Food Truck Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Today my school hosted its first Food Truck Thursday. You might be wondering how this could possibly relate to going abroad.

When I was in Ireland, I was really surprised that there was such a diverse selection of food available. It might have just been me feeding into the stereotype of my own heritage, but I was expecting meat, potatoes and not much else.

I was really wrong.

I fell in love with one little restaurant called Tucos Taqueria when I was living in Galway. Yes, I found amazing Mexican food in Ireland. Since I’ve been a college student, I have discovered my love for Mexican food (when I was legal in Ireland, I discovered my love of margaritas.)

Today, as I sat down at a table outside, enjoying the 80 degree weather, with my El Camino Bowl from the Lloyd truck, I was reminded how much I missed Tucos. I discovered it late in the semester and I went there every Friday for a solid month.

So, I guess my point in this post is to be open minded about the food in the countries you visit, you might be surprised! Also, if you’re not from the United States and you decide to travel here, I highly recommend eating at any food trucks you might come across!

If you ever find yourself in Buffalo, New York….try the Lloyd truck! 

(Photo credit to me!)

Thinking Back Tuesday: France 2014

(Photo Credits go to me)

When I was a senior in high school I had the opportunity to travel to France with my Advanced French class. It was just six of us and then our teacher and I can honestly say it was one of my most memorable experiences from high school.

It was three years ago basically to the date that I set off on my first trip outside of the United States (Canada does not count when you’re from Rochester, NY.)

The day I left for this trip will always stand out to me.

I woke up and started my day with with a strong sense of anticipation and excitement. I just had to get through a day of school and then at 4:00 I would be off to the airport and in pursuit of the Champs-Elysees.

It was first period and I was sitting in my Dynamics of Citizenship class, a graduation requirement for seniors. The day I was supposed to get on an international flight, I had to sit through an entire documentary on 9/11. Needless to say, I really didn’t want to get on an airplane later that day.

The September 11th documentary was not the worst thing that happened before I left for the Rochester International Airport.

I’ll never forget I was sitting at my kitchen table eating a Wegmans sub with my mom while waiting for my dad to get home from work. The sun was shining through the kitchen windows, it was warm enough to not wear a jacket and I couldn’t stop thinking about how awesome it was going to be to climb the steps of the Eiffel Tower.

I heard the garage door open and my dogs began to bark, so I knew my dad was home and we could load my luggage and I was going to be one step closer to my first international trip.

When he walked in the door, I could feel something was wrong and the look he had on his face seemed to make more sense to my mom than to me. I suddenly felt like there was something they had known for awhile and I was completely out of the loop.

I was leaning against my kitchen counter when my dad started talking about my uncle’s cancer. The only word I can really recall from the conversation is “terminal.”

I should have been worrying about airport terminals but now was worried about terminal cancer.

I got to the airport and blocked out the tears I had been crying and put on a happy face for my classmates. I didn’t tell anyone nor did I really want to. If I wasn’t ready to get out of Rochester before that news broke, I definitely was now.

I spent the week living up my experience and reveling in being able to try out my French for the first time outside of the classroom. I soaked up everything. I forgot about my uncle’s cancer. I wasn’t thinking about anyone in my family at all. For the first time I experienced true escape through travel and I fell in love. This experience was a major reason I decided to study abroad for a semester.

In the months after I returned from France, my uncle continued to get worse. I lost him in the middle of my first semester freshman year of college and it was a huge blow to my family. He was the third brother out of the six to pass away.

I was going through my France photo album on Facebook today when I remembered it was the anniversary of my trip. As I scrolled to the bottom, I got to the comments section of the post. I had forgotten that before my uncle had passed away, he asked that I put up my pictures from that trip. There, in the comments section, still exists my uncle’s comment: “Thank you Claire.”

So, today, I remember not only my French memories but also my Uncle Brian and I remain thankful that I was able to share them with him before he passed.

 

 

Love Letter to Florence

(photo credit goes to me!)

In the past two weeks, I have been doing a lot of travel outside of Fredonia, NY. I’ve been to New York City, Toronto and Pittsburgh, PA. Getting outside of the small community I go to school in reminded me how great it felt to be traveling around all the time last semester. I’ve mentioned before that I had been feeling very stuck and out of place here, but these experiences were the fuel I needed to get through it. I love trying new things and adventuring around and the past two weeks have allowed me to do so.

