A Year Abroad: Turning 23
Turning 23 abroad was an amazing experience. Although I missed not being able to celebrate at home with my family and friends, my host family and friends here made it so special. On my actual birthday, my host parents got me a case of different Belgian beers (since that is where I was born and raised for part of my life) and tickets to the musical, Mamma Mia! They made my day feel so special being away from home, that it made turning 23 so great. On top of that all, my friend was able to get us free tickets to see Khalid in Paris! We were in the pit about three rows back from the very front. It was so amazing and fun, and Khalid even waved at me (which was pretty cool to me)! My birthday was such a special day thanks to my host family, friends here, and friends back home.
On Saturday, a few of my friends and I went to Paris to go clubbing. We started our night at 6:30 pm. We took the train into Paris, and got there around 7:30pm. We went and bought some champagne to pop by the Seine, and took a few cute pictures before hitting our first stop.
We started off at a bar, since drinks are normally cheaper there. We had a lot of fun pregaming and just chatting with one another. After a couple of drinks, we headed to Pigalle (a huge clubbing area - it is where Moulin Rouge is located). At first we had no luck finding any fun looking clubs. Everything had an entry cost of over 20 euros. We honestly almost gave up, but after a quick break, we came across a pub that had a club located in the back. We spent almost our whole night there. From Midnight until 4 am, we danced and screamed the lyrics of songs like crazy! My friend, Vanessa, and I were the last of the group to leave (which we felt was a huge accomplishment since we're the oldest of the group)! The club was so much fun, and had such great music.
We then waited until about 5:30 am in a fast food place. We had a little snack ( and I even had a quick five minute nap) before calling an Uber to go to one of the museum's for Nuit Blanche. Nuit Blance translates to "white night", and it is when all museum's stay open until about 6:30 am. Unfortunately they were closed by the time we got there, so we went straight to the train station, where we waited until the first train back home arrived (which was around 6:15 am). We were back home and in bed by 7:30 am!
I have to say, I may be too old now to go out all night, but it was one of the best birthday weekends I've ever had. I'm glad that I was able to make this day so special away from home. I can't wait to be home for Christmas though and celebrate with my friends and family a little bit late!
