Mom

I know I speak for my travel-mates when I take a Euro Trip Blog moment to say ...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM, love you and thank you for everything you have done!!!!

This is crazy,,,,

I have all my Spokane stuff stored at Monica and Brooks Holland's place (Thanks again guys!)...all my stuff for seattle is packed and ready to go in my car tonight...my room is bare...I am making a little nest with blankets from the housemates for my bed tonight! Got a bottle of wine and am going to work on stuff for our trip.
Then I head home tomorrow morning, see the family for mothers day, Monday do last minute errands and say bye to friends, then Tuesday....TAKE OFF!!!!!! :)

pics from yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More fall out from last night!

So, to add to the craziness of last night, someone got 'sick' in Pat's laundry hamper... and probably the best story of the year ....

***Edit*** this story was removed by request
:(

hahaha, good news on my end, I didn't have my camera when I got home, but a good law school buddy Patrick McNulty had it and called me this morning to tell me :)

PS

Without getting into much detail, as I said earlier, I left relatively early from the bbq last night, (as did BJ), but I just got to talking to some people who stayed later...and apparently it was quite the PARTY TIME for everyone else :) Including the BBQ's host!

BTW, we're heading out in three days!!!!

It is sort of surreal to finally be actually packing my backpack for the trip

Party time!

So, last night we had our end of the year BBQ Bash at Pat's house. It was very fun, unfortunately Pat and his 'section' didn't get out until 4:30, but me, bj and my section were done at noon...so we filled the noon to 4:30 vacancy with some drinking! :)
So the bbq was much shorter for us...but! I got to bed real early and woke up at 7AM 100 percent :)

So yeah..had fun...Hey BJ..did you enjoy the party!?




That is a YES :)

Fin!!!

Last day of our first year is today!! :)

Also four days away from take off....

will write more later...likely after a little post-test partying!

Spicing things up!

Okay, well, this blog will obviously get more exciting once we leave....I may have been told by a particular lesbian tonight that it was a little boring....DAMN YOU JILL!

So, to spice things up, here is a joke that she loves to tell at parties, so now the punch line is ruined :)

This guy gets drunk at a bar and throws up on himself and is all upset about it...
He goes "Aw man, I have to go home to my wife like this, she will kill me!"
Another guy there says to him "this is what I do, I come home with 10 dollars in cash and just say that some guy puked on me at the bar and gave me 10 dollars to get my shirt cleaned"

So he goes home, stumbles in with a twenty dollar bill in his hand .. and his wife goes "What happened!?"
and he goes "This guy threw up on me at the bar and gave me 10 dollars to get my shirt cleaned"
and she responds "Well, why do you have twenty dollars?"
and he goes "He also crapped my pants!"

HA!
:)
Happy end of the week,,,,one last final!

Countdown!

Wow....we take off in Five days!!! this is nuts!

Hard to get too pumped yet...big test tomorrow...Civil Procedures!!

9AM for BJ and I, 1:30PM for Pat!

Then a little celebrating....then packing, storage, heading to seattle, mothers day, flying to Italy... :)

** New Poll **

So the three of us have been going back and forth on this one! There are a few "American" bars in the more popular places we are going...Rome..Amsterdam..Munich.. and BJ wanted to hit some of them up, Pat and I both think that is a stupid idea....
:)
Sort of a dumb poll, but none-the-less.. it is there!

(Also...I posted twice on here, and subsequently pushed down Pat's post on bidet usage and etiquette, if you didn't read it...vote on the poll on the right and then scroll down and see it...I'm excited)

Good Friends!

I just wanted to shout out to my travel buddies, BJ and Pat...

This birthday sort of sucked because of finals time and not being with my family BUT we had a pretty kick-ass bbq last night and I wanted to thank Pat for the nice bottle of Grey Goose vodka that will help me round out my last week in Spokane!

And also thank BJ for taking me out for a couple beers and buying me lunch on my actual birthday, even though we had a final the following day!

:) Thanks guys...next birthday???? BJ's!! Where??? Cinque Terra!!
What are we getting him??? Drunk!!! :) :)

Hey...next week at this time...we will be ROLLING in from the Rome Nightlife :)

*sigh*
Okay, back to studying for Friday's final Final! :)

Exactly What I've Been Looking For: How to Use a Bidet

Chances are, if you're traveling through Europe, Latin America, East Asia, or the Middle East, you'll eventually encounter a bidet in the bathroom. It's traditionally a basin near the toilet that's used to clean the genitals and anal area after using the toilet or whenever a "freshening up" is needed. While your first encounter with a bidet can be a little daunting, they are actually very simple (and hygienic) to use.

