As I sit here in class on my last day in a classroom on study abroad, I can't stop thinking about how much fun this month has been. I am so use to living out of my suitcase now with only small containers of daily items I have to have. I will be so happy to finally be home with my family but I will miss London a lot. It has my heart and I can't wait to come back. I have learned so much about the European culture and sociological matters. I love being able to walk anywhere I want to go within minutes. I love the loud, city life and espcially the public transportation. Doing study abroad was definitely the best decision of my life. I did not realize how much it has changed my viewpoint of everything until now. I am growing into a "bigger" person daily and I now feel like I can do and travel anywhere. As big as a city London is, I feel so comfortable here... Which is BIG for me! I have met so many people who I can call on and I am sad to leave! I was just getting use to being away and now it's time to go home :(.... Well it was great while it lasted!!!


MLH

HELLO from Interlaken, Switzerland..aka. my favorite place in the world. By far. i want to move here. Today we woke up and went canyoning at 9oclock this morning. wow that was an adventure i will never forget. we had to dress in a wetsuit and picked out a helmet with names.. mine was Busta haha. Then they drove us for like an hour up a mountain. We then propelled down the rock mountain and landed in water that was green. Then we walked in a hard current down to then go jump off a cliff in the pretty water. Then we did some other hard, very hard stuff like climbing, jumping, and zipline. I LOVED it. well.. i mean i only cried once and it was bc i was just really tired and sore from doing all the other stuff we had done before. I really am proud of doing it. Best day ever in Switzerland. I love this pretty place. It is gorgeous. I got pro pictures from today and they are pretty funny. I only have one more week until i come home!!YAYY. I am really sad about leaving switzerland tomorrow at noon.. thanks for reading!! i love europe! Switzerland is by far my favorite place. goodness. i love it!

~mary lois~

hey friends!! I am currently in Rome, Italy at a hostel on their computer. Since my last post i have been through it all it seems. Lets see Tuesday, July 21st I had a TERRIBLE day. no more minutes on my phone, no money and i couldnt understand a SINGLE word of French in Paris. We traveled for many hours from Bayeaux to Paris and I was hanging on 4 hours of sleep. Then we had to walk Paris for about 6 hours after we got there and i was misrable and sick from the hostel the night before.
Then Wednesday I LOVED Paris.. quite strange from the day before but whatever. i went to see Louis Vuitton, the Eiffle Tower, learn how to work their metro, see random people come up to me and ask me if i speak english and then ask for money.. so from then on i said i speak Czechlasavocia. pretty funny! I was so tired of them bugging me! Then me, Rock (my professor) and Rebecca my new friend from Brandon, MS went ALL over Paris to see anything and everything. I LOVED IT!
Then Thursday we got up at 4am to travel to Italy from France. and Ryanair our airline was AWFUl. terrible airport, no food in airport, hot, misrable, terrible line, and not to mention while on the plane i was taking a picture and the lady RUDELY told me i had to delete the picture now and i asked why and she said uhh have you never heard of the 11 of september?.. she was so rude and from then all the way to Rome i practically cried bc of how misrable and lack of sleep i got. But other than that ROME is amazing. i went to the vatican today and i fell in love with it. we have gone all over the city and it is a really neat, historic place.

thanks all for now!

