Lake District

I've recently learned that taking a break from routine is necessary in staying sane. There's just something about escaping.  That's not to say my life has been particularly routine in the last few months. I mean, five weeks ago I was living in my parents home in Milton, Ontario. Three weeks ago I was couch surfing in London, England. Now I am dividing my time between classes, travelling and nights out in the North of England. Life appears to be ever changing yet somethings don't seem to ever change. Those "things," in my experience are my thoughts; I'm in a weird state of everywhere. My thoughts are always on home, my friends and family and yet my body continues to relish in the beauty and experience that is my exchange. It's strange to think that although I've left and I don't get to see the faces I once saw everyday, those faces still continue to laugh or frown amongst one another. Thankfully, I was able to busy myself from my strange thoughts by heading to North Western England, visiting the famous "Lake District." As much as a cliche as it is, being around a large body of water is such a peaceful experience. Setting sail on the largest body of water in the United Kingdom as the autumnal leaves changed, while the sky was a dull but comforting grey and the birds sang and the leaves whistled was an absolutely enriching experience. 

Windermere was both a beautiful town and an impressive body of water. The Lake District really allowed me to extract myself from my superficial issues and enjoy everything nature has to offer. Thank you for being such a beautiful and therapeutic place.

xoxo

London Baby

I have not disappeared. I've just been stuck in ever changing timezones and on planes and trains and life got quite exhausting quite quickly. Nevertheless, I have so many fun and exciting things that I am so happy to share with all of you. As I've stated a countless number of times xPartyintheUK is an exchange blog, and as of a week and a half ago, this exchange thing became real. Initially I wrote a post discussing the terrible scare I had in regards to receiving my visa, however I just never posted it and I'm not entirely sure why. Basically, although I received and e-mail confirming my visa had been issued I never received an email that my passport (which is sent to out when issuing a visa) had returned. So two days before my flight I ventured to Toronto and hoped and prayed to ever God imaginable that my passport would miraculously be there. It was. That was on the 15th of september. On the 17th I boarded my flight 

and after a little positive reinforcement

 I was in London

(It took everything I had to not to buy anything from this stand) 

Also, I noticed I've never included a picture of myself on my blog, so here I am riding on a double decker bus in London. 

I've settled in nicely to my college here at Durham and it is absolutely lovely, I also went on a trip to Newcastle earlier this week so photos of both of these to come! 

xoxo

Bridesmaid Behind the Lens

Forever ago I mentioned that my older cousin was getting married, well the magical day has come and gone and all thats left of it are the memories that remain, the pictures that were taken and well the new Mr&Mrs that it celebrated. I was lucky enough to be selected as a bridesmaid but in reality I fore-gave all my bridesmaid duties on the day of and voluntarily stayed behind my lens. I wanted to document the pre-wedding preparations as they occurred. This meant grabbing my camera at the crack of dawn and taking pictures of everything as they occurred.

 We rose with the sun that morning with only one goal in mind -making memories.

My aunt and uncle busted out all the stops for their only daughters big day, among the bridesmaid, bride and family members getting married was a camera man who filmed all the shenanigans. 

Along side the camera man they also hired a professional mac make-up artists to pretty us all up. 

Of course after a while I was yelled at for taking so many pictures and not actually getting ready so I had to put my camera down and left the rest of the documenting to the professional, who lets face it, probably did a far better job. It was both a fun and stressful day, and I hope I was able to capture even a fraction of the beauty this day encompasses because believe when I say it was beautiful and the bride looked flawless. Also, you may have noticed I was lacking in any of these pictures however my Instagram is full of shameless selfless from the night so if you're interested give me a follow here

xoxo 

The Battle of Yesterday and Tomorrow Against Today.