I also have been finding myself missing Florence so much. It’s crazy to me that a place I only got to stay for 24 hours left such an impact on me. The cover photo for my blog is actually a photo I took while in Florence. Maybe my love affair with it has a little to do with how I got there…

The travel company Bus2Alps, who offer bus trips to popular student destinations while abroad, departs from Rome and Florence. I was on a Bus2Alps trip to Budapest, Vienna and Salzburg with my best friend Kristen when my plans to see Florence were born.

Florence was completely unplanned. We originally were supposed to head back to Rome, stay in a hostel overnight and then explore the city a little before heading to the airport to fly back to Dublin. When we found out our bus would not arrive back in Rome until about four in the morning, we realized we could not check into our hostel and we had absolutely nowhere to go.

At the beginning of this trip, I ran into a girl wearing a St. John Fisher shirt in the bathroom, and was so excited to see a Rochester reference that I had to introduce myself. Her name is Andrea and she ended up saving my, and my friend Kristen’s, life. When she found out we had nowhere to go, she immediately offered up her apartment in Florence. I have never been so thankful for a person in my entire life. It reaffirmed my belief that life carries us to meet certain people and certain places, and that these experiences are made a part of our journey on purpose.

Exploring Florence was absolutely one of my favorite experiences throughout my entire semester, and the fact that it was so spontaneous made it even better. We spent the day strolling around the cobblestone streets, climbing up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, digging into traditional homemade Italian pizza, sipping on red wine and, of course, enjoying gelato at the Ponte Santa Trinita. It’s safe to say Florence stole my heart, and I definitely want to make it back to Italy one day.

Easter Around the World

(Photo Credit goes to me! That is the church I attended for Easter in Pittsburgh, PA and the skyline is the view from my sister’s apartment!)

As I walked back from Easter Sunday Mass and then sat down for Easter brunch in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I wondered what the traditions in other countries were. In my family, it’s always ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, homemade applesauce and, the best part, homemade strawberry pie. Strawberry Pie has been a part of my Easters for as long as I can remember. It’s my Grandma O’Reilly’s recipe and it’s a once a year treat.

My grandma was raised during the Depression and what she experienced then definitely stayed with her throughout her life. She kept a stash of money in a sock drawer which she would dig into every holiday for the grandkids. Easter meant $5 stuffed in the same plastic eggs from the previous years (we always had to give the eggs back).

Being raised in the Depression also meant she had strong feelings about taking seconds of any foods. I was probably 12 years old and I reached for a second slice of her strawberry pie and she slapped my hand in front of everyone and said, “Now you already ate a slice Lady Jane, not everyone has had one.” If Grandma O’Reilly called you Lady Jane, you knew you were in trouble.

So, Strawberry Pie is one of my Easter traditions, what are some other traditions abroad? I found a really great post about this on the Reader’s Digest website:

France: “French children don’t get treats from the Easter bunny; they get them from the Easter bells. According to Catholic teaching, no church bells can ring between Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil, on account of the solemnity of the days around Jesus’s death. Eventually, a legend evolved that said the church bells weren’t rung because they grew wings and flew to Rome to be blessed by the Pope. Then they returned Easter day with chocolate and presents for local kids.”

India: “Even though Christians only make up 2.5 percent of India’s population, they still have elaborate Easter festivities, especially in the northeastern states. The western India state Goa celebrates with carnivals, complete with street plays, songs, and dances. People exchange chocolates, flowers, and colorful lanterns as gifts.”

Italy: “On Pasqua (“Easter” in Italian), residents of Florence celebrate a 350-year-old tradition called scoppio del carro, which means “explosion of the cart.” A centuries-old cart is loaded with fireworks and pulled in front of the Duomo, where spectators watch the pyrotechnics go off. It’s meant to be a sign of peace and a good year ahead. South of Florence is the town Panicale, where the big celebration happens the day after Easter (called Pasquetta, or little Easter). Locals gather for the annual Ruzzolone, a competition that involves rolling huge wheels of Ruzzola cheese around the perimeter of the village”

Those are just 3 of the countries on the post. If you’d like to read the entire thing, here is the link!

http://www.rd.com/culture/easter-traditions-around-the-world/