first ever

I know it' still July but it seems as though this summer has flown by me! I've been living in Santa Barbara with some friends in my first apartment (and first rent!) and have kept busy with nannying Tatiana and doing the summer homework for Europe semester. I'm leaving Santa Barbara in a week to go home for a few days and visit my mom in Hawai`i before I head to Europe but I'm not sure that I'm ready to leave here. It's difficult to leave Tati because I love watching her grow and getting to know her family. At least I have something to return to after my semester traveling.



Going home is always refreshing but there are always so many people to see. I love getting to relax with family and old friends, though. It's a mini-vacation from work and homework... always appreciated. Then I get to spend a week on the Hawaiian shores with my mom and stepdad before hopping on a plane to Scotland. I keep saying that I need to watch Braveheart before I leave because, not only am I going to Wallace's homeland, but I am actually part Scottish. Where do you think "Robertson" came from?



The excitement for my upcoming semester is really starting to bubble up inside me. I mean, I can't believe the ground that we will cover and that I get to finish me degree doing it. I never imagined that I would spend a third semester abroad traveling through Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Italy, Greece and Israel. Did I get them all? I had to take advantage of the trip and go on my own little Spanish deviation: Madrid, Granada and Barcelona.



Well, I'll try to keep you updated throughout the semester on my first ever blog. I look forward to relating some funny travel stories and telling about all the "lost in translation" experiences we are sure to encounter. Keep reading and keep it real.