BACK ON HOME SOIL

via GIPHY

Guess who's back, back again! Okay well, I have been back home for 2 weeks now and most of you know that so this isn't exactly new news but I thought I would officially share it. It feels kind of weird to be home and I have struggled a bit in getting adjusted.  It feels as though the entire year was just clipped out and moved aside to some other part of my life so it is a bit trippy. I also feel like I am on vacation and that I will be heading back to the UK soon, like next week but sadly I am not. 

Right now I am on the job hunt, mainly in NYC, LA, and London. There will be a post about that, my new career goals, and how I came to the conclusion that I did. 

so what happens now ? well, I am working on a few things for this space and trying to incorporate some more multimedia if possible. I enjoyed this blog and I don't want it to end so I am working on what to do with it and the direction I want to take it. I have a post coming on my final thoughts on Newcastle Uni, my program, and whether studying abroad was worth it. I also will be sharing a bit more about my dissertation and that process. The last year was one of the best of my life and I looooooooooved living in the UK! If you have the chance to do it I would say jump at the opportunity! 

A LITTLE COTTAGE IN ABERDEENSHIRE

I never meant to be gone for so long but it turns out that writing a90-pagee document takes a lot of time and that is where I have been for the last few months. I am now back in the US on the job hunt and getting resettled. 

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN

YALL, JUST YALL! The Formation World Tour was nothing I could have ever imagined. The lights, the costumes, the 8 counts! Everything was perfection. The sheer magnitude of what she was able to produce was epic. I am not going to say too much just in case you haven't seen the show but I have watched my 9 minute long snapstory like 10 times already. 

WHY I DECIDED TO FAST FOR RAMADAN

*Full transparency here, I only fasted for one day of Ramadan and not the entire month that is customary for Muslims.  

For those that do not know, Ramadan is observed by Muslims all over the world as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad and is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. It takes place in the 9th month of the Islamic Calendar and lasts from sun rise to sun set. During that time one must abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations. It sounds intense, and it is but really to me it is just a way to clear your mind from distraction and reflect. 

My good friend Deema who is Muslim has been a trooper this month as she fasts and I wanted to support her any way I could. I knew it would not be easy as the days are long here in Newcastle, sunrise is at 445 right now and sunset is at just about 10 pm. Our friend Kate gave me the idea as she decided to give a day and fast about 2 weeks ago. It had never occurred to me to actually participate in Ramadan because I just assumed I could not. I have always had friends who are Muslim so I have heard of Ramadan and knew that they couldn't eat but that was just about all I knew. I have flashbacks to my Gap days and working with my friend Nesli and the warnings she used to give us (GIRL I GET IT NOW). I always tried to be conscious of their experiences and be respectful as well but this year, and with Kate's help I wanted to fully connect and not just offer up kind words. 

I was HUNGRY! I completely forgot to eat the pre-fast meal so my stomach was super empty. I felt tired in the day and a bit light headed at times too. I had gone to the store in the evening to grab food for dinner and bought some cookies, when I tell you my mouth actually watered when I opened that package it is not an exaggeration.  Overall it was a very eyeopening experience, after the initial waves of hunger passed I was able to get to business as usual but I quickly started to reflect on my position. I thought wow, yes I am thinking about all the food right now in my fridge but at least when this is over I have access to food. I think it's funny how you do not think about your blessings until you lose them. So participating in Ramadan made me realize that I need to be thankful for my blessings, actively and consciously more often. I think so often as a young woman I get caught up in what others are doing and achieving and it traps me into a negative space but this processes helped clear my head quite a bit. I am going to try and look to it when I find myself on the self-doubt downward spiral (like the one I had today). 

Deema and I made dinner together and waited for 9:50 to come where we broke fast and had a meal. Then we had the most amazing conversation about life, religion, and the human experience.  I would encourage everyone to considering fasting, especially if you have Muslim friends. Let them know that you care about them and their experience. I think that from here on out I am going to participate at least one day each year. I think in the times that we are having now in both the UK and the US what we really need is more ways to understand thy neighbor and experience life through their lens. 

Ramadan Mubarak, everyone!

PRAGUE, A SOLO TRIP

I just got back from my first solo trip to Prague and it was awesome I cannot wait to go back. I knew when I moved to England I wanted to do at least one solo trip because I am a grown up and shouldn't feel scared to travel alone. After finding a great deal on a flight and doing some research on good places to travel as a solo female traveler I picked Prague and was off. 

