Beautiful pictures taken abroad

"If you see something that grabs your attention then take a picture and keep the memory forever"

I truly enjoy taking pictures, I take pictures of literally anything that grabs my attention. It can be  anything from a lonely bench in the fall covered in brown and yellow leafs. Or it can be a beautiful picture of a sunset going into the ocean. 

Right before I went abroad my mother bought me a new camera. I fell in love with it! It was so much better than my old school camera. She knew how much I enjoyed taking pictures, it was really nice of her. My new camera was amazing! Nothing too fancy but it did take amazing pictures. 

I want to share with you guys some of my favorite pictures that I took while I was abroad...

The picture to the right is a picture of me with a magnificent mountain background. I was in Gorges du Verdon, France. This is located in the South of France. It is a beautiful place, there was a lake with crystal bright blue water and a white sandy beach. It seemed like the perfect place to be. 

This picture on the left I took in Milan, Italy. The reason why this grabbed my attention was because there is so much to see. There is the amazing well detailed church, there is the beautiful Christmas tree and there is the random train. I think that the Christmas lights and the wet floor makes this an amazing picture. This picture is one of my favorites. 

I took the picture on the left in Venice, Italy. I was walking by and seen this. It immediately caught my attention because the lights and how it reflects on the water. I think this is a beautiful picture. I love how the sky is blue and I love the fact that there are no sidewalks just water. Amazing!

This picture to the right was taken in Nimes, France. It is a small city in the South of France. The reason why I liked this picture was because I look so small compared to the surroundings. I stairs are huge! Their were so many trees around. I love pictures that have a lot of greenery.

I took the picture on the left in San Tropez, France. A well known and common city that is visited by celebrities. It is a beautiful expensive small city with a magnificent beach. The water is just amazing! Bright blue with white soft sand. The greenery is what makes the picture so beautiful. I love this picture. 

The picture to the left is Stonehenge. It is located in London, England. I waited until the sun began to set to take this picture. It came out just the way I wanted it to. It's beautiful. This one is actually on a frame on my wall. It is also a picture that stands out every time I think of my traveling experiences.

I really like this picture on the right. I took it in Athens, Greece. The reason why I like it is because of the green and white contrast. I love how unique their houses are in Greece. I love that they are as white as they can be and the blue doors. Although this door wasn't blue it is still a beautiful picture. 

                                                                                                                    

 I took this picture in Paris, France. I absolutely love this picture! It is also on  my wall. The reason why I love this picture is because of how beautiful the Eiffel Tower looks and the moon looks amazing too! I just love it and it might look photo shopped but believe me its not. This is is my favorite picture out of all of them. 

Bizarre foods around the world

People from all around the world have different taste in foods and there are some pretty strange foods out there, but they don't come anywhere close to the following...







 Water Centipedes. 
 In China eating water centipedes is quiet common for most of the people living there. Water centipedes are usually served deep fried and are sometimes confused by small/skinny shrimp. 
















 Bull's testicles and penises. 
This is very common in Spain. They are known to be a royalty dish in some countries. They also say that by eating this it will help you boost your performance in bed. 

Tarantulas. 
 In Cambodia frying spiders and then eating them is common. They fry them until their hair starts to fall out. This process makes it easier,  so they don't have to pluck them.    




















                                                                                  Balut.
 In the Philippines they eat balut. Balut is basically a fertilized egg that is boiled just before it is about to hatch. A balut is as common a a hot dog in the United States.

                                             Fried brains. 

 Fried brains are consumed in Mexico, El Salvador and even in some places in the United States. In the United States they are served in sandwiches and in Mexico and El Salvador they are served in tacos and burritos. 

Weird? Bizarre? Strange? or maybe appealing? These 5 foods are definitely not something we see or try everyday..but there are people out there that actually eat these foods. Would you? 


For me the centipedes and tarantulas just make my tummy turn. I can't imagine myself eating any of those two! It is interesting how every culture has their own strange foods. 

