Maura in France

Soirée for Rwanda and Saying Goodbye (02/05/08—04/05/08)

2008-08-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend was exciting, heartbreaking, hopeful, and sad. It was a weekend of stories and goodbyes. I went to Bourg en Bresse for the final time to hang out with Anne on Friday night. I was able to go right after school and so we got a night to ourselves before the craziness of the next day started. We went over to Aude’s briefly and talked about movie stars and our List of 5 (the 5 stars you’d marry if they walked into the room right then)—very girly, but very fun. We hit the sack relatively early, but not before meeting the new roommate (since Clém had left in March). He was nice, and Anne, Gael, and I sat around talking with him for awhile.

Saturday was the “Soirée pour Rwanda” which was a project Anne and Mukasa (the father of the Rwandan family she was tutoring this year) had been planning since the beginning of the semester. It was going to be an awareness night of sorts and also a fundraiser for Africa Mission Alliance, a non-profit working with children in Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo. The plan was to have a couple testimonies of the genocide, dancing, music, a slideshow and explanation of AMA, and an aperitif afterwards. Well, as we started out that day with a million things to do, certain things came to light. One, the dancers scheduled from Lyon weren’t coming. Two, the main speaker (Mukasa’s friend who was a justice at the International War Crimes Tribunal for the genocide) wasn’t sure when he was going to show up…oh brother. Anne explained that this is how things are in Rwanda…it’s a completely different sense of time. And, this friend was Mukasa’s best man at his wedding and was two hours late. That did not bode well. However, thankfully Christine (Mukasa’s French wife) called his friend and was like “this is NOT how we do things in France, you will arrive at this time, have lunch with us, etc etc.” Go Christine!

So, on the morning of the event, there was a lot of scrambling. Anne and I were taking care of setting everything up, which turned out to be a big problem due to technology issues. She had a video slideshow representing the work of AMA to present, only for some reason the disc wouldn’t play in her computer, though everything was fine with the projector. But, it played in mine so we hooked mine up to the church’s projector instead…only to find out that my computer wouldn’t recognize the projector was even hooked up. Grrrrrrrrrr. It’s at times like these that I wish I was more of a computer whiz. We tried everything we could think of all afternoon, only nothing worked. We even called Gael who was coming from Lyon and asked if he could bring his laptop—he could. Only later he texted saying he missed his train and wouldn’t be there in time. Finally, we had to get around to setting up all the food so we had to scrap the video. Oh well.

The event itself was a success. To replace the dancing troupe, many of Mukasa’s friends found fabric and did the dancing (it’s a huge part of the culture so everyone knows how to do it). His friend spoke very well and it was interesting (lots of people asked questions afterwards). Then, a woman who’d experienced the genocide gave her testimony which was heartbreaking. It was obviously still very raw, and though she didn’t include a ton of detail you definitely got the idea of the pain and suffering of that time. Anne and Christine also gave a great presentation of AMA which hopefully encouraged some people to sponsor children in those countries. There were also lots of people that stuck around for awhile downstairs (we apparently wooed them with a Breton cake that’s full of butter—it all went in like 2 seconds). I got to catch up with Mira, one of the primary school German assistants teaching in Bourg. It was neat to hear her perspective on the year, living situation, etc—it confirmed the fact that we all had such different experiences as assistants!

After and indoor BBQ at Aurélie’s place (I love that people can eat at 10pm at night here and don’t bat and eyelash), I actually went back to Anne and Gael’s place to crash. The rest of the group was headed out to a club somewhere in Bourg but I was exhausted…the others were the next morning when we all woke up ;) But, we had a nice last breakfast together…it was weird to think I wouldn’t be coming back to this apartment or seeing Anne again. I said goodbye to her landlords on the way out (I’d met them on several occasions), and then she walked me to the train station. I tend to get emotional and this was no exception. I officially hate goodbyes! Au revoir Bourg en Bresse.

The Goodbyes Continue (31/04/08)

2008-08-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight Alan, the Mexican assistant, stopped by to say goodbye…he is leaving in a couple days to go home for good. I was sad that I didn’t really see Alan much the second semester, but we’d still had plenty of fun times playing and singing together in the fall—it’ll be sad to see him go (Andrea and Steffi have already left, so after Alan goes I’ll be the last one left in Oyonnax). Originally he was just stopping by, but we hadn’t talked in so long that he stayed for dinner and we got more of a chance to catch up. Alan’s not sure what he’ll do next or where he’ll go, though he really wants to learn Chinese so China might be in the cards—this kid is incredible! He left me with postcards from his hometown and an open invitation to come visit…and I’m very tempted. We shall see :) Regardless, it was a low-key and lovely evening and a good way to say goodbye. The end is starting…

April Vacation: Days in the Sun (23/04/08—27/04/08)

2008-08-01T17:09:00.000-07:00

Geneva
After passing through baggage and customs, we met up with Jane and Flo’s dad. I was going to be staying in Geneva for a couple days in order to see Jane’s play, “Kiss Me Kate.” Pat and Flo would be heading back to France. We all talked for a bit, and then parted. Ireland was over. While waiting for Jane to finish work, I chilled at the same café where I’d ended up after arriving in October—everything came full circle (and this time I could order in French with no hesitancy). Eventually we ran to catch the train (just like last time) and got back to her parents’ place soon after.

We took her dog Rosie for a walk, and then had a lovely dinner with her dad once he got home from work. Her dad and I compared Ireland experiences and I showed him where we’d been on an Ireland tea towel that they happened to have…heh. It works. Soon though, we were all tired and hit the sack. Both Jane and her dad would be at work early the next day and I was beat after going going going for 9 days.

I slept in the next morning for the first time in forever, and as I was getting ready to head out for the day, ran into the cleaning lady and Jane’s mom who’d just flown in from the States. Since I had a whole day in Geneva I decided to catch up on some of the touristy things I’d never done. My first stop was the Musée de la Croix-Rouge (the Red Cross Museum) which was fascinating and very well put together. There were cool artistic screens, multi-media presentations, artifacts, old postcards, art displays, and the “boxes”….you could walk into each one and they presented different projects the Red Cross had been involved in throughout the world. The one on the Rwandan genocide and the atrocities at Srebenica really struck me. The walls inside the box were covered in colored photos of all the children separated from their parents during the Rwandan genocide (the RC had compiled a database to track down family members). The outside featured a book of names from those murdered at Srebenica (in B&H). When you see the pictures and see the actual names, it hits a lot closer to home. Upstairs there was a temporary exhibition on nuclear power damage around the worlds. The pictures of people affected by the radiation were also moving when you realize how dramatically their lived were altered.
After taking the bus back to the train station, I walked down to the lake and spent some time next to the water and taking pictures—it was a gorgeous day and most of my previous times in Geneva had been gray or rainy. I headed into the Old Town and explored there a bit before resting under the leafy green trees along the city walls. You could still see the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Lovely. I went into the Protestant Cathedral and found a chapel there I’d not seen before…it’s a 180° difference from the very austere and simple interior of the cathedral itself. Every bit of wall space/arch/ceiling panel/etc was decorated in beautiful blue, gold, and red painted designs. Plus, there was a lot more ornamentation, lots of gilding, and intricate stained glass.

Eventually I got back to the train station to take a bus to "Rive" in order to catch the bus back to the apartment. However, I got on a bus that before it gets you to Rive, goes around the whole city. So, I got an impromptu visit of Geneva and since I had time, could relax and watch the scenery go by. Back in Veyznat I made a grocery run—I was cooking dinner that night. Chez Kennedy, Jane and I set to work—she preparing the most fabulous guacamole ever, and me cooking an Italian gnocchi dish. It turned out well and Jane’s mom told me how wonderful it was to come back from a trip and have dinner prepared for her. For dessert I had opted for fresh strawberries and whipped cream…in a can. Mr. Kennedy was convinced they didn’t sell that in Europe, but I found it and was hoping for the best—meaning that from experience, aerosol cans of whipped cream could lead to pretty funny occurrences. Sure enough, it was the first time Mr. Kennedy had used one, and ended up spraying Mrs. Kennedy with whipped cream….hilarious! We were all in stitches. Mission accomplished.

The next day I slept in again (glorious) and then got a text from Jane saying she could meet me for lunch. I met up with her and her boyfriend Matti at Cornavin train station. We proceeded to a gourmet Italian eatery—fresh everything, beautiful ingredients. We got to pick everything or our sandwiches and then went to a lovely park by the lake, from where we could see the giant soccer ball balloon floating over the Jet d’Eau…Euro Cup fever getting ready to hit Switzerland. It was the quintessential spring day and actually a welcome relief after the cold and wind of Ireland. Jane soon left to go back to work and Matti and I visited an English book sale, where I found out he was a fellow "Black Adder" lover—hurray!

We then took a “mouette” (a water taxi) across the lake and explored the ruins of Geneva under the Protestant Cathedral…I had no idea they were even there, but they were apparently the foundations of the entire city, built around and over an ancient chieftan’s tomb! The things you learn. Matti needed to go home and get ready for the play that night so I headed back to the apartment for more relaxation. Jane was home just after that and we grabbed food and her supplies and took off for Nyon. I watched the cast warm up, met Matti’s sister, and then got to my seat for the show. It was delightful and the leads were fabulous...I definitely laughed a lot and it was enjoyable to hear songs that I knew. Afterwards, I went with some of the cast to a pub, Jane and I being accompanied by Sylvain, a crazy Frenchman and one of the cast members, who serenaded us the whole way—Les Miserables, bien sur. He has a fantastic voice so we totally rocked out on the way there. The evening ended fairly early because everyone was tired and still needed to drive home, so home we went and blasted the iPod on the way—hurray for fun nights out!

Lyon
I was up pretty early Saturday morning in order to catch a train to Lyon (I would be meeting up with W&M friends). Jane was a sweetheart and got up to have breakfast with me and we said goodbye as I ran to catch the bus to Cornavin. The train ride to Lyon was no problem, albeit crowded, and since it was still daylight out I got to watch the incredible scenery of green hills, mountains, and crystalline rivers flow by. I arrived in Lyon and waited a bit to take a bus to Gael’s (my friend with whom I’d be staying)…it took awhile, but the ride up the hill further into the 5e arrondissment was beautiful and I got awesome views of the city. Once there, I dropped my things, had lunch with him and his mom, and then Gael and I went to Place Bellecour. We were going to meet up with Mary (who’d I'd been traveling with in Ireland), Lisa (a good friend from W&M and my former roommate in Lyon), and hopefully Dani (another good friend from W&M passing through the city). We met up with the first two right away, and as we started taking pictures, were joined by Dani too! Fabulous! Though it was totally by chance. Dani didn’t have a cell phone and had gotten into the city at a different time than expected and wasn’t sure she was going to catch us. But, even after going the wrong way on the metro, she managed to find her way back (with the help of a nice French lady) and got to us just in time.

For the afternoon we got to play tourists and hit up the roman amphitheaters, the basilica de Fourvière, Saint Jean cathedral, and Vieux Lyon. Lisa and I also insisted on stopping by our favorite patisserie and picking up some yummy pastries before walking along the river. We found a grassy spot in the shade on the Rhône riverfront, along with practically everyone else in Lyon. It was just a perfect day and we sat and talked for awhile, Dani and I walked a bit along the river, and then all us girls went to mass at St. Bonaventure.

Meeting up on Rue Merciere (a street with nothing but restaurants) with Gael, we went to a restaurant my parents had taken Lisa and me to when they visited before. On the way, there were two French girls coming out who saw us thinking about going in and totally went into this dramatic warning not to eat there—the service was awful, they said, and they’d rather pay a couple extra Euro and eat somewhere else on the street. But, in the end, our frugality won out and we decided to go in. It actually wasn’t that bad. It was a little harried and we got another table’s appetizers at one point, but it was actually very cozy, we had a great conversation the whole time, and Dani discovered that the “brain” sausage she ordered tasted just like American hot dogs…hmmmm. Heh. Makes you wonder what they put I hot dogs. Plus, even though I wasn’t sure if Gael was having a good time, I heard later from Anne that at a party he was telling everyone he went out “with 4 American girls!”. Good times, good times.

After dinner we went out for drinks, and were joined by the 2 guys living in Lisa’s and my old apartment (they were there with the UVa program too)…small world, but Mary went to school with one of them. We found a brasserie and were also later joined by two of the Bourg boys, Aurelien and Arnaud. We all just sat and chatted for awhile, though before long the owner wanted to close down and politely asked us to leave. Arnaud was a sweetheart and drove Gael and I back up the hill since we’d missed the last bus home. The three of us sat in his car and talked for awhile and it was one of the first like real and honest conversations I’d had with Arnaud (usually he’s very joke-y and it’s fun, but hard to get under the surface.). Gael and I crashed almost as soon as we walked in—I knew it was going to be another early morning.

Sure enough, I was up with the sun, but Gael was nice enough to get up and have coffee with me. We said our goodbyes and I went back into town to meet the girls at their hotel. They were just about to eat breakfast, and the owner offered me breakfast as well—sooo nice of her. While the girls were upstairs packing, I spoke to the woman for a long time. She seemed very sad and told me about her children who were disabled, the failing state of France due in part to immigration, and then we changed course and discussed the Obama/Hillary competition. (I’ve gathered over the past few weeks that people are much more interested in the democratic primary than we are). I felt like maybe she just doesn’t have many people to talk to, or does and they don’t really listen. Mary is convinced I have the personality that invites confidence. Either way, it was a heavy conversation.

We left our bags at the hotel and went out for our last morning together and my last day of vacation. Our first stop was the Saône River for the markets. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, there is a gi-normous fresh food market on one side of the river, and a massive art and artisan market on the other side…it was one of my favorite things to do on Sundays so I was stoked. Plus, all the trees were in bloom along the river (which I hadn’t seen before because I’d left Lyon in December), and petals from pear trees blew everywhere like confetti—what a joy to be a part of spring in France. Lisa and I saw our chicken guys (the same ones we bought a rotisserie chicken from every week), though sadly our favorite jewelry lady was gone. I did see a lot of artists I recognized and we had a very enjoyable stroll down the quai under the trees and sun.

We then got ice cream (after sifting through the near 50 flavors!), walked back through Vieux Lyon, picked up our bags, and headed to Perrache train station. It had come time to say goodbye. I’d be going back to Oyonnax, Dani onto Paris, Lisa to Poland, and Mary to Bonneville. It had been so wonderful to have our mini-reunion and I realized how much it felt like home to be with those girls. Basically, it was the perfect ending to an amazing vacation. Huzzah!

April Vacation: Ireland! (15/04/08—23/04/08)

2008-06-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, they definitely call it “The Emerald Isle” for a reason! I spent this past week of vacation traveling and carousing along the western coast of Ireland—and had a blast!! Traveling with two other assistants and one frenchie, we totally dove headfirst into the beauty, serenity, and culture of what’s sure to become one of my favorite places to visit. The story begins as normally as any other….

Traveling—The Beginning

Pat, an assistant from my départment, arrived at my house Sunday night after I’d napped a bit and started packing. In order to not forget my Eurail Pass that I’d need for the train travel in Ireland, I clipped it to the shade of the big lamp on my desk. Pat walks in and goes “oh crap” and realized he’d left his Eurail pass back at home! And just as a note, his town is more remote and harder to get to than mine…I think it took him something like 4 hours just to get there on Sunday! Luckily we still had Monday because we weren’t leaving until Tuesday, so he had time to go back. We relaxed for the rest of the evening and I kicked the bucket around 10ish since I was still exhausted from the weekend. The next day, Pat was up and gone back to Montmerle before I even woke up. He got in later that evening and everything was fine—whew!!

On Tuesday afternoon Florence and her dad picked Pat and I up from my apartment. Her dad had offered to drive us to the airport which was so nice of him and which saved us the 3h30 bus/train trip from Oyonnax to Geneva. As we were driving through the mountains we still got to see snow-capped peaks which don’t exist in Virginia in the springtime. We got to the airport with plenty of time, and after having to pay to check my bag (not knowing this beforehand), we looked at the departures board. Of the 30 flights listed, ours was the only one—you guessed it—that was late. Oh great. The thing was, we were taking the last train from Dublin to Galway that night…since we already had hostel reservations, and Mary was waiting for us (she’d gotten to Dublin before us), we had to make that train. With our normal landing time, we would have had 2 hours to get from the airport to Heuston Station which was totally do-able. Now, it looked as if we’d only have an hour and 15 minutes…not too bad, perhaps a little more stressful, but we could still manage.

We get to the gate, and we’re waiting…and waiting…and waiting some more. Turns out, the flight was going to be over an hour late—meaning that our time to catch the train was dwindling faster and faster. It looked like by the time we landed, got through passport control, and got our bags, we’d only have about 40 minutes! The bus ride we were going to take was supposed to be around 40 minutes, and so after talking to our stewardess on the flight, we decided a taxi might just get us there faster. This was going to be a close one! I’m not one to stress while abroad in France, but if there is one thing I stress about it’s transportation. The middle to end of the flight was murder. (and of course we were at the back of the plane which meant more time getting off. I was all about praying for divine intervention).

Getting off the plane, we start running and saying a lot of “excuse me’s” as we darted past people to get in line. While Florence and I were getting our bags, Pat went to check on our transportation options. We couldn’t find him afterwards, so I started to freak out a little bit, but eventually we caught up with him and he led us to the taxi stand…where there was a good line already formed. I had the sense that we were definitely not going to make it (we had 35 minutes at this point) if we waited in line, so we politely asked if we could move to the front since we were rushing to catch the last train outta town. Graciously, people let us cut and we hopped in a taxi.

Safely in the taxi, we told the driver about our imminent departure and he seemed confident we could make it there in time. Okay, good. (the only thing we’d forgotten was that we were going to be driving straight through Dublin at the peak of rush hour traffic). Our driver was friendly and we talked to him the whole way about Dublin, hiking in the Wicklow mountains, and James Joyce. We also texted Mary to let her know that we were on our way (she was already on the train) and to ask her if she would get them to hold the train for us…heh. As we neared the Guinness brewing factory, which I knew was near the station, I got even more nervous seeing as how we were moving very slowly up the quay and we only had about 6 minutes! Our driver drove us right into the station near our platform and we thanked him, jumped out, and got on the train 2 minutes before it left. Talk about near misses.

Finding Mary, who’d sectioned off 4 seats facing each other, we collapsed from tension-induced exhaustion. It was wonderful to see her and great to catch up. Also, the ride through the Irish countryside with the setting sun was beautiful. Because we hadn’t had anytime to grab food, Mary shared her package of “Digestives” with us…for the Americans out there, they’re big round cookies that taste like graham crackers (though are more buttery). Yum! As I hadn’t had a graham cracker in 8 months, it tasted a bit like home. I was happy.

Arriving in Galway right on time, we soon found our hostel with no problem. It had a really cool vibe (and there were lots of people about), a helpful staff, a cool mural of the last supper on the wall in the common dining area, and we got our own room…basically, no worries. After the plane stress, it was great to have everything taken care of. We headed out to the two main pedestrian streets in search of food and stopped at the Spar market for some light fare. We munched down by the river and heading back up the streets ran into a lot of buskers (street musicians)—one of whom thought we were French. I found that to be amusing. Back at the hostel we used the internet and went to bed—it was going to be an early morning!

The Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann) and Galway (Gaillimh)

The next morning, we work up early…to sunshine! From what I’d heard from people, I was not expecting any sun on the trip so I was pleasantly surprised. After breakfast at the hostel (toast and cereal), we checked out, and went to pick up our bus tickets (we were going to have to take a bus to the ferry). And conveniently, the bus picked up right in front of our hostel. It was a gorgeous drive along the coast, though unfortunately there were pointalism advertisements covering the bus windows so it made it harder to see…I understand the need to advertise things, but what was outside the window was so much more appealing.

We got to the ferry right on time. The then ride started—innocently enough at first. About 10 minutes into things, we hit the wind, full force. This was not a big ferry boat (we were all on one level and were outside) and so we definitely got tossed, waves came over the edge, everyone got wet, and it was hilarious! There had been some very trendy girls who’d sat in the middle of the seating section thinking they were not going to get wet—hah! Were they wrong! At least we were all in the same boat (hehehe).

About an hour later we arrived at the docks at Kilronan, Inishmore. We checked into the hostel which was right there on the beach and again got our own room. Hurray! Almost immediately, we headed out to rent bikes and go see the island. The bikes and helmets were awful, but eventually we got going and started up the main road towards the Dun Aengus fortress. When we’d first arrived at the dock, it was dark and gray (a cool dramatic looking sky nonetheless), so again I was pleasantly surprised that as we rode it got sunnier and sunnier. And everything was green. And there were adorable white houses with thatched roofs, stone walls (they’re the coolest thing—it’s just rocks stacked on each other, no mortar, and they’ve been there forever), the cornflower blue sea, yellow flowers dotting the fields, ancient stone ruins, and even palm trees! Oh yeah, and the wind—like whoa. We passed by a cemetery all with Celtic cross markers, and nearby was this gorgeous turquoise blue cove and white-sanded beach. Picturesque. Along the road past the beach we encountered a group of about 40 French school children all on a field trip (voyage de découvert). It was hilarious because as they were all riding their bikes they kept shouting “à gauche! à gauche!” meaning, “to the left! to the left!”…we were all getting used to riding on the other side of the road.

For lunch, we stopped at café near the base of Dun Aengus called Tigh Nad Padi’s. Basically, it rocked. It’s a delightfully cozy café, with wonderful food and very sweet ladies who worked there. It was also “packed” though we were able to grab a table not to far from the big stone fireplace. W all had homemade tomato soup and brown bread (amazing) and then totally jumped on the homemade desserts: Florence went with toffee, Mary and Pat with carrot cake, and me with Guinness chocolate cake—mmmmmm. It was so warm and homey inside that we didn’t want to leave, but back out we went into the wind.

We went through the Visitor Center entrance and then headed up the hill to Dun Aengus. It’s one of the “best preserved prehistoric forts” in Europe…and, the concentric circles open onto 91m high cliffs! It was windy as all get-out, though we did venture carefully towards the edge…and oh my, how gorgeous. We leaned over the tall cliffs (well, really laid down to avoid becoming human sacrifices), watched the tall waves crash against the bottom of the cliffs, and basically just took it all in while trying to avoid getting blown off. The sun illuminated the sea, which sparkled blue in the afternoon sun…a good indication of what was to come on our tour of the West Coast.

Soon we realized the bikes were due back soon and we still had to ride a ways to Kilronan. The guy at the bike place had recommended coming back on the coast road, so we took that, and luckily it was a tiny bit flatter and easier to manage than the main road. Unfortunately, we had a head wind the whole time which slowed us up. But, that just meant there were more opportunities to stop and take pictures at pretty alcoves, a seal colony (though there were none there that day), and to talk to the cows (but of course). Finally we arrived at the pier and deposited the bikes about 5 minutes before they were going to close.

All the bike-riding and exploring had made us hungry for dinner. After looking at our options (cooking in or eating out), we decided on making our own fish and chip dinner—much more reasonably priced than going out. In the meantime while everything was in the oven, Mary and I taught Pat and Flo the game “Farkle” (the dice game Mary had taught me on the train to Frankfurt), and then Flo taught us “Yam” (sort of like Yatzee, but harder). It seemed like everyone was settling in and becoming more comfortable with each other. Dinner was good, though afterwards we were freezing from sitting in the kitchen so long (note: Ireland is cold) and headed back to the room.

I made a call to the Aille River Hostel in Doolin where we’d be staying the next night because they requested your travel plans a day in advance. I talked with Karl, the owner (who sounded very nice), and we discussed the possibilities for getting to Doolin. We had planned on taking the 4:30pm ferry (like a 20min ride), and if so we’d arrive before the 8pm cut-off point for check-in. If for some reason we missed it, we’d have to take the 5pm ferry back to Galway, and the bus going from Galway to Doolin would not get us there before 8pm. Otherwise, we could play it very safe and take the 12pm ferry to Galway and then the bus to Doolin, or take the 11:30 ferry to Doolin. It sounded like we were going to be fighting time, but whatever…I was feeling like we’d make it (ha). So, since it looked like we’d have several more hours on the island, we got to bed in order to “profite bien” from the next day.

We were up early for breakfast, and then jogged down the tourist office to make sure the ferries were running as scheduled. The lady there even called the ferry captain who said the 4:30pm would definitely be running (though he had canceled the 11:30am). Hurray! We could stay on the island longer. It was again a beautiful day (what luck!), though we walked the main road instead of biking. But, that allowed us to play the Question Game (where one person asks a question and everyone has to respond including the person who asked)…we discussed such things as: Peanut Butter vs. Nutella, where we want to live, our dream jobs, and our research project of choice. Very interesting actually.

Around lunchtime we arrived at the café we’d been to the day before and the lady working there remembered us…she was like, “where are you all staying?”…I guess unless you’re in the direct vincinity, you don’t come back 2 days in a row. Today, she gave us each 2 slices of bread (score), we had more soup, and got a table right next to the stone hearth. Lovely. I was beginning to get the sense of how friendly people were here and how welcoming the country was…

On the way back to Kilronan, we walked straight into the wind. It’s actually quite tiring to do this, and gives you the feeling of seasickness since you’re constantly being blown from side to side. So unfortunately the route felt twice and long and arduous. Back at the hostel, we cooked up the rest of the chips from night before, played another logic word game, and eventually went to catch the ferry (Mary in the meantime had also gone to the Aran Sweater Museum, which she found quite interesting and relayed the history of the sweaters to us.). At 4:05pm we stopped in the tourist office again to make sure the ferry was still running since we’d noticed that the wind had picked up. But the lady said it was still running and would be waiting down at the very end of the pier.

It was strange when we arrived down at the end of the pier and there was no ferry. There was a dingy with some pretty salty-looking sailors aboard and we thought perhaps this might be it since there weren’t a lot of people going to Doolin and it’s such a short trip. But after some inquiries on the boat, it was not in fact our ferry boat at all. Bizarre. Mary and Pat ran back to the tourist office around 4:20pm, and when they got back we heard the bad news—at 4:10 (five minutes after we’d stopped in), they’d canceled the ferry! Shoot.