“You live in the past and the future, you spend no time in the present,”

My younger sister said this to me the other day and it really struck a cord with me. I think part of the reasons this resonates with me so much is because in no way was she aiming to be philosophic or pensive, we were simply having a general conversation over some Ice Caps (a Canadian delicacy consisting of blended iced coffee and cream, like a Frappuccino only better and cheaper) and she made an observation. Now, as an older sister I never ever tell my younger siblings when I agree with them. In fact in my mind none of my siblings have ever been right. Still,I'd be lying if I said this sentence hadn’t left me thinking. I'll admit I do spend a lot of time thinking about the past and future. Especially the future, but I’ve never thought this was something other people were able to pick-up on. I tend to (sometimes obsessively) plan my life out. I’m a notorious list maker but I’ve always seen this as being the only viable option. If you don’t have everything planned out, how will anything happen? How can anyone be expected to reach success without planning out his or her entire journey? I mean yes, being goal oriented is definitely a concept I’d associate with myself. And sure, often my goal orientation leads me to ensuring every action I take and every decision I make results in me reaching my goal. And maybe, when things go sour I reflect on the past decisions semi-obsessively and analyze where they went wrong and how I can reassess these decisions and determine success is achieved in the end, but is that so bad? In my eyes, like I would imagine, in many other these are in no way a fault, in fact many would see them as  extremely positive characteristics in moderation (wouldn’t they?). But, as I’ve come to realize life is made up of little nows and if I spend all my time thinking about tomorrow and yesterday is that not a wasted today?

            

I’m saving money for a rainy day, I’m getting the best education possible because this is supposed to benefit me in the long run. These are both great and responsible things. I bet in ten years twenty-nine year old Salma will look back at these decisions and she will be so grateful that nineteen year old Salma was responsible and level-headed and made realistic adult decisions. But what is nineteen-year-old Salma doing right now that makes nineteen year old Salma happy? What current actions am I taking that will cause nineteen-year-old Salma to pause and think “God I love my life,”

I want to spend more time thinking about how happy I am right now and less time thinking about how happy I will eventually be. I am aiming to; no I will start making my moments count. I mean sure, planning for tomorrow is important but eventually we will all run out of tomorrows and all we will have is today. Right? 

The Post You've Been Waiting For...

Since the beginning stages of my blogging I've noted the uncertainty that it encompasses. This is meant to be a blog dedicated to my exchange, my party in the UK as I've said over a dozen times. The party I've dreamt of for years on end. With every step closer to this possibility becoming a reality I've updated you, each time highlighting that I was a step closer, but not having reached the end goal. The unofficial yes' I've received in the last six months did little to make me feel comfortable and merely increased my frustrations. From being considered, to nominated and so on and so forth I've been on edge. This reached an all time high when, on June 4th I received an e-mail stating that my "application was currently with the relevant department(s) with a request for module approval," and that Durham would  "be in touch with  a list of modules approved by the department(s) as well as an appointment with an academic adviser upon arrival at the  university. " I mean that basically sounds like an in, doesn't it?. Of course the e-mail continued on to say things like "Students accepted for study at Durham University will receive an official offer letter of acceptance as soon as possible," implying that not all students receiving said e-mail would receive an admissions offer. 

My anxiety increased a week later when I received another e-mail which stated that I had been "accepted for two modules by the School of Government and International Affairs," however the other courses I selected would not be available during the 2014/2015 year. So I would need to send them an updated course list before I would be able to receive an official letter of acceptance. Finally, on July 8th 2014 I awoke to an e-mail finally confirming my place at the University of Durham next fall. 

Its actually funny how I got the e-mail. England is five hours a head of so, when I awoke at 6 am because I needed to pee they were already deep into their business hours. So, after returning from the bathroom I did what any compulsive technology obsessed teenager of the 21st century would do and I checked my phone. After seeing the e-mail I was so excited I couldn't fall back asleep. I lay there, with three hours of sleep still available before I had to leave for work. My heart was racing, my fingers couldn't stay still and I was the most excited I've been in a very long time. This is real, this is happening. I have been accepted at the school that has been both my driving factor this year while also inflicting indirect self-doubt. I got into Durham. I'm moving to England. This is real, this is not a false alarm. 

Obviously such exciting news requires celebration so last night I called up some of my oldest girlfriends and we discussed my excitement, my fears and my over all shock over food and drinks. 

Honestly more than anything I am shocked. This has been an idea for so long and the prospect of it as a reality is difficult to grasp. In fact I was almost certain that I wasn't going to go on exchange, as I hadn't responded to my Scottish offer in time. I'm so excited for what this can become and yet I still fear it all slipping away from me. I guess I won't feel fully comfortable until I get my student visa, and even then I won't feel confident until I am on the plane. I look forward to keeping you all updated. 

xoxo