Steps
1. Use the toilet first. The purpose of the bidet is to help clean off after toilet use. While some people believe that using a bidet is a hygienic substitute for toilet paper, many choose to use both.
2. Straddle the bidet. On most standalone bidets you can either face the bidet's water controls or you can face away from them, as you would on a toilet. It is easier to control the flow and temperature of the water if you face the controls, but if you are wearing pants you will generally need to remove them in order to straddle the bidet in this manner. There are a variety of bidet designs, so the configuration of the jets and the area of your body that you wish to clean may dictate which way you need to face.
3. Adjust the temperature and jet strengths for comfort. If the bidet has both hot and cold water controls, start by turning on the hot water. Once it's hot, add the cold water until you have a comfortable temperature. (In normally hot climates, such as the middle east, you should start with the cold water. The water will not need time to heat up and you may end up burning sensitive areas if you turn the hot water on first.)

* Be very careful when turning on the water, as many bidets can produce a very high jet of water with only a slight turn of the control.
* Be sure that you know where the water will be coming from ahead of time, or you could end up with a surprise shower.
* You may find that you need to hold the control to keep the jets on.

4. Position yourself over the water jets so that the jets hit the desired area. For some bidets you can continue to hover above the bidet or you can sit down on it. Note that most bidets don't have seats, but are still meant to be sat upon; you just sit directly on the rim. Some bidets do not have jets, but instead simply have a faucet that fills the basin, as you would fill a sink basin.

5. Clean anal area and/or genitals. Generally, you simply allow the jets to clean the desired area without having to use your hands. If there are no jets, you will need to use your hands to assist in bathing. You can use soap if you want to, applying it just as you would in the shower.
6. Dry your skin. Some bidets have a built-in air dryer that you can use. For others, simply pat dry with toilet paper. Many bidets have a towel on a ring positioned next to the bidet, but this is often intended for drying hands.
7. Rinse out the bidet. Once you are off the bidet, run the jets at very low pressure for a few seconds to rinse the basin and keep the bidet fresh.
8. Wash your hands with soap and water, as you would any time after using the toilet.

WARNINGS

* Dry wipe at least once after having a bowel movement and before using the bidet. Excess fecal matter may clog the bidet drain. This can be quite disgusting for someone who uses the bidet after you.
* Be very careful adjusting the temperature and pressure on the bidet. You want to avoid scalding sensitive skin, and high pressure can be very irritating.
* Drinking from a bidet is not recommended. The stream can ricochet off a soiled area and become contaminated.
* If you are in an area with questionable water supply sanitation, refrain from using bidet on broken/irritated skin. Your skin is only an adequate barrier against infection when intact.

Well, no one else

Well, no one else seems to want to Blog :) So I will again,,,,

In the last 24 hours we booked our Dublin hostel, our Amsterdam hostel, and our flight from Dublin to London! I still need to book the flight from Amsterdam to Dublin, but I can't find one that is earlier than like 5PM.... :(

One more final, this Friday!

I got a great big back pack from Lesbo Jill as well as small but good speakers for my ipod for the house :)

Umm, what else? Jill just called, she is coming to pick me up, I lost my keys at my Birthday BBQ last night so my car is still at her house, keys found now...she is on her way to get me .... so I have to bounce,

I will write more later.

With all these hostel bookings the itinerary is almost ready to be sent out, it is pretty cool....just waiting on BJ for the Munich one and Pat on the Sorento one....and we all have to decide on how we are ending our trip in London! I saw we find someone to stay with on Craigs List ... no? :)

Things you overhear......

While sitting in the moot courtroom, preparing for our final exam in Torts, the room is filling up, some guy walks up and is stopped by the guy in front of me...and this conversation commences

Guy A "Hey dude, you ready for this thing?"
Guy B " Yeah man, as ready as I am going to be"
A "Yeah, I think it should be manageable"
B "I hope so"
A "So what are you doing after class?"
B "Testing the airtightness of my bong"

Sean.... *thinking* "That would probably have helped before the test"

Oh law school! It is like high school, only harder.....

$$$$$$$$$$

So we're getting some of our hostels/hotels booked for our different pit stops....and the trip is starting to get mighty expensive!