I stayed at Sophie's Hostel and had an amazing stay. I have only stayed in 2.5 hostels (you can read about the .5 hostel HERE) and Sophie's was by far the best. The staff was super friendly, and it had a boutique hotel feel to it. Also it was super affordable. I was in a 5 bed Women's only room, which had 5 individual beds, our own full kitchen, and private bathroom. I have stayed in hostels before, where I stayed in a mixed room and they were perfectly fine but because I was traveling alone I felt more comfortable staying in a women's only room. All the girls that I was with were lovely and I even made two friends from Brazil!

I spent my days just walking, I had a general idea of where I wanted to go and I had booked a half day trip to Konopiste Castle for one day. I went to the ballet one evening and drank lots of beer (which is cheaper than a coke) and ate delicious pastries and chocolate. In total I walked about 30 miles during my trip. I would recommend doing any of the free walking tours as they cover a lot of history, I am just someone who likes to wander and window shop so I decided to do my own tour. My suggestions for going to Prague are as follows:

• Commit a full day to Prague Castle and take your time to explore it. Your ticket will actually allow you access for 2 days in a row. 
• Don't feel like you HAVE to pay for the sites at Prague Castle. I got circuit ticket B and after doing the things that were offered I could have done with out it. It is free to enter the area that is "Prague Castle"
• Commit to walking to the top and visit the Strahov Monastery and their Brewery, get a meal at the restaurant there and partake in the best view in the entire city. 
• eat street food it is delicious! 
• Drink the beer because it is cheap and also delicious 
• Take a tram or the metro and see some of the areas outside of Prague. Prague's public transportation is great and very cheap. 
• Go to the theater, there is always something great playing

ALL RHODES LEAD TO GREECE

Well it is officially summer for me, which means nothing because I am in the midst of writing my dissertation but I did get to take a week long vacation last week. Me and two of my friends went to Rhodes, one of the larger Greek Islands. Greece is actually made up of about a thousand islands with about 200 of them being inhabited. We found a good flight and a cheap place to stay and went for it.

INDIA: VLOG EDITION

First and foremost I would like to say that vlogging is hard, these YouTubers make it look so easy with their effortless editing and causal convos with the camera. Also drones, have you seen all the drones used? Too cool. Let me tell you people it is not that easy. My struggles came down to confidence, I did not want people to look at me weird while talking to the camera. Also I tend be someone who gets caught up in the moment and I don't always feel the need for a photo. I usually just count on the people that I am with to snap shots and then I steal them later. So I forgot often that maybe this is something I should film.

I tried my hand at vlogging in India and Paris and it was okay but I think the videos I created with the footage that I had turned out pretty good. Shout out to my friend Janae who recommended Filmora to me, it is what she uses to edit her YouTube videos. It is so easy and convenient to use and gives you a professional look. I am going to take what I learned from these experiences and try them on my trip to Rhodes at the end of the month. I want to incorporate more of my natural "snapchat shooting the shit" aesthetic. ALSO, I am taking my first solo trip to Prague in June and plan on filming then as well. I am going to keep working on my technique and messing around in Filmora to get better, so that I can create quality content for these mean media streets. As always thanks for your support as I wade through this new world of media and digital content.

Check out my India vlog below and the Paris one is coming! I swear.

India Vlog from Charisse Furlongue on Vimeo.

PLEASE DON'T ASK ME ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP STATUS

ODE TO LOVE AT THE TAJ MAHAL

The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, about a 4 hour drive from Delhi. My friends and I were able to hire a driver to take us there for the weekend for about 12 bucks per person. The drive was pretty easy and before you knew it we were arriving at our Hotel in Agra. We decided to splurge a bit and stay at nice hotel and I am glad we did. The staff at The Gateway Hotel in Agra were so great and the pool there was just what we needed. We had planned on doing sunrise at the Taj because we heard it was amazing and then go to the Agra Fort in the afternoon.

The Taj is everything people say and more, yet in some ways it felt smaller in places than I imagined it to be, however it was spectacular and to think about how and when and why it was built. For those that do not know it is a shrine to the 3rd wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, his favorite wife. He then was laid to rest next to her and the two still lie there today. After coming back for a quick bite at the hotel we went back out to visit Agra Fort, which was so spectacular. It felt like it could go on forever. The people there were so friendly, we got stopped a few times to take some pictures. I was rather shocked to be honest, to me my skin isn't that off set from their own but people were respectful about it. I wonder what they do with the pictures they take with strangers?

