You
are probably wondering where the heck I have been over the past couple of weeks
when I so loudly announced I would write some kind of online diary about my
experiences in the USA. Well, my main experience so far is that I do not have
time for anything else but studying and working on my Mount Everest full of
work. And I am even writing this while sitting in class. That is how much time
I have for anything else. However, I want to still tell you more about the last
six weeks (yes, six weeks already and I do not have time for anything) in the
United States of America.
I
started my #USAadventure in Tampa, Florida. I probably never mentioned it, but
I have extended family there. Therefore, I visited them. I stayed with
different family members for a week. Tampa is one of my favorite places on this
earth. I love the city and the area, but I do not like the humidity. It is
always so hot. But I do not travel to Tampa for the weather, although, it also
can be very nice. I go there to visit family. During my time, we spent a lot of
time together talking, laughing, eating, a little sightseeing, and also a
little (okay, a lot) of shopping. I already have seen pretty much everything
there. However and besides seeing my family, there is one place I always love
to go. It is the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg. I just love his art.
It is disturbing at some point, but it also has so many facets. We also went to
the Tampa Historical Center (I believe that is what it is called, correct me if
I’m wrong). I learnt a lot about the history of Tampa, which was so incredibly
interesting. If you are ever in the city, you have to go to the Columbia
Restaurant in Ybor City or the Columbia Café, which is right in the same
building as the Tampa Historical Center. The food there is just amazing. So
good. I cannot even tell you what to try because everything I had so far was
incredible. One of my favorite days in Tampa was when we had a barbeque with
(almost) the entire family there. I loved to see all of them and spending time
with them. The theme for my visit was kind of car rides in the rain. Tampa went
through an unusual time of storms around noon and the afternoon during that
time of the year. As previously mentioned, I did not came for the weather
(although, a little beach weather would have been nice).
After
a week with wonderful people and doing a lot of fun things, I went to the place
where the main focus for my entire adventure is – Santa Fe, New Mexico. For the
past five weeks (one more week to go, then I have my life back) I have been
attending a summer study program here. What can I tell you about this program
and the time I have spent here so far? Well, the people I have met are all very
nice and we have been having a wonderful time (when we do actually have a
little bit of time, no we just make time, to hang out a little). Besides having
classes and studying 24/7, we went on different hikes. There are hikes every
morning, but I am so not a morning person and I am not insane to go on a hike
at 6 in the morning. Although, I have to say I went on one hike this early. No
wait, it was even earlier. We left at 5:30 in the morning. Yes, I only was that
crazy one time. And trust me, when I got up at 5 (!!!) I thought I already
completely lost my mind and that was at the very beginning of the program when
classes have not even started yet. Anyway, getting up this early and hiking up
a freakin’ mountain was totally worth it, because we got to experience a
beautiful sunrise and an amazing view over the whole city of Santa Fe and even
further. As amazing as it was, I never did it again. We also went to the
National Monument of Bandelier and hiked there. I also loved this hike. It was
in the morning as well, but not as early. We had to drive there first and
started our hike around 9ish. I thought it was incredible. I cannot even put it
into words. So I will show you a few pictures here: 
The third hike I did was by far my favorite one, although it was definitely without a doubt the hardest one. On a Friday, we went to the Tent Rocks. We also went there in the morning and had to drive there first. It was just amazing, incredible, beautiful. For the first 1 ½ hours, we hiked up a mountain and through rock walls. That was amazing. It was incredibly hard and exhausting, because it was so hot and the sun was burning down, the view on top was breathtaking. Again, I cannot put all of this into words, so here are some pictures:
We
also went into town a few times. Santa Fe is beautiful, although the whole
architecture is kind of the same all the time. The houses and buildings all
look similar. But still it has so much charm. Here are some pictures:
And
here is the explanation and reason for me not being able to go through with my
so wonderful thought of plan of writing an online diary. This program is a six
week intensive study program. I have two classes which are on Tuesdays/Thursday
for 3 hours each. On those days I am pretty much wiped out after 6 hours of class.
But I still have to study and write papers. On the other days during the week,
I have to study and write papers. Therefore, all I do here is study and write
papers. And I have to do this, because I have a ton to hand in and read.
Freetime is not existing. My life is put on hold for the past 5 weeks and I
have still several days to go. My daily life looks like this: wake up, eat,
study, eat, study, eat, study, sleep. On days I have classes it looks like
this: wake up, eat, go to class, eat, go to class, study, eat, study, sleep. Fun,
huh? And I am not exaggerating. I wish I was but I am not. Don’t get me wrong,
this program has been a wonderful experience so far. I have met wonderful
people and I was able to take two classes with amazing teachers. But it is very
challenging, on an intellectual level and on a physical level. You are
constantly under stress and do not have time to relax just a little bit, only
when you are sleeping. And I do not sleep very well here. Therefore, I am literally
tired all the time. I’m going to stop complaining here.
I
deeply apologize for not being able to take you on a daily journey with me, but
I hope I was able to make it up a little with this block post.
See
you guys soon J
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