So, quick change of plans, and we hopped on the Galway ferry. It was quite bumpy to start with, but since this was a huge boat, we could sit inside on comfy seats and at least not get wet. The main problem is that we were going to miss getting to Doolin that night—hence, we’d be charged for our reservation since we were not there. Pat called Karl, and it seemed like we would all be charged for the beds. Ack. But, there was nothing we could do. Arriving back at the pier near Galway, we went into the ticket office and even asked the lady there if there was anyway to get to Doolin by 8pm…her response? “Not even if you started walking now.” Heh.

While waiting for the bus, we made another call to Karl at Aille River, this time with me talking since I had talked with him the night before. He was still very nice and I asked if we could possibly switch our reservation from Thursday night to Friday night…and we could! Pas de soucis. And we wouldn’t be charged for the Thursday night reservation. Sigh o’ relief! We got on the bus feeling better, but still had a bit of an organizational problem ahead of us. Originally it was planned to visit and stay with my friend Julien (one of the Bourg boys) in Limerick for two nights. Now that we’d pushed everything back a night, we weren’t sure how it was going to work to get to go see him. Oh well, there was nothing we could do on the bus. So, Florence and I shared my iPod and listened to Irish music while watching the beautiful coast roll by.

Back in Galway, we re-checked into the Kinlay House hostel (luckily they still had beds available), and hopped on the internet to contact Julien. Hopefully he would get the e-mail before Friday afternoon when we were supposed to be meeting. By that point we were hungry, so we took a recommendation from the desk and went to a place called La Salsa for dinner—omg, so good. Real Mexican food, ENFIN (finally). After that we decided it was high time we went to a pub (after all we’d been in Ireland 2 nights already and hadn’t gone). Our pub of choice was Tig Cóilí, and we waded in through the massive amount of people crammed into the tiny pub. It was great though, and eventually we managed to get seats at the bar. The atmosphere was super-lively, and we started in on the Guinness. A little later on, the live traditional music started! A group including a fiddle, accordion, guitar, harp started playing and totally made my night. Also, there happened to be some people with instruments passing through, so they joined right in. And, this random lady with a fabulous voice did a few songs a-cappella…sooo cool!

As it was getting later though, Florence was feeling a little claustrophobic and I was definitely starting to feel the head cold coming on…uh oh. So, we all walked back to the hostel, though Mary and Pat headed back out to finish off the night. Hurray for our first pub experience in Ireland!

Doolin (Dubh Linn)

The next morning we were up early again for breakfast and packing. Someone had left the heater on in the room (we weren’t alone this time) so it was humid and smelled like hostel…I was glad to get back out into the fresh air. At the bus station we bought our tickets and waited in the sunshine for the bus. Karl had said the bus driver would even drop us off right in front of the hostel, so no worries about directions. It was a lovely ride and I listened to more Irish music on the way. And true to life, we got dropped off right on our path to the hostel, which actually ended being more like a big house. Karl greeted us there (it’s such a different experience to meet people who can pronounce your name correctly on the first go and who know how to spell it), and then gave us a energetic tour of the house. I’d forgotten, but there was free internet and washing, which meant we could hopefully contact Julien more easily and we could be clean ;) After getting a message from Julien and sending one back (we were hoping he could drive up and meet us in Doolin and spend the night at the hostel with us), we got unpacked and got ready for a hike.

Doolin, apart from being known for its traditional music scene, is also close to the famous Cliffs of Moher. We got there early enough in the day to make the hike. Karl gave us walking directions. His first direction? Go to the metal gate that says don’t cross, and then go over that. Oh boy. Heh. Basically all along the way, he said to ignore the warning signs and jump the fences anyway to be able to walk right along the cliffs. So, doing as we were instructed, we spent the next 3 hours walking literally a foot from hundred meter drops. Talk about exciting and spectacular. Finally we arrived at this castle look-out point from which you can see the Cliffs of Moher. And they are indeed grand. It was also the windiest weather ever, so we didn’t hang around too long (well, except for Pat who decided to stay for a bit longer than us girls).

Another piece of advice from Karl was to hitchhike back. He seemed convinced we wouldn’t have a problem getting back. Mary, Florence, and I held out our thumbs and asked people heading into the parking lot for rides back, all to no avail. Finally, we were about to give up, when I suggested waiting for one more car that was coming towards us. Lo and behold, they actually slowed down! Turns out, it was an American couple (Nora and Peter), who were on their way back not only to Doolin, but to our hostel! Too funny. They were from Vermont and California respectively and told us about their travels, staying in Egypt, and visits to relatives who make wine. Ireland was the last stop on their 8-month journey and so they’d splurged by renting a car (much to our delight).

Back at the hostel, we chilled for a bit and found out Julien would be coming up to meet us so we got him a reservation. Yay! This would be fun. Pat came back a little while later (having gotten picked up right away…darn you Pat), and we all played Farkle (of course). Around dinner-ish time we walked down the road (the one main road) to O’Connor’s Pub. Settling on the Irish beef stew, we had a delicious meal…man it was good to have stew again. You don’t realize how much you miss certain foods until you eat them. That and this year has been a very vegetarian diet for me so, meat=GOOD. Soon Julien arrived—so cool to be meeting up with a French friend in Ireland! Julien ordered and then Mary and I bought the first round of drinks. I was definitely starting to enjoy the Guinness. The traditional music started a little while later, and the group of three tonight included the tin whistle (which Mary now wants to learn) and more singing. The guy playing the guitar was the singer and man did he do it with emotion. It’s so refreshing to hear music that comes from the heart and from a place beyond the desire for superstardom or money—big difference.

Later, we decided to pub-hop a bit and catch all the musical acts we could. Florence went back to the hostel and we all headed in the other direction up the road to McDermott’s. Another round and more music later, we met a Frenchman named Victor (the first of several Frenchmen). He was originally from Marseille but had been living in Ireland for about 7 years and said he had no desire to go back to France. He’d been in Doolin for 3 years, and told us that honestly tonight the music was “off”…apparently there are much better nights. Heh. Our final stop was McGann’s, and we were there a pretty long time, listening to more music, meeting Aussies, and having a debate about the linguistic merit/theory of what makes words vulgar…you know, as you do. It was good because Pat was a linguistics major and is now even going to grad school for it, so he totally disproved and challenged our theories in the first few minutes. Interesting conversation. Eventually we headed back to the hostel, tip-toed into bed, and hit the sack.

Loophead Lighthouse and Limerick (Luimneach)

Up early again to search out breakfast (I was beginning to notice a pattern), we found fruit, bread, and jam, at the one local market (there are more pubs than markets in Doolin). We ate after packing up and then started talking to Karl. He convinced us to take a certain route around another peninsula on our way down to Limerick. He said going out to the Loophead Lighthouse at the peninsula’s point was necessary since it was one of the “hidden gems” of Ireland.

Well, we had transportation thanks to Julien and he was up for an adventure, so off we went! First, we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher so Julien could go see them, and then tried to figure out the way to Loophead—Karl had given us hand-drawn directions, but they were a little harder to follow if you’ve never driven in the area. We passed by lots and lots of open land, tractors, and cows on the way to Kilkee (the first “major” town—ha—that we would pass through). We managed to get a little lost, but did come across a Starbucks-like coffee place and I had my first mint mocha in 8 months—pretty much heaven. Back on the road (and after stopping briefly to take pictures of baby horses in a field), we sang along to bluegrass and Irish music on the radio, and eventually ended up on a “C” road…in the middle of tall grass in a field. So fun! Only then it was starting to rain a bit and we didn’t want to get caught in a muddy field so we decided to get back on the A road to the lighthouse. We did get there and it was really cool. There were more cliffs (Julien and I sat right on the edge), squishy grassy areas that we jumped and frolicked our way through, and we generally had a great time.

Back in Kilkee we stopped for deli sandwiches, and then began the long drive to Limerick (I think everyone but me fell asleep…I think I was scared of missing something, though honestly in the gray the drive was fairly bland). We arrived chez Julien early in the evening, and started meeting his roommates. If you’ve seen the movie “L’Auberge Espagnole” you would understand what his house was like! There was Julien (a frenchie), a Swiss-German guy, a Czech, a Spaniard, and an Austrian…all under the same roof. Plus, that weekend, there was an Irish guy visiting from Dublin, so we really had quite the multi-cultural experience.

Julien and I walked to the market together to get food, and though the one we wanted was closed, it was really nice to catch up with him and speak in French for a bit (I’d missed it—though I did notice how little time it had taken for me to really have to “think” before speaking). Back at the house we basically chilled, taught Julien Farkle, ate dinner, and went to bed after a long day!

Dingle Town (An Daingean)

Julien was a sweetheart and drove us all to the train station the next morning. Mary would unfortunately be leaving us to go back to Dublin (in order to take a flight to Barcelona to meet up with our friend Lisa)—sad! However, I would get to see her again in Lyon in a few days, so at least we still had a bit of traveling together left to do. The other 3 of us said one more final goodbye to Julien and were soon off on our own train to Dingle. There were no problems except a late connection at the Limerick Junction (but luckily they held the other train for everyone!), and we did get to Tralee before the bus left. Since we had a bit of time, we walked down the main street and stopped in a really chic, yet homey, café for lunch. Getting back to the bus station in the nick of time, we were finally due west, heading towards Dingle.

The ride unfortunately was spent in heavy clouds, fog, and gray mist—though the green fields were still very vibrant. There were these huge hills covered in cows and sheep and yellow flowers—quite lovely. You definitely get the impression you’re heading into rural territory and probably won’t be inundated with people on the visit. Which was good. I was looking forward to more of the peacefulness that we’d managed to find here on the West Coast.

After checking in at our hostel and doing some grocery shopping, I went exploring while Pat and Florence rested. I hadn’t been able to make it to mass that morning because of our train time, so I took the opportunity to go and sit awhile in prayer in St. Mary’s church. It was good to have that alone time with God. Around town, I encountered lots of brightly colored buildings (which stood out in contrast against the gray sky), and stores that centered on jewelry, crafts, music, and wool products. Lol. I also noticed in walking around town that all the street signs and traffic signs are in Irish only! Dingle is apparently one of the “gaeltecht” areas of Ireland where Irish is learned as the first language. Eventually joining the others back at the hostel to relax, I first ran into Nora and Peter downstairs who’d given us girls a ride back to Doolin from the Cliffs of Moher. Turns out it’s a pretty small world, at least on the west coast of Ireland!

Our pub of choice that night was The Small Bridge, and we really wanted a good seat so we got there relatively early. There was almost no one there at first, so we parked ourselves at a table right in front of the musicians and right next to a roaring fire…and then we started in on the Guinness. Soon after, the guitarist arrived and got the sound equipment set up. He was later joined by an accordion and a bohdran player. We then proceeded to listen to amazing trad for 2 solid hours. HEAVEN. They played a lot of polkas, heartbreak songs, slides, reels, jigs, and several songs I knew, including: The Black Velvet Band, Will You Go Lassie, and Song for Ireland. The singer (the guitarist) had a deep throaty, yet emphatically melodic voice and I got goosebumps listening to him sing.

All the while, I’d also noticed how good the bohdran player was. After the pub started closing, we got to talk to him! As it turns out, Eric Marini is one of the best bohdran players in the country (he won the Co. Kerry competition and came in 6^th in the country) and, get this, he’s from LYON. He’s French! Oh man…crazy world. Not only is he an excellent musician and cool guy, but he’s also from one of my favorite cities. We then ended up talking with him for about an hour and half, though they kicked us out of the pub about 20 minutes into conversation (the waitress just laughed and said Eric is always “closing down the bar”). So, we stood outside and continued talking, and he actually gave us a lot of good advice on what to see the next day on our bike ride around the peninsula. He mentioned some archaeological sites we’ve might not have known about otherwise and gave us good directions to find them. We also got into American politics, immigration and a person’s origins (turns out he’s French, Italian, and a mutt of Western Europe), language teaching, and numerous other topics. It was a very interesting conversation.

About halfway through, we got interrupted by a young guy (probably around 20) who was completely smashed but saw my journal (which Eric was writing in) and wanted to sign it! Lol. He insisted, so of course I let him. He then needed to get some things off his chest. Apparently he was having girl woes. Bascially he was freaking out because he finally had a girlfriend (huh??). Apparently he was a “one night stand” kind of guy, and actually having a permanent girlfriend was tripping him out…he was dealing with all kinds of commitment issues to say the least. Aw. He asked Pat if he had a girl, and Pat said yes, and that they’d been dating for 2 years, which our new friend took with a sense of awe. It was cute. Anyway, he eventually went back to his group (nice guy in the end), and Eric walked us back to the hostel. Though he invited us to go to a friend’s place for a party, we reluctantly made the “right” decision and went to bed…otherwise I don’t think our bike ride the next day would have been possible ;) (Note: next time, spend more time in Dingle so that if an awesome bohdran-ist ask you to a party, you GO)

Slea Head Drive (Ceann Sléibhe) Dingle Town

Don’t let the title fool you—the day spent going around Slea Head was not a drive, but instead was a 25 mile (40km) bike ride. Heh. So, of course we were up early and renting bikes from Paddy next door right as he opened. The difference between these bikes and the ones on Inishmore was that these were actually ride-able. They were in great condition, had gears that could be changed, and didn’t make you feel as if you were riding a piece of equipment that was going to fall apart at any minute. In a word=fabulous. And we were off! (after a gentle reminder from Paddy that “here, we bike on the left side of the road”)

Pat had arranged for us to do this big loop of the Dingle peninsula, known as the Slea Head Drive. Admittedly I was intimidated by the 25 mile price tag because I am not that in shape. But, you’re only in Dingle once right? (well, I hope not, but that was the mentality I went with) The first trek was mostly along the edge of beautiful cliffs with steep down-slopes full of sheep. I thought it was amusing that all of the sheep had been tagged with florescent magenta or blue paint (I guess to get ready for shearing?)…you never saw so many colorful sheep in your life. We even got a little sun as we started the ride and it made for sparkling water views along the edge.

Our first archaeological stop was to see the Beehive Huts (really the Fahan oratories). They were built by monks in 2000 BC and here we were standing in the middle of them taking pictures. Incroyable. Continuing along the edge, we saw the Blasket Islands hovering in the far-away mist, loads more sheep, a crucifix, and a tour bus of old ladies from New Jersey (it was weird to hear the accent again) who were convinced that drunk Irishmen were actually behind the “painting” of the sheep. It was quite a peaceful ride, and not too too difficult…today there were lots of downhills mixed in with the uphills. We broke for lunch on a slope and could see a gorgeous beach cove down below. Although the sky was gray by this point and it was chillier, it was still so peaceful. One of those times when you didn’t need to say anything, you could just be.

The second half of the ride around the peninsula point was beautiful and the sun even came out for a bit as we rolled with the hills, passing by green pastures and colorful houses sparsely dotting the landscape. Our final archaeological hotspot was the Gallarus Oratory and it was such a treat to see. The stone oratory (which was believed to be used for worship) was built in like the 8^th century and is to this day standing, completely mortar-free, and solidly airtight—the kind of the thing that make you step back and go, “huh?” with a sense of awe. The precision of the building was amazing. They just don’t make anything like it anymore…

Our final “descent” (ha!) was actually the biggest “ascent” we’d had the whole day. And having stopped for awhile to see the oratory didn’t make it any easier to get back on the bike and head uphill (at this point we’d been going for about 5 hours). Ugh. Florence and I decided to walk our bikes up that last little bit, while Pat showed us up by riding the whole way ;) However, going downhill back into town has never felt so good and I definitely could appreciate it on a whole other level.

Once we were back in town we made a beeline for Murphy’s Ice Cream shop. We’d definitely earned some homemade (!!) ice cream. It had been recommended by our book and didn’t disappoint—especially not two scoops of Bailey’s Irish Cream and Chocolate Whiskey. Mmmmm. We looked in some shops afterwards and before going back to the hostel stopped in the Dingle Record Shop for Florence and I to buy music for our Irish Band director. This turned out to be the best move ever. First, the Dingle Record Shop is this tiny corner of a building, maybe about the size of my bedroom here. But don’t let that fool you. It was packed with CDs, a lot of music from local artists (score), and was run by a lovely, vivacious woman named Mazz O’Flaherty. The three of us talked to her for a bit about what we were looking for, Flo and I told her about Irish Band…she was so helpful and played us tons of music we might be interested in (totally puts to shame the mega-music stores in the U.S. with zero service or personality), and she gave us her recommendations. We then realized we were out of money, so said we’d be back and ran to the ATM.

I was actually the only one who made it back to the shop (Pat and Flo wanted to check out some of the other stores) and totally surprised Mazz. Apparently she thought that when we’d left she’d never see us again. And I mentioned that I hate when people just say things and don’t actually mean it, so I try to avoid that. She asked what I meant exactly and I started giving examples of people being disingenuous….as it turns out, that sparked an hour-long conversation! We literally talked about everything—from traveling, to the future, to death, to Africa, to honesty. It was a really really good conversation, and one of those that’s also very enlightening. What a special thing to get to hear about life from a totally different perspective. (p.s. a little free publicity for Mazz: www.dinglerecordshop.com …and if you’re ever in Dingle, be sure to stop by! For the record her recommendations were spot on and I picked up some fabulous CDs produced by local artists)

After I left the shop I finally took the much needed shower back at the hostel and we made turkey melts for dinner. While waiting to go out to the pub, we sat in the cozy living room next to the fire and played….Connect 4! Allllright! I of course failed miserably, but Pat and Flo matched each other the whole time. Anyway, we had decided to try another pub that night, Dick Mack’s. The interior decor was the coolest I’d seen, and I felt as if I might be back in the 1800s stopping into an old-timey saloon or general store. There wasn’t actually any music there that night—just a bunch of people hanging around talking…so we followed suit. I think it was good to have that night that was a little quieter and we could actually talk to each other. Soon though Flo and I admitted we were exhausted and so went back to the hostel. (Pat went back to Dick Mack’s after dropping us off)

Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)

The next morning was our earliest (up at 6am) and we quickly finished packing and ate breakfast. We got down to the bus stop by the water in plenty of time, and while we were waiting saw a lazy sunrise. We got on the bus to Tralee, no problem, and in all the towns where we stopped, more and more plaid-clad schoolchildren hopped on. And! And! It was a sunny and green ride! Even though we’d missed the sun on the way in, we definitely got it on the way out. Just as good. The subsequent trains to Dublin were rather uneventful and I was feeling the tiredness at this point.

Arriving in Dublin fairly early in the day, I was glad to feel the bright sunshine on my face again. Trugging along from the train station to our hostel was a bit tiring, but at the same time we got to walk along the quays of the river which was lovely. Finally getting to the hostel, we walked into loud and blaring music in the reception, and got a key to luggage storage since the room was not yet ready. Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, we went walking along the river to the downtown area. It was almost a shock to be a part of the massive amounts of people and the regular hustle and bustle of a big city again after being so far removed from that the past few days. Dublin “moves.” Our first destination was Trinity College Library in order to go see the Book of Kells…an illustrated version of the 4 Gospels written in 800 AD. While there at the exhibit we also saw the Books of Durrow and Armagh, and upstairs saw the Brian Ború Harp—Ireland’s oldest harp! Very cool and very impressive.

On the way back to the hostel to check in, we bought dinner, and just walked around through the crowds. After getting settled in the room, we went out to explore several churches right around our hostel…though first stopping for a mint-mocha break in coffee shop. Oh man do I love being back in an Anglophone country with large mugs of coffee. Mmmmm. Our walk through the church district took us to Christ Church Cathedral, and inside the church of the Immaculate Conception. I really enjoy visiting churches. Just a random observation.

Back at the hostel, the dining area was packed with guests watching the Liverpool-Chelsea match on the TV, though luckily we found seats and could eat dinner. Lol. Soon after, we made what turned out to be a great decision and went to the Brazen Head Pub for our last night out in Ireland. The Brazen Head is supposedly Ireland’s oldest pub and was hopping that night. We started out at the bar with our Guinness and cider and eventually got a table among the masses. And even though there were a ton of people, the pub still felt really cozy and personal, and we were never that far from the musicians….who, by the way, were awesome. There were tons of songs to sing along to, a guy playing the spoons (magnifique), and music that continued to come straight from the soul. Wow, I was definitely going to miss this. And, because it was one of the group member’s 40^th birthday that night, they played a longer set and kept the pub open late. Hurrah! It was a great way to go out.

Traveling—The End

The next morning after breakfast at the hostel and sleepily getting our stuff together (none of us had slept last night due to traffic noise on the quay and one man in the room who snored loudly), we ran to catch the Airlink bus to the airport. We missed the first one (the posted times had been incorrect), and waited for the second. Still having plenty of time we caught a city double-decker that also went straight to the airport. We were on our way, when about halfway there the bus started breaking down and overheating. The driver kept having to pull over on the highway and wait a couple minutes for the temperature to cool! Eventually he called the company asking for help, though he knew he had to get us to the airport. The bus coughed and chugged along and just as well pulled into the bus parking at the gate, finally gave up—but we’d made it! Phew! Airport check-in was no problem, and we got on the plane with ease, not having to worry about catching a train to Galway.

Getting off the plane, I was definitely sad...in the 8 days that we'd been there, I'd really taken a liking to Ireland. Before we left the hostel in Dublin, I'd seen a notice on the board advertising positions open at another hostel in town. Needless to say I was very tempted to call them up. Hmm....maybe for next year? On verra ;) Slanté!

Au Gîte (12/04/08—13/04/08)

2008-05-25T13:42:00.000-07:00

Ready Poizat? Here comes the Irish Band! Although I had no idea what to expect, I had signed up awhile ago to go with the Irish Band to a gîte in Poizat for the weekend (a gîte is basically a big self-catering hotel that you can essentially “rent” for groups or individuals). We had our normal Saturday morning rehearsal of course, and started preparing Baroque Irish music to play at our concert on the 24th of May…should be interesting! The music is cool and it’s neat to hear the evolution from Baroque into the Irish-style of playing. I left my cello with Raphael, whose family would be taking it in their car…the carpooling of all of us plus instruments was like a big jigsaw puzzle, although I think eventually everything fit.

We all met back up at the Centre Culturelle around 2pm, though soon I was riding back to my apartment with Jean-Christophe to get a blanket and sheets for Cyrielle who’d forgotten her sac de couchage (sleeping bag). On the car ride, I discovered that J-C and his wife Dorothé (adorably sweet woman) are both Italian, both speak it fluently, and J-C even speaks a certain dialect specific to the North. Very cool. The things you learn…

Back at the Centre Culturelle, we all piled into cars and headed off to Poizat (me, having no idea where that was, though vaguely thinking I may have hiked there in the snow back in November). I was in Marie’s car with Maud and her boyfriend Stephen who was coming up for the weekend too. A lot of the way, Marie was telling me about her medical FAC in Lyon…as it turns out she lives in the same glass résidence étudiant (student housing) that my friend Alison lived in when we were in Lyon before. And apparently, since it’s a glass building and she’s in a studio where you can see the other rooms that curve around (the building is like a flat “u”), she has tons of interesting stories to tell about all the goings-on. Quite amusing.

After climbing higher into the mountains past Nantua, we arrived at our gîte, les Frutières, and began to unload. I think we brought enough things for a week. When I was in the car earlier with Jean-Christophe, he mentioned that he and Dorothé had been cooking all week to prepare the meals for the weekend. And cook they did! Anyway, eventually we got everything inside, picked bedrooms and then almost immediately we were all out on a walk together. It was a beautiful afternoon, the air rather crisp and cool, the sun still shining and snowy peaks of the Alps off in the distance. I surprised myself by actually leading a logic game that I picked up from Pauline at the Arbez Carme concert (not too many people had heard it, so I got a fresh audience), and had most people stumped for quite a long time. I also made Cyrielle and Marie hug a tree (they thought I was nuts), Raphael pretended to row a boat, we through snowballs at Jean-Christophe, Pauline, Leila, and I played “cap ou pas cap” (basically “dare”) and I ended up asking questions in a bar and barking like a dog. Too much fun :)

On the way back I stopped at the local church, not knowing what to do about going to mass…often times in the smaller towns, the priest rotates through and so you have to change towns with him. With Marie’s help in calling the rectory, we figured out that mass was going to be right there later that evening! Hurray! God is so good…had it been any other weekend, I would have had to have asked someone to drive me at least 20 minutes away for mass in another town. But, it just so happened the Saturday evening mass was to be held in Poizat. After chilling at the gîte for a little bit, I soon headed back up the road to mass. It was a beautiful little church, and had about 16-20 people…good considering the smallness of the town and that it was Saturday night. There was no music, but the priest saying mass had a strong voice and led all the songs. It was actually really nice to have an all a-cappella mass and his singing sounded like prayers being sung to heaven.

Back at the gîte I got involved in the game room, playing French Taboo, watching pool, and then playing foosball with Marie (it’s called “bébé-foot in French… “baby soccer”--how cute!). After that it was time for dinner, and we finally got to see all the massive amounts of preparations that went into the weekend. Dorothé kept bringing out platter after platter of delicious food. Mmmmm…the French and Italians do know how to cook. I was sitting down towards the end of the table, and it was still slightly awkward because no one was talking much and I didn’t know them well enough to get everyone involved in a conversation. Luckily, Maud’s boyfriend Stephen started up the logic/mind games again and soon everyone loosened up, though we ready to kill him because we couldn’t figure out this one puzzle. Colin even proposed one where we had to balance a glass a pitcher on 3 forks that were balanced on 3 glasses! It all really helped to break the ice.

Soon we were all heading upstairs to change and started getting ready to play. By this point there were even friends of some of the girls who’d come to join in the evening’s merriment. We set up in this massive (albeit cold) room and we just started dancing…to whatever everyone felt like playing! I learned some new dances from Jean-Christophe and Dorothé (they had apparently been taking dance classes which is why they were so good and knew all the steps). Towards the end of the evening (around midnight), we all sang Irish songs we knew, and then Raph found swing music on his computer and I taught a few East Coast swing steps. Leila and I did interpretive dances to more Irish music, and I got to try the bodhran (the Irish drum…very difficult to play)—all in all a highly enjoyable evening…

…though it didn’t stop there. Around 1am, most people left and went to bed. However, Leila, Cyrielle, Beverley, Colin, Raph, Léa, Marie, and I stayed up and listened to music for awhile. Soon that turned into singing because Colin and Raph had 4 binders full of popular music they knew how to play. So, we sang and sang and sang and sang. Leila and Cyrielle went to bed around 5am. The rest of us didn’t. Around 6ish we realized it was dawn, we were cold, and tired…and yet had no desire to stop hanging out. Instead of staying in the cold music room we went to the living room of the gîte and started up a fire in the fireplace, and continued to sing.
Around 7am (I think), we succumbed to dozing, with the exception of Marie and Colin who went to play ping-pong. We must have looked like puppies all curled up together on the couches and chairs.