In my culture (Mexican) we eat many strange foods too but one of my favorites is "lengua" (cow tongue)! It looks really really disgusting but it is so good. I always use to tell my mom I hated cow tongue even though I never actually tried it. So one day my mom made tacos and she told me they were beef...She lied!! They were not beef they were the cow's tongue! It was really good so I didn't complain at all. 


So now when we look at these different foods we might want to taste them before we go ahead and judge them. 

A meaningful quote

"Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity." - Robert Alan Silverstein. 

We can definitely learn a lot from one another. We just have to give it a change and be willing to want to learn about others.

10 years old and already married?!

In developing countries child brides are very popular. Girls at the age of 10 are getting married to older men. 

Picture by Stephanie Sinclair   

 I was reading an article on the National Geographic website that grabbed my attention. They spoke about a 10 year old girl named Yemeni who went to a courthouse to request a divorce. She was only 10 years old and married to a man in his 30s. The sad thing was that her own father had forced her to marry this older man. At the end she ended up getting divorced and she wrote a book called “I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced". It was translated in 30 languages. This particular story made headlines and grabbed a lot of people's attention. 

After being married for only a month these young brides become pregnant. They are not even physically mature to have babies. Their pelvic bone's are not big enough to deliver a baby. This puts not only the child but the young mother in serious danger. 

 I could only imagine how hard this might be for these young girls. You see here in the United States most of us get married for love. We get married because we want to not because others are forcing us to. I can't imagine my father telling me that I have to marry someone that not only I don't know or love but way older. 

I am the type of person that tries to understand every culture but this is just something I 100% disagree with. I just don't see why this is okay? I think its okay to marry someone older but when you are mentally mature enough to know what you are doing. Not when you are a child with no rights. This is an issue that continues to happen. Now a days there are many people that work hard so this can be made illegal, but it might be harder than it looks. This is definitely a process.

Here is  An Article on Child Brides that I found. It talks a little more about the health problems. 

Architecture abroad is so much more interesting!

Why is it that we don't have all these beautiful ancient buildings like they do in Europe? We are famous for sky scarpers and that's pretty much it. Why can't we have castles and ancient buildings? I'm sure we do somewhere in the states, but we aren't famous for them. We do have beautiful architecture in the states but it is usually modern architecture. 


When I googled "French architecture" all these beautiful images came up and the very first link was the French architecture wikipedia. Now when I googled "American architecture" the wikipedia page was empty? Here is a picture of what American architecture looks like...

 To the left is the Seattle Central Library. As you can tell the building is very modern. It is really different and in this case I don't like it. I feel like it looks like it doesn't belong or as if it was a structure from outer space. 

The picture to the left is also another example of modern american architecture. This is the University of Alaska Museum of the North. 

Now the following pictures I took while I was abroad in front of the most amazing structures! 

 While abroad I was amazed by all the beautiful architecture! Especially because I am an architect major. I enjoy seeing detailed and roman influenced architecture. While I was in France I visited this beautiful castle "Chateau Chambord" located just outside of Paris. It was the first castle I've ever visited and it was huge! (picture on the right)

Here to the left is a picture of myself in front of an ancient church in Nimes, France. Nimes is small city in the South of France. The reason why this church grabbed my attention was because the amazing detail that it had. 

The picture to the right was taken while I visited Athens, Greece. These are some famous ruins near the Acropolis. I thought they were interesting because of how ancient they were. Some of these buildings were still standing incredibly after so many years. 















 The picture to the left was taken in London,   England. It is a picture of famous Houses 
of Parliament. This absolutely incredible!
It has so much amazing detail. 

The picture to the right was taken in Rome, Italy. It's a picture of my mom, sister, and I. We were standing in front of the Coliseum. This building grabbed my attention because of it's size. It is huge! it is also ancient which I love. 

Eating healthy is a must!

