New Goal: The New Seven Wonders

An unlikely member of the list: Rome, 2007 with my mom!

By chance and luck, I have found that after I visit Machu Picchu in November, I will have visited over half of the "New 7 Wonders of the World". On the list are the following places:

1. Machu Picchu, Peru
2. Petra, Jordan
3. Taj Mahal, India
4. Great Wall of China
5. Colosseum, Italy
6. Chichen Itza, Mexico
7. Christ the Redeemer, Brazil

If you are asking yourself where are the Great Pyramids? Well I am too confused why the colosseum is on there and not the pyramids. So I am adding them to my own personal list of things I'd like to see!

Petra, Jordan aka The Valley of the Crescent Moon in Indian Jones

The ones I have seen so far have been pretty incredible. I never planned on going to Jordan, but it was really amazing! Though I am still mad about paying too much!

Nonetheless it is a new life goal to see all of the places on the list. Are there any places that you think should have been included?

Probably one of the coolest places ever to see- even at 115 degrees F!

How Traveling Does NOT Leave a Hole in Your Resume

Since I have decided recently that I am finally going to apply to graduate school this fall, I have been faced with the task of making the last 2 years since I graduated from college sound like legitimate career experiences. By the end of this year I will have been traveling and away from the USA over 6 months and a real job for 9!

While talking with professors and recommendations I have been trying to sum up in resume form what I have been doing and how it applies to what I want to become. It is a hard task for me personally, because when I left in March I really had no idea what I wanted to become or do. What I do know is that after traveling I feel like I have grown as a person and these experiences are valuable not only to me personally, but also to schools/companies.

Because traveling is not always this peaceful, just a few hours before we were lost with a bad map and hebrew signs!

I have a growing list of things to put on a resume to fill the "gap". Also, I have discovered the wonders of the "functional" resume which makes those gaps much less obvious.

I am not sure who reads this blog, but I would love to hear other people's suggestions as well.

So far this is what I have come up with:

• Interfaced with people of many cultures, socioeconomic statuses and languages in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America
• Planned and negotiated travel itineraries to stay within time and money budget constraints
• Cultivated communication and language skills in Spanish and English interacting with people in Spanish and Latin American cultures
• Learned to communicate via verbal and non-verbal means to overcome communication and language barriers
• Performed cost-benefit analysis when scheduling conflicts arose to maximize use of time and money in various locations across the globe while traveling
• Adapted to unanticipated problems and situations to improvise new plans due to unexpected events encountered while traveling
• Developed negotiation skills through regular contact with sellers and vendors in markets and stores globally

If only blending in were a marketable skill

Obviously I personally have done some more things like getting certified to teach english as a foreign language, volunteering to teach math in NYC and will be volunteering in Peru. But I am wondering what applies specifically to the trips that I was just there to travel.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

What does traveling add to your resume?

Random Happenings via iPhone Photos

In lieu of a long blog post, which I have some ideas in the works, here are some pictures from around the city taken on my iPhone:

Want to know when it's going to rain? Just ask me when I will be walking home from Trader Joe's at Union Square (1 mile), carrying groceries and it will be sure to rain on my way home. Do I own an umbrella? Nope, luckily Lindsay felt sorry for me and gave me one!

Taken while I was hiding under an overhang. Found out that my iPhone 3G now has zoom at the same time! Also found out that paper bags + downpours = bags falling apart

NYC fashion: People apparently liked my Spanish fashion report. Well for girls in NYC it's high waisted skirts, cut-off jean shorts or long "boyfriend" shorts with shirts tucked in. Maybe a belt and a long necklace. I don't own a full-length mirror so I tried to see what I looked like: Here's my attempt at belonging with a high-waisted skirt :)

Next investment: full-length mirror when I have a more permanent situation

I was walking around Gramercy and saw this sign. The top part was a little shiny, but it says free slice with a shot. The more you buy to drink the more pizza you get for free. Too bad my friends said it is the worst pizza ever!