After short half-hour naps, we sat and chatted for awhile, I taught Marie how to play pool, played a round with Colin (who until then had totally intimidated me, though we had a really nice conversation and afterwards I felt much more comfortable around him…do partially to the fact that we were making ridiculous shots because we were both so tired…it provided some good laughs).

Finally, around 8:30am everyone who’d been asleep started drifting in for breakfast. It was nice to eat with everyone, though at that point all I wanted was a pillow and to not look like I’d been up for more than 24 hours. Ah well. After a long hot shower to wake up, I suggested going for a walk, and we took it one step further—everyone grabbed their instruments and we played music through the streets! Eventually we found an open area and set up shop (I was on the jambé and the tambourine since cellos don’t travel well). Annie even came to watch, and a mother and son listened from their balcony.

Back at the gîte, parents had already started to arrive in order to carpool everyone home. And so we all did what we do best—eat. There was even more food that appeared as if from nowhere, and we had a very lively lunch. After lunch, there was still a little time till we had to leave, so I played more foosball with Bev, Colin, and Raph…though since I was totally exhausted by that point, I started talking to Bev in English without realizing it. So, we went and ate dessert. (yes I know that’s totally a non-sequitur, but whatever) Mmmm.

Over dessert, I had a really really lovely conversation with Leila and Cyrielle, two girls who are super-sweet and very easy to talk to. We talked forever about our future plans, cultural differences between the U.S. and France, speaking English (they both take English), religion, etc, etc. It was great to feel so comfortable with them, and the French just kind of flowed out. And, I think we’re going to try and keep in touch…they will write to me in English, and I’ll respond in French, each of us making corrections to help the other person. Hopefully that will work out!

I wandered back into the game room after they went upstairs to finish packing, and found Alexandre in there…he’s our fabulous percussionist. I never could quite get a read on him though, and always thought he looked a little distant or gloomy. As it turns out (normally my first impressions of people are wrong and this was no exception), he’s really really nice and has a sweet smile and kind eyes. He’s just quiet. As we started playing, although we weren’t saying much, I realized it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence—it was actually very companionable. Anyway, it was soon time to head out, and I got a ride back with Diane, Clémentine, and Clémentine’s mom. We ended up talking about the laicité in France (secularism), and Clémentine’s mom said something very interesting. She said that France has gone so far with this intense separation of church and state, that people are actually starting to reject religion all together—not even just separating it out, but turning their back on God. Hm. In a way that’s what I’ve observed this year, though I wasn’t quite sure of the motivations. It was an interesting perspective.

Once I got home this afternoon, I pretty much crashed…after all, I have to get ready and pack for Ireland! (so a nap was definitely in order) What a fantastic way to start off the vacation though. I’m so glad that I decided to go…it was a great way to get to know some of the people better, and I think I became one of the gang. It felt good to finally get the real stories and go “behind the music.” :)

Irish Band at Arbez Carme (09/04/08)

2008-05-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

What a night! The Irish Band had a gig tonight at one of the local high schools…which I thought was kind of odd when I first saw it on the schedule. Why were we playing at a high school in the middle of the week? Bizarre. Come to find out, the high schools in the area host this really cool weeklong arts and culture festival thing. Every night, there was a different cultural group performing something (i.e. African dancing, Turkish music, us), and for the students it was all free (the general public was asked to donate). What a cool idea! And a great way to expose people to all the different culture here and alive in Oyonnax. So we were the middle-of-the-week act. And I wasn’t sure what to expect. First, it’s been pouring down raining all night, and then we’re talking about high school-ers here. At first there weren’t a lot of people, but after we got back from eating, the place had definitely filled up! And mostly with high school-ers! (not so many adults or parents) We started the concert and after each piece got roaring applause. I think it also helped that a lot of the people in the group knew a lot of the people in the audience. Heh.

I hadn’t realized it beforehand, but we were going to be playing our normal “bal” program after the concert! Though the skeptic in me is still going “oh please, a bunch of high schoolers are really going to dance around to Irish music…” Proved wrong, yet again. The whole room was totally into it! Everyone seemed really anxious to learn (Clémence’s mom acted as our caller as she had at Meximieux, and was a pro at this by now), and there was dancing until at least 1am when everyone realized it was a school night. I got in a few dances myself and of course had a blast. Life should be like this every night, à mon avis. Goodnight and happy dancing!

Ephata with Anne (08/04/08)

2008-05-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

When there’s a Tuesday night free and a wide-open Wednesday following it, you take that opportunity to go to Ephata :) For a long time I had really wanted Anne to come and experience the night (and to show her a different side of the Catholic church). Luckily, we found a Tuesday where we both could go, so we hopped on the train at Bourg and got to Lyon ages later. (though it was really nice to have that talk time in the train). Since we didn’t get in until around 9pm, we’d missed the opening music, but sat down just in time for the Scripture reading and Father’s reflection on it. And then of course came the solid hour of Adoration…talking to Anne about it afterwards, she commented that it was great to just have that quiet, uninterrupted prayer time. I realized how true that was…and I definitely felt like it was quality. For some reason I’m never distracted there and I can focus. It’s wonderful like that.

We chatted with some people once things had finished up, but then soon we left with Cécile our host for the night. She had told me the last time I was there that if I ever needed a place to stay, to let her know. She was so gracious and arranged for Anne and I to stay in her apartment that night. When we got there we got to meet her co-locs (super sweet as well), and talked to them about Ephata and what we were doing in France. A lovely evening all around. It’s so encouraging and inspiring to meet people with open hearts and giving spirits.

A French Wedding (05/04/08—06/04/08)

2008-05-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

I was very lucky this weekend and got to attend my first French wedding! It all came about by chance actually. On Thursdays I tutor Françoise’s two daughters and we were discussing the topic for the next week and came up with “traditions.” I gave some examples and mentioned weddings somewhere in there, saying how it’d be so cool to experience a wedding in another culture. And Laura was “oh, our cousin’s getting married in a couple weeks….Mom! Maura rapidfrench rapidfrench rapidfrench rapidfrench”. And right after Françoise was like, if you’d like to come I’ll ask my cousin. She gave me the thumbs up later that week and before I knew it I was picking out outfits for a French wedding. Trop fort!

Françoise and I left Oyonnax around mid-day yesterday to head towards a town near Lyon where everyone was meeting at the Mairie. Cultural point 1: unless the couple is very religious (and let’s face it, that’s harder and harder to come by nowadays), the important ceremony is the one that takes place at the Mayor’s office. Most of the guests are there and the bride and groom are all dressed and ready to go. This is where they sign the marriage license saying they are legally married, which can be more important than being “spiritually” married depending on the couple.

Anyway, at the Mairie I started meeting Françoise’s family…she has a boatload of cousins, especially on her father’s side and they are all similar in age, so are close. Everyone was really nice, and we ended up talking to Julie, the wife of one of the cousins, for most of the time before going in. It was a gorgeous spring day (they couldn’t have asked for better weather) and I could have stayed outside forever. But soon everyone headed upstairs to this beautiful room where the registrar was waiting. She went through the script and soon the couple was signing and people were applauding. The main part of getting married was over.

However, our next stop was a church in the town for a Catholic ceremony. This was actually my least favorite part of the day, ironically enough. I dunno, it just felt…hmmm…like it was just for show…just the sense I got, maybe I was completely wrong. The priest had to ask everyone to quiet down at one point, the very young children in attendance we up playing around on the altar (including the couple’s children. Cultural Point 2: Françoise says nowadays the order is date-live together-have children-get married later..maybe) , and it just wasn’t being taken very seriously. Which to me was sad. And it was ironic, at the end of the service (it wasn’t actually a full mass) Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” played over the P.A. system which is definitely not a happy song about love. Beautiful music yes, but not exactly the most uplifting lyrics in the world.

We waited outside afterwards with the guests for the bride and groom to come out for pictures, and in the meantime I met more cousins and spouses, all of whom were so nice! We got invited to one’s house for coffee before going to reception later that evening. It was a really pleasant break in the festivities. More cousins joined us, and we had a little garden party…Sylvie and Florent have a lovely house in Lyon with a pretty yard—there are trees starting to bloom! Yay springtime! Soon though everyone piled into cars to get to the reception (and apparently before the reception there was going to be an “aperitif”)…off we went—to the château (don’t hate).

On the way to Belleville we traveled through beautiful countryside as we headed up into the Bourgogne region at sunset. After driving further and further into vineyards and gorgeous openness, we arrived at this fabulously elegant château…oh man, I was excited. Françoise explained Cultural Point 3: usually not everyone is invited to the dinner part of the reception, but everyone is invited to the apéritif…which included classy hors d’oeuvres, wine, cremant (a sparkling wine…sooo good), and lots of merriment. It was funny, and maybe it was all the cremant Julie and I were drinking, but we got into some pretty heavy discussions about religion, marriage, life and death, pain and suffering. Whoa…great conversation, though totally not expecting that one! At least I know now I can hold a deep, emotional conversation in French for a long period of time.

Soon everyone was being called into the main room for dinner. Only dinner didn’t start right away—more fun first! Cultural Point 4: It’s common for the friends of the couple to put together a tongue-in-cheek “presentation” about them. This was a powerpoint full of silly questions they each had to answer about the other, embarrassing pictures, songs the friends had made up (and then proceeded to sing), etc. etc. That lasted for a bit, and then finally everyone was invited à table. I was at a table with Françoise, Julie, her husband who’s name escapes me now, Josselyn (Françoise’s very cute second cousin), and a few other assorted guests. The music was already cranking so it was rather hard to hear and conversate, but luckily I could at least hear the people directly around me. Dinner was very nice and well-presented. According to the girls, the catering staff here far out-classed other weddings they’d been to because they were always smiling and were super-efficient.

The room had been dimmed long before, and for the presentation of the massive dessert bar, there were swirling lights on the couple as they cut the cake. Heh. Very retro. Soon, the dancing, and really what everyone had been waiting for, commenced. Cultural Point 5: So, I’m thinking, “oh this is nice, this will probably go on till around midnight right?” NO. That would be false. I was talking to Julie who said at her wedding she never went to bed and kept dancing the whole night. Apparently the dancing continues non-stop till usually 5 or 6 in the morning…at which point the couple may or may not go to bed, though if they do, they are sure to be awakened a couple hours later by their friends. Then, later in the morning is a brunch for everyone who’s still alive enough to crawl back to the dining room. I would have liked to have been around for that ;)

But, as a fun sidetrip, Françoise and I were going to stay at her father’s house after the wedding since he lived only about 45 minutes away, near Mâcon. Even though we left the wedding at 4am, it was murder driving to the house because we were both so tired. Eventually we arrived, and it was so dark out in the country, that I really didn’t see much of town…Sunday would be better. So, definitely ended up sleeping till noon. I don’t remember the last time I did that. I don’t know that I’ve ever done that apart from when I’ve been sick. Anyway, I got up thinking I’d be the last one, when as it turns out Françoise had only gotten up a couple minutes before that. Okay, so I didn’t feel too bad. We had a lovely brunch with M. Berthoud and I chatted with him for a long time afterwards while Fran was on the phone. We touched on everything from music to art (he’s an artist and showed me his studio---amazing!), to our favorite symphonies, to everything else. He did also confirm what I had heard from Richard during that tutoring session (I didn’t even bring up the topic), which I thought was interesting since the two men were from very different generations. I guess the problems are widespread. Our talk was wonderful though and it was so cool to get to experience art early in the day.

Since it was a breezily sunny day, we all headed out for a walk through the countryside shortly after. It was indeed gorgeous weather and we just strolled in and around the vineyards of Montbellet, looked at the hazy purple mountains in the distance, and saw the first signs of spring popping up everywhere. It also felt nice to soak up some sun, breathe in the fresh air, and get to be a part of all the colors happening around me. We had lunch back at the house, and soon after needed to hit the road and get back to Oyonnax. It has been such an exciting and peaceful weekend at the same time—what a fun experience! Now I just need to figure how to get invited to more French weddings… ;)

An Interesting Conversation (31/03/08)

2008-05-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

During one of my English tutoring sessions today, I tutored a lawyer, Richard, who was preparing for a big international meeting at which English would be the common language. His English was already very good, but he just wanted to practice again, so we basically had a conversation hour. Being that we both love to talk, and hour and half had soon passed! I think we must have covered every topic possible…though one in particular was very interesting to me. He spoke for a long time about the French people, and in particular why the country was encountering problems. Me, not really having noticed too many (I idealize things a lot), and knowing that he was educated and obviously kept up with things, was particularly interested in what here things from his point of view.

The first thing, which I hadn’t realized, was that France’s economy was getting deeper and deeper into trouble. The second thing was why. Apparently France has remained a fairly industrial country throughout its development, with lots of factories and hard cord industry (hello Oyonnax). Well, now all the factories are closing and are being outsourced to China. It’s funny. In the U.S. I get the sense that we feel we’re the only ones being affected by outsourcing, and by China. Not true. Oyonnax’s level of unemployment is super high because of that. In the recent years many of the factories have shut down, and it’s now not producing much of anything…not even most of the plastics that it’s known for.

In addition to France losing its industry, and therefore money, it’s also having to pay out huge sums to all the social programs. Richard was saying that there are tons of old people (well, or “older” people) retiring and getting all the money they paid into over the years when the economy was better. Now, it’s creating drain for the struggling economy. So I asked Richard why things just don’t change—stop spending, move more into the service sector and away from industry. That’s the fourth thing. According to him (confirmed by others I’ve talked to) the French, in general, are resistant to change.

What had started this whole conversation was me praising the amount of vacation time I was getting as a teacher. Her agreed, laughed, and joked that vacation time in France is sacred. If any politician tried to get rid of that, he’d be shot. Well, then why, I asked, was Sarkozy trying to lengthen the work week/reduce time off/etc? Richard answered back with “well, has he succeeded?” Hm. “No” would be the correct answer. It’s change. He gave me another example. His firm was representing this company that was closing one of its branches located 10km to the east of Oyonnax. A lot of people were being affected, but were told they would all receive their same jobs at the other branch 10 km to the west of Oyonnax. So you think they’d move right? Same distance, same job, just in a different location. He said they all refused to move. It was too much of a change. It’s certainly an interesting situation. I’ll be curious to see what happens during the rest of Sarkozy’s tenure. And to see where France finally ends up in the grand scheme of globalization.

St. Patty’s at Meximieux (29/03/08)

2008-05-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

Tonight the Irish Band played another St. Patrick’s Day concert! I rode with Florence (a fellow cellist) to Meximieux which is about 30 minutes from Lyon. It was good to chat with her and we got to talk about Ireland! She’s gotten the okay from the ‘rents and will be joining Pat, Mary, and I for our Emerald Isle extravaganza.

We arrived at the Salle des Fêtes (every town, no matter how small, has a Salle des Fêtes which seems to act basically like their big community center and usually has a big stage and other rooms for use. Very handy), and the boys were already there setting up the sound equipment. This place was giant compared to Groissiat and there was plenty of room for dancing (yessss). The association putting this on was also bustling about setting up the massive amount of tables and chairs…and decorating with green and shamrocks! Totally getting into it—too fun. (and they all had green bowler hats and vests!! adorable)

We all got ready in the dressing rooms (real ones this time—oh la classe), and by the time we got back down everything was ready and people were arriving. I heard that 300 chairs had been set up, though I was initially skeptical that they’d all fill up. We’d see. I was very excited because more of my friends were going to be able to come tonight! Soon I spotted Anne, Clément, Gael, Emily, Jean-Phillippe, Cynthia, and Yann (the final three I hadn’t seen since that weekend before Lourdes)…I was so touched that they all came, and plus it was our last Lourdes/Bourg apartment reunion too because on Monday Clém is leaving for England. Sad. Soon the concert started and before I knew it we were into the “bal” of the evening. And the place had definitely filled up (standing room only). It was then I saw Françoise and the gang and again felt so lucky to get to share this with friends. Everyone danced a ton and looked like they were having a great time.

By the time I got out there to dance, it was right time for Clém and JP and the others from church to leave. I was sad we didn’t even have time for one polka. They had to go meet some other friends from church and were already late (Anne and I suspect they just wanted Clém to themselves for awhile J), so alas we had to say goodbye. And I wasn’t all emotional like I thought I’d be, but it was still bittersweet nonetheless. Anne and Emily and Gael and I continued dancing for awhile, though Em and Anne headed out shortly after. I did dance with Sébastien, Béa, and Françoise too—we tackled a group reel. Oh man. I can’t get enough of the dancing.

Towards the end of the night (midnight-thirty-ish) Gael and I totally rocked those polkas and even completed the mazurka, rather successfully I must say ;) Things finally started winding down around 1am, and the group played out on the dance floor in a big circle, per tradition. It’s really fun at the end of the night because the violins will just start playing whatever, and the rest of us on other instruments or percussion just join in. What a blessing to get to be a part of it all. Happy sigh.

Pajama Party (26/03/08)

2008-05-08T03:09:00.000-07:00

After Haris’s train pulled away yesterday morning, Anne and I set into action to prepare for that night….we were having the final Bourg apartment party and it was pajama-themed! Hurray! We were basically planning a big sleepover, which would include the return of the super-bed, pajamas-required attire, and even a midnight snack. Therefore, we set about a) getting everything set up, b) baking an insane amount of cookies, and c) making photo posters. Plus, before all that could happen, we of course had to go to the market. Clément came with us and treated us to some melt-in-your-mouth bread, sausage, and cheese…He then showed us the part of the market where you can buy live chickens—they just pull them out by the feet and give them to you in a box. Ughhhh. I know that’s not even that harsh in comparison to how some animals are treated, but I couldn’t watch. Running from the market to Champion, we picked up the rest of the ingredients for choco-chip and peanut butter cookies…mmmmm.

After a delicious lunch (including a salad I put together using lots of the blue cheese Clém’s grandfather had sent the week before—what could be better?), Anne and I chopped blocks of milk chocolate and white chocolate for what seemed like forever; though in the meantime we had a chance to talk. I kept getting the impression we were two old ladies sittin’ on the porch shelling peas. It was great. Soon, Victoria came over to help bake cookies and we talked in the kitchen while Anne was off doing other things and the boys were arranging things (and Gael blasting rock music). It was quite the lively apartment that afternoon!

Unfortunately by this point the fact that I’d only slept a couple hours the night before started to really hit me. For some reason this tiredness also felt more like I was getting sick at the same time…not cool. Especially when I really wanted to enjoy the cookie-baking and prep time. Instead, I couldn’t do much or I’d fall over. Not a good combo ;) Regardless, we pushed forward and got things done. Anne had a brilliant idea to get red, white, and blue posters and essentially create the French flag as a background for the pictures. Clém and I printed out a bunch from the whole year, and I created the “Goodnight and Good Luck” banner for the kitchen. Guests arrived after awhile and it was hilarious to see people show up in their PJs…some of the girls went all out and even did their hair in crazy ponytails. By this point there were mattresses covering the entire floor of Clément’s bedroom…oh man….you know how you used to jump up and down on your bed but you would always get in trouble? This was just like that except without the angry mom. We jumped, we danced, we did sommersaults. Too cool for words.

After that I think I basically crashed. I remember laying down (luckily there was a ready supply of comfortable mattresses) for most of the rest of the night, talking a bit with people, attempting to dance one more time, though most of my efforts were futile—I was just too sick. Oh well. It happens. Most of the boys had brought their sleeping bags to complete the “slumber party” aspect of the evening and set up after most of the other guests left. I said goodbye to everyone at that point…it was weird to think this was it for the group all being together. Since I was going to have to get up super-early to catch the bus back to Oyonnax for teaching, I slept in Anne’s room. It was perfect to already be ready for bed! Goodnight and Good Luck.

Haris’s Visit (18/03/08—26/03/08)

2008-05-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

This past week has been très magnifique because my boyfriend Haris got to come visit! I had gone to see him in Austria, where he’s studying for the next few years, back in January, but was anxious to share a bit of France with him. He’s had vacation during this time, though unfortunately I still have been working a lot (I’ve recently taken on even more English lessons). Thus, it was a bit complicated getting him to France and me actually going to meet him. Due to last minute train complications, Anne helped me arrange for 2 of the assistants in Bourg, Sam and Victoria, to pick him up from the station in the afternoon and drop him by her place. Anne would pick him up there and meet me at the cathedral after my train got in (I was teaching and tutoring in the afternoon).

So, I get to the cathedral, wait a few minutes and then see Anne and Gael—but no Haris. Uh OH. Anne started into this whole story about how she’d sent me a message changing the plans— Sam and Victoria were actually going to bring him to the train station to meet me instead. Gah. Starting the walk back to the station, we passed around the corner of the cathedral and guess who was waiting there…..man, I hate getting pulled in like that ;) Yours truly, Miss Gullible. Anne was laughing so hard and she didn’t understand how I could have believed her since apparently she kept cracking a smile telling me the story.

Anyway, we all trouped off to Aude’s place where there was a promised crêpe party---mmmm, couldn’t wait! Hari was definitely exhausted. He’d spent 21 hours traveling and I found out it would be 27 on the way back! Holy Toledo. But, he put on a brave face and got through the evening without collapsing. And, although there was a slight language barrier, enough people there spoke some English, and we all got by. Plus, it turned into quite the merry gathering as people kept arriving. The crêpes were of course fantastic and we made a gazillion (not kidding) on this party crêpe-maker that makes 6 at once—too fun!! After demolishing the cheese and ham, we switched to sweet crêpes with Nutella, et al. I heart France sooo much. Eventually we walked back (rather slowly because we were all so full), and all stayed up talking for a bit before hitting the sack.

The next day, Haris and I stayed with Anne in Bourg, going on a walk to this big man-made lake on the outskirts of town. It was a lovely day, and one of the first I remember as being sunny in Bourg. We finally arrived in Oyonnax that evening and just talked for like 3 hours. I could tell that this was going to be a great week to really have a lot of quality time together. Austria was great, but it was also busy and full of people. You don’t get much more opposite than Oyonnax ;)
And as it turns out I was right. Even though I had to work, some of my school hours had been cut that week due to departmental meetings so that was good. Plus, although Haris participated in some of my tutoring hours, the majority of the time we spent together was downtime. We did however enjoy a lovely time at Françoise’s house for dinner and it felt wonderful for Haris to finally meet some of my friends.

Then came Easter weekend---and SNOW. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, no snow at Christmas, but SNOW at Easter. Hilarious. Bizarre Oyonnax, bizarre. But BEAUTIFUL. We’d hardly had any snow this past winter, and this past weekend totally and completely made up for it. It started and basically didn’t stop for 4 days! Incroyable! There was definitely enough to play in and, who knew, Oyonnax actually looks quite pretty covered in white. What a joy to see snow, and to get more than the traditional Williamsburg 2 centimeters.

That weekend was also spent decorating Easter eggs, walking through the forest near my house, cooking together (and then eating the cooking of course), drinking tea and watching more snow fall, having snowball fights, celebrating Easter, going to Good Friday and Easter Sunday service, and even squeezing in a trip to Lyon on Easter Monday. I especially loved getting to show Haris around Lyon, and though we weren’t there for too long, we still hit some of my favorite parts of the city. Those few days were completely relaxing, full of conversation, and all-around wonderful.

Tuesday we went back to Bourg in the evening since Hari’s train would be leaving very early the next morning. The gang was all back over to do one last dinner together, the meal courtesy of Clém’s grandfather (so you knew it was going to be good). Everyone got on really well, and at one point we even had a Kinder Surprise Egg, egg hunt! Arnaud has brought over a bunch so Emily and Anne hid them and then we all went crazy trying to find them. The claws come out when the competition gets tough! In short, we all had a fun evening.

That night I think Hari and I stayed up till like 3 or 4 in the morning just talking. I was really really sad he was leaving. And at the same time I was truly grateful for all the time we had been given this past week. We did come to some deal-breaking decisions though, which we’re definitely going to have to work through…we’ll see what happens. But for the last night, we put those things aside and just got to say goodbye. Anne and I took him to the train station the next morning and off he went to Strasbourg. What a fantastic week!

A Very Irish Weekend (14/03/08—16/03/08)

2008-05-06T11:04:00.001-07:00

In order to prepare for our trip to Ireland over spring vacation, Mary and Pat arrived Friday evening for an “Ireland Planning Weekend” (original, I know). It was great to see them, though it was slightly crazy getting them to the house, eating dinner (at two separate times because of their buses), and then going……..bowling! Françoise had invited us all to go bowling with the group that night (the same I’d gone with to Macumba). First having apéritifs at Françoise’s place (champagne—I love France) Mary and Pat got a chance to chat with Françoise and Christophe. Soon we were off, driving an hour to Bourg en Bresse. Eventually everyone got there, and we ended up with 12 people.

We were seated at a, dare I say, classy restaurant right there in the front of the bowling alley!! I was floored. Coming from Virginia where all the bowling alleys smell like stale smoke and serve half-heated nachos and popcorn, I was very impressed that we were sitting in a red dining room, with real tablecloths and silverwear! True, the food wasn’t the best, but it’s the ambience that counts. Plus, it seemed like the building was brand new so everything already surpassed AMF bowling in Dale City.

Walking into the main bowling and game area (there were two floors, with the top level covered in pool tables), it was like we were walking into a disco. Colored lights were swinging every which way, the music was pumping, and most of the lanes were dark save for the glowing bowling pins. Despite the fact that I bowled one of my worst games ever (though got a strike towards the end!), I had a good time, and I think Mary and Pat did too which was important. Around midnight we headed home and crashed into bed.

