Guest Post: Travel Safety Tips

Staying Safe

    Many college students enjoy traveling around the country and the world. They enjoy seeing the popular landmarks that they study about, and they enjoy spending time with friends and family. While traveling can be fun and educational, it can also have bumps in the road. Unforeseen circumstances might thwart travel plans, and the entire trip can go from a dream to a nightmare in a short amount of time. There are some things to remember about planning a trip to increase the safety while abroad.

    Students who do not want to carry a large amount of money on a trip (smart choice) can use a credit card. The money is secure because it is not in an open space- like a wallet or a pocket; but instead it’s electronic and can be moved or cancelled at any time. It is confined to a card so that only the holder of the card can use the money. However, if your wallet is stolen, you will lose the card. There is the potential that someone else can use the card unless you make it secure. Don’t put a name on the card. This makes it harder for someone to use it because there is no personal information attached to it. Prepaid credit cards are the way to go for students who wish to travel; the student puts money on the card instead of having a credit limit from the company and it helps them stay out of debt while still being able to travel with a small financial cushion.

    Getting lost can be easy to do in a big city. The first thing to do is remain calm. Find someone in the area who speaks the same language you speak; if you speak English, this won’t take very long. Explain where you are from and where you are trying to go, and make a map of the directions that the person gives. Instead of street names, use landmarks you will remember because then you remove the language barrier from the equation. Students should pay attention to bus and train schedule so that they are not stranded in the city after the last departure. Print directions to every attraction. Plan ahead, stay organized and know your major landmarks of the area like churches, museums and bus stations.

    There are some things that are never fun while traveling to another country, and this includes getting sick. It could be the food, the flight to the area or a host of other things that can make someone sick while traveling. Find a pharmacy as soon as possible and only take medicines from sealed containers. Drink plenty of fluids to replenish fluids that have been lost (make sure the water is safe to drink). Bottled water is a good idea because the water in some countries is not sanitary to drink. Eat as healthy as possible by finding something in a store or restaurant that is familiar.

KC Owens has written and submitted this article. KC is a college student who loves traveling, college life, fitness and a good survival kit. He enjoys studying different cultures, meeting new people and leaving his footprint somewhere most people only read about.

FFB Guest Post: Peaches

Hello! This is Jacky from Northwest Is Best, here to share with you my musical heroine as part of Feminist Fashion Bloggers.

Peaches is niche pop star within a niche genre. Her spat-out lyrics may be crude and her electroclash beats simplistic, but I love her. She's fearless, brutal and looks like she'd be a good laugh down the pub. At 44, she's over the hill in conventional pop star terms, but age doesn't define her. Neither does gender. Peaches - born Merrill Nisker in Canada, but now based in Berlin - is definitely a woman. Look at her. She has hips and breasts and hair. Lots of hair.

My main love for Peaches is her gender play in her songs and videos. Consider the above video stills from Downtown, a single from her 2006 album Impeach My Bush. She performs as a seductress stalking the corridors of a spacious hotel, all pillowy cleavage and stockings. Then she's a bellboy, hair slicked back and no make-up. At the end, she fuses the two - dressed as a man, pouting in the mirror from beneath a veiled hat.

And her lyrics? She's not ashamed of her body - how about 'I drink a whisky neat / you lick my crow's feet' from 2009's Trick or Treat. Or, as she tells Iggy Pop in their 2004 glam-shock hook-up Kick It, 'if you play Moses you need burning bush / and that is just what I got'. (I did mention the hair, right?) After four albums, she keeps getting stronger and continues empowering women through her Spandex-covered live shows. As she told The Guardian in 2006 'in my songs, the girl needs to be the antichrist'.

I'm not likely to follow Peaches' example and leap around in a silver jumpsuit, but I'm glad she's out there.

Thanks Aly for having me.

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Check out my guest post at Oranges and Apples and check out Jacky's blog, northwest is best, for Franca's guest post!

Check out a round-up of all today's posts here!

Guest Post: Claire on Music

Music

Yesterday I got the best thing ever in the mail: a ukulele. I was frustrated at first because I couldn’t seem to hit the right notes and form a coherent song, but after an hour or so, I learned a dozen chords or so and could stumble through “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” And, yes. I realized how cliché that is. But there was something about the music, the kind of pureness of the sound that made me stop worrying and just listen. The next time I looked at the clock, it was one o’clock in the morning.

Not that I’m saying it’s good to stay up late and play ukulele, but there is something about music, that even if you aren’t naturally musical, transfixes us and makes us forget our troubles. Maybe it’s just me ( I AM the only person I know of who walks down the hall at school singing show tunes in her head, and pretending she’s the heroine of her own personal musical,) but there is still something about music that brings us all together.

My dad owns an acoustic guitar, and has become pretty good at playing it in the past few years. He likes to sit in his office on the second floor of our house and play his guitar and sing along. There is a comforting tone in his voice that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. When I was just a little girl, my dad would come into my room every night and sing to me. And now, it breaks my heart when I realize that I can’t remember the name of the song he would sing, or the words to go along with it. I just have a faint recollection of a tune that tugs on my heartstrings whenever I hear it being played. And I know that one day, I won’t hear him serenading the household anymore, and I can’t begin to imagine how empty and lonely it will be without him and his music around to comfort me.