This sign could also say: all day everyday: get wasted, eat crappy pizza and use free wifi to send drunk emails

I decided to read outside yesterday since it was finally not deathly hot. Washington Square Park is a 5 minute walk from me and there are always some interesting characters. I was scared for this man's safety!

"You have one on your shoulder" - old lady to the man; pretty sure he's got more problems than "one"

Less than one month until I leave for PERU! Can't hardly wait to get out of this crazy heat and concrete jungle!

Interesting News: Law EC 261

I routinely read New York Times travel when I stumbled upon an article that I think everyone needs to know about! It is about how airlines, including US Airlines, are REQUIRED by European Union law to cover meals and hotels if they cancel your flight for any reason.

This comes as a shock to me as I was in London the big volcanic ash crisis happened and I remember reading about people who went broke trying to pay for hotels. The article states that any carrier is required to cover people of ANY nationality flying from the EU. It even states that if the flight is cancelled for mechanical reasons then they have to pay penalties to every passenger up to 600 Euros!

I think that this goes a little overboard personally. The airlines had no control over the volcanic ash, but I wish I had known as I had to pay an extra nights hotel for having my flight on Emirates to Dubai cancelled due to the ash. I wish I had known this was the law! I even asked the airline if they would do something and they said no! Appears like they lied to me...

I hope spreading the word about this helps someone else, even if it didn't help me!

The details can be found at NYT here!! This is a must read if you fly in and out of Europe!

Is It Worth It?

Sometimes you find yourself in situations that you're not really sure why they are happening. Such is the case in which I found myself at the Today Show, waiting earnestly at 4am last Friday morning to see Lady Gaga.

Why you ask? I mean she's pretty awesome (I think) and her music is fun to dance to. I always thought that she would be a fun act to see in concert, though the $100 and up price tags are not so fun...

Thus fueled with desire to see her, but no tickets, another girl (whom I had just met the previous day) and I decided to go to the Today Show and see her. Little did we know that people had been waiting outside for 48 hours STRAIGHT for her.

We got to the show and had a decently good view of the stage from across the street. It wasn't raining, the sun started to rise and it there was cloud cover so it seemed like it was going to be ok.

First view of Lady Gaga!

Then things started to go awry. People were pushing, fanatic fans were yelling at grumpy new yorkers (read typical new pushy new yorkers), it started to get unbearably hot, there was lots of yelling and our view of the stage was obscured by all the fans they let in around it.

We managed to stay for just her warm-up songs, the other girl bailed and I tried to stick it out, but I was tired of being shoved, yelled at and sweated on all over by people that were non-purposefully standing on me. I ended up leaving 45 minutes before her real show.

Moral of the story: Never go to a Today Show concert. Not sure what I was thinking doing such a touristy thing in a city I'm living in and knowing I hate touristy things. Also, if someone is worth waking up at 4am to see, it's probably worth it to spend $100 to not feel like you're dying or might die.

Other Updates:

I'm officially going to Peru and will be living, studying and volunteering in Cuzco from August 28 - Thanksgiving. And Jolene is joining me for the Inka Trail at the end of the trip! I'm beyond excited!

I am applying to grad school this year. It's going to be a long and stressful process, but when you decide what you want, I guess there is no easy way. Now to find one more recommendation... (Seriously 4??)

I'm excited to see my Mom on her way back from Russia on Sunday! She doesn't know any of my new plans yet!

Stunning Sunset on the 4th of July from Brooklyn of Manhattan

NYC Summer Sublets

To say that my first few days were stressful in the city would be an understatement. I am (finally) excited to say that I found a great summer sublet in NYC in the West Village (my favorite area) with a girl that in the 5 minutes we talked seemed very normal!

It seems that many people leave NYC for the summer so it should be easy to find a sublet right? WRONG. Many people (like myself) also come to the city in the summer as well, so it is highly competitive to find a place.