The next morning I got up for Irish Band rehearsal while Mary and Pat visited the fresh food market in town. As soon as I got home we dove into the planning and soon had hammered out an itinerary. It looks like we were mostly going to stick to the West Coast, though we’ll also get to see my friend Julien (who I met in Bourg) who’s doing his internship in Limerick. We broke for a leisurely lunch, and though we didn’t get too many details fixed, for the trip we at least had dates and could start reserving hostels. Soon, I had to get ready to go—Irish Band had a St. Patrick’s Day concert that night.

Monique picked me and my cello up and we drove to Groissiat. I was super-psyched about the concert because it would be my first with the group. Once we got there and unpacked, we generally mingled, ate, changed, etc….nothing too exciting. I wasn’t sure why we all had to be there so early, but whateve. It was a good opportunity to talk to people and to get all of our music organized (Annie made changes to the program right before the concert! Gah!). Eventually, the hall filled up and waiting in the back rooms, I was anxious to get going. We all walked in playing and Irish jig (my fellow cellos/basses and I became the rhythm section for the time being) and circled up on the dance floor. It was a great “entrance.”

The concert basically rocked my socks. The room was packed (plus Mary and Pat made it because they had caught a ride with Sophie) and the energy was flowing. First, we accompanied a chorale in concert-style for a half hour or so, and then broke loose playing dancing music for the next 3 hours! Everyone was invited to dance, and Jean-Christophe (one of the violins) became the caller. We actually didn’t have to play the whole time (members switched in and out), so I got the opportunity to dance! I learned some new group dances, notably the chapelloise and the hornpipe (difficult!!). Even though the room must have reached 1000 degrees, I still had the best time ever! Oh man, wish I could dance at a “bal” every night.

Today has been pretty chill. Mary came with me to church (Pat had to catch his train in the meantime), and when we got back we were able to flush out some details. Though thank goodness we at least have an itinerary! Now it’s on to hostel researching and booking! Allez!

Fun Times in Lyon (11/03/08)

2008-04-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve really had the desire to go back to Ephata. The last time I made it there was all the way back in November, so I decided it was high time to go into the city again. Plus, it coincided with a party a friend of Anne’s was giving so I really made the 16 Euro train ticket work ;) At Ephata, it was of course wonderful to have that solid 2 hours of praise, worship, and prayer time in front of the blessed sacrament. I always feel the power of the Holy Spirit moving in the group, and there’s such a sense of peace and community there. I feel so blessed to still have the opportunity to experience the faith like that. Also, I talked to some of the group members afterwards (they remembered me which was cool), and one, Cécile, even offered to house me for the night if I ever wanted to come back and needed a place to stay. Too sweet!

After Ephata, I ran to meet Anne in Place Bellecour, and ended up meeting another guy Louis at the same time (who, come to find out, I’d been in class with at the IEP). Louis was initially going to head home, but we convinced him to come back to the party for a bit, so the three of us headed to Morgane’s place. The party was still in full swing when we arrived, and we jumped in on a game of “aquarium”…hilarious. You gather a ton of people, fill a punch bowl with spiked punch, float chewy strawberry candies in the bowl, and then try to suck them out of the bowl with a straw and deposit it in someone’s mouth before it falls. Really works the lungs. Lol. Later we also played a fun celebrity game. Everyone writes down 5 celebrities and puts them in a hat. For the first round, you pick one out for your team and you can describe the person any way you want, just without saying their name. The second round you get one word. The third round you get no words and have to act it out. So funny, especially when people are a little (or very) “chaud.”

Near midnight, Anne, Paul (a guy from the UK living in Lyon), and I decide it would be fun to go somewhere warm for Easter weekend, so we started looking up flights to anywhere warm…discovering that they were all mad-expensive. Tant pis. Looks like we’ll be staying the cold for a bit longer.

This morning Anne and I slept in (Morgane had class super-early…ughhh…kind of glad I’m not a student anymore), took our time getting ready, and then went to a Salon de Thé for “nourishment”…one white chocolat chaud and Christmas tea blend later, we were feeling much more awake and with it. Paul even stopped by for a bit on his way to class, and he’s just a really lovely person so he added more brightness to our day. Soon he had to go to class, and Anne and I needed to go catch the train. In true “us” fashion, we realized we needed sweets, so on the way to Perrache we loaded up on lots of yummy patisseries to get us through the “long” journey home. Any excuse to eat patisseries…

On the train, I decided just to stay in Bourg for this evening, so I got to have dinner tonight with everyone. And as it turns out, Clément’s grandfather was very touched by the thank-you note I sent him after he took us to dinner before leaving for Lourdes, so he’d sent blocks of cheese for me home with Clément! Apparently, he had said that if he was 40 years younger he would “flirt me with fromage”….hehehe. So cute. I was in turn very touched by the sentiment, and of course by the fact that he sent me cheese and prepared an Italian dinner for us (he prepares something for Clém each week). It was a lovely meal, and getting to eat with everyone was great. Ahhhh….contentment. Off to bed! (train at like 6 something tomorrow….mince!)

Election After-Party (09/03/08)

2008-04-30T04:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to my first election “after party”…Franck, the son of my landlord, is running for a canton position in this region as a member of the Parti Socialist (meetings earlier in the year met in my garage). The first round of elections (le premier tour) were held today, with the results being announced and validated this evening. I went to the Turkish restaurant Franck had indicated and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Basically the whole Parti Socialist of Oyonnax had taken over the restaurant and filled up these huge long tables. As I walked in the door I ran into Annie (my landlord) who then introduced me to one of the other PS candidates who turned out to be the father of one of my students. We discussed the upcoming U.S. elections a bit (as I’m finding is becoming a quite common thing to do). He is from Lebanon and said it really didn’t matter who won because the policy towards Lebanon wasn’t going to change. It was a different take on the political conversation than I’d had with most people.

I eventually made my way inside to the dining area and found Franck. He set me up at the table and then had to run to the Marie (the mayor’s office) to sign some things. I talked to a man next to me for a little bit and he explained the elections to me. There are two “tours,” and in order to make it to the second round, you have to garner at least 10% of the vote in the first round. In addition to being social and enjoying the meal, most people were intently watching the TV which was broadcasting the percentages from all the districts around the country. I had being reading that apparently all of these local elections were in essence a referendum on President Sarkozy—it was basically his party, the UMP versus the PS. From what I gathered, at least 2-3 candidates in a particular district would continue on to the second round.

After awhile, Franck and Serge (the principal at one of my school’s who is running for mayor) came back and announced all the results. They both made it to the next round, though are lagging in votes, so the coming week is going to be difficult—they need everyone’s support and time to go door-to-door. And what was interesting was that they really talked about targeting young people and getting them to vote…sound familiar? It sounds like it’s going to be a bit of an uphill battle, and the second round is only a week away, so we’ll see what happens!

Irish Dancing Stage (08/03/08)

2008-04-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh today was sooo much fun! This morning after Irish Band rehearsal, everyone in the group piled into cars and off we went to Lons le Saunier for an Irish dancing workshop! Well, first I should mention that we all ate lunch together outside in the beautiful sunshine and I finally found my “in” with the group. Before, it was definitely hard to connect with anyone because there wasn’t much time for solid socialization. For rehearsal, lots of times people are late, or have to dart away right afterwards. But the last time, I met Leila, one of the violas (and so sweet), and today she just came up and talked to me and asked if she could eat with me. I felt so comfortable with her, and together we joined everyone else outside. And, I finally got up the courage to start asking questions and starting conversations. Slowly, I got to know the basics about everyone we with which we were eating lunch.

About a half hour later everyone was ready to go and we started the drive. The drive was gorgeous!! We drove further up into the Jura mountains, and actually crossed into the Franche-Comté region (Oyonnax is still considered Rhône-Alps) which afforded us beautiful mountain views and ohmygosh incredible sparkling green lakes. It was just lovely, and with the sun shining it was perfect. Eventually we arrived at Lons le Saunier and headed to a cultural center with a fabulous dance studio. There were already quite a few other people there, and from what I could tell, they’d done some Irish dancing before...this was going to be interesting to have a lot of complete beginners mixed in.

Our teacher Celine was great, though we definitely jumped right in at a moderate difficulty level after warming up with basic polka steps. And it was all in French. Lol. However, I did have the advantage that Irish step names are English-based and so Celine basically just called out a lot of English words with a French accent. Though it took awhile to understand what she was saying, once I did, it became fairly easy to catch on. We started with group dances—8 people, and so 4 couples constantly trading off moves, intertwining, and basically going every which way. Too crazy, albeit lots of laughs. Also, we kept trading groups and switching partners though I kept ending up in the one group with a lady who obviously knew what she was doing….but was super neurotic about everyone doing everything exactly right even though the rest of us were new at this. She got visibly annoyed and angry and would bark and direct as we went along. Then, one time she messed up! And I grinned inwardly. Was that wrong?

For the last hour or so (I forgot to mention we’d been going straight for 3 hours at this point) we focused on solo Irish dancing. Sooooo much harder than it looks! I think just getting the rhythm of everything took the longest amount of time. Celine had us moving pretty quickly though and by the end of the hour we knew a fairly complex combination and could do it at fast speeds. Ask me to repeat it and dance for you now and I’d probably struggle to remember it, but at the time I think I did okay. It was funny to note throughout the day how different members of our Irish Band acted. A lot of them are still in high school, and it was so obvious. And you could also see who were the queen bees and the wannabees...it was quite the sociological observation afternoon in addition to the stage. It made me realize that I’ve definitely moved on past that stage in life. And in a lot of ways, I’m very okay with that ;)

Then that night—oh man, best time ever. The whole stage, including all the members of our group, went to the Salle des Fetes in Lons for an Irish Bal. And it was incredible. A fantastic band set up on stage, and people just kept pouring in. Soon the band started to play and the dance floor became crowded with Irish dance enthusiasts of all shapes, sizes, and ages. I had no idea there were so many French people interested in it, but apparently it’s a big deal and these types of crowds are normal…and boy were they good! Most of night I just took everything in and watched the fabulous dancers. Members of the group and I totally rocked out as well, and about halfway through the night our whole stage did the 4 group dances we’d learned earlier in the day. Way cool. As it got later, the bands changed and the Irish bal became a Breton dances extravaganza. Apparently the Bretagne (Brittany) region of France has its own special dances and everyone there knew them…from what I observed it was mostly moving in circles with linked pinkies or linked arms…not too difficult, though the rhythms were unique and you really had to be able to feel the music. A couple of us hopped into the lines because I was not going to leave, darn it, without learning a couple Breton dances ;) Fun, fun times. We just got home (it’s like 2am) so I’m going to crash—and give my feet a chance to recuperate!

February Vacation: Andrew’s Visit (02/23/08—03/01/08)

2008-04-29T16:07:00.000-07:00

This past week (my second week of vacation—gosh I love France), I had the privilege of hosting my second visitor from the States. My good friend Andrew took some time off work and flew into Geneva, where our journey began….

Saturday: Traveling
Unfortunately the 3h30 trek from Oyonnax to Geneva by 2 buses and a train is highly annoying….luckily it was a gorgeous day and waiting at Brion for an hour wasn’t too much of a pain (plus I finally started a book that’s been on my bookshelf since 8th grade). And, on the quick train between Bellegarde and Geneva, I literally became part of a high-school group ski trip who all decided to sit in my car ;) Regardless, I met Andrew at the airport and we jetted to make the trip back to Oyonnax. On the beautiful ride back (it was a clear day and the snowy Jura were well in view) we caught up and talked about recent political news, a retreat that Andrew went on, and my Lourdes vacation. There were no problems on the way back (thank goodness), though we did have that hour layover at Brion, so we walked into the next town over and got beer and coffee. Getting back to Oyonnax, it was dinner with a roast chicken from the market (mmmm) and then Andrew literally hit the sack. A long day of traveling in all respects.

Sunday: Small town France
Man do I love the fact that I can go to mass 5 minutes from my apartment and at 11am. Life is good. It was definitely nice to sleep in a bit (and I’m sure Andrew would echo the same sentiments), though I did make sure we were out the door by 10:30am to go buy bread. My favorite boulangerie always sells out of the flutes if you wait until after mass to buy them. So, like all the old men at church, I walk in with a bulletin in one hand and my bread tucked under my arm. Mass was fine, but had a super-long gospel today, and I felt bad for Andrew who couldn’t follow along with the readings (my missal is in French) and who was probably still a bit jet-lagged. But, it was all good, and we came back and had a lovely lunch.

After church we did a “tour” of the city since it was a gorgeous day. We stopped at Parc Rene Nicod, the Centre Culturelle, saw some of the mural-ed buildings, and headed into the forest. You actually get some nice views of the city; save for the spot blocked by the one big pine tree that grows out of nowhere. Rushing to pack back at the apartment (in which I inevitably forgot important things), we nonetheless made the bus to Bourg en Bresse and met Anne at her place. We relaxed, chatted, and later went for kebabs (the non-hamburger “fast food” places). We ended up in the medieval part of BB (which I’d never seen before), and then headed past the theatre and a café where we just had to stop for some chocolat chaud and coffee ;)

Back late to the apartment, Andrew and I tried to plan, but at this point I was almost falling over from exhaustion. We did however check the weather which threw a major kink in the itinerary for the week…many of the places we were going to visit are only really nice in the sun. So, after some reworking, we finally settled on 2 possible plans depending on the clouds and rain. After that, sleep time!

Monday: Lyon
Getting up super-early (as seems to be the trend anytime I come into Bourg), Andrew and I took a train to Lyon. We arrived at Part-Dieu and very luckily found lockers since Andrew had waaaay over-packed for the trip. Heh. Then when began our tour of the city!! (my secret desire is to be a Lyon tour guide) Taking the tram to Cours de la Liberté, we first bought nourishment at my favorite patisserie…mmm….pastries. We walked across the Rhône to Place de Cordeliers to see St. Bonaventure and the Palais du Commerce (Andrew kept exclaiming, what a beautiful building!) and unfortunately the big glass monstrosity that is now next to the church. Trajet-ing up Rue de la République, we encountered the city waking up, as well as the only Starbucks in Lyon which just opened this year! Too funny.

After quick stops at the Opéra, Hôtel de Ville, and Place des Terraux, we went to visit the Silk Studio Workshop (Atelier de Soie)…it was actually the first time I’d ever been in and so it was exciting to discover something new about the city!! It was really interesting because you walk in, and you’re right there with the artists who are painting the silk, and they just keep going while they’re explaining everything. It’s the only Atelier that still paints the silk by hand, and we got to see first-hand how they use a screen-printing technique. Each layer of the design (i.e. different color layers) has a different template, and so each color goes on separately. And you think that’s time consuming—before the screen-printing technique was used, they stamped everything on! We could see in the back all the stacks and stacks of wooden stamp blocks. The tour of the downstairs was given by one of the artists who didn’t speak English, so I got another opportunity to work on my translation skills. Upstairs though, where artists were hand-painting velour silk, our “guide” did speak English and so I finally grasped the process of how they soften the silk (downstairs it was one of those cases where I understood, but couldn’t figure out how to translate it back too well). The silk goes through several washings to get rid of extra paint/oils/etc. and to give it it’s, yes, silky feel. Upstairs we also got to see all the finished brightly-colored products in their boutique—it’s that much more impressive when you know about all the work that has gone into producing a single scarf.

We took a quick rest in the garden of the Musée des Beaux Arts before heading to the Roman amphitheatres…another thing I’d never really explored in Lyon. Lyon was the capital of Gaul at one point, so it did feel like you were being transported back to ancient times. We hiked up and down the stairs (which were huge—definitely got a work-out), Andrew napped at one point (bien sur), and we got to experience the coolness of being in such an old place. Speaking of old, we eventually descended the hill to Vieux Lyon (Old Town Lyon) where we stopped quickly at Cathédrale St-Jean and watched the animatronics of the astronomical clock as the hour changed. Since it was then lunchtime, I suggested we find a traditional Lyonnais “bouchon” for lunch. Bouchons only exist in Lyon, and they are restaurants that serve only the traditional cuisine…basically very hearty food that “mama makes” since it was served to the silk workers back in the day on their lunch break. We feasted on onion soup, tripe sausage in a Dijon mustard sauce, and a chocolat dessert….mmmmm!

Heading back up the hill towards Notre Dame de Fourvière after lunch, we finally succumbed to a food coma as soon as we sat down in one of the pews. After touring the church and the chapel below, we walked along the beautiful riverfront pedestrian area on the Rhône. We came across wooden reclining chairs and Andrew proceeded to nap some more J It was a gorgeous afternoon, relatively warm, and so it was relaxing to people-watch and enjoy the sunset. Soon, we went to meet up with my friend Aurelien (with whom we’d be staying that night) so we could drop our stuff at his place. On the tram there, I happened to run into a copin, Emmanuel who I’d met in Oyonnax earlier in the year at Yvon’s—so bizarre! I hadn’t seen or heard from him since November and so it was weird to run into him in the same tram car in Lyon! Small world.

Anyway, we got back to Aurelien’s, dropped our things, and then went for a walk in Parc de la Tête d’Or…and I discovered something else about the Lyonnais…they run! Normally you rarely see people running through the city streets like you would at home, and gyms aren’t popular and I’ve always been mystified as to how people get their exercise. Well, Parc de la Tête d’Or was a veritable track that night with people streaming out from everywhere. It was an “aha! So that’s how they do it” moment. We then met up with Aurelien’s friend Nancy and were going to go out for drinks and atmosphere on Rue Mercière but I had forgotten my all-day metro pass in the apartment, so we walked a long time back and decided to have drinks there instead. Eventually we did head back out and went to the rue so Andrew could at least look around, and we ended up having kebabs and chatting for awhile—discussing everything from American pop culture to French politics (and discovered one of the reason’s why Sarkozy’s not too popular—his power structure has consolidated a lot of the power to his position, and as a result the PM is basically just “there”). After a late dinner we walked across Pont Lafayette to take pictures of Lyon at night (beautiful) and then headed back to go to sleep! It had been a super-long day and the next day was skiing, so in light of all that, bedtime was definitely in order.

Tuesday: Skiing at La Féclaz
Tuesday morning was ughhhhhh. Up at 5:45am, I definitely was not feeling great, but we did have to get moving, so get moving we did. Luckily Andrew and I got a chance to sleep while Aurelien was driving (though I did feel bad because it can be that much harder to drive when everyone else is asleep). We stopped in a small town to meet up with more of Aurelien’s friends who were coming as well, and then continued the caravan to La Féclaz. Aurelien’s family has a ski apartment near there so we stopped, dropped our stuff, and prepared sandwiches for lunch—then we were off to go skiing!

La Féclaz is in a very peaceful and tranquil spot near Chambéry and the Alps, and everything was beautifully lit in the sunshine and under the blue skies. We rented boots and skis, and this was only the third time in my life that I’d been skiing (first time in about 8 years) and had forgotten how uncomfortable ski boots are! Ouch. Regardless, we made it without problem to the lift and found that there really weren’t a lot of people there. It was great…we waited in line for like 2 seconds and then were on our way up. I managed to fall getting off the lift (of course), but after that found that I did okay getting around. We started on a green slope, and as the day progressed continued onto blue and by lunch I was doing reds! Without falling once! The only thing that fell was my ski pole from the ski lift whilst taking pictures. Andrew was a dear though and climbed the hill to retrieve it for me.

Right before lunch we took a longer trail to the other side of the mountain to get to a place with more runs. To get up to the top we had to take a teleski. It’s this little metal circle attached to a long pole which is attached to a cable up the mountain. You place it between your legs and it pulls you up….or in my case it pulls you down. Apparently my skis weren’t straight enough and I lost my balance trying to get on this thing and ended up falling off in front of everyone. Ah well. It was inevitable I suppose ;) At the top of the hill we parked in the snow for lunch and as we ate the beautiful views of snowcapped mountains slowly disappeared under a thick and heavy fog! Soon there was nothing but a solid whiteness around us. Thus, we decided it would not be safe to try the run, seeing as how visibility was limited to about 2 inches in front of our faces.

Finally making it back to the other side of the mountain, it soon became apparent that the nice weather had drawn more people out, as the line for the lift was much more crowded at this point. In true day-of-skiing fashion we took a petite pause for a drink and Andrew tasted his first fruit-flavored beer. Here in France, it’s very popular to add flavored syrup to beer, like peach or strawberry for example. Andrew was blown away. After drinks and a couple more runs, we started up on our last run of the day. We all took different routes (I decided on a red/black combo at the last second), and when I finished I met up with Aurelien and Xavier. Lionel and Marion had gone up for one more run, but Andrew was nowhere to be found…uh-oh. Because it was taking so long for him to show-up we figured out that he must have taken the route that had led us to the other side of the mountain earlier in the day. Sure enough, he got back and recounted his story of falling off the teleski ;) heh.

To finish the day, according to Marion, it was necessary to have crêpes. Totally did not complain about that one. Except for Xavier (hilarious guy, and is perfectly fine with being doing everything differently) who got a raspberry confiture crêpe, we all settled on nutella crêpes. Oh man…I think I could eat at least one a day forever. So good. We did have to kind of rush back though. Andrew really wanted to go back to Lyon for the night instead of staying with the group at the apartment, so we had to get back, change, and pack our things in order to make the last bus out of town. I was sad to leave since we were going to have Raclette for dinner and Aurelien had brought his guitar (he’s a wonderful guitar player), but whatever, c’est parti. We got on the last bus into Chambéry, and then took a train to Lyon. It was raining in Lyon, so that made searching for the hostel a little more unpleasant, but we eventually found it. However, it’s promised incredible view of the city did not disappoint, and Andrew was off to take pictures of the city at night. I was worn-out and decided to get to bed. We made plans to meet in the morning and attempted to sleep…not the most comfortable of hostels, but when you’re tired, it helps.

Wednesday: Lyon and Chamonix
Andrew and I were up early again the next morning (though not as early as the morning before, thank goodness) and had breakfast at the hostel while planning the morning. Our train to Chamonix was not going to leave until 1-ish, so we had some time to do more things in the city. And luckily we could leave our luggage at the hostel for free! Fabulous. (Paying for storage lockers on Monday at Part Dieu hurt just a little bit) We first went in search of an internet café in order to check the weather for the next day at Mont Blanc, and ended up walking through a lot of the market on the Saône en route. We got there eventually and found it closed, so instead headed off in the direction of Les Halles (the well-known food halls). I love the smells and colors of Les Halles, and I think Andrew was suitably impressed.

Then, we continued walking towards Bellecour via Rue de la République and stopped in FNAC where Andrew had a great idea—use one of the computers on display. Sure enough, they were connected to the internet and we were able to check the weather (several other people also had the same idea). It looked like going to Chamonix and then to Annecy would not be a problem weather-wise…phew. On the way to Bellecour we got wonderfully-smelling sandwiches for later and then kept walking through Bellecour to Vieux Lyon. We explored the narrow streets a little bit more, and then ran to the hostel to grab our bags, hopped on the metro, and were soon back at Part Dieu.

Arriving in Chamonix was awesome. The town has such a different feel from most French towns I’ve visited. One, it’s super-touristy so you walk down the streets and see nothing but souvenir shops, ski shops, and beautifully presented and charming restaurants. Two, since it’s a skiing and hiking town, everyone was dressed for those activities—I didn’t feel out of place in my brown hiking coat, and in fact wished I had more colorful attire on! Three, it has a very wintry-chalet feel to it due to the architecture and surrounding scenery, and we even arrived on the tail end of a winter festival. We passed by horses and carriages, lots of street performers, and a veritable 3 inch layer of confetti covering all the streets.

Our first stop was the Office de Tourisme where we had a really nice lady who found us a hotel and even made the reservation for us—and it wasn’t going to be that expensive! Hooray! It was a bit of a walk outside the center area, but it was still close enough that it wouldn’t be a problem. The building was basically this large chalet that had been converted into a hotel, and the owner showed us to the room. Since we were so thrilled about the price, we weren’t too concerned that it was miniscule ;) I mean, so tiny that I (being 5 feet) could touch the wall with my foot and reach almost across to the other wall. But really, it was an adorable room, and really cozy and comfy.

Heading back into town we ran by the Super U grocery store (packed with people), and then found an internet café run by Australians. Since I was only on for 10 minutes to check my mail, we didn’t have to pay anything. For dinner, we found a nice restaurant and while we sipped our Kir Royales (champagne and sirop de cassis), Andrew decided on the raclette and I on cheese fondue. So good! We were definitely too full for dessert and so instead walked off dinner by checking out the lift station information for the next day. Even though it was closed by that point, we managed to figure out that we could get up to the Aiguille de Midi starting around 8:30am the next morning…plus, visibility was supposed to be good for the morning! Excellent.

Thursday: Aiguille de Midi and Annecy
Waking up pretty early the next morning to fog and heavy overcast, we were worried that we’d get up to the top and not be able to see anything...and almost considered going back to sleep! (dumb idea) But eventually we got going, ate croissants for breakfast, checked out (though the lady was nice and let us leave all of our stuff in the hotel), and headed to the lift. After buying our tickets, we got on pretty much right away. The ski gondola (téléphérique) was packed with skiers who were going to ski down Mont Blanc—and all their gear. Andrew and I were the only 2 non-skiers in a 62 capacity car. Once we started to move up, it got clearer and clearer and soon we were in bright sunlight! Wonderful!! We had to change half-way up to another car that took us up even higher and afforded even more gorgeous views.

Finally we reached the top…and oh…my…gosh…the view was spectacular. Incredible. Stunning. With bright blue skies and sun, the rocky snow-capped peaks stood out in sharp relief. It was a moment when I felt so small. It’s good to be reminded of much bigger God is than me. With all this beauty surrounding me, it was humbling and breathtaking at the same time. We continued around/up/down to all the platforms, walking through ice-covered caves, under frozen “waterfalls”, and past gobs of skiers. What an experience.

On the way back down, we were only 2 of 5 in the whole lift, so not quite so claustrophobic this time, which was good. Quickly we bought postcards and groceries, grabbed our things from the hotel, and were en route to Annecy by 1pm. Annecy is a beautiful town tucked around a lake and canals and supposedly featured giant mountains descending straight into the water…I was excited. Luckily, it was sunny when we got there! We made the trek to the tourist office, only to find out that the hostel we’d booked was miles away up a hill with no bus going there for the rest of the evening. So, we had to go in search of a hotel closer to the center of town that still had rooms, and eventually found one. Dropping my things has never felt so good.