going to switzerland tomorrow.. it will be amazing. i am determined!
mlh

Hello ALL! sorry it has been a few days.. i have traveled to so many places in the past few days. I have SEEN it all. trust me!! Let's see where should i start? Well. Saturday i was suppose to go see mrs griffis but it would have taken 3 hours there and back and i only had about 5 hours to spend because we were leaving at 5am Sunday morning to go to France we decided it would be best for Mrs. Griffis to come see me after my mini-break. So I went with Kyndel, Shelby, and Lindsay to Dover, England to the Castle and White-cliffs. It was REALLY cool!! I enjoyed the little get-a-way. Then Sunday we left at 5am and i slept the whole bus ride to the ferry and slept about 2 hours on the ferry until we ate lunch on the ferry (cruise ship practically). We got to France around 2oclock which is 7hours difference from Hattiesburg time. On our way to our hostel we went to a battle bridge, i forgot the name but it was really neat to see all the flags. FOR ONCE in my whole entire life... i seriously cried when i saw the American flag for the first time. I could not have been any prouder to be from America. The red and white strips and blue stars ment the world to me. I stared at the flag for a good 10 minutes then walked around a gift shop to buy postcards. We left and went to the hostel and the whole way there Doug, the man in charge of us BSP students, told us how great this hostel was and that he brings people every year to this place and it is just wonderful. We should be lucky. O.M.G. I seriously have NEVER stayed at a crappy enough place in my whole life. i mean everyone probably has stayed at a nasty cheap hotel before right? no.. wrong.. i felt like i was beyond roughing it. i cried when i saw my "room" i was in. It has 3 mini twin beds. and i swear we shared sheets with the people before us. Our room was the lucky one out of everyone else in my group that had NO shower or toliet. Where was the closest ones you might ask? Oh just 4 floors down is the public bathroom that has clowns on the walls and the lights barely come on... and the showers? oh just outside turn the corner, go through the lobby and turn another corner and its the shack building on the right with old worn out mattresses in it. With no hot water, no doors and spider webs all over.. so Mary Lois did not take a shower for two days straight. YEP! Roughing it has another meaning.. thank you mom for making me pack wet wips with me.. i sure did use them this trip! OH and to top it off... i have not been in an airconditioned bedroom for 20 days now. God Bless! America i miss you!

Okay so i am alive so that is the good part.. let me move on.. Monday I went to the town of Bayeaux and went to see a church with a stuffed parashoot man on the church's steeple. It was neat to see how they left a rememberable mark on when a man landed on the church steeple in war in 1941. Then we went to a landmark called Pointe something and i was in the battleground of the two beaches, Omaha and Utah. I took some awesome pictures. It was great to see ocean again... even if it is the English Channel. GAH! i love seeing water since we have been stuck in the city for two weeks.
Then it was the moment we were on our way to the National Cemetery where my great-uncle is burried. Doug spoke to us before we got off the bus about how it was going to be emotional for us all and to take it in. He said to find someone's marker that is burried there and remember it and to promise him one thing.. either one day in the future come back to it OR promise to send someone else to that very grave. He said that 1 out of every other grave marker has had no visits in the past year, 5 years or even 20 years. SO then it came when i walked off the bus to the front of the information center. I walked in already tears running down my face to a lady who was named Susan. She looked at me as I approached and asked me if i needed help. I told her I was sent here to visit my great-unce's grave and I would like more information on how to get to it. Not knowing what was going to be said next.. i waited.. she asked me to write down his name and so i did. She asked again how i was related and i told her that he is my grandmother's brother. and she smiled really big! So then she spoke French to this other lady and the other one smiled at me too.. I was very confused but i just smiled and was patiently waiting to see what was next. The lady went to get all these papers and made a copy of other papers and such.. she then asked me to sign in as a family member instead of the books for just visitors. I signed a seperate book and it asked for my name, address and to write a note? so i just wrote.. I have come to visit my great-uncle with my College Class Study Abroad Program. Then she told me to follow her down and handed me two flags: the American flag and the French Flag. So i carried them along with a BIG folder full of information on L.H. 's division down to his grave. I walked along many of the unknown grave and tears were flowing heavidly. It was so sad! The cemetery in general was the most well kept, beautiful and meaningful place i have ever been to. It was literally steps away from overlooking Omaha Beach. I was in heaven! I loved the view.. and i am sure L.H. does, too! I wish i could be burried there! It is breathtaking! SO i finally made it to his grave which is close to the chapel and I just stared at it for a little bit and then she asked me if i would like his name in Omaha sand so i could read it better.. well of course.. i said so she sponged it with sand across his whole grave marker and it was so neat to see.. i have tonns of pictures! It will make you cry! I will post later..


Sorry i am running out of time! I will post more later!!

I am in Paris now and it is possibly the dirtest city ever and it smells bad. today was a very long day. everyone is tired and sick from the hostel in Bayeaux! I think i am getting a little sick myself. strep is what it feels like! i am going to bed.. its 11:18 p.m.! good night! love you!

