#vacations2016

I am back with an update with the last few months of my life. As far as I can tell, the last time I posted was February, so I guess we’ll go from March forward with the most exciting stuff (this is mostly to catch you up on my life so I will be brief as a lot of it is a blur at this point)

March 2016: Barcelona

Spring Break of March, I hopped on a plane with my older sister and we met my mom in Barcelona, Spain. The three of us had already been there before, (twice together after this trip) so we mostly focused on hanging out and shopping for the ten days the five of us were there.

We looked at the many works of Gaudí at Parc Güell.

Took some walks on La Rambla de Canaletes where we explored a marketplace.

And took a trip to the Picasso Museum.

However, my favorite part was definitely the cooking class we took together in Plaça Reial (my mom finally believed we could cook)

July 2016: Kenya

From April to July 2016, I stayed in New York taking classes, and trying to avoid the hot weather in Dubai at all costs. While this meant spending Ramadan alone, it was worth it when July finally hit, and I got to go on a four day safari in Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa.

Everyday, we’d get up at 6:30 am, go on a safari until 9:00am, hang out at the hotel, then head out again at 6:00pm until 8:00pm.

In addition to the car safaris, we took two walking safaris, a night safari (which happens after 9pm).

We also took an off road bike ride in the middle of the sahara which resulted in me scarring my face from hitting my head on a pile of rocks (not my fault! The bikes were made for men and on top of that, they were bigger because of the mountain bikes. At 4 feet 11 inches, I couldn’t reach the ground)

But, the coolest part of this vacation was definitely when we watched the most amazing migration ever ( this is not nearly the number we saw, but apparently none of those pictures were artsy enough for me when I downloaded my photos from my camera so they’re sitting in NYC right now instead of on my computer).

I’m telling you, you’ll never see more animals migrating than during the annual Wildebeest Migration. It was insane. I don’t think I’ll ever forget about the sheer number of animals there. For as far as you could see there was nothing but wildebeests.

It was honestly one of the best vacations I’ve ever taken, and if you ever have the chance to go, grab it. I got awesome pictures and seeing the animals outside of their habitat was a surreal experience that I am so, so fortunate to have experienced. 

Anyway, after I came back from Kenya I hung out in Dubai for a few days and then went back to America (I love America btw. Like way too much after living in Dubai for weeks at a time with no friends and no drivers license or the ability to go anywhere on foot). 

December 2016: Oman

Finally, this past Christmas, my family went to Oman for a few days. There was really nothing to see there (except mountains), so I didn’t get a lot of photos. We did go to a pomegranate farm though, so that was cool (well, they were all dead, but it’s the thought that counts). 

I’ve pretty much caught you up on all my vacations to this point (unless you want to include Dubai, where for winter break again, I am currently located). In two days, I’m headed to Shanghai for the spring semester, where a new adventure awaits. 

                                                                     XOXO,