In order to take advantage of the sunlight, we high-tailed it back outside and walked around the crystalline lake in the setting sun. The mountains truly do fall right into the lake, and with the shadows cast by the sun, we got to see the faces bathed in rosy orange light. There were tons of people out and about, and so the waterfront was very lively. We walked around a good part of the lake, ending up on the far side where we came across a very ritzy hotel and daydreamed for a moment. Ah well. Someday.

After watching the sunset behind the skyline of the city and making friends with some swans, we grabbed food from the store for dinner and collapsed in the room from sheer exhaustion. Turning on the TV, I soon realized that maybe I had not been missing too much by not having a TV this year…Prince Harry in Afghanistan dominated Sky News (literally no breaks in the broadcast for anything else happening in the world), there was a French version of Wheel O’Fortune, and on the Spanish channel they were cooking with cheese. Heh. Good times.
Renewing our strength, we went back out into the Old Town to see what was happening, which ended up being not much. I was surprised, but the town, at least in that area, was pretty dead. However, most things were lit up with lots of vibrant colors so I played photographer for a bit. Soon we found a cute brasserie, and settled in for conversation, café crème, and chocolat chaud. Back at the hotel, we changed rooms (the cold water faucet for the shower didn’t work), found out that Harry was still controlling the airwaves, and definitively hit the sack.

Friday: Annecy and Geneva
The next morning was not the most cheery of starts to the day…the clouds had rolled in overnight and now there was a gray and misty feel to the air. And, not surprisingly, the Prince Harry story was still on Sky News when we woke up (it had been like 16 hours at this point). But, out into the town we went, first stopping by the market (I’m really going to miss the markets when I leave) and a patisserie…mmmm. Then we decided to hike up the hill to this big church we’d seen the day before. Unfortunately it rained on the way up and the church itself was not spectacular. However, from up at the top you did get good views of the city.

We continued over to the Annecy’s château which has been turned into a museum. The first exhibit we went into was bizarre…yet cool…and bizarre, encore. It was this exhibit of hybrid and mutated animals (stuffed version on display) that this “scientist” had supposedly “discovered.” Weird. Upstairs, there were several rooms of paintings done of the city and region, plus large carved wooden furniture from the 17th century. Further into the depths of the chateau was a modern art exhibit, rooms of computer generated images, and a depiction of old-time pharmaceuticals. Talk about an eclectic mix!

It was still pouring when we left the chateau, so we stopped for lunch in one of the first pizzeria’s at the bottom of the hill. On a rainy, chilly day, nothing beats a hot pizza right out of the oven. Soon after lunch though, we decided to profit from our last remaining hours in Annecy by doing one of the City Walks. There were 5 to choose from and Andrew and I chose “Old Annecy” which lead us to the Hôtel de Sales (a gorgeous pink and white building), Notre-Dame cathedral, and the old Hôtel de Ville (where we found out the trout is the symbol of Annecy). Finally, it started to clear up a little bit, so the walk wasn’t as déprimant. We headed back to the lake one more time, and then grabbed our stuff and food on the way to the train station.

A couple buses and trains later we were in Geneva…though not at the main train station. Instead, because we were coming from Annecy, we arrived at the Gare des Eaux-Vives—SKETCHY. Definitely louche. Regardless, we hopped on the tram towards the center of town. In the meantime, while walking to the tram, Andrew picked up a newspaper whose front page story was an explosion in Lyon!! Right on Cours Lafayette where we’d been walking just days earlier. Apparently there was a gas leak in one of the buildings. Scary. We got off at Cornavin (the main station) and walked to the Geneva hostel where Jane had called and made us a reservation. We relaxed, made dinner, and got ready to go on a…..pub crawl!!

Earlier in Chamonix when we used the free internet, I got a message from Jane, who I’d arranged for us to meet that night in Geneva, asking if we wanted to go on a pub crawl. But of course ;) Andrew and I met up with Jane and her boyfriend Matti and first went to Pickwick’s where Jane treated us to drinks. We were joined shortly after by Oliver (who I’d met at the pantomime) who was really the engineer behind the pub crawl….come to find out, it was the first pub crawl for all of us except Oliver. Lol. At Kilkenny’s I took a “pause”, but it was cool to be part of a fun-loving atmosphere amid very strange décor. Anyway. Our next stop was my favorite. Oliver took us to this bar owned by an acquaintance, Abdul. We got free appetizers and I finally had the vodka martini I’d been craving. It was actually pretty weak and so we told Abdul, who then said in French, “then a triple shot for Madame”! Heh. Awesome. Plus, the cool thing about this place was it definitely felt classier and wasn’t a “pub” so to speak. A nice change of atmosphere. We finished at Brasserie du Molard where we ordered this massive column of beer. Quite fun, though by this point, everyone was verrrry sleepy. Andrew especially. It all added to the fun and everyone had a great time. (plus afterwards we went into the old town and took pictures with canons)

When the others had to leave to catch the “late bus” back to their homes, Andrew and I walked back to the hostel, where, after a shower (smoking in bars is still allowed in Switzerland), I collapsed into bed. I do believe I was so tired that this was the first night Andrew’s snoring didn’t wake me up ;)

Saturday: Goodbyes
The bad weather followed us from Annecy, and Geneva on Saturday morning was gross and rainy. Nonetheless, Andrew and I trouped over to the Old Town with hopes of visiting the Protestant cathedral before leaving on our respective trains. Our hopes were dashed as the cathedral was not open until an hour later. Gah. Oh well. We went back to the hostel to dry off, pick up our things, and even managed to catch a bit of the news. Which, as you may have guessed, featured none other than Prince Harry. And this was a different station! Incroyable. Andrew and I headed to Cornavin, chatted for just a little bit, and then I had to go catch my train. He seemed to have had a good time, and I hope the trip was the adventure he was looking for. We said our goodbyes and parted ways, each having experienced so many great, new, and interesting things…what a week! Thanks Andrew!

February Vacation: Lourdes (02/16/08—02/22/08)

2008-03-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to spend the first week of vacation with three other fabulous people (meeting many others along the way), and got to travel to Lourdes, France. For those of you unfamiliar with Lourdes, it’s a small town in the Pyrenees mountains, where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette as a young girl. This year is the 150th anniversary of the apparitions, and the week we were there was the actual anniversary of the dates Mary appeared at the Grotto. Mary instructed Bernadette to dig a spring, and water that comes forth even today has been attributed to healing miracles.
After a lot of preparation time with finding hotels, booking trains, and arranging schedules, the 4 of us—Clément, Anne, Jean-Philippe, and myself--began the journey….

Saturday: “So light the fire, in my soul. Fan the flame, make me whole….”
Today after leaving Irish Band rehearsal a little early and hightailing it to the train station, I was on my way to Lyon. Since we weren’t leaving on a night train until Sunday night, Clément had invited us to his church on Saturday and to stay with his family for the weekend. He and his mom picked me up at the station and we began the drive to—get this—a chateau where the church service was being held! When Clément said that (very nonchalantly I may add) I had no idea what to expect, because after all, in the U.S. you just don’t drive to the chateau for church. And as it turns out, it really way this gorgeous chateau. The rooms are apparently rented out, and the room in which the church was meeting was just like something out of a story book: gilded ornamentation, huge mirrors, floor to ceiling french doors, stone balcony, etc. etc. We came in halfway through the sermon and I understood pretty much everything which was cool. After the service was done (unfortunately I’d missed most of the praise music which was at the beginning), I met Clément’s dad and started talking to him when I was pulled away….to go play on the playground!! Lol. Two of the children there, Alexi and Annaliese, roped me, Anne, Clément, and Yann into endless games of hide and seek, tag, and “red light/green light” (123 soleil in French). Man, I was worn out after that…definitely need to work on getting in shape and not sitting around sipping coffee and eating baguettes.

Back inside we were warmly greeted by so many of the parishioners and talked to several of them for awhile. Everyone hangs out long afterwards which was awesome because you really get time for fellowship and you get to actually know people…rather than bolting for the door and getting on with life. Anne and I had a very interesting conversation with a man named Jacques as we discussed history, war, and eventually forgiveness—heavy stuff, but really good to talk about and get different view points. I spent the rest of the time talking to an 89-year-old lady named Jacqueline who was really sweet. We basically just shared our life stories and our love for Lyon. A really interesting evening…everyone was so open and inviting and it’s something I haven’t really experienced as of yet in getting to know a lot of my French acquaintances.

After snapping some pictures of the chateau, we drove back with Mme Gonnet (Clém’s mom) to Brindas, where the family lives. We pull up at this huge house in country that used to be a laundry and wine pressing building. Almost immediately Clém started me on the grand tour and I fell in love with the house. It even has a secret door!! And old creaky staircases, cracking walls, and outdoor lofts…sooo perfect. Etienne, his brother, since he’s a professional hip-hop dancer, has a beautiful custom dance floor so Clém and I also took a salsa turn on that. Clém has this great retro car that was given to him, though alas has no permit to drive it. Lol. So, the boys continued to tinker with it and “fix” things, as guys do. While they were busy playing with the engine, Anne and I lounged in the living room and critiqued fashion magazines—a much more productive use of time if you ask me. Then, the boys made the most enormous pot of pasta I’ve ever seen and soon we were all gathered around the table. At this point, there was Anne, Etienne, Clément, Cynthia (another friend from church), Jean-Philippe, Yann, and myself and boy we killed that pot of pasta! (and had lovely conversation in the meantime)

The “surprise” was next up on the agenda…the boys had been talking about it all day. We all piled into the car—Clément jumped in the trunk because we ran out of seats—we dashed to the car because it was basically the coldest night of the year ever, at with all the wind, brrrrrrrr. At this point I fell asleep and Etienne drove us out to who knows where, higher and higher up in the hills. We were hoping for a spectacular view of Lyon, but unfortunately the fog beat us to it. So what to do? Climb the hill to the forest and build a fire. Of course. I think by this point Anne was actually about to get frostbite (Anne: “I think this is probably the coldest I’ve ever been in my life”), and being from Australia had never really experienced this type of cold. Because of the wind, the fire really didn’t provide too much warmth, but it was pretty and the guys definitely had a great time building it. Covering it with rocks, we all decided to head home, though not before making a quick stop at a mountain spring. Once we were back, I think we all just crashed on a super-bed (mattresses covering the dance floor)…what a contented feeling of exhaustion.

Sunday: “We come to share our stories, we come to break the bread….”
This morning I got up early to go to mass at the church in Brindas. Last night we’d tried to check mass times but they weren’t posted outside so we guessed at the time and I headed off down the hill. As it turns out I was the first one there since I arrived about 40 minutes early, but it was awesome! I got to listen to the organist warm up, was greeted by everyone that came in, and just got some quiet reflection time. Soon though, it filled up, the lights went on, and things came alive. Two things that were super-exciting during the mass were the energy of the cantor (I felt like the singing was much more joyful than it tends to be in Oyonnax), and that we actually exchanged the sign of peace!! Even though it’s a completely optional part of the mass (so we don’t do it at St-Leger), I think it really makes you aware of the people/pray-ers around you and you really get to take a moment to unite with each other.

Back at the house everyone was kind of doing their own thing…the boys were now working on Clém’s motorcycle (which he also still does not have a permit to drive…lol), Jean-Philippe and Etienne were doing body-building, and Anne, Cynthia, and I discussed Cuban history—you know, the norm for a Sunday morning. Mme Gonnet called us into the kitchen to set the table for lunch and she rang the bell (too cute!) for everyone to come inside to eat. Lunch was amazing. M Gonnet had prepared this fantastic Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy), which was served with homemade mashed potatoes. Oh man, it was si délicieux! Plus, we had a really lively atmosphere with everyone around the table(s). And, towards the end, M Gonnet asked a bit about the U.S. elections (I’ve been getting more and more questions as the primaries heat up), so I got to explain a little about the system (you never realize how complicated it is until you have to explain it in French). A lot of people I’ve talked to about it are really interested in the candidates and know all the names. If you asked average Americans to name the French president, guaranteed you would not get too many correct responses.

After lunch we had a just enough time before we had to leave to look up praise songs’ guitar chords on the internet. JP, Anne, and I discovered we all knew a lot of the same songs and so printed out a bunch to take with us (JP was bringing his guitar). I was getting excited. M Gonnet then drove us to the bus stop in Brindas in order to catch the bus into Lyon centre. We said our goodbyes and thanks and hopped on the bus…piling our massive amount of stuff into the back seat and completely filling it up. I think for the first time I actually had the least amount of stuff…pretty rare for a serial over-packer. We eventually made our way to the Hôtel de Ville metro stop and started walking to Clém’s grandfather’s apartment. We were going to get to meet him and go to dinner together (we weren’t leaving from Part Dieu until 10:30pm). His apartment was spectacular. It had been built in the early 1800s, and had these fantastically high ceilings, old portraits, gilded mirrors, the piano in the corner, heavy draped curtains, regal furniture, and a very bourgeoise feel. Totally cool.

The group of us talked for awhile and then headed out to Café 203 where we got the last table and a super-hot waiter (it’s the little things in life). Our lovely evening consisted of apéritifs, salad, wine, a Lyon sausage gratin, a molten chocolate cake, and Clém and I getting “chaud” (look it up in a slang dictionary). It was so much fun too to talk with his grandfather who is so interesting, well-read, and very lively….I believe at one point we even talked about the U.S. Civil War. Back at the apartment we grabbed our stuff and hopped on the metro to Part-Dieu to catch the night train.

Getting onboard we quickly found our seats…yupp, seats…not beds. We had economically decided against paying the extra 20 Euro for a bed, being the young people that we are ;) But, the set-up did allow for head massages (ohhhh yeah) and chatting. Also, it was decided that since Clém was leaving for England in a few weeks, and JP needed to prepare for his English BAC exam, we would speak in English the whole week. Nobody really slept that well through the night, and poor Jean-Philippe felt like he was starting to get sick. At one point, Clém woke up and saw flashing sparks outside on the track and thought we were going to die in a train crash. So a slightly eventful night.

Monday: “Your love oh Lord, reaches to the mountains….”
Our arrival in Lourdes was early (about 7:30am) but luckily we got in just as the sun was rising and the whole sky was orange and pink--beautiful. We hiked through the town to our résidence and along the way got our first glimpse of the Pyrenees mountains, saw about 5 gazillion hotels, and unfortunately found no open cafés. When we finally got to the résidence (apparently this was going to be more like a studio apartment) we were told we couldn’t check in, though they were nice and let us leave all our stuff there. After a long walk we finally found a boulangerie and got some pain viennois to take to the first open café we found. It felt so good to sit and drink coffee and try, albeit not very successfully, to wake up. Eventually Clém and Anne went to the tourist office and JP and I sat and played cards. For all you fans of Egyptian Rat Screw, it’s “Bataille Corse” in French—mention that and you’ll spend a lot less time trying to describe the game in French ;) Anne and Clém found lots of info for us, and soon we were off to the grocery store to buy food for the week, seeing lots of pretty buildings and mountains along the way. The atmosphere in the town, aided by the architecture and palm trees, was quite different from our region….finally something new!

Lugging several sacks of groceries about 20 minutes back to the hotel, we discovered that it had closed for lunch! Blast you France! Gahhhhh. At the very least, we found someone to open the room with our luggage and we dumped all the groceries in there (needless to say, of course there were things that needed to be refrigerated…ah well). Since we had about 2 hours to kill, we trekked to fortress in town….we stopped halfway up and Anne and I climbed the wall to get a fantastic view of part of the town and the river. The boys slept in the grass. Typical. However, soon two men cam along and asked us to leave. Pourquoi? Apparently we’d entered the fortress grounds illegally…the entrance we’d found was privately owned and we were trespassing. Oops! (You have to pay to go in the main entrance) So, instead we walked down by the river and ate lunch. Anne then had the brilliant idea to play the question game, where someone asks a question and everyone has to answer (simple, yet very effective). Her challenge to us was to “build” a sandwich, which would describe what we were looking for in a significant other. We had to explain the qualities of ingredients/why we choose them which was supposed to reveal our perfect mate. Heh. It was quite amusing to say the least. Though everyone commented after my sandwich that I obviously knew exactly what I was looking for. Interesting.

Finally around 2pm we got back to the hotel and could actually check in! Anne got our keys, et al. as we stood there with spaghetti sauce and blocks of cheese at the reception desk. So yeah, the apartment was definitely worth the wait! It was like brand new, with a huge comfy couch, a modern kitchen, its own bathroom (in most hostel-type places you have to share), a TV, and lovely furniture. Plus we had a view of the mountains out the back window! Quite posh for only paying 10 Euro a night per person. The next couple of hours were heavenly as we just sang and sang and sang. JP had brought his guitar, Clém plays too, and we had printed out all those praise songs…so we just had an amazing time of worship and singing for God.

I really wanted to hit up daily mass, so Anne came with me to Notre Dame de Rosaire (the church at the base of this massive complex of churches/chapels built on top of the Grotto). Though it was a very ritual-based mass with not a lot of room for “interpretation,” it was nonetheless good to be there. And the church itself was beautiful. I especially like the mosaics of the mysteries of the rosary all around the church (the sorrowful ones were just behind the altar). We got back and woke the boys up and noshed on kiwis while they started dinner—a delicious meal of lentils courtesy of Clém’s grandfather. The after dinner entertainment was super-fun. We decided to all speak in various accents while playing cards…Clém broke into this amazing québecoise accent, JP did Swiss, Anne did U.S. southern (very impressive), and I did Scottish. Hilarious! Soon though we were all ready for bed and I couldn’t have been more excited about sleep. A brief excitement from Anne over my travel products (apparently they don’t have them in Brisbane?!) made the end of the night, and I pretty much crashed into a squishy mattresses and drifted off to sleep.

Tuesday: “Oh Lord take a song in the morning…”
The next morning was another early one because I decided to go to the Grotto and church in order to watch the sunrise…Clém was going to come, but with a sleepy “unhhhh” and a shake of the head, I knew it was a lost cause. But man, I am so glad I went!! The walk there was as peaceful as could be—hardly anyone was around and the town had not yet woken up. Hearing the church bells in the distance, I made my way to the complex in the dark, and saw a statue of Mary illuminated in bright white against the deep blue sky…simply gorgeous, like an angel. My first stop was the grotto, with another beautifully illuminated statue of Mary, and a rounded pyramid of tall candles, all lit and blazing furiously in the wind. I definitely needed to come back here (but after the sunrise since it was the on the side). I climbed the enormous amount of stairs to the first overlook and watched as the sky turned from purple to pink to orange to blue—with all kinds of amazing clouds in between. I took the opportunity just to sing. Singing is definitely how I pray and how I communicate with God....the words He gives me take new meanings each time, and I can calm myself and be at peace in prayer with the simplest of melodies. Oh Lord take a song in the morning, and here me when I call Your name!

As I was walking back to the résidence, I happened to run into Anne who was on her way back from buying bread—impeccable timing! We sat together on a wall by the river for awhile and then decided it was high time to wake the boys up. After breakfast and getting ready to go hiking for the day, I got a call from a good friend who was leaving for the Peace Corps and since it was really our only chance to talk before she left, the others graciously let me stay and talk for a bit. The day just kept getting better. (Love you Ana!)

Although we weren’t exactly sure where we would be heading to hike, we found a bike path and began the walk. It was pretty much flat and straight as an arrow, though we did get immense mountain panoramas around us the whole time—plus, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect, what with bright blue skies, 60° temperatures, and a slight breeze blowing. Along the way we played follow the leader (too funny), stopped for lunch by a stream, and crossed over bridges into more “wild” areas. Our conversations ranged from which of the 5 love languages we are (google it to read more) to what are our life’s passions…I totally was digging the fact that we were already starting to go so much deeper with each other.

Soon, we realized we would not make it all the way to the town we’d planned on because it was too far away. The unfortunate part is that JP was really beginning to feel very ill and to top it all off had blisters starting. However, we needed to take a bus back to Lourdes since walking was going to be too far for JP. Luckily, we can across some wonderful people who knew the area and directed us to the next town with a bus station. They were picnic-ers with a great south-west accent (I can’t believe I’m at the point in French where I can really start to pick out the accents), and were so sweet. We continued along our journey and ended up in yet another beautiful town tucked between great green farmland and tall mountains. Clém and I picked the same house to live in on one of the mountains, and JP and Anne found a couple a little further down into the valley. Finally we arrived at the bus stop! Only there were no hours posted! Heh. Oh France. We talked to some local children who were adorable and they tried to be helpful about the bus. In the end, after a long conversation, I think all we established was that a bus had already passed…still, it was cute.

We then walked to the next bus stop and were in luck—the bus was late! So, we had not missed it and got back to Lourdes no problem. Stopping at the grocery store for “just a sponge” and walking out with 32 Euros worth of groceries, we all headed back to shower and relax. Back outdoors in the early evening to take advantage of the weather, we sat on giant rocks in a park by the river, sang, and watched the moon rise. Eventually, JP’s fingers got too cold to strum and play, so we did a few cartwheels (of course) and went back to make dinner. Anne and I prepared a cheese and kiwi platter and went to open the wine we’d bought and realized we had no corkscrew. Gah, foiled again. We went down to the lobby and when they heard our apartment didn’t have a corkscrew they, being astounded (I mean, how can this be France and an apartment not have a bottle opener?), set off immediately to find us one from another apartment. This very nice man finally found one and opened both the bottles for us. Back in the apartment, we felt very French as we “mange-d” on pain, vin, et fromage.

Dinner that night was also courtesy of Clém’s grandfather (sooo yummy)—red cabbage with potatoes and Merguez sausage. The discussion was a little more intense, as we talked about our different views on Baptism, how God communicates with us, and how we “feel” God’s presence. Got grilled on some Catholic issues, and felt pretty much on the defense all night. Which, to be honest, I knew was coming, though I guess it was harder being the only one this time and not having anyone else’s opinion to back me up. When all was said and done though, the conversation definitely gave me a lot to think about and at the same time reaffirmed my Catholic faith. It was interesting. Shortly after though, we were all mentally and physically tired, so off to bed we went! Gladly!

Wednesday: “The morning Son, preceeds the dawn. These thousand hills roll ever on…”
Oooh…5:30am is EARLY. But that’s when we (Anne, Clém, and I…JP was so sick at this point) got up. Why you might ask? Why to head off in the pitch black to climb a mountain of course! We wanted to watch the sunrise from the Pic du Jer and since the hike was going to take awhile, we set off waaaaay in advance. Most of the way up, we had trouble seeing the path in front of us, and at one point ran into about 50 bazillion…..toads! They were everywhere! It was insane! At first they just looked like rocks and then all at once they started hopping out from everywhere! Hilarious. One even “attacked” Anne’s leg after she mistook it for a stone and stepped on it. Oh man. Craziness.

We were quiet for most of the hike up…due in part to the fact that Clém and I are not morning people and are definitely not chatty at 6am. Clém and I stopped on a bench almost at the top, and Anne continued on up. However, after that pause and picture taking, we couldn’t find her. But, in the meantime we did discover that if we had money we’d both buy exactly the same two things—pianos and really good cameras. Gotta love people who have their priorities straight.
Giving up on finding Anne, we set off on a “non-path” through a thicket in hopes of continuing towards a sunrise viewing point….which actually took us down the face of the mountain and around to the other side. As we went through a random gate we ended up with, ta da—the sunrise!! It was just cool to chill on the mountain and watch the sun come up over rocky peaks. And to hear all the sounds of morning drifting up in our direction. We wanted to go even higher, so we rock climbed up the steepest part of the mountain (pourquoi pas) and boosted ourselves over a wire fence. Eventually we got to a metal cross at the highest point on the hill. There was even a cool observatory point from which we could watch the dramatic shadows change on the mountains, watch the misty bands of fog rolls in, and see the snow caps of Spanish Pyrenees in the distance. How wonderful and amazing! We also could see the entirety of Lourdes which is actually much much bigger than it seems on the ground, and we could see a pretty lake in the distance.

After a beautiful and peaceful pause up at the top, we headed back down in hopes of finding Anne (even shouting her name, but with no response…note, she didn’t have her cell with her). Clém and I pretty much descended the same path we’d taken going up—how different everything was in the daylight! We told travel stories and played “Tell me something true.” Almost at the bottom we ran into a hiker who stopped and asked if we were the friends of a young lady wearing a pink jacket! Just as we were elated to learn that Anne had made it down safely, she calls! Talk about more impeccable timing! Our walk back into town was just lovely and now that we knew about Anne, we could walk and talk without a sense of urgency…I heard about Clém’s desire to go back to this wilderness refuge in Québec and we just got a chance to share a lot about our lives.

Back at the apartment with Anne and JP, we looked at pictures and planned the next couple of days over coffee and lunch. In a moment of pure language mix-up, Clém said something to the effect of “my daughter” instead of “my sister” and we were in stitches for awhile afterwards. I love moments like that! And, we were beginning to realize that Anne and I speak completely different forms of English. Anytime that Clém or JP would ask about a word or phrase, 9 times out of 10 Anne and I would give contradictory or different answers. Turns out we need to make an Australian-AmericanàAmerican-Australian dictionary.

After lunch all of us went to the Grotto which was still so peaceful and beautiful and I got to see the spring…it’s surrounded by lights, glass, and elegant flowers. There were lots and lots of people there, most walking around inside the Grotto touching the rocks and praying. As I backed up a bit I also realized that the church is literally built right on top of it. It’s hard to tell where the Grotto ends and the church begins. I washed my hands and arms in the healing waters and then the 4 of us re-congregated in front of the church. We took a group shot and then the other 3 went off on a hike to the lake while I decided to stick around and go to Confession and Adoration, and to see the rest of the chapels and churches.

After spending some time with the Blessed Sacrament to prepare for confession I went to get in line….and accidentally ended up sitting on the French side with the huge line, before realizing I could go to the English side with like 2 people. Lol. It made sense though, because most of the pilgrims there that week seemed to be French (at least that’s the language I heard the most). It had basically been a year since my last confession and it really felt awesome to go again. The priest talked to me for a long time actually during the sacrament and had some really interesting things to say….like about how we need to carry our crosses (i.e. life is hard and we all have burdens to bear) but not look back at them because that’s when we take our eyes off Jesus—we’ve got to keep looking straight ahead at Him. He also talked about justice and mercy and how both qualities are up there on the cross with Jesus…He took on so much hell for us, that even the little bit we know about is nothing. However, God allows things to happen because it’s important to see the consequences of our actions so we know, or really only begin to know, what He died for. He gives us blessings but permits catastrophes so that we know His justice but also His mercy—it’s never as bad as it could be.