Friday, July 16th

Two days in a row! YEAA! I thought I would blog tonight since it will probably be my last time for at least 10 days. I will be traveling to Normandy on Sunday (we leave at 5am) and i will visit my great-uncle's grave at the American Cemetery. As i have been told by numerous people that this will be the most emotional place on earth but its something that i have to go to. I feel so privileged to be able to go to my uncle's gravesite. He died 66 years ago from July 30th. My other great-uncle has told me so much about him and Normandy in general that I can not wait to be over there myself to see it all first-hand. Don't worry I will take plenty enough pictures to show you forever... lol I already have at least 1,000 pictures of just London! AH i love this city so much! I bought this book yesterday called "Keep Calm and Carry On"..as in the quote and i learned so much through the book. The quote was actually thought up of during WWII and the people made posters to keep themselves together and carry on with their lives. I thought it was so neat! My favorite quote in this book is "What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expect generally happens." I think this is so true because I wasn't quite sure about coming over to Europe and now that i am here I LOVE it so much more than i would ever have if I knew so much about it before coming over. I got the Keep Calm and Carry On magnet, book, and poster because i just love it so much. HA! OH and I got a keychain today that says.. "Afternoon tea at Harrods" and a tea towel that says "I'm off to have tea with the queen". love it! Its the English proper lady coming out of me! I just love the double-decker buses, too. I enjoy riding them every time! The tube, however, is so hectic that I would rather stay above ground to ride the buses and pay just a little more. Today I went for lunch in Hyde park and wow was it amazing. I loveeee parks! I want to go again to have wine and cheese in another park before I leave. It is so peaceful and makes me not feel so condense in the city-life. I also went today to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was pretty cool- if i was a kid- i wasn't just truly amazed by it like i thought i would be. It was still an experience! i LOVE to go shopping in London! The souvenir stores are on every corner and i promise that if i got you a gift, it probably took about 10 different shops to pick YOURS out. I dont get the crappy kind. Dad- you will LOVE your gifts! mom- i am still working on yours! :) i have to get the good stuff! everyone else- i am pretty sure i got you a cute keychain, postcard, etc. You'll never know:) haha jk.. so anyways! I am having a blast in London and this is the best experience of my life! I am definitely coming back here.. OKay so once again here is my plans for the week.
Saturday (tomorrow)- Parliament and to visit Mrs. Griffis
Sunday- OFF to Normandy, France
Monday- Normandy
Tuesday- Normandy/ Paris
Wednesday- Paris
Thursday- Friday -- Rome, Italy
Saturday- Monday-- Interlocking, Switzerland
Monday night- back to London until Sunday the 1st... then HOME:)

"Gone to London to have tea with the Queen"

Hello all,


I can't believe it is already July 15. WOW! I have been here two weeks already??? no way. I am loving Europe SO much! I have learned a ton and can't wait to bring it home to the states. Sorry I haven't updated since Sunday.. i have been super busy!! Monday I went to the Crown Court which was very interesting to see. The court i was in was about homeless men fighting and the witnesses (who were homeless) were no where to be found so the man who is guilty has been in prison for two years only bc they can't find the witnesses. It was very crazy!! Then later Monday I went $hopping at H&M, TopShop, and other numerous places on Oxford Street with awesome clothes. Then I went with my friends on the London Eye. ABSOLUTELY loved it!! Tuesday I went to Imperial War Museum which was pretty neat to see. I went in the World War I and II, Holocaust and the Children's War museum exhibits. It was very cool and touching to see. I loved how they got first hand people to speak about each of these events. Then on Wednesday my class went to Stratford-upon-Avon which is a town called Stratford-on-avon where William Shakespheare was born and raised. I went to see the house he was born in and the church where his grave is. I really liked the town PLUS i went shopping and found some neat things! Then we went to a Shakespheare play called "A Winter's Tale" and I loved it so much. It was so funny and a lot better than I expected. We got back around 1 AM then i went straight to sleep and got up this morning to go to class at 11 for a presentation about Monarchy and then we had another lecture about the British Political views and then we went to a doctor's flat (apt.) in a skye-rise on the 17th floor which i saw the whole city of London from. It was an amazing view and beautiful home. His wife, Hannah, was the sweetest older lady ever. She loved having us!! Then we went on a walk to see all around their flat and then we left to come back to the dorm. I love London!! it truly is a great city to travel to. my new favorite food is Baggets.. I love the cheese and tomato bagget! AHH i want to get like a trunk full and bring it back to the states with me. Please write me a message. i want to hear from you!!

Cheers!
-Mary Lois

the latest

So sorry i haven't been updating you guys.. I have been super busy!!! Thursday I went to the East-side of London and it was definitely an adventure. I went to a Bangladesh community and it was quite interesting to say the least and then two blocks away was a very wealthy part of the city with Louis Vuitton and Tiffany and Co. stores on the street. Pretty neat! Then we walked for about 5 miles to the London Bridge and other various places around. Thursday ended with a great dessert from the Giraffe with two of my good friends on the trip.

