believe I've been away from home for almost a year now. Time is just flying by. I'm really looking forward to visiting Austria, a part of the world I have never been to before, and to going home to spend time with family and friends.

Let me end this post by saying that Samia's my real name. I was named after my grandmother.