 Why is it that people in France eat healthier than most people in the States? It is actually proven that there are more obese people in the states than in France. The United States ranks number 1 in obesity worldwide. 30.6% of the people in United states are obese vs the people in France ranking at number 23 with 9.4% of their people being obese. There’s even obesity among children in the States! Do we even  care about our health? (Link to Statistic website) 

 While I was in France I noticed that people ate much healthier and ate smaller proportions compared to how I use to eat at home (United States). 

Healthy French dish I ate abroad. 

While I was living in France I stayed with a French host family. During dinner they use to serve me these small portions of food which for me being Mexican American looked ridiculous! I was used to eating big proportions.  I was also used to eating lots of meats. 

They would serve us either a little bit of salad or a little tiny bit of soup and then something light with lots of veggies and fish or chicken for the main plate. For dessert either some cheese (cheese is their junk food) or plain yogurt and we only drank water. 

A dish I cooked.

I remember going to sleep not just hungry but starving for the first month of my stay. During the first 2 weeks I lost about 12 pounds. The reason why I lost so much weight was because my body was so used to eating 2,300 calories a day compared to 1,800 a day. After a while my body started getting use to eating smaller proportions and healthier! I actually felt more energized and started getting more into shape. 

Another dish I cooked.

I no longer ate junk food or drank soda. I felt much happier being healthy! Before when I use to eat I use to eat until I could no longer eat where I was stuffed and wanted to barf, literally! Being ridiculously full didn't feel very good, but again this was "normal" for me. In France I learned that that's not the way it should be. We should eat enough and that’s it. 

A picture of my Groceries. 

Now I’m back in the states and I’ve changed the way I eat. I eat less and healthier. Lots of organics and lots of veggies! I do eat chips but not as much as I use to before and I only drink water and from time to time ill drink juice. I still eat pizza and junk food but I don't over do it. I feel way better eating this way! 

From 18 to 21!

Amsterdam, Netherlands

 In the United States the legal drinking age is 21 but in most countries in Europe the drinking age has been known to be as young as 16 years old. I remember when I found out that I was going to be able to drink legally in France. I was so excited I honestly felt like a child going to Disneyland for the first time. Just the thought of being able to sit at a bar was amazing to me. To be honest this is why I was the most excited...I know I probably should have been more excited to be studying out in Europe or just for the fact that I was going to be in Europe.

 I have noticed that people in the states make a big deal out of drinking. Why is it that we only make a big deal here?! Everywhere else in the world people are so chill about drinking. While I was abroad I spoke to many people and I remember being at a bar with a bunch of my International friends drinking. One of them told me " Why is it that every time you Americans drink it's only to get shit faced?" -Salam Ismail At the time I didn't understand what he meant, but after living there I realized that what he had said was kind of true. 

When students drink in the states we usually have one and one purpose only and that is to get drunk. But you see in other countries people are not trying to get drunk like we do. We just don't drink for the same reasons. I personally drink to be social and of course to get drunk. I want to share a couple of my personal experiences while I was abroad. 

Aix-en-Provence, France

I remember the very first night in Europe so clearly... every single student in the study abroad program went out for drinks (most of them were under the age of 21). I remember entering the bar and being to excited. I was actually a little nervous too I think it was because I was also scared of somehow getting in trouble? At the time I was only 18  and the following week I was going to turn 19. 

Porto, Portugal

There were a couple things I quickly realized. The first one was the fact that they didn't even bother to check my ID and the second was that the drinks were so expensive. It was a whole different world. I really enjoyed the ambiance and the vibe. That was totally my scene. 

 I started drinking at the beach, friend’s house, bars, restaurants and even at parks. In Europe you don't get tickets for drinking in public. You can literally be walking down the street drinking a beer or you can even go to the public parks and drink without getting in trouble. I remember we went to a carnival and we were literally in the middle of the street sitting down drinking in front of the police men and instead of them telling us to put it away they would make jokes like "Hey are you going to share". This is definitely different to what we are used to in the states. 