• A couple of things to note, most places in India have a women's line and a men's line when going through security. At the airports I found this to be frustrating because the women's line requires you to go into a small pop up room type thing to be scanned with a female officer. Meanwhile your belongs are chilling on the conveyor belt for anyone to swipe. Also the ladies' line is always longer then the gents and yet they only have one for us ladies, which means it takes forever to get through. The Taj was no different, our friend Darren was waiting for me, Celete, and Paulina for quite some time for us to get through.

• It was a good idea to go super early, and I would recommend it as we got there before the big crowds so touring it was easy. Also the street sellers are not so overwhelming that early, you have a few people trying to sell you their service as a "guide" which we FIRMLY said no to, but that is all. However on our exit of the Taj it was crazy, getting into the car we were bombarded with people trying to sell us things and banging on the windows. I had this moment of like "this must be how Beyonce feels" it was crazy and a bit scary too. You will say NO a lot and when you think you have said it enough, say it again, people do not relent

Agra left me with so many thoughts, this location that houses one of the world's most opulent pieces of architecture is also a location of some supreme poverty. We had people trying to get us to buy things for just 100 rupees. I can't make assumptions about what their lives are like, I can only go by the things I saw and I found myself wondering if the people of Agra harbor any resentment to The Taj. Check out some pictures below and stay tuned for my next stop Jodhpur, the blue city!

WELCOME TO INDIA

A month ago today I was leaving for India! I can't believe how fast time flies. It seemed like I was there and back in a blink of an eye. I wanted to spend some time thinking and reflecting on my trip before I wrote this post, and get through some other trips too (read about Paris HERE). I decided to break this trip up into a few posts so that I could speak about my trip more thoroughly. Just so you have an idea I went from Delhi to Agra to Delhi to Jodhpur to Bangalore and home again. All together I spent 12 days there.

MERCI, PARIS

Bonjour!
Easter break is almost over and I have so much to update you all on. I just got back from Paris where I met my friend and former City Year coworker for a few days. Paris is everything that people write about and more, I was worried that the people would not be friendly because I have heard a few stories but I found the people to be very pleasant and willing to help. I learned  few small phrases and usually that was enough for them to realize I didn't know French and they would speak to me in English, but I tried.

CURRENTLY COVETING: THE ONEPIECE

Studying in the UK has been pretty great, however the gloomy weather has been a STRUGGLE. I can't lie I need Vitamin D bad and have been on the verge of binge buying Wowcher trips to Malta to get out of the cold. Luckily I will be heading to India in a few short days where the sun awaits. My group of friends here and I are planning for a summer trip to Greece in June right before we have to hunker down to work on our dissertations. A trip to the beautiful beaches of Greece means that it is officially almost swimsuit season and I am in need of a new one. 

CURRENTLY COVETING: GLOWING SKIN

Here in Newcastle Winter seems to be lasting forever and my skin has taken a hit. I recently had to write an article on getting glowing skin for my School's Newspaper The Courier and I thought I would share that article here. Achieving glowing skin isn’t impossible you too can have skin that looks like it has been airbrushed to perfection. It just takes a solid routine, some go-to products, and a positive can do attitude.

Step 1. Hydrate
The first, and most important step to achieving a sparkling complexion is super simple, H2O
Beauty comes from the inside out so we have to treat our inner self just as well as our outer. What we put into our bodies effects the outside of our bodies, so if you are feeling your skin is looking extra dull and dry ask yourself if you are getting enough water.

Step 2. Cleanse
It is key to make sure to wash the day away from your skin, luckily there are so many options for cleansing that you can find multiple options that work for you. Make sure to really scrub with some kind of electronic brush like a Clarisonic it gets below the surface for a complete cleanse. Dr. Bronner’s castile soap is all natural and mixed with a little water it clears the dirt away without being too harsh on your skin. Cleansing waters are a big trend right now and they are also a lazy person’s bestfriend because you don’t have to rinse it, just slap some on a cotton pad and go to town. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water is an affordable option. Cleansing oil is great if you subscribe to full face glam makeup on the daily; these oils break down your makeup for easy removal. L'Occitane Immortelle Oil Make-up Remover and Boscia Makeup-Breakup Cool Cleansing Oil are wonderful oils.