I used Craigslist and while in London I emailed several people and set-up showings. In the 3 days between setting them up I figured that they would still be free right? No. Subletting in the summer in NYC happens lightening fast.

I had to check Craigslist several times a day to send emails and scour for places to send an email before someone else snatched it up and saw it before me.

Looking at places and running all over the city was stressful enough, but then you also had to make a decision on the spot about whether or not you wanted the room. A snap decision had to be made if the person seemed like they liked you, or by the time you decided that you wanted the room, it would be gone. This happened to me more than once. Quite stressful for the most indecisive person alive and when every place had a huge downside- this is NYC after all.

Some places had no windows in the room, one I would have lived alone, one was with a woman in her 30s that seemed high strung and had a big stuffed dog in the room (weird right?) and one was with a man in his 40s and his girlfriend who basically lived there.

I decided on the place with no windows, called the girls less than two hours later and then waited around. I got news the other two places I had seen that day were gone. And then I waited and waited to hear from the place I had finally decided on! It was ironic that the place that I chose turned out to be with also two indecisive girls... Frustrating on the other side (I finally hear from them more than 48 hours later that I could have had the room).

In the meantime I ended up finding the place that I wanted in the West Village. It was an open house so I had to act really, really interested and positive so that after meeting 10 people she would remember me and choose me. I even got there 10 minutes early!

While I was waiting for her to decide, I got word that one of the places I thought would work, the person who took it fell through. I was determined to wait for the one I wanted though and got pushy and called, even though I believed she would keep her word and call later that night.

FINALLY the apartment that I chose and really wanted, chose me too! And now I am no longer homeless and do not want to look for an apartment here again. I am 95% sure that after my sublet is up in August I will never live in the city again.

Other updates:

It is WAY too hot in NYC. I think that I am starting to not like the heat. I can't even imagine what it's like for people who are actually bothered by it physically.

I got a new South American contact and I am hoping to have something set-up for the fall. And I am planning on applying to grad school for fall 2011!

The First Travel Let Down

As far back as I can remember I had always been intrigued by India, it was a foreign world to me- the colors, the people, the animals. I remember the first time I heard about an Indian wedding and the first time that I saw one on TV. Then I moved to Spain and discovered Indian food (an unlikely place to fall in love with it, but it was one of the only vegetarian things I could find!). I had friends go to India and come back with amazing stories about how great it was. So when I decided to travel I knew that I wanted to make India apart of the itinerary and I had a friend there. Perfect.

I had already been gone for 2.5 months when I went to India. The first few days I was jet-lagged and content hanging out with my friends. I had booked a solo 6 days, 5 nights tour to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur and was excited and nervous to be traveling completely alone for the first time.

I survived the near week alone, but that is really all I can say about it. It has taken me several weeks to come to terms with the fact that it is ok to not like everywhere you go. A fact that was hard to accept when I had such high expectations of a country. The things I imagined were not true. The people were rude, stared relentlessly, didn't respect a single woman, do not take no for an answer, I felt like I couldn't go anywhere without a guide or driver, foreign tourists are overcharged for everything and the most heartbreaking of all, the food made me really sick.

India taught me an important lesson, that you don't have to like everywhere you go and not every trip can be amazing. Sometimes things just don't meet your expectations and I am only now coming to terms with it. I am sure that this will not be the first time that this happens and I will more easily accept it the next time!

Let downs are always balanced out with places you end really liking a place that you really didn't expect to enjoy as much as you did, such as Israel! (Even with a 3-day migraine!)

And I do still want to see an Indian wedding...

(As an FYI, the time I spent with my friend's family was great and hanging out, it's just not what I expected the country to be like. And the Taj Mahal was freaking amazing too!)

Other Updates:

I start Spanish class on Monday, have set-up a volunteer orientation and have scheduled 4 meetings with people to talk about my professional future! I also met a co-worker of my mom's who has contacts in Peru and Ecuador who has offered to pass around my resume!

Things are coming along!