My week

            On Sunday, after taking quick nap, my family took me to the zoo. All of the cousins came and I loved seeing Ferdi and Felix (the little ones) get so excited. The zoo here in Vienna is the oldest zoo in the world, and is located in the Tiergarten in Schonbrunn (the same palace I was at on Saturday). Even though I was pretty exhausted, I had a great time with the family, and I am continually learning to never say “no” to any opportunity!

Ferdi getting a ride on Theresa's shoulders

Felix checking out some monkeys

Me with cousins, aunt, and sister

 

            On Tuesday at school, a boy in my class asked me to proof read his speech before he read it to the whole English class. His writing definitely made my day! The students were allowed to give a speech on anything they were passionate about. This particular boy chose to speak about loving yourself. And how all the people in the world could love you, but you don’t feel it until you love yourself first. It was really inspirational, and I told him I loved it! He then told me his story about not being really accepted for a long time and how hard that used to be for him; and then how things got so much better once he just started loving himself. I told him that was pretty amazing, and he gave me a big hug (my first one from a classmate! Score!) and I feel like we bonded.

 

            After school on Tuesday I had two basketball games hosted in another school in Vienna. Let’s just say that neighborhood made me super grateful to be living in the one I am! We got slaughtered the first game, but turned it around and won by 48 points the second game. I started to get a little bummed as I realized how much I missed my team back home, and all the little ways those girls made me happy and supported me.

 

            Like usual, a long day in the gym resulted in a headache for me (still don’t know why). Of course that headache quickly escalated into a migraine and that was a BIG bummer. Migraines are no fun as is, but I’m so used to having my mom there to take care of me and put cold wash cloths on my head and lay with me until I fall asleep. So naturally tackling this one on my own was a little bit of a struggle. But I took my shot and passed out a little while after.

 

            The rest of my week flowed on pretty normally. I was invited to lunch with friends on Wednesday and we went to this cool self serve vegetarian restaurant. When saying goodbye, I forced them to all give me hugs, and even though it was a little awkward, I’ve decided that’s what I’m going to have to do to get some love around here! J Friday was a national holiday and I went to an art museum with my family and grandpa. I found the art in this exhibit really interesting and unique and I really enjoyed myself. We had lunch together at a cute cabin like restaurant with a farm outside. The fall colors are beautiful here right now, and I’m hoping to see some snow at the end of the week!

Admiring some art

 

Turkey gobbling