Leaving confession and feeling recommitted to trying to turn away from sin, I visited the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (the church above Notre Dame de Rosaire). I still had about and hour before daily mass, so I returned to the apartment and had some quiet time and played the guitar for a bit. I went back to mass at ND de Rosaire and experienced a totally different kind of mass than the day before. The mass was shorter (more in time with the daily mass rhythm), the priest was very dynamic and seemed very spiritually “into it,” if that makes sense. His homily was intriguing…the gospel had been about the apostles and Jesus on the road to Jerusalem when Jesus was talking about His death and Resurrection and the apostles having no idea what he’s talking about. Something the priest said really struck me—it’s okay that they apostles didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about…it’s okay that things are beyond our human comprehension—that’s why He’s God and we’re not. I was reminded that it’s okay for some things to remain a mystery. So often I try to have all the answers or completely understand why certain things are the way they are, but at the end of the day, I can take confidence in knowing that I don’t have to have the answers….and more importantly that God knows and God is so much bigger than I can imagine. And it’s He who is steering my life…awesome.

I spent a little more time at the Grotto after mass before heading back to the apartment to meet up with the others. They recounted some hilarious stories of their trip to the lake (ducks, hitchhiking, a cow pasture, and head-dunking) while we got dinner ready. Eating together and sipping wine was a great way to wind down, and soon the boys were napping or playing guitar (Clém with a ski headband on at the same time)…Anne and I on the other hand shared personal stuff (our greatest weaknesses) and planned parties/outings for March and April. I had forgotten how quickly the end of everyone’s séjour was coming up so we had to start talking about farewell parties—sad!! And being the sweethearts that we are (heh), we cleaned up the kitchen while the boys started packing…we would have to be ready to check out before leaving on another hike the next day…which was going to be super-early. Bedtime followed shortly after.

Thursday: “…climb a mountain and shout, that this life we’ve been given’s meant to be lived out…”
Even though we got up at 6:45am, finishing packing, cleaning, and getting out of the apartment proved to be quite the frenzy. Anne and I went to check out while the boys madly rushed around the apartment packing. We practically had to run to the train station to catch the bus to Cauterets (the town from which we’d start the hike), but we made it just in time. On the one-hour ride to Cauterets I taught Clém and JP how to give killer head massages (though we discovered my technique only works for short hair) and played a song game…JP and I totally rocked that one. It was turning out to be a beautiful day, and it was neat to see exactly the path we’d walked on Tuesday and to drive by the cute town where we’d caught the bus.

In Cauterets we encountered ski season at its peak. There were people clunking around in ski boots everywhere, and there must have been a zillion ski shops along every street. We started up the road to the Pont d’Espagne. However, we soon realized that it was going to take ages to even get there. So what to do? Hitchhike! Clém was such a pro and on the 3rd try a man stopped and had enough room for all of us! He was really lovely to go out of his way, and he took us all the way up to the departure point for the bridge. He even stopped along the way at some great waterfalls so we could get pictures, and then he took several group photos for us. Had he not driven us, the walk uphill would have taken at least an hour and a half….somebody up there was looking out for us ;)

We started the hike at the Pont d’Espagne (the Spanish Bridge), which was surrounded by more gorgeous waterfalls (and a couple falls were frozen in mid stream! Very cool) There were lots of mossy trees and rocks, snow-capped peaks, dramatic drops, bright blue sky and a warm sun—couldn’t have been more perfect. Continuing along, we walked/hiked on ski trails and were met by lots of skiers (natch)…including adorable children cross-country skiing for the first time. Eventually we came upon a wide open ski “rink” of sorts, with a café to one side with, get this, beach chairs! Anne and I plopped down for a moment and pretended we were actually sitting at the ocean sunbathing. Quite fun really. After a failed attempt to start a hike to a lake higher up in the mountains (there was waaaay too much ice to climb the uber-steep slopes), we rock climbed up a tall ledge for lunch. 1 bag of grilled onion chips and several sandwiches later and we were ready for back massages. Everyone got one if not two, and I took on JP as my “apprentice.” ;) The other three also managed to fit in a nice little post-lunch siesta (while I snapped pictures).

In early afternoon we started the grand descent and took TONS of pictures…there was just so much gloriousness around us that we had to soak it all up anyway we could…we captured the waterfalls, Anne and JP sleeping on moss, Anne and I pretending to be mermaids, the group sliding down the mountain, and Clém and I climbing giant rocks. Soooo fun.

Quickly we realized though that we were still pretty far from Cauterets and we needed to catch a certain bus back to Lourdes in order to have time to get from the hotel to catch our night train back to Lyon. Our last part of the descent was super-speedy. We reached the base of the Pont d’Espagne town and were obviously not going to make it back down to Cauterets in time. So, we hitchhiked ;) (this was becoming a theme). This time though, we hitchhiked on a bus….lol. There was a special tour bus (we were not a stop, it wasn’t even a city bus) full of tourists (obviously) and it stopped! And let us on for free! Wow, too many blessings to count at this point. Jumping off at the bottom we high-tailed it to the station, arriving 5 minutes before our bus was scheduled to leave—whew!!! But then, bad news. JP had lost his wallet!! All of his ID cards and train card, etc. were gone. Needless to say, he was bummed. But the really awesome thing about JP was that this whole week, even as things were not good for him (sick, blisters, wallet, etc) he never complained and he always kept going. It was inspiring to be around someone with that great of an attitude.

Back in Lourdes we changed clothes at the hotel, rested in the lobby, and went in search of a police station where JP could try to get some temporary ID. However, as it turns out, because he didn’t have any ID on him (having lost all that), they couldn’t give him anything! Gah. The next stop was the train station so that he could at least explain the situation and hopefully still get the train discount. The boys went and took care of that while Anne and I waited with all the luggage in the town center square. They had better luck at the station and on the way back had found a pizzeria for dinner! Perfect! It was a cute restaurant, not that expensive, and had delicious pizza and lasagna (we all shared halfway through). We mainly talked about how the week went and our impressions of everything. JP and Clém shared their “truths” (in “tell me something true” you share something about yourself—anything you want—that probably not a lot of people know). Then the evening got silly as we taught each other English and French tongue-twisters…I’m certain that the French family that came in half-way through the tongue-twister extravaganza must have thought we were nuts. Downing delicious ice cream and sorbet in record time, we jetted off to the station and got on the train no problem. Wow, I couldn’t believe we were almost at the end of the trip! The night passed much as before, with not much sleep, though a couple times I woke up to find strange men sitting next to me (we’d traded seats earlier on the trip with other people, and now the rightful owners got on at later stops)….other than that … ;)

Friday: “I AM the beginning and the end…so let the journey begin…”
Friday was by far the chillest morning…probably because we were all absolutely dead. But in a good way! We arrived at Part-Dieu at like 6:30am, and went into the Centre Commercial to eat at a boulangerie. We had a delightful waitress who really helped to make the morning pleasant. We all got enormous cups of coffee and huge pastries. My large mocha with whipped cream was envy of everyone though ;) I can’t explain how comfortable I felt with JP, Anne, and Clém at that breakfast. There was such a camaraderie and “knowing” between us and I am so grateful to have shared the experience with them. I can’t imagine what the trip would have been like had I gone solo. God really and truly blessed us in countless ways over the week and it really renewed my strength in Him. He was the beginning for us, and He will be the end and the journey starts again every day. And somewhere along the way He allows our journeys to intertwine.

“Praise the Lord with all your heart. With all mind and soul, with all your strength give praise!”

The Final "Stage" (14/02/08)

2008-02-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

Meeting up with several of the other assistants early this morning, we embarked on what would be our final stage together (though I didn’t find this out until the end of the session). The first part was Martial dealing with administrative stuff as always and it was really sad to realize how many people would be leaving their contracts early. However, Kate, Pat and I will still be here till the bitter end and have decided that on our last Wednesday off we are going to celebrate and live it up. Should be fun! Changing rooms mid-way through we were once again in session with Odile and Christine (who have been leading the last couple stages). It was actually a small group today with only about 9 of us so it automatically felt more personal. The ladies asked for problems that we were still encountering, or if things had ameliorated, and then we gave them lists of playground songs/games we’d been teaching the children. I think for the first time, things we said today about our situations really hit home with them and a lot of people really made emphatic recommendations for next year’s group. I really hope they take everything into consideration. Some assistants are in towns smaller than Oyonnax and really have no one to hang out with, people are feeling isolated, there have been problems with meeting people all across the board. I’ll be interested to see where they place people for 2008-2009.

That session took us all the way to lunch, and since it was Valentine’s Day, Anne and Pat brought in a cake and wine. We combined their efforts with the teachers’ stage happening across the hall and got to partake in their French food. Mmmmm. We eventually went down to lunch and for the first time I really talked to the Italian assistant, Chiara, and we totally hit it off. She’s fun and we have similar personalities (not to mention again the fact that she’s Italian which automatically makes her that much cooler). And! We decided that when I come into Bourg, since that’s frequently, we’re going to do a language exchange—she’s going to teach me Italian and we’re going to talk in English…it’s going to be great! I’m sooo excited because I’ve always wanted to learn Italian. Hopefully this all will work out.

Our final session was, shockingly, helpful. No way. Odile actually modeled a lesson that we can do for our students, only she spoke German in order to convey what it is like for our students. I really appreciated that they did something like that again (we’d done a similar lesson in Russian at a previous stage) because it truly gives you a different perspective. I hope that I can take that persepective and now apply it even more to the classroom activities. It’ll take a little bit of work I think to keep the students’ attention (which I think is the main difference between teaching the lesson to us and then us teaching it to the kids). But today I garnered some very good ideas and did not feel like the day was a waste at all. Finally, for the last time we got it right ;)

Eight of us went for chocolat chaud and café afterwards, heading back to the same Café where we’d gone after the last stage. It was bittersweet in way knowing that this was the last time we would all really be together in the same place (and that we were still missing a good chunk of the other assistants). If there was one good thing about the previous stages it was that they brought everyone together. And this was kind of it, the end of the line. Especially since so many people are leaving early. And I was reflecting more on the upcoming semester and it’s basically at the downhill point—in about 15 days there will only be 4 months left for me. Much less for everyone else. Within that time, I have potentially 4 visitors coming, 4 weeks of vacation, and I realized it’s just not going to be the same as what’s been happening up until this point. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually sad. I’m worried there will just be a lot less time to hang out and once people start leaving, I think it’ll really sink in. It’s like graduation all over again in a sense. You’ve all experienced this year together, gone through the trials and tribulations, have bonded because of it, and now will scatter….and will probably never see most of the people again. In my life, I’ve prided myself on the ability to adjust and adapt—I’m good with change, I can move on easily, and love taking on the next adventure. But for some odd reason, here and now, tonight I’m dreading leaving the people and having everyone split up again. I guess that’s part of the danger of a one year program. However, I still have time—it’s not over yet ;) So I’d better get started. Bring it on. On y va.

Ski de Fond (13/02/08)

2008-02-14T13:53:00.000-08:00

Kate and I had been trying to go cross-country skiing for awhile now, and we finally had a beautiful day off today with no rain washing out the ski courses. She had been lent cross country skis by her school, and so had explored some of the places near to Hauteville. Graciously she picked me up at Brion and then we headed back up into the hills towards Hauteville. It was a lovely drive and an even lovelier day. In town I rented skis, ran a couple more errands, and then we had a wonderfully relaxing lunch chez Kate. Around noon we got changed, well, I take that back…Kate got changed. I have no ski gear whatsoever, and when I asked if jeans would be okay, she that was fine but we’d be falling a lot. Heh. Awesome. Luckily she lent me a fleece jacket (apparently we were also going to work up a sweat and I didn’t need my heavy coat) and waterproof gloves—and we were off! We went up to this place quite near to where she lives, La Praille, and it was only 4 Euro to ski! Getting the skis on was not too big of a problem, though since they are considerably thinner and longer than downhill skis, it was definitely more of a balance game. However, I did not fall while putting on the skis! Hooray! Though I did start sliding into a sign. Totally doesn’t count though.

So, you know when you’re watching cross-country skiers and it looks so damn easy? Just gliding along, not a care in world? HAHAHAHA. It’s not like that if you have no idea what you’re doing ;) The man at the desk told me the motion was just like ice skating, which I do well, but with long skis it was quite a different story. On the flat parts and downhill parts I was fine and actually made headway in my form. The upward slopes were much harder and I kept getting stuck. Oops. And you actually use your upper body a lot more than I thought too, because to get going you really have to push off with all of your strength. The weather was perfect and sunny though so even going at a slow pace through the forest was most excellent. So much untouched snow and natural beauty. Sure there were spills (I have some pretty spectacularly scraped up forearms at the moment), but Kate and I got ample opportunity to laugh at each other because we both fell ;) hehe. Then there was “the guy.” This was one of those guys that makes it look sooo easy. He lapped up a total of about 4 times throughout the course (and he was doing harder parts) and our goal was just to stay ahead of him. Lol. He didn’t look too much older than us and we were just amazed at his endurance. And it always happened that I fell right as he was coming up behind me. Great ;) Oh well. We talked to him at the end, and it turns out he’d gone around all the different courses 17 times! All in the time it had taken us to do the green course. But, we were proud of ourselves, and Kate became quite the cross-country skier by the end of the day. I’m still working on it ;)

After a cookie and water break, we did half of the course again, and then headed back to Kate’s where I showered and got ready to take the bus to Bourg. We have a stage tomorrow, so I’m spending the night at Anne’s. Kate was a dear and waited with me until the bus came and then I was on my way to Bourg. I had also previously decided that it was high time I said thank you to Anne and the boys for constantly letting me stay at their apartment, so I decided to make dinner for all of them tonight (my gnocchi dish). Anne met me at the train station and once we got back to the apartment, everyone piled into the kitchen to help me chop up all the vegetables. Awwww. Normally it takes me a lot of prep time to get everything done, but with 4 of us on the task we were ready to start cooking in about 20 minutes. While Clément and I tried to figure out how to get me to Lyon on Saturday (we’re going to stay with his family before taking the night train to Lourdes on Sunday night), Gael and Anne started sautéing the onions and garlic, and soon the rest of the veggies were added and the kitchen smelled wonderful. I had planned on making double the recipe (since I originally thought 2 more of Anne’s friends would be eating too), though that turned out to be a massive amount of food. What to do? Call the rest of the boys and see if they’d eaten yet. We roped in Aurelien and Louis-Rémi and had a fabulous dinner…it was so good to hang out with everyone again.

Our post-dinner plans lasted until 3:30am. Oh man. It was intense. We played the French version of “Risk”….for like 4 hours. SOOOoooooo much fun!! I totally dig games that focus on strategy and world domination (though the luck aspect of rolling the dice and drawing cards was my downfall). I think I did pretty well considering it was my first time, though I have to give mad props to the others too—I can’t wait to play again. And basically during those 4 hours, we just laughed, and told stories, and ragged on each other and had such an awesome time. Towards the end everyone got droopy, but still kept that fierce competitiveness going which I appreciate. I think by a mistake Anne accomplished her mission and we all jumped up and the game was over. It was so late at this point and everyone had to get up early—story of our lives ;) I’ve come to believe that conviviality cannot be helped though, and these are hours I wouldn’t trade for anything. I heart my “second home”!

Johnny Depp Cures All (02/07/08—02/10/08)

2008-02-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

After watching the number of students in my classes dwindle and decrease all week, I finally got sick with the flu that had been going around. I went into teach Thursday morning, and towards the end of my last class I started feeling just awful. Barely making it home, I crashed into bed, unable to really move for several hours after that. When I finally did get up, it was just to get some water, eat a little something, and then went back to sleep. That night though, I got to the point where I could prop myself up, and decided to do something constructive—it was time for the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon. I’d been waiting to find a time to watch all three of them in a row, and this was it…lying there in bed and not moving and watching Johnny and Orlando was just what the doctor ordered. I can’t think of a better way to spend a sick day. I got through the first one and called it a night.

The next morning I was still feeling awful so I called in sick to work, and popped in the next two movies over the course of the day (it was a shame I didn’t feel well enough to even go outside because I could see through the windows that it was gorgeous out). Slowly my strength and appetite came back, though even by the end of the day I wasn’t 100%. And I was okay with that. So often in college I would not permit myself to be “sick” because I simply had too much to do. But this time, I could take a full couple days and actually let my body recover. Not that it was a happy time, but with a little pirating action, the world was that much brighter ;) heh. The rest of the weekend I continued to take it easy and sleep a lot. I think since Thursday I’ve averaged about 13 hours of sleep a day. Whew. Take that flu!

Bourg Adventures (06/02/08)

2008-02-14T13:46:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me just say how thankful I am to have found such awesome people here in France. I went to visit Anne in Bourg again today. Zulema, one of the other assistants had asked me last week if I could cut her hair, and so on my day off I came into town to be the coiffeuse and hang out for the day. Clément also asked if I could cut his hair, so this morning I decided to stay the night in order to catch him later this evening after class. Plus, I had been invited to dinner with Anne at the Rwandan family’s house and was super excited to try some vrai Rwandan cuisine and of course to get to spend time with Lillian and Gracier. This morning I took the early bus into Bourg so that I could attend Ash Wednesday mass at the Cathedral. I got there quite a bit ahead of time due to the bus schedule, and so I got to just sit and “be” in the church. And and!! I also got a half hour of adoration! Totally wasn’t even expecting that but was so grateful for that special time with Jesus. Mass was actually packed (yay!) and for the first time I really understood the sermon…and and! It was given by the bishop! There is such a difference when a priest reads a prepared homily, and when he just talks to you. Today it was talking…and the bishop really made clear points about each of the readings, tied them all together, and gave me personally a lot to think about. And he spoke slowly and emphatically enough that I caught everything. Praise God for understanding!!

The day passed by quickly, and was nice and relaxed…Anne and I started at the market, and then went to a friend’s house for coffee. Back home we watched the first Asterisk movie, and this time put French subtitles on—Anne had previously watched it just listening to the French, and she commented on how much more she caught this time ;) It was a really funny movie, though after just a little while we both fell asleep watching it. Lol. Apparently I need to be getting more sleep.

Anyway, we soon headed off to the grocery store to pick up some things before tutoring. I can’t explain how wonderful it was to see the children again, and to get to spend time with Lillian and Gracier—those kids are just the sweetest things ever (and the younger two are adorable as well). We were greeted with huge smiles from them as well as from Christine and Mukasa. This was the first time I’d met Mukasa, the dad, who was home early tonight, but immediately felt so incredibly welcome. It was like I’d known them forever and they were old friends…which is very much “contre” the French culture that I’ve experienced. Not in every case, but for the most part, I feel like I have to put forth so much effort to even start to get to know someone here—there seems to be this invisible wall you have to break through. And not that I haven't met met fabulous people, (i.e. my Bourg boys, Françoise and Co., Sophie, Yvon and Anne, etc.), but this was just a little different (hard to explain). This family’s genuine warmth and love radiated from them. Anne and I helped Gracier and Lillian with their homework and then played cards for a bit while wonderful smells drifted in from the kitchen. Soon, we got to work on preparing the table, and just after that Mukasa and Christine presented the starter dishes and we got crackin’ ;) Dinner was delicious and the conversation was really meaningful. I think we were there until about 10pm, and though we could have kept going for the next couple hours, everyone needed to go to bed. We said our goodbyes and Christine was a sweetheart and drove us home. What a wonderful time! Off to cut Clément’s hair now—goodnight!

Macumba! (01/02/08)

2008-02-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

By virtue of the fact that I’m fairly far behind on my blog, I’m going to skip last week and jump ahead to tonight. Tonight was crazy in a very random yet awesome kind of way. Françoise and Sébastien had invited me to go out to a club this weekend with them. We got Christophe in on the deal this past Thursday at the first tutoring session, and apparently a couple more people were coming as well. Now, I was under the impression we were going somewhere local, and it was just going to be a chill night. Heh heh. Nope. Instead, (after apéritifs at Marie-Pierre’s) we drove about an hour towards the Swiss border to……..MACUMBA! (I put it in caps because it’s that much of a big deal) I’m pretty sure someone said it’s the second biggest nightclub (“boite de nuit” in French = night box) in all of France.

So we get there pretty early (but that means no cover charge—yesssss!), because apparently we’re having dinner. And I’m thinking, huh? Dinner in a nightclub? Well, this is no ordinary nightclub. Within the 2 floors of action: 6 different restaurants, an Irish pub, 5 or 6 dancing clubs each with a different style of music and a unique flavor (i.e. latin, hip-hop/tectonic, 70s/80s, etc.), a smoking terrace (packed all night), several bars, a snack area, and attendants at every turn. I was quite taken aback at first. It’s a great idea and concept though to appeal to all ages and interests….and, to have everything in one place. Dinner, right. Okay, back on track. We finally settled on the tapas and latin cuisine restaurant. The interior decorating leaned towards the “old Havana” theme, complete with black-and-white Che pictures on the wall. Plus, the menu had an impressive list of cigars. The meal was okay, though the appetizers were the funniest thing…it was a salad in a taco shell bowl! And it was just so funny because I was immediately transported back to many a “taco Tuesday” at school, and the excitement over the taco shell bowls. I think for everyone else it was kind of a novelty, and I was sad Erin H that you weren’t there with me to share that moment of “knowing” ;) Anyway, by the end of appetizers, entrees, dessert, and coffee, the server was ready for us to get outta dodge because they needed to open up the room for dancing. I guess I can see things from his perspective, but I’ll tell you—it’s the only time I’ve ever felt rushed out of a meal in France. Boooooo.

Regardless, off we went exploring la boite de nuit. We had soon discovered what there was to see and decided to start off the night….on the smoking terrace. Lol. There were a few in group who needed a smoke, so outside we went (luckily the terrace was partially inclosed, heated, and had comfy couches). After a bit of that, the ladies decided it was time to get our dance on. Tectonic club it was. The music was pounding, smoke was flowing, there were some outrageous guys dancing on the stage in the middle, and all around was black…quite the “hip” atmosphere and very telling since there were tons of the 20-and under crowd. The rest of ladies I was with are slightly older (over 35-40), but man they definitely had moves. Christophe even joined us at one point, though Séb and Laurent were no where to be found…don’t think tectonic was quite their scene.

I don’t remember exactly where we went next (so many rooms), but another stop was upstairs at the “bal”—basically, a live band playing big-band and 50s style music with couples dancing. I watched for a bit and there were some fantastic dancers! This older man asked me if I wanted to dance, and I’d seen him dancing and knew he could lead….so sure, pourquoi pas? I didn’t know exactly what I was doing but thank goodness I have some sense of rhythm and I easily fell into the pattern. It also really really helps to dance with someone who knows exactly where to “place” you. Sooo much fun! After a dance I went to rejoin the others and together we trouped back to the room where we’d eaten dinner for a little salsa and cha-cha time! The dance class a few weeks ago came in handy ;) A bit more wandering around and a short time later we ended up in the 30-40 club…meaning the “older” crowd. Heh. It was interesting, though definitely a lot of people having a good time and really getting down.

We spent the last part of the evening out on the smoking terrace which by this point was filled to the brim. And you know, it’s funny. Kids who go out clubbing in France don’t look any different than kids who go clubbing in the U.S….not to stereotype, but it’s the tight clothes, saggy pants, heavy eyeliner crowd. Some things never change ;) Eventually we all got really cold and decided to call it a night…well, to be honest, when they saw me (the young’un) start to yawn they knew it was getting late. Lol. On the drive home I could barely keep my eyes open. When we got near my house Françoise asked “where do you live?” and I responded, “near Washington DC” and the whole car giggled. Quickly I realized what she meant and gave her my address ;) They all dropped me home and am I going to go now and collapse into bed. Crazy Friday nights in France…

Day in Nantua and “Once” (23/01/08)

2008-02-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

Citing the need to recommence our Wednesdays out (since it’s a day off), Kate and I decided to return to Nantua for a day of fun (i.e. a day out of Oyonnax and Hauteville). This time Anne joined us as well! Anne and I took our respective buses and met up with Kate and her car at Brion, and then 10 minutes later we were in Nantua. It sure looked different in the non-fall colors, but today happened to be a gorgeously sunny day so even without the orange leaves it was beautiful, especially around the lake. After playing on swings for a bit we decided to take a hike around the lake, though we shortly found out that one part was impossible to traverse due to construction. Ah well, around the other way! About halfway around we stopped for a kiwi break (these are fast becoming my favorite snack) and just relaxed next to the water. Once we got to the other side of the lake we were officially back in Montréal à la Cluse. Wow, what a pretty day. The water was sparking and the surrounding mountains had a deep indigo shadow on them.

We soon went off though in search of lunch and after several failed attempts at finding someplace, we came across this adorable French café and were warmly greeted by the staff. Enjoying bread, the plat du jour, and chocolate mousse for dessert, we talked, relaxed, and just had a lovely time. When we were paying at the end, we chatted with the owner, who was like, “so, are you on vacation…??” I don’t think she really got why there were 3 foreigners there (Montreal a la Cluse is definitely not on the list of hot spots to visit in France) in her café. We explained that we were assistants (and she said we spoke very good French), and then we got into this whole discussion about how her son had had English assistants when he was in middle school, etc, etc. and we left on a very pleasant note.

Our walk back around the lake was just as nice as before (though I think Anne and Kate got slightly impatient at my incessant picture taking…in my defense, the lighting was perfect and there was nothing I could do, I had to take the pictures). Once we were back in Nantua, we took Anne to the Abbé St-Michel and then up the hill to see the view of the lake from above. We still had time after that before Anne and I had to be back at Brion to catch our buses, and so we ran into Lidl (a cheap grocery store—huzzah for cheap groceries!) because I needed lettuce, and I think they ended up buying more than I did ;) In any case we each picked up some delicious snacks (I for one nabbed a round of St-Felicien cheese) and hopped in the car. I was the first to leave, so said my goodbyes and was quickly back in Oyonnax.

