What happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico!

Holla!

So a few weeks ago I went to Mexico with my class. We stayed at the Grand Sirenis Riviera Maya Resort and Spa. I was really pleased with the hotel and the staff. Both were super nice and the staff was exceptional! The food in the buffet and the a la carte restaurants were also both amazing. Everything was good and there was a wide variety of food. Something for everyone! There were always activities going on at the resort! It was nice, you always had something to do so you were never bored. Our room was pretty big. There was more then enough room for me and my room mate and we didn't feel like we were on top of each other all the time. The beach that was connected to the resort was BEAUTIFUL. The water was soooo nice. Not too cold, not too hot. It was just perfect. I liked that there was a little Mayan ruin on the beach like shown in the picture. You could walk/swim up to it and look inside. It wasn't much but it was still cool to see. 

There was a disco at the hotel which was a little bit isolated. It was good so that the music didn't disturb the guests staying at the hotel. The disco was so much fun. The music was good, people were super nice and inviting. I think we went almost every night! ...oops!

There is a few people who might of drank a little too much, but hey! We're all young adults trying to have fun, so it doesn't matter right???

Either way, it was a blast. I wish our clubs were this fun instead of just having people grinding on each other......... 

Excursions!

For our first excursion, we went to Xcaret! This place was like a big zoo for exotic animals. There were snorkelling going on too as well as a very nice beach. Here, I swam with SHARKS! It was awesome. At first I think we were all scared a little bit, but it was actually a super cool experience. Everyone wanted to swim with dolphins, I wanted too, but I wanted to be able to tell people I swam with sharks because its cooler ;) 

Secondly, we went to Xel-Ha. This place was basically for snorkelling. I liked how it was all inclusive so we didn't have to play for anything! There were a lot of fish so it was a really cool place to snorkel, I'd recommend it to everyone. It was super fun, the waiters were friendly and made us special shots! I have no clue what they were called, but they were yummy! I got to hold a parrot even though I'm allergic and got a huge allergic reaction after, it was worth it! 

Our group in Tulum

Lastly, we went to Tulum and Playa del Carmen. Tulum was great because we got to learn a lot about the Mayan ruins. Our guide was a bit monotone but he seemed like he knew his stuff. The beach here was AMAZING. It's really too bad that we couldn't go because it was too windy, I would have loved to go. 

Playa del Carmen was cool. A lot of shopping. You had to barging a lot here, which I didn't really like because I feel like I'm ripping the people off. That's how they make their living, so I just felt bad. I guess I always feel bad for everything, and I shouldn't, but OH WELL. Other then that, it was really cool. we got 3 bracelets for 90$ instead of 240$ so that was nice. 

Over all, I had an amazing time in Mexico. I would go back any day!

Senior Frog in Playa del Carmen

This is the beach I was talking about.

Paradise City

Carnival Valor!

This is my second family

In March 2013, my best friend and I took a cruise to the Caribbean's! We drove to Boston from Moncton and then took a plane to Puerto Rico! From there we boarded the boat and left for our 7 day cruise! It was honestly the best trip I ever took. We stopped in a bunch of little islands but out of all of them, my all time favourite would be Barbados and St-Lucia.

Both of these islands were BEAUTIFUL and I would go back any day. We got to visit each of the islands a little bit for a cheap cab ride and then spent most of our time on the beach. The only thing with St Lucia that I disliked a little bit would be the fact that there was so many people asking you to buy their stuff. They were a little pushy and it just wasn't appealing to me. With that said, it was an amazing vacation. The staff on the boat were always in a good mood and cheerful. We also got to meet some of the dance performers which I thought was pretty cool and wouldn't happen any day! I would definitively go back on a Carnival Cruise ANY day!!  

Barbados

Barbados Beach 

These are the dancers we got to meet!! 

Anywhere but here...

If I had the chance to visit one place in the whole world, I would probably pick Africa.

I don't really care about fancy and expensive places, I would love to be able to visit somewhere and actually do something good. I wouldn't go for an attraction, location or food. I would simply go to help out. It's actually one of my dreams to go in an other country and build a school. I've looked into a bunch of programs that would help me get involved and I'm really considering it. I think it would be a life changing experience. I obviously wouldn't go alone, I would go with a group of people and build/help as much as we could.

The idea of some people not having a place for education is actually unreal. I feel so bad and I would love to be able to help any way that I can. I find that here, in Canada, we complain about every little thing while some people would kill to have what we have. With this trip, I feel I would be able to make so many people's life better and bring so much joy to a lot of people :)

Road trip!

This past summer, two of my friends took a roadtrip to Nova Scotia to get some shopping done! When we were there we stopped at a bunch of different places just to visit.

One of the places we stopped at was the Citadel. I have never been there before this summer and I thought it was super cool to see all the people dressed up. I learned a lot about the history and a bunch of stuff about the guards. That wasn't the whole point of the trip though. 

