Natalie Ciejek's Blog

  The second part of our trip was to London, England. this was my most anticipated part and the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most. We took the train to London this time which was nice, we got to see fields of grass while on the train and experience beautiful views. The first location Sarah took us to was Trafalgar Square which is the main part/center of London. Afterward, we were able to split off & do things on our own. My friends & I went to a 100% vegan, plant-based restaurant called Mildred's. They were super friendly, the service was great, and the food was delicious. They had this vegan whipped feta that was out of this world.  The next day we got on the bus and drove to the important parts of London. We drove by Kensington Place. Went to one of the many Prince Albert memorials. The next place we went to was the infamous & iconic Buckingham Palace. Being there didn't feel real. We visited the Towers of London which was an old prison, unfortuna

  I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Fashion & Fiction Study Abroad FSAT Trip in May. We visited Scotland for 2-3 days for the first part of the trip. The first day of traveling was exhausting my roommate Owen and my friend Sarah and I drove to the Pittsburgh airport then from there we hoped on what felt like a 10-hour flight to England. Then from England make our connecting flight to Glasgow Scotland. Our tour guide Sarah who was phenomenal and great throughout this trip took us around Glasgow first before we drove to Edinburgh. Sarah took us to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow it was nice to go to another location on this trip. The artwork there was beautiful but the only thing I didn't like was the taxidermies. Let's talk about Edinburgh Scotland. The first thing we did in Edinburgh was attend a dinner at Haymarket. We had tomato soup for appetizers, perfect after a long travel day and the cold weather outside. I am vegan & the meal I had was a vegan s

 Natalie Ciejek The book full of short stories called Dubliners by James Joyce  is a very interesting piece of literate. After reading all the short stories in the book a came to a realization about the meaning behind them all. The short story is like a timeline. The timeline is representing growing up and going through life. The first short story we read "The Sisters is about a young boy and his Aunt who visit two girls who are sisters who watch over the body of the priest who has passed away. It's their brother. The next story is called "An Encounter" This short story is about two boys who skip class to walk around Dublin Ireland for the day. They go on an adventure and are having the time of their lives until they come across a mean old mean man who scares them into wishing they never skip class in the first place. Following " An Encounter" we move on to the next short story called "Araby" This short story is about a young boy who wants to buy

  I think the book Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is very interesting. I have never read a book from this point of view before. The entirety of this story takes place in one day. I have seen movies that happen all day, like Dazed and Confused (1993) or The Breakfast Club (1985). But I have never read a story where it is told all in one day. Not only is the storyline taking place in one day but there are two different people this book tends to focus on. We have Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class, fifty-year-old woman who is running errands throughout the day preparing for a party she will be hosting later in the evening. The other person is Septimus Smith, a World War I veteran, still experiencing PTSD from trench warfare. He suffers from shell shock.  Despite there being two different storylines later on in the book the storylines intermingle with each other. Clarissa's ex-suitor Peter Walsh pays her an unexpected visit. After his visit with Clarissa Peter is walking in a park a

  The love triangle between Edward, Flora & Rose reminds me of every love triangle I have read about in books or watched in movies & tv shows. Their trope is defined as the boy who is going after Flora who thinks he is in love with but he doesn't see the other girl Rose who is right next to him and is in love with Waverly. In a way, this reminds me of the love triangle in the 1986 John Hughes film Some Kind of Wonderful.  This film is about a boy named Keith who is an outcast and not so popular, who goes out with his dream girl Amanda, who is the most popular girl in the school. He thinks he is in love with her and is destined to be with her. Keith's girl best friend Watts encourages him to go out with Amanda but little does he know that Watts is in love with him. Keith is Edward, Amanda is Flora, and Rose is Watts. At the end of the film, Keith realizes Amanda is not who he thought she was and wants to be with Watts instead so they get together and start a relationship

  Natalie Ciejek Waverly Blog Post #1 March 21, 2023 The overall story of the novel "Waverly" by Sir Walter Scott is quite interesting. The book starts off with Edward Waverly a son of Richard Waverly who is a politician. Edward was raised by his Uncle Everard Waverly and his dad. The difference between Everard and Richard is Everard is a Jacobite and Richard is a Hanoverian. A Jacobite is a supporter of King James VII of Scotland & King James II of England. A Hanoverian is someone who supported the British monarch and the Hanoverian dynasty. In a way, this reminds me of all the revolutions we have experienced in this world. From loyalists to patriots during the American Revolution, the union and confederacy during the American civil war, the communists and capitalists during the cold war, and a recent divide in this country between Democrats and Republicans. These groups are all fighting for something they believe in. They think their views and opinions are the right way