I ran home, changed, and made a salad….I was going over to Andrea’s apartment for dinner before the two of us were going to see the movie “Once.” I had heard that it was wonderful and just happened to see the poster up at the Centre Culturelle cinéma. Plus, it was in “version originale”…most movies over here get dubbed into French and I can’t stand watching something when the voice and mouth movements don’t match up. Or, if you know what a famous actor is supposed to sound like, and then they sound completely different, it’s so distracting. Anyway, so I was excited. Andrea and I had a really nice dinner and got to catch up a bit which was good. When we arrived at the theatre though, we found out the movie wasn’t playing that night! The website I had checked was apparently incorrect. But, since we hung around for a few minutes to decide what to do, we got some good news…the people running the theatre said if we were the only that showed up (so far we were), they would play “Once” for us. Luckily no one else showed up to see the other movies, so we got our own private showing! (that’s life in a small town for you) And the movie was WONDERFUL. If you have not seen this movie, SEE IT NOW. It’s this beautiful film of two people, who happen to be very gifted musicians, starting to play together and telling their stories to each other through music. I highly recommend it. A great way to end the day :)

La Fête de Mon Anniversaire (01/18/08—01/19/08)

2008-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

Teaching on Friday was fairly routine, though during my lunch break I sat down and made a huge to-do list of everything that needed to be done before guests arrived that night. As soon as I got home I went crazy on the apartment…it definitely needed to be cleaned, for one, and then I had to make sure everything was stowed away, tidied, or temporarily placed in the garage. Kate arrived early, around 6:15, and she was big help in getting things done. Plus, she had brought wine, so we of course popped that open right away ;) Anne had texted me earlier and said they’d all be there around 7:30pm, and could they eat dinner at my place? Bien sur, but that just meant I needed to be super-ready and so kicked things into overdrive. Pretty close to 9pm, Mala, Sophie, Sebastien, and Jane arrived, though still no Anne and Co. Then the slight bit of craziness of getting to Oyonnax started. First, Kat and Molly (who were coming from Bellegarde) called a and said that the bus from Brion to Oyonnax had not shown up—and they’d been waiting there past the time it was supposed to arrive. Our first thought was to call Anne and co. (who were running about an hour late) and see if they could pick them up on the way. As it turns out, they were slightly lost and hadn’t been taking the auto-route so weren’t anywhere near Brion which is right off the auto-route. Kate and I could have gone in Kate’s car to pick them up, only we’d both already been drinking wine, and decided that would not be a smart solution. So, it looked like we would have to wait for the Bourg crew to get here and then go pick them up. Soon, all the Bourg cars got here, although apparently they’d missed the house and kept driving into the forest (someone did say though it was “a beautiful forest” lol). And very luckily by this point, Kat and Molly called saying that the bus had finally arrived! Yay! (Booooooo SNCF) When they got into town, I went and met them part way down the street, and they apologized for bringing an empty box of cookies but they’d gotten hungry and had eaten them at the bus stop ;) Kat had even tried to open their bottle of wine with a pen…heh. Too funny.

The start to the party was great, complete with lots of toasts/alcohol, swing dancing in the kitchen, blowing out my matches on the birthday cake because when you don’t have candles you just find something that will burn, and present-opening! To be honest, I hadn’t expected anything so I was pleasantly surprised with everything…several wedges of cheese, a popcorn machine, a silk painting from India, a beautiful flowering plant, a very cute top, champagne, and a jigsaw puzzle! (guess who that was from). Between each gift, it was “group hug” time…hehe. Fabulous-ness.

Around 1am we headed out to Le Zola, one of the pubs in town. I had even gone in that afternoon and asked about there hours…I could have sworn I heard “deux heure” which is 2 in the morning, though since it was closed when we got there, it probably was “douze heure” which is midnight. Boo. Well, luckily Sebastien suggested Le Plazza where apparently there was a club and everything—in Oyonnax?! I had no idea… Anyway, Seb did some talking and they let our whole group in on 2 bottles, though normally you had to have fewer people or something ridiculous like that. Eventually we all got upstairs and the club was actually very happenin’ and not sketchy. It had a techno-y vibe, but great lights and a big dance floor. We totally took over the floor and had our lounge area…so cool and so much fun!! I think we were there till about 3:30am when they started closing things down. Those staying chez moi headed back up the hill with me, though some people were quite drunk and very loud ;) And because there’s just no noise in Oyonnax after 8pm, we really stood out…lol. It was okay though, there was a lot of “shhhhshhing” and we made it back without waking anyone up I hope.

As soon as we got back we started the task of setting up the “super bed”…we blew up all the air mattresses that we had and pushed them all together and against my bed and managed to fit 9 people in my room, and 4 people in the kitchen. It was totally like a giant slumber party which I haven’t had since I was 10 so it was great fun. The boys were hilarious and basically acted like 12-year old girls, bursting into giggles every few seconds and then shhshhing each other, which made things louder ;)

The next morning I had to get up early to go to Irish Band rehearsal, and Clément and Julien came with since they are both really into music and were psyched that I played the cello. Rehearsal was good, and I’m finally starting to feel like part of the group. On the walk back home Clément carried my cello (aw), and we ran into Anne, Julien, Kate, and Gaël, who had all been to the market to pick up food for lunch. When we got back home, a lot of people had left because of various prior engagements, but the 7of us hung around for a bit, ate lunch, the boys tried my cello, Seb stopped by, the boys jammed some more on the guitar and harmonica, and then we decided to head up to Lac Genin. Unfortunately amount of ice on the lake wasn’t thick enough to ice skate (it has been warmer recently), BUT there was still plenty of snow!! This was Anne’s first time ever in the snow—she’s from Australia—so this was a new and awesome experience for her. We had a gi-normous snowball fight, built snowmen and made snow angels. And even though I’ve seen snow before, I haven’t actually gotten the opportunity to “play” in the snow since freshman year of college and W&M’s infamous 2 inches…lol. So it was basically the best afternoon ever. I totally felt like a kid again, and loved that all the people there had that childlike sense of fun as well…everyone was willing to just let go, be goofy, and have a good time.

As it got later though, we realized we needed to get back since everyone still had to drive home and it’s much harder in this area in the dark. But, when we got back we decided there was just enough daylight left to finish the day by trying out my new popcorn machine! It worked! And the popcorn was delicious—the boys added a mixture of butter, sugar, and vanilla….mmmm… definitely couldn’t eat that all the time or I’d go into a diabetic coma, but it was goooooood for a treat ;) What a wonderful way to end the day—and to end one the perfect birthday weekend. I’m still grinning from ear to ear :) I am so thankful for friends.

Mon Anniversaire (17/01/08)

2008-02-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

So today was my 23rd birthday. I felt very lucky and loved to get so many e-mails, cards, facebook messages, and calls from home. It’s been a fairly normal day, with teaching in the morning, and then heading to the grocery stores to buy everything for the party tomorrow night. I’ve decided to definitely go the finger-food route instead of real food since it’s going to be so late, and I found lots of yummy munchies :) I just got back a little while ago from a wonderful dinner chez Françoise. Françoise was the lady I met while hiking with Jean-Robert and Christophe in the snow in December. She invited me to dinner tonight with her boyfriend and her two daughters. It was a fantastic meal of salad, grilled endives, blanquète de veau, raspberry tarts and macaroons for dessert. And and! I actually understood most everything that was said by everyone, and for the first time I frequently made meaningful contributions to the conversation with relative ease. Françoise, Bruno, and I talked forever after dinner too and it was just such a pleasant evening. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer “birthday dinner” ;) God knows when you need the comfort of home.
I’m off to plan lessons (teaching doesn't stop just because you're a year older unfortunately) and get things ready for tomorrow night! There will be updates soon. G’night!

Continuing to Live it Up (16/01/08)

2008-02-02T13:27:00.000-08:00

This morning was fantastic…for the first time this entire time I’ve been in France, I slept in. Until 11am. Pretty much awesome. I usually can’t sleep past 10am, so I guess I must have really needed the sleep. When we finally got moving, we first headed to the market to buy a plant for Victoria…she’s one of the other assistants in Bourg and we were going to a surprise birthday gathering for her later today. In the process of looking for a plant, I noticed these fruits called “litchis” and Anne was appalled that I’d never tried them. So we bought a bunch and I ate a couple there in the market…wonderful! They are sweet, have a white center, and taste maybe like the combination of a strawberry and kiwi. Right after buying the plant, Anne got a call from Annika (who was hosting the get together in her and Samantha’s apartment) who said we needed to get there pronto because Victoria was on her way! We speed-walked across town and got there in time. Zulema joined us as well, and we chatted for a few minutes before we heard the door open…springing into action we sang Joyeux Anniversaire as she walked in with Sam and Ruairi. Perfect timing. Sam and Annika had made a “Victoria Sponge” cake, gotten pastries, and we broke open champagne. We spent a good bit of the afternoon there just chatting and Victoria was surprised and very pleased.

After the party, Anne and I headed back towards the center of town, hoping to find scissors and hair dye so that I could cut and color her hair. We also had discussed with the boys last night the possibility of dying their hair, so we searched for fun spray-on “guy acceptable” crazy colors too ;) Par hazard (by chance) we ran into a beauty supply store—perfect! We discussed many different hair color options for Anne with the lady who works there, and finally settled on a semi-permanent chocolate brown color. The scissors were unfortunately a no-go because they were super expensive, but we did find pink spray-on color for Clément and Gaël ;) We then ran back to Anne’s apartment, and because we only had limited time before we were going “tutoring” (more on that in a sec), we decided just to do a cut for now, and dye her hair the next time we were in the same place (possibly this weekend).

The reason we had to hurry is that we were heading over to a family from church’s house…the Rwandan family I wrote about “The Soldes” blog. Anne invited me to come with her to their regular meeting and I’m so glad I went. The kids are adorable. Gracier and Lilliane are the two oldest, and are just so quick. We ended up playing cards for most of the time, and any vocabulary we taught them at the beginning was already being used in completely sentences 10 minutes later. They obviously really want to learn, and definitely put forth the effort. Plus, they are just really sweet and fun to be with. Anne and I taught them Go Fish, and they taught us a Rwandan card game that’s a cross between Spades and Hearts. It was such a wonderful afternoon/evening…I really hope I get the chance to go back. Christine, the stepmom, came home awhile later and she is just a doll and was so welcoming. It warms my heart to meet such generous and cheerful people.

We left around 8 since they needed to eat, and headed over to Louis-Remi’s place—he was having a party that night, and though I was going to have to take the bus back home soon, I had just enough time to pop in and say hi to everyone. When it was time to go, Anne and Arnaud walked me to the station, and it was great to catch up with Arnaud who I hadn’t seen since the Christmas party…plus, he’s hilarious. Good times, good times.

The last part of tonight has been the longest and hardest in a good while. When I got home tonight I found out that a friend had passed away. Carol Taylor was the founder and director of the Prince William County Youth Orchestras, and died of pancreatic cancer just a couple hours ago. Right now, the only thing I can do is cry. This is truly such a great loss…to our orchestra community especially—everyone is so tight and I guarantee everyone has been inspired by Mrs. Taylor in some way. She was so kind, and truly cared about each person she met, and found a way to help them however she could. I can’t imagine what her family must be going through right now. It’s so hard to be here too…3000 miles away, and unable to talk to people. Wow. Okay, I think this is too much of a shock right now to even keep writing. Please when you read this, keep the Taylor family in your prayers…and praise God for giving Carol to us for as long as He did. Thank you.

Living it Up in Bourg (15/01/08)

2008-02-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

Today all of the elementary school assistants had another teacher workshop in Bourg en Bresse. It was great to see everyone again, and honestly that makes the day bearable. The session did start okay, because it was mostly administrative stuff (i.e. applying for a contract renewal [which I did], leaving the country early, etc.) and actually answered a lot of my questions. The rest of the day was very similar to the last few stages we’ve had—with them telling us all the things we’re doing wrong, what we’re supposed to be doing, asking for problems that have arisen, demonstrating an appropriate activity, eating lunch, and then hashing things out in more detail. It wouldn’t be so bad, it’s just that we’re being told all this 3-4 months into teaching…after we’ve already been doing all “incorrect” things for 3-4 months. It’s hard to just suddenly switch to a whole new format. For example, they told us we’re not supposed to be speaking French AT ALL. They were like “from the moment you say “bonjour” it’s all over.” Well great, now that we’ve all been speaking some French in class since day one. That would have been helpful before, but now, yes, the kids know we do speak French. Horrors. And we all commented that a lot of things they said to do, were just not possible with certain classes. Oh well. I’m sure I can work in a few of the suggestions…but it’s all trial and error so we’ll see what happens. Like I said though, it was cool though to catch up with everyone at lunch, and we really do have a great group of people—all very interesting and a definite mix of personalities.

After the workshop, there were some girls who had awhile before their trains, so 6 of us decided to go find a café and hot drinks since it was freezing and we all needed an energy boost. We managed to find an adorable patisserie that served hot drinks and pastries. Most of us got chocolat chaud which was the best ever—practically like drinking liquefied chocolate…very rich, but oohhhh so good. Anne had a big of an ordeal with her café au lait (coffee with milk)…hehehe…so, she doesn’t really like coffee all that much, but enjoys it with a lot of milk. So what was the problem? In some parts of France (or really it’s pretty idiosyncratic depending on the town or café even), “café au lait” means coffee with cream and not with milk. Anne proceeds to pour the coffee into the small pitcher of what she thought was milk…that turned out to be whole cream. Oh man, it was hilarious when she took a huge sip and realized what had happened ;) We then all proceeded to laugh for about 5 minutes straight. It’s the little things like that that keep life interesting.

Before coming to Bourg for the day, I’d made plans to stay the night and spend Wednesday with Anne. Soon we parted ways with the others because I was going to go back and chill at her place while she was babysitting. We got back, Anne grabbed her stuff and ran back out the door. I had the pleasure of hanging with Clément who was home for a bit and we got to catch up which was great! Then we both worked on a jigsaw puzzle he’d just started! Heaven. I think he was really surprised that I was so into jigsaw puzzles, and we had a bonding moment ;) Around 5, he left to go teach a class and I got some down time to catch up on the blog, and then talked with Gaël for awhile once he got home.

Before too long, everyone was back and we all quickly got ready to go……..dancing! Clément takes a ballroom dancing class where they do everything: swing, country line, salsa, cha-cha, waltz, etc. Apparently, you can have once lesson free to “try out” the class so Anne, Gaël, Louis-Rémi (another one of their friends), and I all were going to join in! I hadn’t gotten to do these types of dances for a long time, so I was beyond psyched. When we got there we waited for a huge hip-hop/jazz class to finish. The studios were actually huge and the hip-hop class looked like so much fun. Man I miss taking dance. Anyway, we eventually got into the room and the instructor warmed us up with some simple steps. The ages of the people there were varied…some of Clément’s friends in the class were in their final year of high school, and then there were also much older ladies and gents, probably in their 50s…plus all ages in between. Soon we got into the cha-cha. After that was waltz, and I danced with Clément who is an excellent dancer, though by the end of the waltz we were both a little lightheaded from spinning around the room so much ;) Towards the middle of the class we briefly switched instructors and did country line dancing!! To “Achy Breaky Heart”!! Amazingly awesome. Anne and I belted out the words as we danced ;) After that came salsa moves (which I loved), and then we practiced with everyone in the room (the two concentric circle thing where the inner circle of girls moves one to the right and dances with every guy). That was actually really fun, and you got to try moves with people of all different abilities and rhythms. I totally didn’t want the night to end!

On the way back, we taught the guys all the words to “Achy Breaky Heart,” and then all proceeded to sing it as loudly as possible through the deserted streets of Bourg. Back at their apartment we had a late dinner (courtesy of Clément’s grandfather—it was gooood), because by this point it was about 10:30pm and we were all hungry. It was so nice to just hang out with Anne and the guys…they are all so nice and friendly. What a blessing to have gotten to meet all of them. And I was excited that I would see them again on Friday for my birthday party (I sent out invitations and it looks like about 17 people are coming with 14 spending the night! Fun times!).

I think we’re all just going to crash now at this point…the boys have class in the morning, and I’m not feeling spectacular (I think partially sleep deprivation, partially too much excitement and running around). Plus, Anne and I have a super-cool day planned for tomorrow and I want to be awake for it ;) ‘Night!

The Soldes Continue (12/01/08)

2008-01-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

Remember how I thought the first day of the soldes was crazy? That was like a breezy stroll along the beach compared to today. Sophie and I drove into Lyon to face a day at the soldes. The drive there was fine and we got a chance to catch up. We knew something was up though when the line just to get into the parking garage at the Centre Commercial was like 20 minutes long. We finally found a parking space though and headed into the mall. Good gosh I have never seen that many people packed into a space like that! And it was funny, because it was a total sea of black…I’ve decided that no one in France wears coats (or anything else for that matter) of any color—it’s always black (it’s the same thing when I pass by the high school in the morning and all the students are waiting outside). Maybe they wear bright colors in private, but at least in public, it’s gotta be black. Anyway, we literally found ourselves pushing and being pushed trying to get through the crowds. We also kept losing each other as one of us would get stuck behind someone and the other would find an opening and jet through. It was impossible to talk while we walking to say the least ;)

Sophie needed a new ski jacket, so we first went to Go Sport and then to Decathalon, two of the huge Sports Authority-type stores. Finally we found a good deal and a coat that fit in Decathalon, and then decided we needed to get out of the mall. It was a lovely afternoon in Lyon, with the sun starting to fade, but still showing some blue sky. We walked towards the Rhône, and then across to the presqu’île. I thought well maybe since it was later in the afternoon, there wouldn’t be that many people out on Rue de la République, but NO. That prediction was definitely wrong. We both commented that it felt like we were back at the Fete des Lumières with everyone in the world. Even on this seemingly unassuming Saturday the street was absolutely packed to the limit, and it took us 20 minutes just to go a block. Crazy shoppers ;) Passing through Bellecour, Sophie had the brilliant suggestion of finding a Salon de Thé…we found a really adorable one and as it turns out it serves all these special coffees, teas, and hot chocolates—there were about 10 varieties of each! I settled on a white-chocolate hot chocolate, and Sophie tried their house blend of tea. It felt wonderful to sit down in the warmth and just sip our drinks. During our conversation, I found out that Sophie is an actress! She’s been part of different acting ensembles in the past, and now works with a group in Montreal La Cluse. I was intrigued, and we chatted theatre for awhile…awesome-ness. Her play is February 9th, so I’m hopefully going to make it!

After finishing our drinks, we took the metro back to Part Dieu because Sophie had to get back for a game night that night in Oyonnax. On the way back home in the car I learned more about her heritage (she’s actually part Vietnamese), and we discovered that we both want to travel South America. Also, we got into a really interesting conversation about the meaning of “friends.” I knew it had a different meaning in France, and you rarely call someone a “friend.” When I asked why, it’s because that word is reserved for only your closest, true-blue best buds. More of what we in the States would consider a “best friend.” As Sophie put it, a friend is someone who you can call at 4:30am with a problem, and they’re up and over to your place to help you out. I then explained that we use the word much more loosely, and typically most people you have more than a couple conversations with and you can tolerate reasonably well is your “friend”—someone who doesn’t wish you ill or harm. (and she gasped and said “that could be anyone!”.,..yupp, that’s why in the U.S. people say they have a “ton” of friends). I added that it’s also in part due to Americans’ need to converse quickly/move things along. It’s much shorter to say, “oh yeah, that was my friend Jen” rather than “that was a lady I met one time at a party who I then proceeded to have lunch with a few times.” In general, here they use “copins” (m) or “copines” (f) for people who aren’t your ami(e)s. However, you have to be careful as well because they can also mean girlfriend/boyfriend…yay for ambiguities ;) (because dating and foreign languages aren’t hard enough) . heh. Goodnight!

The Soldes (09/01/08)

2008-01-31T04:58:00.000-08:00

So Anne and I decided to do something just slightly crazy today…we decided to brave Lyon’s Centre Commercial on the first day of the Soldes. The soldes are twice yearly sales for all stores….sales in France are actually government regulated, and can only happen in the winter and summer. Stores basically can’t have sales at any other point during the year because the bigger stores could totally dominate the market—in other words, France cares about the small businessman, the mom and pop store, and the independents. From today, January 9th through February 16th, stores take anywhere from 20-70% their merchandise—this, ladies and gentlemen, is the time to buy…the time to wait for.,.the reason I have yet to buy boots and have had frozen feet for the past semester. But the time had come to have a little fun and do a little shopping ;)
I met Anne early in Bourg en Bresse and we took a train into Lyon. The ride was awesome. We got to catch up about our breaks and talk about the upcoming February vacation—I think she may come with me to Lourdes!! Per her questions, I explained some things about the rosary, the communion of saints, praying with the saints, and other Catholic beliefs and we talked a lot about faith and Christianity in general. Towards the end of the ride the man who had been sitting across from us started talking to us, and we of course explained why we were in France, and then both discovered we were off to the sales. Heh. I was beginning to get the feeling things were going to be slightly crowded. We wished each other luck and then Anne and I headed towards the Centre Commercial.

We both had similar shopping goals for the day which was good—winter coats and boots. Of course if we saw other things, that wasn’t a problem either ;) I think it was either in the first or second shoe store that I found my boots…just what I had been looking for—stretchy (Anne and I discussed the fact that we do not have skinny French legs that can fit into zip up boots), black, flat (the hills in Oyonnax would be impossible in high heels), and cute. Check check check, and check! Success! Once that was done, we headed off to Go Sport! To find coats. A word about the atmosphere—CRAZY. There were sooo many people and every single store was packed to the max. Fitting room lines and check-out lines were beyond help. Luckily, in Go Sport, there weren’t too too many people and we could actually “browse” rather than just “grab and go.” As it turns out, we got matching jackets…..awww, too fun. There were these great, warm, chocolate-brown hiking parkas that were originally 70 Euros, now marked down to 27! How can you not go in for a deal like that?? So we’ve decided we’ll have to find a time soon where we can wear them together and look like twins.

After that, we really didn’t have anything particular we were looking for, so I suggested stopping in Zara to see if we could find some good deals on cute tops. The madness had stretched to Zara and was enveloping the store. But! We did try on a bunch of things, and I managed to find two uber-cute tops…one of which I was going to wear for my birthday party. Oh yeah! So my birthday is coming up in a week or so, and Anne suggested that this would be the perfect time to have everyone come up to Oyonnax for the weekend. So, while waiting in the check-out line, we started planning “the party.” We figured out that pretty much everyone who’d probably come would have to spend the night since we didn’t think there were any buses that ran back to Bourg or Lyon late at night. That would require sleeping accommodation for everyone—it was sure going to be interesting to arrange everything ;)

By the time we’d essentially finished shopping, we were hun-gry. I had brought some lunch, but we bought a sandwich and then split everything 2 ways. It was cute…our own little picnic in the middle of the Centre Commercial. People just kept streaming all around us as we sat with dozens of other people on a tiered mini-amphitheatre—and we were lucky to get that spot. Right before we were about to leave and go elsewhere to eat, a whole group of guys got up and we nabbed the stair space. During lunch Anne told me about this family she’d met at her church in Bourg. The father is from Rwanda, and it’s taken him 2 years, but finally he’s gotten his kids to be able to join him in France. He had married a French woman, and now Anne was helping to tutor the kids in English. She said they were all so sweet and that she was having a really good time hanging out with them. It’s so encouraging to hear stories of service and humility!

It had finally stopped raining, so we took advantage of the nicer weather and hopped on the tram towards the presqu’île. We got out near my old apartment, and went for a walk along the riverfront, pausing at a pirate ship playground to take pictures with all of our bags…lol. We crossed the pedestrian bridge and headed down Rue de la République, encountering more shoppers, though it definitely was not as bad as the Centre Commercial. Although we didn’t shop anymore, it was still fun to window shop, especially as we went down Victor Hugo on our way to Perrache to catch the train. And as it turns out, our train back was cancelled. Lol. At this point it’s just becoming ridiculous. So, we waited around for awhile for the next train and got on, collapsing into the seats—shopping wears you out man. Then the train pulls into Part Dieu (where we’d come into the city), and who sits down across from us but the same guy from this morning! Talk about coincidences. Anne and I talked to him the whole way back to Bourg and we had a very nice conversation…although admittedly I was struggling to keep my eyes open. When we got back to Bourg I caught the bus back to Oyonnax and now I’ve got to go get started on lesson-planning….fun times ;) 'night!

Traveling Back to France (03/01/08)

2008-01-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

My first travel day started early because there was only one train sequence I could catch back to Geneva. Haris made me food and I packed a lunch and dinner to have on the train (I wouldn’t be getting into Geneva until about 9:30pm)—complete with Bosnian cookies and lots o’ chocolate…mmmm. Had a feeling it wouldn’t last too long. Haris of course came with me to the train and waited with me in the cabin until just a few minutes before it pulled away. It was such a sad moment when we finally did start moving. I figured I could get some sleep at that point. Hah. Wrong. There were two really loud obnoxious guys in the cabin (basically an enclosed little room with 4 seats facing 4 seats, a couple feet apart) who talked for almost 2 hours straight. And in German…so it’s not like I could even pretend to sleep but really be listening to the conversation ;) After they finally got off (I was on the 6 hour journey from Graz to Innsbruck), there was the following succession of people through my cabin: several couples (one man spoke French and a little English so I talked to him for a bit), a man hiding from his wife and kids (bizarre), and a couple singles. The scenery continued to be breathtaking as we passed by gorgeous rocky mountains, frozen waterfalls off steep cliffs, freshly fallen snow, cross country skiers, and several ski villages in full swing.

Unfortunately, for most of the voyage, I was still sad and actually pretty bored. I can’t really read on trains because I get dizzy, so that limited my activities to sleeping or staring out the window. Once it got dark though, it was just staring. I finally made it to Geneva, and checked into the hostel which was fine. There were two nice Korean girls in my room who were visiting Geneva for the weekend from Lausanne where they were at university. Not too eventful (thank goodness), and I ended up going to sleep at 10:30pm…felt soooo good.