Step 3. Exfoliate/Mask
This is a step that isn’t needed every day, only about 2-3 times a week depending on what your skin is up to. Lush Cup O’ Coffee smells amazing and helps remove any dry flaky skin; you can also use this scrub on your body. Lush has a plethora of masks options and are pretty affordable as well, I recommend BB Seaweed for baby soft skin.

Step 4. Tone
This is a step that a lot of people forget to do but it is essential if you want to clear up your complexion. Toners help to brighten and even out your skin by lifting imperfections from the depths of your pores.  Toners come in many strength levels and can be drying depending on the strength. They make toner for every type of skin so just make sure that you read reviews or YouTube your favourite guru for suggestions. Pixi Glow Tonic is a great one because it is oil and alcohol free so your face won’t scream when you apply it.

Step 5. Moisturize
Last but certainly not least is moisturize, especially in the winter when the cold and wind are hammering away at your face. Make sure you add a little sunscreen if what you are using does not have in it. Neutrogena Hydro gel is light and your skin will say thank you after using it, it is instant moisture. If you like to go au natural, try coconut oil! Coconut oil is magic and helps protect your skin from the elements, you’ll also smell super yummy.

YOU NEED A 50 PERCENT TO PASS

Now that I have one semester down and into semester 2 I can speak more about the grading system here at Newcastle. Before attending school here I heard about the British system and how it differs greatly from the US. I was warned to not freak out when you see your first marks (grades). Even knowing this I was still quite shocked when I received my first marks a shallow 52. I knew that the marking system was different but I still wasn't ready for what I saw. Here at Newcastle a passing grade is a 50, yep you read that correctly. In the states a 50 is a definite FAIL, usually anything below a 65 is failing.  My 52 equates to about a C, I wasn't happy with that grade because I felt like I had done better than that.

Furthermore, as a masters student do not expect to receive a grade above 75, 80s are extremely rare for masters students. I had a lecturer explain it to me like this "we leave the top 20% for PhD level work" so essentially you will only see 80s and 90s if you are a PhD student. None of it really makes sense to me to be honest but I have adjusted to it. Where as in the states you are always striving for 90s which are definitely achievable.

Another key difference here in the UK vs. the US is the length it takes to get your marks back; in the states after I turned in an assignment it usually would take up to a week to get my grades back, sometimes I would have them back within 24 hours. Here in the UK it takes just about a month to get your marks. I find that frustrating because any feedback given doesn't really help and cannot be applied to further work. For example I had a big essay due Jan 18th for a semester 1 module and just received my marks back this week. We are now into semester 2. I am not sure why the process takes so long but if I could change one thing it would be that. You potentially do not know how well you did until way into the following semester. In college, I always knew exactly what I needed to get on an assignment in order to get a specific final grade BEFORE the final exam or assignment. I know that may not sound important but it helps in planning and preparation for finals.

I would like to add that my marks for my remaining modules' assignments have been really good (60s and 70s), so overall I am doing well here at Newcastle Uni despite the a bit of a rough start.

BELIEVE BEYOND BOUNDARIES

If you ask people close to me they will tell you I have a love hate relationship with Penn State but there is something about State College, that brings joy to my heart.The thing that makes me the most proud as an alum is THON. THON was founded in 1973 by PSU students and is a 46 hour dance marathon fundraiser where proceeds go to Childhood Cancer and the Four Diamonds Fund. Last year THON raised 13.3 MILLION dollars, yep you read that right. It has inspired dance marathons all over the country and is the largest student run philanthropy in the WORLD (find out more HERE). If you are still confused about it take a look at this video 

HEY BLACK CHILD, DO YOU KNOW?

