Teen Cerebral Palsy

HELLO!! Ah it’s so good to be back…..although I’ll admit it was a nice little hiatus from cyber space and my phone…who knew life could go on without constant connection? :p Haha, anyway…How is everyone?? I hope you’ve all been enjoying your summer months. Whats new? Any cool vacations, or individual break throughs?

I guess this is the time where I talk to you all about EUROPE! It was, to say the least– phenomenal! I had the time of my life over there with my sister and french friends. I’ll put up some photos so you can all see what I am talking about… I think what I loved most was just the amount of history to every place we went! If you put it into perspective, the States is a baby country compared to Europe. They have a good couple centuries on us! The architecture, the momuments, the art, the food, the people…it was all so surreal. Every place I went was something new to take in and think to myself, “wow, I am actually standing here seeing this!” Over three weeks I was able to stay with my friend in Northern France near Strasbourgh, (the capital of Europe) visit our friend in Belgium (and spend a day in both Brussels and Bruges) go to an amusement park in Germany, trek through a German WW1 bunker (complete with trenches–wow talk about All Quiet on the Westernfront!), go to a Nazi concentration camp and hear about the French Resistance, visit a memorial for the Battle of Verdun, and a WW1 American Cemetery, milk a mama cow and feed her calf…I also (very hesitantly) ate: escargot, duck liver, two year old moldy cheese, and frog legs!! And LASTLY, we went to Paris for a few days and toured the Louvre, Montmartre (my fav spot in Paris, the art district) saw the Eiffel Tower in both day and night, walk along the Champs Elysees (and have a 9 euro diet coke, gah!) saw Jim Morission’s and Oscar Wilde’s gravesites, and visited the Palace of Versailles and Marie Antoinettes Garden. Oh, and ate lots and lots of bread and nutella, of course I wasn’t one for trying too much of the beer and wine, I suppose alcohol is a very acquired taste haha. Drinking and smoking cigarettes is a very casual, cultural thing in Europe for people my age, which is just such a foreign thing to me… They almost laughed when I told them how uncommon (dont forget illegal) it is for my group of friends to drink and smoke. Anyway, you can see that I was pretty busy the whole time I was there! (in a good way, of course) Everyday I was in awe of all that there was to be seen, and learned, and tasted. Thankfully, I was well fed (maybe a little too much haha) by my friends father who just so happens to be an amazing french chef! Overall, it was a trip I’ll never forget, and dont worry–I journaled the whole way through But, if I had to go back and change one thing, it would be to WEAR BETTER SHOES. Stupid me, wore converse sneakers just about every day and by the time we got to Paris and walked along the old, uneven roads, I thought my toes were going to snap off, the soles of my feet were going to be permanently bruised, and my knees were going to ache like that of an 80 year old for good. I had never felt so much discomfort in my feet and legs before, it was weirding me out. I mean, I’ve walked around cities before in regular shoes, but Europe was constant constant constant. After each day I worried for the next that my poor feet werent going to make it. But nevertheless, I made it, and the 14 hour travel day home helped rest my feet almost completely. I need to be better about realizing that I need to take things slower and wear more supportive shoes. I get caught up in daily life, and that’s when my CP catches up with me! Oh well, That’s the way it is–always has been and always will be. There’s always that part of me who ignores my CP in spite of wanting to be “normal” but then I just get myself in trouble… I’m sure some of you guys know what I am talking about…

It’s nice to be home near the Pacific Ocean and my family and friends though. There’s much to be done before I move out in 11 days! Eek, that’s crazy, exciting, and coming fast! And if you’re wondering, I have not packed a single thing nor have I gone dorm shopping…yay for procrastination! Or maybe I’m just prolonging my denial of the fact that I am actually moving OUT of my childhood home. Now that this is all out in the open, maybe I shoud think about packing…it’d be a good start haha. Where to start? Good think I am not too far–about half an hour away from the beautiful Soka Univeristy of America. Go lions! At least theyre giving us a month before the fall semester to map out classes, meet people, and take an intro course to Soka curriculum and meaning. I am excited to get to know my roommate too! We met breifly one night, and she seems really cool! Shes a beach kid like me from Dana Point, closer to Soka so itll be nice to feel a little in sync with our lifestyles.

Alright, well I am off to hang with some friends–we are in need of bonding time before I head off to college! I still have much more to say, so Ill be back

Take care everyone! (PS. TeenCP is two years old now, wow!)

-Katy