Friday came wayyy too early because we had to wake up at 4am to go on the tube, to the train, to the airport by 8ish for DUBLIN (Also pronounced DOOOB-LYNN.. by the 5 best friends). We got there early so we could take it this amazing weekend get-a-way. Dublin, Ireland is only 1 hour away from the airport in London. pretty easy i would say! It took us no time to get there and get through security. We got a cab ride to our hostel and he was so funny and said some funny things about Ireland. "Money saved is money drank". Our hostel was so perfect. It was right in the middle of the city and beside everything. We got settled in our 6 bunk-bed room and then headed out for the city. The 5 of us took a city-tour and it was very informative. We went to St. Patrick's Church and toured it. Verryy pretty. Then we went to the GUINESS factory!! IT WAS GREAT! Told us everything we needed to know about how Guiness was founded. At the top there was a view of the city of Dublin.

Saturday we woke up early to go on a country-side tour that was from 9am to 5pm. Most amazing thing ever. We took a ton of pictures and were very adventurous to say the least. The views of the mountains were absolutely outstanding. The 5 of us had the best time in Ireland and we seriously did not want to leave. it was so much fun!! I want to go back.. but now i am starting to call London my home for sure. We took a vacation in our vacation and it was great!

Europeans: hard to understand, food is sometimes good... sometimes not good, diet cokes are the smallest drinks ever here (i miss sonic diet cokes and their ice), they dress funny, the kids with Irish or British accents are so precious and i LOVE them, oh and another thing.. dont ever take America for granted.. because when you are gone you really compare things to dollars/ america does this better and it makes me so proud to be an American!! love you all! Sorry for not blogging everyday! I will try!! This week should be really fun- i get to see my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Griffis, on Saturday!!! YAY!!! I can't wait!!

Next Sunday/ Monday- Normandy
Next Monday- Wednesday- Paris
Next Thursday- Saturday- Italy
Next Sunday- Monday- Switzerland

traveling the world is fun after-all. <3

Day 7

Hey guys! Today was a fun and pretty day! I woke up about 7 am and got dressed in a white shirt and kaki linen pants and went outside and it was FREEZING. no sun. just cloudy and cool! I first went to the Charlton Football Club to visit with the directors and it was neat to see how supportive the community was for the soccer team. veryy cool! Then I went to the Prime Meridian in Greenwich! It was a mile up an incline.. it was very steep, too! I am tired! Tonight I am going to Stamford Arms for their party they are giving us tonight! Hope to be able to put up pictures soon.

good night!

-mlh

Long day of class

Did you know that sales tax in the UK is almost 20%?
Did you know that gas is about $6.18?
Did you know that everything goes back historically & in the courtroom they dress in robes and wigs?

Those are only 3 of the hundreds of facts I've learned today about how this society goes about. My favorite though was this lady named Jazz who was a British Lawyer (also known as a Barister). She was so great about comparing what they do in court here to US court system. So much different but yet a lot alike. The human rights act came out here only two years ago in 2008! Wow! I was so shocked!

Today was a very boring day bc I only went about 30 steps across the street to Kings College classrooms which were seriously maybe 60 degrees inside and I froze but I learned a lot which I am thankful for! These speakers that came were family couselors, doctors and lawyer. We got asked by the doctor to come to his flat (apt) on the 13th floor that overlooks the city for wine and dinner next week! I thought that is cool!

About to go to get dessert with friends! I had McDs for a quick dinner... Making yall proud- I know!! Lol oh and I had to ask for ice in my drink and if they had ketchup... Ketchup was tinnnnnny!!! Like two scoops full! It was awful! But anyways! I miss you guys from home!! It's weird here but SO cool.. I would advise everyone to come to London just to experience it. I want to video the city and how you all!

I hope all is well!
I leave you with this quote about England:
"Two people divided by a common language"
Mary Lois

I am sitting out in our courtyard at Kings College where I finally figured out how to get Internet on my phone. So I will not be able to Los pictures this time but I'll just tell you about my days since my last post. Sunday I went to St Pauls Cathedral which was absolutely amazing!! So different from a regular church service bc they give you a guide for what exactly they will be saying during the whole service. It even has the prayers on paper... Crazy but afterwards I went to Wimbledon!!!! Omgah I was amazed by how different it is than on tv. I would have never imagined it but it was so awesome!!!! Then I went to Texas Embassey to eat dinner and they were celebrating the 4th of July and they all wore costumes! It was fun.

