The One- Year Anniversary of my trip to France!

I don't even know how to begin writing about this trip. If anything, this trip was the beginning of my wildest traveling dreams and that insatiable wanderlust that keeps me going. The thought that someday I can travel to France once again or to other countries is what makes me smile and get through the day because I know one day I will be far away, happy and exploring new cultures and languages. In the Summer of 2016, I spent two weeks in Southern France (Fanjeaux to be exact!) and one week in Paris. It was during this trip that I decided that I wanted to spend most of my life traveling as much as possible. This trip gave me an epiphany of my purpose in life. I may talk about my trip to France to people frequently, but they have no idea how much it changed me as a person and what it meant to me (I have no intention to brag, only to share my accomplishments). Since then, I took a class on the French language and although I'm horrible at speaking French, I can read and listen to French music. Edith Piaf, Theo Sarapo, Serge Gainsbourg, and Juliette Greco are some of my favorites! I also learned about the history of St. Dominic and the Dominican order in Fanjeaux, France (which is about an hour away from Toulouse).

While we were in Southern France, we were able to go on excursions to different cities that were in the South. Coullioure was one of the places (from the picture above) that I enjoyed the most. I was able to swim in the Mediterranean Sea with my group (which was cold and salty- yet I still enjoyed it.). 

And Dear Lord Jesus Christ, this was my view from my room. I was and am still in awe. I never realized just how much nostalgia I can get from a balcony view.

And this is me, genuinely smiling and being happy. I was living life to the fullest.

As for the pastries and food, I don't even know how to begin describing their taste. They were all delicious (this is definitely not the right word- they were more than that!)! While I was there, I was literally on a pilgrimage to eat as many macarons as possible (and drink wine- I was about to turn 21, but I was able to drink in France). Overall, the trip was amazing, I will never forget the people I experience this with, the friendly cat friends I made, the cathedrals that blessed me as I visited, the class material like the book of the women troubadours and passages of courtly love (and the experience). I may no longer talk to the person who I was the closest with during this trip, but I will always have my memories and I will always be grateful for him. I certainly do keep in touch with some people through social media. These friends have shown support through Facebook/Instagram likes and comments, and if one of you is reading this, I miss you very much!

Lastly, Long Live Fanjoe 2k16! (The trip that I will never stop talking about)

Fanjeaux, France- The land of St. Dominic 💓

My First Conference for my Poetry Collection!

For the first time today, I presented some of my poems from my new poetry collection (which is in progress), Scattered  Thoughts of A Small Girl, at a conference. I'll admit, I was nervous at first because I was the only one from my school to present and attend that specific conference. But as a person who loves solitude and spending time with themselves, I loved it. I was able to watch other student presentations varying on topics from environmental issues in Florida to presentations on Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism and how it can be applied to the Syrian refugee situation. I only presented four of my poems from my collection and everyone in the room seemed to have enjoyed it, along with the illustration that one of my best friends, Alexis, made. I'm so happy to have my talented and creative Renaissance woman friend be the illustrator of my collection. So when will my collection be published? Who knows. I think I would like to add more poems in addition to the ones I have but I do hope I someday get them published. If anything, I will be presenting my whole collection at my University's annual URSCI (Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Investigations) conference on April 5! Below is a program of the conference I attended as well as the slide I had up during my presentation. 

(I had a raspberry muffin by the way! It was delicious!) 

Like my friend's page on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/dipingereblu/

and her Instagram: @dipingereblu

I miss Quiche!/ Magnetic Poetry

I'm the President of the Creative Writing Club at my University and on Saturday, three club members and I went to the Chicago History Museum. This was the first time I create the club's first off-campus event and the first time I've been to that museum. The main exhibit we wanted to see was the "Chicago Authored" exhibit. There was a board full of magnetic words. Anyone was able to write poetry using the limited amount of words that was there, this is the poem I came up with! I had so much fun, although it was challenging creating a poem with a couple of words that are available. 

After hours at the museum, we stopped by to "Le Pain Quotidien" where I ordered Quiche Lorraine, It was delicious, although the quiche portion was quite small for what I paid for. The dressing of the salad was delicious, I forgot to ask the waiter what the dressing was called. 

After eating at the restaurant, I met up with my mother and my sister downtown. This was the first time I got on top of a post to have a good view of the parade. I enjoyed watching everyone have their own moments as well!

I have not been out for fun until that day during the weekends because I've been bombarded with homework, Honors projects, exams, and plans after graduation. I guess I've gotten used to staying home so that's why I felt so overwhelmed after being out for one day. By the end, I felt that I survived that day indeed. 

New Macaron Blog

Hello! I am a College Senior majoring in English with a concentration in Writing and a minoring in Theatre Arts (and if there was a macaron major I would probably be one too!) I decided to make this blog because I am passionate about those small (sometimes big!) colorful hamburger-like pastries called macarons. I may sometimes post other kinds of pastries but this blog will mainly be about macarons. I decided to call this blog "The Macaron Raccoon" because one of my best friends and I call ourselves the Honors raccoons (we're sleep deprived honor students, go figure), and macaron rhymes with raccoon! (can't you tell I'm a poet?). I thank you all for joining me and reading my future blog posts, may we all (try to) keep calm and macaron on. 

***I've had the opportunity to eat a big pink strawberry macaron when I was in France (I will post a lot on my study abroad trip to France!)***