The first Nikki in Paris

So I've been in the lovely city of Paris for just over a week now, and I must say that I am loving it so far! I forgot how much I enjoyed being in a big city. I can get almost any kind of food I want. IT TAKES ME 30 MINUTES TO WALK TO A BANGIN PHO PLACE. I went there the other day with someone I met on CS. Oh, and there's always free open-air concerts, as show in the picture above. Basically I'm going to really enjoy the next two months, I'll update when I find more good food and more free/cheap stuff to do. AU REVOIR.

Malta!

So I was given a week long break because the family I nanny for was heading to the Canary Islands for a bit of sunshine. My original goal was to get to Greece, but flights were about 230 euros and there was just no way I was paying that much. So I checked out ryanair.com, looked at where flights went from venice, and saw they went to a place called Malta I had only heard of once on an episode of Degrassi. I did a quick wikitravel search, liked the sound of it, and booked a flight.

Malta was an interesting experience. It was my first time in a country staying solely with couch surfers, which is something I was a bit nervous and mostly excited to try. I stayed with three people; Matt, Tony, and Chris, and they were all very different. Matt is a quiet computer programmer who enjoyed cooking with lots of spices and flavors and watching television. Tony is a vegan security guard at the airport who enjoys trekking across the country and helping to save wild cats. Chris is a fun-loving guy who introduced me to other Maltese friends and cooked me steak because he knew it was my favorite meal. Each experience was new and interesting and made me love couch surfing even more.

It was also interesting because it was my first country to explore completely solo. Everywhere else I've been I had a friend with me, and if I was alone it wasn't for more than a day. Being alone got really, well, lonely at times. I found myself unsure of what to be doing or exploring, so I would just hop on a bus and ride it in circles until I sorted something out. Doing this I met a really cool bus driver named Sam who ranted a bit about the government of Malta and the difference between how the treat locals and how they treat immigrants. I spent about 3 hours riding his bus line back and forth, and he gave me a few suggestions of places to go and see.

Malta is essentially a really small island that is filled with calm, laid-back individuals who work incredibly hard at everything they do but do NOT take fun and relaxation for granted. It was definitely a "break", and by the end I found myself itching to get back to seeing Carlo and playing with him and seeing all of the friends I've made so far here in Padova.

Next up is my move to Paris! Stay tuned.