Monday I went to class at 10 then ate lunch on the way to find a church where my professor asked us to watch a man play the piano.. The man plays the piano with his left hand and he played for an hour! It was really neat to watch!!! Then i went shopping and met up with friends and we went to the Welcoming Reception and had a glass of wine and finger foods! Afterwards I went with friends to eat pizza by the London Eye! It was too late to ride it but we will soon:)

Tuesday I have so far had class and had a speaker come talk about British family and the political views! It was pretty interesting.. I am
about to head back to class! Thanks for reading! I'll post more later!:)

another picture

This has the Thames River with the London Eye and Big Ben!

London is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

WOW! is all I can say.. this city is amazing!!!!

My flight was on schedule and i had NO problems getting over here. I couldn't have asked for a better 3 days. Right now it is Saturday, July 3 at 9:45p.m. and I just went to Harrods' for dinner. Pretty amazing! Harrods is the coolest place/shopping building in the world!!! Earlier I went on a walking tour and went to Buckingham Palace. It was so pretty!

So let me tell you so far what I have learned about London: the city is very populated (more than NYC), they can point out Americans better than you think (even if you are dressed like them), they are very fast-got to go people(very short convos and are always walking FAST), the "tube" is my new best friend (saves walking 10 miles), I LOVE BIG BEN's beauty and the the London Eye, padestrians do NOT have the right away and on each crosswalk at the bottom says which way to look before getting run-over... and i am serious they DO NOT STOP (VERYYY SCARRY), ummm let me see. I went to bed about 9:30pm last night and it was still day light.. then woke up at 6am and it was DAYLIGHT too.. weird. The time is on military time. like 1430 is 2:30. werid. I have two new London friends named Kane and James.. Kane works at the cellphone store called (CARPHONE WAREHOUSE) and James at the Sushi place in Harrods. OH and I ate Mexican for lunch today.. amazing.. it was a quesadilla with bbq and black beans in it!! what else can i tell you?... my teacher is GREAT his name is Dr. Clinton aka THE ROCK MAN. I call him Rock. He loves me already- he says there's always SOMEONE in the classroom who asks too many questions.. and i am that person! Wheww.. whatever. lol i'm in a foreign country where i know NOTHING.. but that sure changed fast.. i feel like i have been here at least a week. It is great!

OH for you all that are interested: My bedroom is called a flat and it is the smallest dormroom i have ever seen.. hillcrest does not compare. OH and did i mention it does not have aircondition.. nothing does here!!!! I am sweating off all my fat.. i will have a new body in no time!:) heeehee! The showers here are INSIDE the bathroom aka the shower and potty are touching each other. its kinda gross but whatever i have my own room to myself. The maids come to get everything clean once every 5 days. Okay Chow for now.. i'll update yall as soon as i can! I am a busy girl!


tomorrow: St. Paul's Cathedral and WIMBLEDON.


mary lois

ONLY SiX MORE DAYS

Can you believe it? I officially leave at 12:45p on Thurs, July 1 from New Orleans. I will arrive in Miami at 3:30p and leave for London at 5:05p and at 6:35a I will be there.. or so they say! I would like my viewers to promise me that you'll write or comment on some of my blogs so that I will be encouraged to keep this blog a-going! I want to be able to look back at this blog many years from now and remember each blog I wrote to remember the times I had during Study Abroad Program. I promise to you that I will write about everything I see and show pictures to prove the places I have been. NOW, don't be calling the police if I don't write every day or even every two-three days. I am not a missing person I just need to experience the world first before I can tell you about it. Thanks for reading and pray for a safe flight for me and my friends!

À la prochaine (until next time)!

mary lois

I'm counting down the days!

Hey friends, only 24 days until I leave for London! I am so excited.. very anxious to see what awaits me! I have been reading through books to see what to expect.. the only part I do not know what I am going to do about is PACKING!!!! AHH! As most of you know I am not a "light" packer! It will take me at least 24 days to pack so I better get started now.
Thanks for reading my blog!
I will let you know more when I arrive in LONDON, ENGLAND on July 1st.

In our bond,

Mary Lois