 

Porto, Portugal 

I am really happy that I got to experience going out to bars and clubs and being able to drink out in Europe. It was definitely a whole other world. I had lots of fun and if I could do it again I would. It was an experience that I will truly never forget.

To the French I'm fat?!

When I first arrived in Aix-en-Provence, France I started noticing that everyone seemed to be thinner. No one seemed to be overweight or even fat. This was really strange because I am used to seeing overweight people everywhere in California even children, but in Aix-en-Provence"fat people" were nowhere to be found and to be honest out of the whole entire city I only seen 1 obese man.

While I was in Aix-en-Provence I lived with a host family. 

I remember this one time we were sitting down eating dinner and Saba (French host mom) said to me "I need to put you on a diet" I was shocked and offended. I couldn't believe she would say that! First of all I have never considered myself fat. In the states I am considered to be at a  "normal weight". I couldn't understand why she would make a comment like that. I just remember wanting to jump across the table and wanting to punch her in her face.

On another occasion she asked me for my weight? In the states you never ever ask a girl for her weight! Especially a girl that's a little curvier. They began to make jokes about me and my eating habits. They use to say stuff like " Why do you eat so much", "Why do Americans eat a lot", "Why don't you go exercise" and they would makes jokes such as " I bet you have chips and cookies hiding under your bed", " Don't give it to Nayeli because she will for sure eat it all" or " Do you want seconds? wait of course you want seconds" Ha Ha ha" 

A bit harsh?? More like a lot! Comments like these made me think that I was fat when in reality I was no where close to being fat. Having a big butt, big boobs and a curved tummy was unattractive for the people who lived in this Aix-en-Provence. It was so weird and to be honest I never got use to this. I just couldn't! In California men don't mind my butt or thighs but in Aix it was a whole different story.

One day while I was in school I told my French teacher about it and she told me that I shouldn't let any of those comments hurt me because that's just how they are. It the French culture that was normal. They don't mean it to hurt you.  I explained to her that where I was from people would never say anything like that to anyone. She just said that it was because they are use to people being so thin in Aix so when they see a bigger person they don't know whats appropriate and whats not. In the states we are use to seeing big people so therefor we already know that comments like these are not acceptable. I honestly thought it would literally be common sense, but apparently  it's wasn't. 

First days in Aix-en-Provence, France

I remember the day I arrived in Aix-en-Provence ( A small but well known city in the south of France) and just thinking to myself "OMG what have I done" I want to go home already" I can't believe I am going to be living here". Being in a different country where you can't understand anything can be pretty intimidating! I remember the other students that I was traveling with being so anxious to get out and explore, but as for me all I wanted to do is call my mom and tell her that I was ready to head back home. 

Once I got tired of hiding inside my hotel room I decide to take a stroll around the city. I started noticing that people weren't being friendly. They wouldn't even smile! This was extremely weird for me because I am use to smiling and waving a lot, but for the French smiling and specially waving is weird and plus its "an American thing". 

The next day my friends and I decided to take the bus to the local market. It was such an interesting ride! Everyone in the bus was so quiet and they all looked pissed off or something. I thought it was weird and even when they talked to their friends it was like they were whispering to each other. They wouldn't even make eye contact with you or anything. Later on I was told that the French like to keep to them selves and unlike us Americans they don't like to make a scene. They think its rude to laugh loudly or be loud in general. Believe me I was being shushed many times by random French people that I didn't even know just because I was being too loud.


 They also didn't like when I use to speak english. They use to say stuff like "We are in France so speak french". The older people seemed to have a bigger problem with it but the younger crowd would roll their eyes at you if they heard you speaking english. This use to make me so uncomfortable! 

As that weeks went on I started to get a grasp on how life would be for me in the South of France and by the looks of it, it was not going to be easy!