Plus, the amount of financial aid return, that we were told by everyone who went before that we would get was a few thousand off.

*sigh*
time to open a new credit card :)

oh well, a trip of a lifetime...

ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One week until Europe!!!! Party Time!!! Yipeeeee

Right now, 9:15AM, Pat is in his Torts final. BJ and I at 1:30PM....then only one more week and one more final, then our first year is over and party time begins!

Who is excited!?

I had excitement overload/downer this weekend.....but now I am getting more excited. Lots to decide....booze or valium for the flight there? or a tylenol PM?

Packing needs to officially begin this week!

Did I mention Pat got his European Speedo in the mail a few days ago? He showed BJ and I, it is pretty stellar! BJ and I are getting ours at this local sports supply store this week....we will clearly be the hit of the beaches!

OKAY!! Off to go do last minute Torts studying :)

Wow...

Even on my birthday the posting becomes my job!!

Well, Happy Cinco de Mayo all! We have reached our 8 day mark, until the trip.

Very exciting, last night we decided against Prague and have our trip all planned and set in stone, unfortunately I do not have the itinerary COMPLETELY finished, as we have another final looming tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our TORTS final, Pat's test is in the AM, Mine and BJ's is in the PM, then afterwards we will be heading out to a birthday bbq at our favorite lesbian's house!! (well, one of our favorites)

It is nuts, next week at this time we will all be so anxious we won't be able to sleep!!! Ahh! LOL
nuts!

Euro shows signs of end of Bull Run!!

Speculation that the euro’s seven-year bull run was coming to an end intensified on Thursday as the single currency fell to five-week lows against the dollar and the pound.

Many economists are reaching the view that eurozone growth has slowed to the point where the European Central Bank will have to cut interest rates or risk stunting economic growth.

“Within the space of one week, the outlook for the eurozone has worsened significantly,” said Carsten Brzeski at ING Capital Markets. “Sound economic fundamentals are melting away.”

Recent eurozone data have been disappointing, with German business sentiment, measured by the Ifo institute, in April recording its biggest monthly fall since September 2001, while eurozone purchasing managers’ indexes have also fallen.

The European Central Bank has so far maintained a hawkish stance on interest rates.

As the Federal Reserve has slashed its main interest rate by 3.25 percentage points to 2 per cent since the start of the market turmoil last summer, and the Bank of England cut its main lending rate by 0.75 per cent to 5 per cent, the ECB has kept its official interest rate on hold at 4 per cent.

The diverging interest rate paths between the three central banks have given investors a reason to keep buying the euro, pushing it nearly 70 per cent higher against the dollar since 2001 and up almost 30 per cent against the pound.

Last month the euro reached an all-time high of $1.6018 against the dollar and a record high of £0.8097 against the pound. But it has since fallen 3.6 per cent, on Wednesday hitting $1.5438 against the dollar and £0.7802 against the pound, its weakest level since March 25.

Numbers!

1 day until my Birthday
5 days until all three of us have finished our 1L year!
6 days until we are all SUPER hungover from celebrating finishing our 1L year!
7 days until Mothers Day
7 days until I head to the Seattle area
8 days until Pat and Brian head to Seattle area
9 days until we leave!!!!!!!!!!

(I think these 9 days are going to FLY!)
*No pun intended*

We are single digits boys!

Saturday!

Today marks our final 10 day countdown!!

I am currently sitting in room 143 waiting my Contracts final in 40 minutes! BJ should be joining me soon and Pat has his at 1:30PM !!

This will be a great test to get behind us......

I just talked to some chick who I thought was going to Europe with us, she isn't....after about 5 minutes of green tea induced rambling about how much fun we're going to have she informed me that she dropped out last minute....lame.

My Birthday is on Monday! Cinco De Mayo :)
Finals + Birthday = Lame!

So I may postpone it and celebrate in Rome or something.

Okay, think positive contractual thoughts for us today...... (there is no E in Parol, for the Parol Evidence Rule...FYI.....)

10 MORE DAYS, 10 MORE DAYS, 10 MORE DAYS

PS
Last night there was a VERY interesting special on ABC news about the secrets of the Sistine Chapel. I found it interesting and all the shots of Florence and Rome really got me excited.

To Coincide.....

To coincide with the current, rather negative poll up...regarding what we WONT miss...I added another one asking what we WILL miss the most during our travels.