This is the citadel view from the top!

Mic Mac Mall

We went shopping in both the Mic Mac mall and the Halifax Shopping Centre. Both were super fun. It was definitively the highlight of the trip. The only reason we went to the Shopping Centre was for Victoria Secrets. We don't have one here is Moncton yet, so it was cool that we were able to go to one. This trip was special to be because I was with both of my really good friends. We had a blast. The trip wasn't really planned it was more of a last  minute decision but it was still amusing.

Won't you take me to, Monkey town!

I've live in Moncton my whole life! personally, I love Moncton. Despite what everybody else thinks, I find it quite "homey". It's kind of a small town, but it's beautiful in my point of view. There is lots to do here during winter AND summer. 





 During winter, we have skiing. skating, sliding, sugar camps and lots more! slating is probably my favourite thing to do even though I'm not very good at it. There are indoor and outdoor places where you can skate here in Moncton. Some people clean up the ice at Centennial park and makes it into an outdoor rink. On our warmer days during winter, its a great place to spend the day or just even a few hours. We also have rinks like for example, the 4plex. I know that they sometimes offer public skating. There's a lot of other places too all around the Greater Moncton. The 4plex is generally for local hockey, ringette, or figure skating. It's a very clean arena which even has a Tim Horton's inside. It's cheap, and always super fun. 

 Secondly, during the summer, I love spending most of my time at the Parlee Beach in Shediac. It's only about 20 minutes away from Moncton if you take the high way. It's obviously not a beach like down south but it's a nice place to spend the day at. It's a really popular place here during the summer cause it's one of the only places we have close to home where we can lay in the sand and take in the sun. It's a kid friendly place, so you can bring along the whole family!! Dogs aren't allowed BUT, right before you go onto the wharf  there's a little area where there is sand, (it's like a mini beach!) and you're allowed to bring your dogs there so they can enjoy and play in the water as well. I think it's nice that there is that little place where they can have a good time too and not just stay at home. 

Lastly, an other place I really like to go to would be Café Archibald. There is one in Moncton and also one in Dieppe. It's a nice little café and they serve meals too. Everything you can get there is made on a crêpes. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's just like a pancake but much more thinner. It's super good. They serve anything from a pizza to a grilled cheese, and even deserts! It's affordable and delicious! My personal favourite would be the Skor Crêpe. You guessed it, it's a desert! There's skor, caramel, ice cream! I recommend it to every one. It's the best thing I ever ate.

-Nathalie

All About Nathalie!

Hi! I'm Nathalie. I'm sure that my story is like most of you. I graduated from Ecole L'Odyssée in June 2013. I'm from Moncton New-Brunswick but live in Dieppe, I'm 18 years old. I'm a student here at Oulton College. I'm currently taking the travel and hospitality course and up to now, I love it. I haven't travelled a lot but every time I did, I really enjoyed my experiences.

In 2007, I went to Kamloops, British Columbia for a weekend. I visited a few museums and learned a lot about what went on over there. I went shopping, swimming, we took long droves just to see more of the nature. The mountains were beautiful and i enjoyed myself a lot. Since I only stayed a weekend, I didn't really get to see too much of the province. I wish I could go back because I loved everything about BC. I would definitely recommend the trip to everyone. I stayed at a little hotel there, I can't remember the name, but it was super cozy and not too big. Pretty much a bed and breakfast. The staff were super nice and we would come back to a clean room every time.

                                     

In March 2013, I went on a Carnival Cruise. I had SO much fun and the staff were amazing. That's sort of what helped me decide that I wanted to join this class. All the employees seemed to love their jobs and have fun while working. We stopped almost every day and visited a lot of places. We visited most of the Caribbean's. Barbados was personally my favourite. You could really enjoy your time there. The only thing I didn't like about it was at the beach, there were people in boats at the beach that were trying to get you to buy their things so you couldn't really enjoy your time in the water. Other than that, it was a gorgeous place. There was a lot of little boutiques close to the beach, bars and restaurants. Everything was super accessible. While we were in Barbados, we took a taxi around the little town just to see what It was like outside of the "richer" part of town. It seemed super poor, and there wasn't much.. that's only from my point of view. although the people living there seemed super nice and appreciative for what they had. I wish I could go back. It was definitively my favorite place.

I'm not 100% sure what I would like to do after I take this course, but I think I'm aiming towards the hotel industries. At one point I really wanted to be a flight attendant but then I thought about it more and more and in the future, if I wanted to get married and have a family, it would be really hard by always being away. I think that's what's holding me back from my dream job. But you can't always get what you want in life. So there's that. I'll see what the hotel life brings to me and if I don't like it, I have many more options. The travel and hospitality program opens up a lot of career opportunities so I'm sure something will eventually please me.

-Nathalie