Maybe that is one of the reasons that I want to learn how to play ukulele. Or maybe it is just so that I can find a way to deal with the stress or anger or depression that builds up inside of me. Because, when I start to think of the music, it makes my heart feel less heavy and things seem calm and peaceful for just a little while.

For those of you who play Ukulele, here are the chords.

"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by E.V. Harburg and Harold Arlen

Verse 1:

[C]Somewhere [Em]over the rainbow
[F]Way up [C]high
[F]There's a [C]land that I heard of
[G7]Once in a lulla[C]by

Verse 2:

[C]Somewhere [Em]over the rainbow
[F]Skies are [C]blue
[F]And the [C]dreams that you dare to
[G7]Dream really do come [C]true

Chorus:

Some [C]day I'll wish upon a star
And [G7]wake up where the clouds are far be[F]hind me
Where [C]troubles melt like lemondrops
A[G7]way above the chimney tops
That's [Am]where you'll [F]find me

Verse 3:

[C]Somewhere [Em]over the rainbow
[F]Bluebirds [C]fly
[F]Birds fly [C]over the rainbow
[G7]Why then, oh why can't [C]I?

Ending:

[C]If happy little bluebirds fly
Be[G7]yond the rainbow
Why, oh [F]why [G7]can't [C]I?

******

Okay, so that was by the lovely Claire! Go check her out on youtube, since her blog is neglected.

Thanks, Claire, for saving my crappy post today with one of much higher quality. She may be coming back on Thursdays this month :)

Guest Post: Insaf sur Les Etats-Unis

Hello, everybody!

I have a special treat today! Hopefully this will make up for yesterday's shortcomings...

In lieu of starting my one long-overdue vacation post and my newer ones, today I bring you a GUEST POST! My friends Insaf has a blog (c'est en français), and we've agreed to exchange guest posts. I'll write mine for her (in French, of course), and she has written one for me. Without further ado, I bring you Insaf's guest post with my translations into English. Enjoy!
*****
Les études consacrées aux représentations européennes des Etats-Unis sont nombreuses :
The devoted studies of the European representations of the United States are numberous:

elles concernent bien des disciplines et se partagent le plus souvent entre l’analyse d’une fascination...
they affect the discipline and share themselves most often with the analysis of a fascination...

et celle d’une répulsion.
and one of repulsion.

D'un côté, les Etats-Unis est vu comme un pays où tu as toutes tes chances d'atteindre les sommets:
on nomme cela le "rêve américain",cette idée selon laquelle n'importe quelle personne vivant aux États-Unis , par son travail et sa détermination, peut devenir prospère et importante.

On one side, the United States is seen as a country where you have all the chances to reach the heights
we name those the "American dream", this idea according to the one any person living in the United States, by their work and their determination, can become prosperous and important.

Ce pays semble si mystérieux et passionnant vu D'Europe. Un pays où tout semble possible, un pays à part. Le pays le plus riche, le plus grand, le plus important, tout le monde souhaite y mettre les pieds un jour. New-York et ses bâtiments; Central Park..., Los Angeles et ses stars, le Texas et ses cow-boys, Miami et ses plages, Las Vegas et ses casinos, San franscisco et son pont rouge ... font rêver et intrigues.

That country seems so mysterious and fascinating seen from Europe. A country where all seems possible, a country apart. The country that is the richest, the biggest, the most important; everybody wishes to set foot there one day. New York and its buildings, Central Park..., Los Angeles and its celebrities, Texas and its cowboys, Miami and its beaches, Las Vegas and its casinos, San Franscisco and its red bridge... create dreams and intrigue.

Mais les Etats-Unis sont aussi souvent perçu comme étant un pays où les inégalités règnent, où les
gens n'ont pas d'hygiène de vie, toujours en train de faire la fête et de ne pas manger sainement,la
gastronomie n'étant pas leur point fort ... (mc'do par là, mc'do par si ^^).

But the United States are also often seen as though to be a country where inequality reigns, where the people do not have a healthy lifestyle, always trying to have parties and not eat healthfully, the cuisine is not their strong point.... (always McDonald's ^^).

Le chômage est élevé, le système de santé est incompréhensible (même si un homme censé vient
de changer cela) ,

les gens sont virés de leur maison comme des mal-propres, les bavures policières
sont trop souvent présentes, l'obesité est un problème de santé qui touchent beaucoup de gens
telle est la vision péjorative qu'ont une majeure partie de la population Française.

The unemployment is high, the health care system is incomprehensible (even if one man is supposed to change that), the people are evicted from their homes like garbage, the police brutality is too often present, obesity is a health problem which touches many people is a major part of the belittling view of the French.

Les Etats-Unis possède donc nombre de qualités et de défauts et reste donc un pays comme les autres !

The United States possesses, therefore, a number of qualities and defects and stays therefore a country like the others!

*******

Okay, guys, so there you have it! The thoughts of a French girl about us. What do you think? Any responses?

And, what do you think of more guest posts? Tell me! :D

<3,

-Aly