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about casual racism and micro aggression, a friend of mine let me share her story on this platform READ THAT POST HERE and I am so thankful for it. It sparked something within me and I wanted to start a series of similar posts to share throughout the month. I reached out to friends and family inviting them to share their stories with me on this blog. The next story in the series comes from my cousin, as she talks about her son's experience as a little black boy in Boston, Massachusetts. Already at the tender age of 5, he is experiencing disgusting ignorance from his peers. He is facing ugliness about his black skin and being made to feel less than by someone near in age, but where did that child learn those things? I always get frustrated when I hear people PROCLAIM that racism is dead because the generations that formulated it our dying out. I want to ask them what does it feel like to be so blissfully ignorant? One is not born hateful, you must be careful taught. Our experience in life shape our perception of the world and when the people of influence in our children's lives repeat negative stereotypes the cycle continues. When you make that causal joke about a person's sexuality, race, religion and you think that your child isn't listening, guess what they hear you, and then they take it to school and spread it like a virus. Thank you Ash and K for sharing your story, you are so loved by many. 

40 DAYS FACEBOOK FREE

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT BARBIE

Photograph: Mattel/EPA

If you do not know by now that Mattel the makers of Barbie released a ton of new dolls this week than you have been living under a rock or just paying attention to Kanye's rants on Twitter instead. Since the release there has been quite a range of media reactions with a variety of thoughts and opinions on Barbie's new figure; so of course I needed to add my two cents. 

LONDON CALLING

My friend Adam and his wife moved to London last January for work and I have been meaning to get down to London to visit, since I got to England. Virgin had a flash sale and I was able to get a round trip ticket to London for 20 quid, so now seemed like the perfect time do so. It was about a 3 hour train ride from Newcastle to King's Cross station (yes, that King's Cross Harry Potter fans).It was the day that Alan Rickman passed away and so Celete and I decided to be tourist and take a picture at platform 9 3/4 , while waiting a journalist came up to us to ask me my thoughts on his death. I forgot the name of the paper but it was a cool way to enter London.

SUNDAY ROUND UP

I am in the last week of my winter break and preparing for one more exam and then classes start on the first of Feb. I am also planning for an epic trip to INDIA in March! I just wanted to do a quick post on some things that have been happening this week and half and do kind of a weekend round up.

Getting my 1990's fit on

So I am still not sleeping well, I take melatonin as a last resort but I do not want to become dependent on it. I know exercise is something that is often recommended, I have noticed on my trips after long walking days I sleep like the dead. So I decided to find a water aerobics class, I took my first class on Thursday and slept like a baby through the entire night. I hate working out, and since I am comfortable in my belly rolls and have committed to never losing them I avoid it at all cost. I do love the water though, I'm and island gal , water is in my blood, so being able to work out in the water is the ultimate blessing. The class was a good mix of young and old and a ton of fun. I am going to try and go to all 3 classes a week but at the very least attend 2 of them.

#Oscarssowhite

The Oscar drama has been everywhere since the nominations came out and I have my feelings on them. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released a statement saying that they are going to take strategic action to increase diversity. A lot of people have a lot of different feelings about that. I feel as though there needs to be movies with roles for people of color to act in that are worthy of accolades. Simple answer diversity has to come in all aspects of the industry. Executives, Producers, Writers, casting directors, agencies and so on. I just finished a huge paper on the subject a few days before the nominations so the topic was fresh on my brain. If you are a person that likes hard numbers check out this study done by UCLA (found here) they have great facts and figures that go pretty deep.What surprised me the most was how little other people of color are represented in Hollywood as well. Is it the most serious thing happening right now, NOPE but it is interesting and representation matters.

Snapchat
Similar to DJ Khaled, I too have my daily thoughts with Snapchat. I have gotten several comments on my snapchat videos, I love snapchat because if it wasn't talking to the imaginary people on it,  I would just be talking to myself. It allows me to get out thoughts through out the day. People seem to like them so I wanted to maybe include them every so often on the blog. This week I caught up on the Bachelor. I watch it for sheer entertainment but this guy Ben seems like a legit nice guy. He is almost too sweet and surprisingly not douchey. Well one thing I always notice on the Bachelor vs. the Bachelorette is the jobs that the women have. They are the most ridiculous made up jobs ever, like even Barbie never had some of these. Currently my favorites have been fit model, chicken enthusiast, and straight up just unemployed. There are twins on the show this season and the show just has "Jenny - Twin" as her occupation. Seriously?! You couldn't put like student or intern on there. They do not seem to do that to the men of the Bacherlorette, they always have legit jobs OR their jobs are not mentioned at all. Why is that? Is it intentional or and oversight? Who is in production at ABC that thinks this is clever, it's not, I see what you are doing! This week's snap story also has me sharing my thoughts on the next Bachelorette being black. Check out the snap story below.