Getting up in the morning, I actually had plenty of time till my train left, so I hung out at the hostel for awhile eating breakfast and watching the American news! It had been awhile. Finally I decided I might as well get to the train station early in case there was a problem. And of course there was one. Though nothing that could be solved by me being there early unfortunately. The train I was supposed to take, which would get me to Bellegarde in time to catch the bus to Brion and then to Oyonnax was cancelled. Great. The next train wasn’t until a half hour later, which, by the time it arrived in Bellegarde would be too late for me to make the bus. Grrrrahhhhhh. This is exactly why I do not want to be in Oyonnax ever again without a car. So, I take the train to Bellegarde and ask in the train station office when the next bus sequence is to Oyonnax…oh yeah, it’s just 5 hours later. No prob. Excellent. So I waited, and waited, and waited in this café next to the station (there’s really no where to go and hang out for 5 hours in Bellegarde, and especially with my bags it was going to be a hassle). I think I outlasted 4 or 5 huge groups of people all taking trains together. I’m just glad they didn’t kick me out ;) Eventually, I got on the bus. And we got to Brion late. So I missed the last bus to Oyonnax. France, you’re killin’ me here. Luckily, Yvon was home and was able to come pick me up—God bless him. We had a nice chat on the way back and I definitely consider myself very fortunate to have friends in the town. Getting back home, I dropped my bags, took and shower, and crashed. Whew.

Back to Graz (02/01/08)

2008-01-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

The three of us actually got going pretty early in the morning, as we had to try to boot shop one more time before Haris and I left ;) It wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but Austria was having huge sales and these were great boots in this one store, for not that much money. We got to the store and a tried on “the” boots plus several others all to no avail—sadness! So, we kept walking a little bit further into town, tried on more boots at a couple more stores—close, but no cigar. But, I was then even more determined to find the perfect pair once I returned to France ;) Heading back to Sabina’s place, we stopped a grocery store to buy things for lunch (finally things were open again), ate once we got home, and packed quickly because we had a train to catch. Sabina came with us to Sudbahnhof and we had an emotional goodbye. But, I think the chances look good for returning to Vienna for a bit this summer, and it’ll be great to see Sabina again at that point. The train ride back was really pretty, and this time there were beautiful rays of sunlight stretching across wide open snow-covered landscapes. Oh I love train rides!

Back in Graz around 5ish, we stopped at a market so I could buy the ingredients for an Italian gnocchi dish I would be preparing that evening. Getting back to Haris’s place was nice and we both relaxed and made dinner together. Even though we were both warm and cozy at this point, we did need to go back and climb the castle hill (Schlossberg) since we hadn’t done it the first day. Off we went, up the hill. The view of Graz from the top all lit up, was so serene and beautiful. Getting a chance to see the panorama of the city was definitely worth it. There was also a giant clock tower on the edge of the hill, a deep well that echoed (we had fun with that), the castle (which is now a restaurant, of course), and a cute gazebo at the very top. We totally pretended we were doing a dancing scene from a movie under the gazebo and couldn’t stop laughing—too much fun. Finally we made our descent and on the way back to the apartment stopped at a classy café and had huge mugs of hot chocolate…and just talked for an hour. I asked Haris how he started learning English (he only started learning it 2 years ago), and he told me how it all happened…long story short, if he hadn’t taken his professor’s advice to start this course 2 years before, we would never have met (we met through an English conversation group he and our friend Nermin started with our W&M group that was there this summer). We talked about growing up, and another long story short, had he not been the way he was with studying and academics and had not held certain values, he might not have ended up at that university where he ran into that professor, and we never would have met. I told him how the only reason I initially applied for Bosnia Project was because I happened to run into a friend who’d gone right as she was putting up a poster for an info session. Had I not run into her, I doubt I would have applied, and we never would have met. It’s almost as if it was planned….hmmm ;)

At the apartment I had to basically re-pack all my stuff to include all the new things I was bringing back with me. It was sad to be packing to go back to France. Not that France is a bad place, it’s just that I’d had such an amazing time and didn’t want it to end so soon. But Haris and I made the most of our last few hours together and I went to sleep very much content and happy. This trip, in combination with my parent’s visit, had been such a blessing from God and such an answer to prayer and I knew these past few weeks were there for a reason. Finally, I drifted off to sleep….

New Year’s Day (01/01/08)

2008-01-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

Sleeping in until noon on New Year’s Day was the most excellent decision ever….and sleeping a little bit longer and lounging around was great too. Especially because it was snowing outside—hooray! I simply adore watching snow fall. By the time we were getting up, Sabina srrived and we got ready to go to Schöbrunn castle. It’s this gorgeous mansion that belonged to the Hapsburgs…it’s set in the middle of acres of land, with gardens and fountains all around. We didn’t arrive until about 4pm as is was starting to be dusk again, though we got to see everything all lit up—including the Gloriette on the hill facing the castle. It initially looks like a decorative facade up on the hill, but it actually has depth to it. Our hike up the hill was icy but very pretty and seeing the orange glow of the lights on the Gloriette peeking through the shadowed trees was gorgeous. Once we got up to the top, it was snowing, and we could see all of Vienna. There was also quite a bit of snow, so we had a mini snowball fight (Sabina and I totally won)…hehe. Sabina soon got a call from Andrea who invited us back to her place for coffee and so we began our slippery descent back down to the bottom.

At Andrea’s apartment, she not only served us Bosnian coffee (!!! I was getting spoiled on this trip), but we ended up eating dinner there because there was still a lot of yummy food left over from the night before. And, I discovered that Andrea spoke a little English as well, and so I got to join in for part of the conversation. Another thing that was so nice about it all, was that we seriously spent like 2 hours there “having coffee”…quality time is obviously something very important in the culture, and both Sabina and Haris said it’s very normal just to sit and talk with people for long periods of time. I guess that’s the biggest parity I notice with American culture—we don’t take the time to just sit and “be” with one another. It’s usually like, oh, I have 20 minutes before I have to run off to my next meeting, want to grab a quick bite to eat? It makes me appreciate France that much more because 3-4 hours meals together are the norm and you don’t have to feel rushed.

On the way back to Sabina’s place, Haris and I decided to stay another night (originally we were going to go back to Graz in the evening). So, we went in search of an open grocery store so that we could buy food to make Sabina dinner as a thank-you. However, it was New Year’s, so no such luck :P Oh well, all the more reason to come back in the summer ;) Instead, we went out walking more in the city. There was hardly anyone out, so it was like we had the city to ourselves. Where there had previously been thousands the night before, there now was no one. So, Sabina and I spent quality time window-shopping on the designer street (with Haris tossing in his opinions from time to time), and also played a game trying to guess how much something actually cost (usually we were under by a couple hundred euros and gasped when we found out the real price). We also walked to Votivkirche, a cathedral we’d passed the night before on the way to the fireworks. Unfortunately it had closed a couple hours before we got there, so it got added to the list of things to see again in the summer. By this point though it was around 10pm and we were getting a little hungry….what do we see that’s open? McDonalds. Heh. Okay, no judging, but we went it and I had a cheeseburger, and it was goooood. You know when you haven’t had something in ages and then you do and it’s like 10x better because you haven’t had it in so long regardless of how it actually is? Yeah, well that was the feeling. Anyway, I was surprised, but it was Haris’s first time in a McDonalds, much less eating in one…apparently there are no McDonalds in Bosnia (they’re smart). So of course we took a picture. Back home around 2am, we crashed into bed. Another lovely day.

New Year’s Eve (31/12/07)

2008-01-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

After a late night, and the fact that Sabina and I are not quick to get going in the morning, we slept in a bit J No problem for me there. We did however manage to head out towards the center of Vienna in a timely fashion…after all, I had seen a pair of boots in a store the day before that I was dying to try on. Well, as it turns out, since it was New Year’s Eve everything was closed. But the street vendors and the amount of people outside in the city were far from few. We walked around Stephansplatz again, and this time went to see the National Theatre…which like every other building in Vienna is stunning. I convinced Sabina to buy this gorgeous pink scarf as we were heading down into the metro and then we got on the metro in the direction of this river. Now, in my defense I’d forgotten that the Danube River flows through Vienna. And, Haris and Sabina were calling it by a different name. So, for the longest time I had absolutely no idea why Haris was getting so darn excited about seeing it…I just thought he had a thing for rivers. Finally, I realized that we were indeed on “the” Danube River at which point I got very excited as well. Though honestly it was probably the grayest-foggyest-cloudiest-mistyest day ever and there wasn’t tooo much to see. The river was reflecting a dark gray color, though Sabina said it’s gorgeous in the summer and there are apparently all these stores and bars that open up along the banks—it’s quite the party in July. (Haris and I decided we simply must come back in July) We played around in the newly falling snow and took lots of pics by the Danube before leaving to explore more of the city.

Once we were back at Karlsplatz, we took a tram to Stadt Park (city park) and encountered a beautiful snowfall as we entered the giant gates. Then, just 5 minutes later….the clouds broke!! For the first time all weekend!! I actually saw blue sky and was quite excited. Then, we were trying to get someone to take all of our pictures with the golden Johann Strauss statue in the park, and ended up finding a French couple and I spoke to them for a bit and took their picture for them as well. As we walked through the park, dotted with more frozen ponds, the weather actually got quite pretty. Although it was getting to be dusk, the soft blue sky really added a nice touch to the end of the day. Our next stop was Jesuitenkirche (the University Church) which ended up being my favorite of all the ones I saw…spectacular, awesome, amazing, overwhelming (but in a good way), magnificent. Inspiring of wonder. Wow. From floor to ceiling it was covered in beautiful sculptures, large marble columns, paintings, intricate woodwork, and of course was still decorated for Christmas with a crèche and huge lighted trees. It was cool because just the altar was lit, illuminating a vibrant paintings and golden stars. I felt so small amidst all the beauty…and that felt so good.

So, the next church, Dominikanskirche was probably my least favorite (it was a time of extremes)...mostly I think due to the fact that the interior was mostly dark wood, there were hardly any lights on, no one was in there, and there were lots of shadowy, creepy places. Lol. We didn’t stay too long there ;)
We also had to get moving and get back to Sabina’s place in order to get ready for the New Year’s party we would be attending later that night. We were going to an apartment of one of her friends who’s from Zenica, but who she didn’t meet until she moved to Vienna. And not gonna lie, it was so much fun to “get ready” to go out…I realized how much I missed the wonderful time before a big dance at school where all the girls would be in and out of our room doing hair and makeup, trying on different accessories, and asking opinions. It was always a harried time, but also tons of fun. So even though this wasn’t quite like it, I felt like it harkened back to special memories I hold from W&M. Anyway, we later arrived at Andrea’s apartment and we could definitely hear the party as soon as we stepped off the elevator—Bosnian music was blaring from the room which made it easy to find ;) The party basically rocked. Even though I didn’t speak German or Bosnian, I still really got along with everyone very well, as dancing and having a good time transcends language boundaries. The girls who lived there had also made a ton of great food and the merriment continued for several hours. Haris also in talking to Andrea discovered they’d attended the same primary school in Zenica though hadn’t seen each other for 12 years! Small world. I also chatted with Edo, one of the guys who did speak English, and I think I said I would stop by his town in Bosnia this summer.

Around 11:15pm we started to get everyone moving because we needed to leave fairly soon in order to get o Stephansplatz before midnight. It automatically took everyone a little longer than normal, though eventually we got everyone outside—complete with champagne. The group then paraded towards the center, which was easier said than done because there were a gazillion people out in the streets—what an awesome atmosphere though! There was music, stages set up, people already toasting, drinking, dancing, and carousing….and it was packed. That made it slightly hard to move quickly, so Haris and I decided to make a run for it and see if we could make it to the fireworks on time. Totally didn’t happen, but that’s okay J We got “stuck” on the streets with the lighted chandeliers and could still see the fireworks going off in the sky. It felt wonderful to be amid thousands of people creating an electrifying energy, but to still feel like we were the only two people in the world at that moment. Magic. After awhile, we navigated our way through the crowds to meet up with the others in the group who had ironically made it to Stephansplatz before us. We proceeded to drink more, dance in the streets, and take a zillion pictures with Stephansdom ;) Plus, there was a massive group of very drunk, albeit fun, Italians who insisted on pictures with us and everyone else in the vicinity—très rigolo ;)

Eventually Haris and I decided to head back to Sabina’s apartment to spend time together while the rest of the group was going in search of some clubbing. But Sabina and another guy Nermin did walk us to the metro which was sweet. We said our goodbyes and collapsed into the seats in the car. Getting back and getting comfortable felt awesome, and I hadn’t realized how cold it was outside until we came back to the nice warm apartment ;) Then, the best part of the new year—we stayed up and talked until 6am…it was one of those conversations where you talk about anything and everything and don’t want it to end but know you should sleep at some point…lol. Plus, Haris had to get up at 6:30am to pray. I think going to bed at 6am was a wise choice. Heh. What a way to start off 2008!

A Chill Day (30/12/07)

2008-01-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

Despite the gray and cold weather, Sunday morning rocked. Haris came with me to St. Leopold’s Catholic Church for mass (just right down the road from Lara and Nečko’s place), and it was wonderful. I can’t describe the feeling of comfort I felt in that church, but it was wonderful. First of all, it was gorgeous (I have yet to find an ugly church in Vienna), especially with the glow of the lights and candles…the sculpted altar and chapels were awe-inspiring. The soft white and glistening gold details perfectly added to the quiet yet glorifying beauty. Then on top of that, it was the feast of the Holy Family, and although I couldn’t understand the readings or the homily since they were all in German, Haris explained what had been said afterwards. The priest had talked a lot about Joseph’s role in the whole thing and how he stepped up and listened to God’s call. Finally, the people there really got into mass. Most were smiling, everyone sang, and the atmosphere was welcoming. I guess it was a bit of a contrast to St. Leger in Oyonnax which often feels cold and empty...and maybe that’s me and not the community itself, so I’ll have to make a note to work on that. Anyway, Haris and I talked about the readings (I figured out which ones were read from what he was saying about them) and the whole deal behind the Feast day of the Holy Family…which then of course led into talking about how important family is to each of us. I think it opened a lot of doors in that sense and really sparked conversation.

Initially the plan was, once we got back and had breakfast, to go out and have Lara show us around Vienna. But honestly the weather was yucky (it had started to rain/snow and was still freezing, especially with the wind chill), and we were all having such a good time just hanging out, that we decided to stay in for a bit. And to be frank, it was great to finally have some downtime ;) They ordered pizza for lunch, we watched a movie (it was so sweet, they found one they had that was in French so that I could understand it as well), and then I spent a lot of time talking with Lara who is delightful. She’s so cute, and we’re relatively close in age (she’s only 27), and we connected on a lot of things. And she kept feeding me and serving me cappacino….lol. Eventually we coaxed Ajla to hang out with us and started snapping pictures of all of us. Ajla and I finally connected when I could show her my pictures on my camera and she got a big kick out of seeing herself on the screen (as well as pictures of my other friends) ;)

Soon though, Haris had heard from his friend Sabina, with whom we’d be staying for the next few days, and we needed to prepare to go and meet up with her. After some quick packing, we reluctantly said our goodbyes…it had truly been such a nice time with the family and they are such generous people. As I told Haris, he has great friends. We met Sabina at a nearby metro stop and headed across town to her apartment. She lives at the end of one of the metro lines in an area that is very quiet and tranquille. Her apartment was so nice, though it was amusing to see her giant wardrobe covered in sticky notes. Sabina is studying medicine and needs to prepare for a big exam in the spring…her sticky notes, which by the way were color coated and highlighted, were one way of studying—too cute! We ate more food (according to Haris, hospitality is huge in Bosnian culture, and I definitely experienced that this summer), I taught them how to play Texas Hold ‘Em poker (!!!), and then Haris and Sabina sang Bosnian songs long into the night….greatness :)

First Day in Vienna (29/12/07)

2008-01-26T09:11:00.002-08:00

We caught our train to Vienna around 9:30am, armed with burek and sirnica (meat and cheese pies his mom had also made us). The ride was fine and cozy, although we only had about 2 minutes of sunshine the whole time. Oh well, I guess that’s what I get for going to Austria in the winter ;) One of Haris’s father’s friends, who we’d be staying with the first couple days, Nečko picked us up at Sudbanhof and drove us towards the center of Vienna. We left our bags in the van and started exploring a bit. First though, the three of us popped into to a café for cappuccinos (perfect on such a cold day), and Haris and Nečko got to start catching up and sharing stories.

After that we were on our own for a bit though picked a place to meet up later. Our first stop was the imposing but beautiful Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral) which is smack dab in the middle of everything. It felt like the whole world was there that day. Funny thing that happened too…all throughout the city we’d seen men and women dressed up in neat luxuriously-looking capes and come to find out, they were trying to sell people tickets to Strauss concerts. How’d we find out? Well, one came up to me and started speaking…..French! Whaaa….?? I just slipped back into French no problem, but it was assez bizarre to be in Vienna, talking to Haris in English, hearing nothing but Italian and Chinese around me, and this guy comes up to me and starts talking in French. Could it have gotten any more international at that point? And what about German? Come to discover, he had heard Haris speaking in English but thought he was speaking with a French accent (Haris is Bosnian)…lol. It was cute. Though needless to say, he didn’t end up selling us tickets ;)

Inside Stephansdom was just as crazy as the outside, though it definitely was kind of a big deal—very ornate to say the least. After fighting our way back out, we continued to follow the flow through the streets, passing lots of horse-drawn carriages, big copper domed buildings, and New Year’s preparations along the way. On our walk to the public library building, we walked past another dozen or so churches, and walked down the “designer” street…it reminded me of Maximillianstrasse in Munich—all stores you can’t afford ;) But, regardless, it was lovely to look and dream (especially in front of Valentino). The library was in a spectacular building, and alongside was one of the UN missions on refugees or human rights (I think, correct me if I’m wrong). At this point though, I was frozen through, so Haris called Nečko and the plan was to meet in an hour.

In the meantime we listened to street performers, saw archaeological ruins of the city that were now below ground, browsed in H&M and Zara (of course), and viewed tons of statues of men on horses (generally).
By this point it had started to get dark and all the lights of the city were coming on—beautiful! Everything looked so elegant, what with chandeliers and draped curtains of light. We waited in the center of a square and soon were met by Lara, Nečko’s wife, who fortunately spoke a little English. She was super sweet and very bubbly and I was excited to go back and meet the rest of the family (they have a son and daughter). On the metro and tram rides back we also saw the giant Ferris Wheel of Vienna (the Prater), and it was just really neat to see all the detailed and regal buildings in passing. Vienna is such a pretty city!

Back at the apartment we all flopped down on the couch and enjoyed the warmth of being inside. We were introduced to their two adorable children Ajla and Izudin, who were definitely a little shy at first, but did keep peeking out of their room and venturing into the living room where we had congregated. Then, oh man, Lara served us Bosnian coffee!!! Then we ordered….čevapi!!! And ate salate!!! (cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil) Heaven. No joke. If you heard anything about my adventures in Bosnia this summer, you probably know that I fell in love with the coffee and the rest of the food….but especially čevapi. It was pretty much awesome (I mean, how often can you order out for čevapi in the U.S.? Umm, never). While the guys talked in Bosnian, Lara showed me a bunch of her pictures. Apparently it’s traditional to do this when you have a guest in your home that you like. It was really sweet and very cool to get to see pictures of where she grew up in Zenica, her wedding day, family vacations, etc. As we went along she also told me how she and Nečko met, as well as telling me about the wedding. And, I did feel welcome and honored that she would share all those personal memories with me. Very cool and very heartwarming.

We soon all admitted that we were exhausted (and had just spent the last 5 hours talking), and so began the process of blowing up the air mattress (which was massive and covered most of the living room floor). Haris and I talked for awhile before I headed to bed. I think one of the best things about the trip was getting to spend a lot of quality time together just talking and getting to know each other better. After I had left Bosnia, I still felt like there was a huge gap in our relationship because we hadn’t had too much time to really figure things or each other out. Now, the holes we beginning to close and things were feeling more complete and secure. Truly a blessing.

Tour of Graz (28/12/07)

2008-01-26T09:11:00.001-08:00

The next day I definitely took advantage of the opportunity to SLEEP IN. Oh my gosh it felt great. I was awoken by wonderful smells of food coming from the kitchen…Haris was making me breakfast, complete with homemade fried Bosnian bread, cheese, and tea. Looking out the back window of the apartment, it was unfortunately a very overcast day. But funny thing…Haris’s building borders a stadium, and we saw a whole team of men building a giant snow ramp on top of the stadium. There were 2 large cranes and several snow machines all in action while the rest of the people were constructing the ramps. Randomness anyone?

We left the house around noon to get out and see Graz. It was gray and cold, but sooo nice to see snow on the ground! First we stopped at one of the many public parks in Graz and then went to Karl-Franzens University where Haris studies. Apparently Graz is home to 40,000 students! That’s like double the entire size of Oyonnax. I had no idea it was such a big university center (as well as being the 2nd largest city in Austria). The rest of our day continued mostly as a church tour (sooo many Catholic churches in Graz, and all stunningly beautiful—I was in heaven), though we did hit the art museum (there’s a structure on top that looks the cross between a giant blob and suction cups—very cool), a man-made island, and….the Crocs store! The museum addition and the island were constructed for 2003 when Graz was named the European Capital of Culture. Also, as we were walking around, it was lovely to still get to experience all the lights and decorations that were up for Christmas (they were lacking in Oyonnax this year). The bustling of people and the many store and shops that were open were also a refreshing sight.

By about 4:30pm in the afternoon it was FREEZING and so we decided to climb the castle hill for views of the city on another day. Plus, since we were going to be traveling to Vienna the next day, I didn’t want to get too worn out just yet ;) Back at the apartment we made dinner and ate tons of Bosnian cookies and baklava that his mom and sister had made us (awww!)…yum. After that, it was time to crash since it would be an early morning in a few hours ;)

Traveling to Austria (27/12/07)

2008-01-24T03:54:00.001-08:00

Oh my, what a long day it has been. A beautiful one, mind you, but long with a capital “L.” My parents and I got up super-early this morning…as it turns out none of us had slept well because of all the noise outside on the streets—“we have sound-proof walls!” read the website… HA HA HA. So obviously, we were a bit tired, though had some time for breakfast before quickly getting to the train station. My train from Geneva to Zurich left before they needed to catch the bus to the airport, so we said our goodbyes and I ran to the track. I was already starting to get really nervous about the day because I had 5 transfers! And some with only 3 minutes in between! The train to Zurich was fine (albeit cloudy and kind of dismal), though it got super-packed towards the end and I had to wiggle my way through the massive amounts of people going on to the airport with their giant suitcases.

The next three legs of the journey (Sargans-Buchs-Feldkirch) were gorgeous—we hit blue skies, snow-capped mountains, and valleys covered in a blanket of white with cute little red farmhouses dotting the landscape. And, there were TONS of skiers. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many skiers all together in one place in my life. A bunch would get off at a stop, and then an equal number would pile back on. These were the trains I only had a couple minutes to transfer to, but luckily the tracks were right next to each other. Good planning, Switzerland. As we entered Austria towards Innsbruck, the mountains became even more dramatic, with steeper peaks, frozen waterfalls, and the setting sun.

Soon, I was on my 6-hour journey from Innsbruck to Graz (clear across to the other side of Austria) and met some interesting people along the way. The first was an Aussie who I’d actually remembered seeing earlier today on the trains! He ended up in my car and we started talking. He recounted stories of his travels and attempts to ski, and even one of his hostels that caught fire—quite amusing. After he got off at a stop to go skiing, the other lady that had been in our car and I attempted to communicate. She spoke no English, and I spoke zero German, but you know, we actually didn’t do too badly. With the help of maps, a lot of pointing and gesturing we managed to hold a conversation of sorts for quite awhile. It was very cool. At one point she popped out a box of chocolate to share with me, and when she found out I was going to Graz (and still had 4 hours on the train after she would be getting off), she insisted that I take the rest of the box. Awwwww. The final person I talked to (almost there!) was a student who was at a specialized school in Saltzburg learning how to design and make handbags and shoes. She was very nice and spoke some English, so we had a relaxed chat for the last little bit of the trip.

ENFIN (finally), I got to Graz! Oh yeah…and why was I going to Austria in the first place? To visit my boyfriend Haris who’s studying in Graz (we met this summer when I was in Bosnia). He met me right on the platform and picked me up and swung me around! It was cute ;) Unfortunately, by this point I was exhausted and not feeling too great, so we just took the tram back to his apartment, talked for awhile, and now I’m going to crash. (and probably update the rest of this blog when I’m back in France, so don’t be surprised if I switch to the past tense.) Goodnight!

Parents Visit (12/15/07—12/27/07)

2008-01-24T03:49:00.000-08:00

These past 10 days with my parents here have been just wonderful. It’s always so exciting for me to see them, and at the same time getting to share my life here with them. Because it’s really totally different. I feel sometimes that I lead two different lives—one at home and one here. And they don’t really intersect and are entities unto themselves. Which I think is one of the reasons I’m going to have such a hard time deciding what to do next year because it’s choosing between different worlds that are not better than each other. So we’ll see. But anyway, I digress. It’s been a crazy week, so I’ll start from the beginning…(well almost the beginning—by now you’ve read about their eventful arrival)

Monday—Anne Combier was so sweet and offered to take my parents to Annecy because I had to teach all day at L’Eglisette and my schedule is kind of weird there. Annecy is a well-known town, and one of the very very pretty places to visit in France. It’s a town built partly on canals that empty into the giant Lac d’Annecy (Lake Annecy). Then, right on the lake’s edge are the mountains—and we’re talking majestic show-stopping views, not just a few hills. So they went there and had a lovely day walking around and enjoying things at a leisurely pace.

Tuesday—Mom came with me to class in the afternoon for two of my classes at Pasteur Nord. My teachers were all very nice and welcoming and I think she enjoyed observing ;) It was great to have her there and my kids were all impressed that my mom from the U.S. was visiting me here in France. Plus, I got to share that part of life as well…I’ve now had about 5 years of various teaching experiences, without my parents ever really seeing me “in action”—I’m sure more things made sense now…lol. We ran into Annie (my landlady) coming out of school, and she invited all of us to come to tea on Thursday—looking forward to that!

Tonight we went out in search of a restaurant one of my principals recommended, though of course it was closed on Wednesdays (one thing I’ve come to accept as fact is that you never truly can figure out when things are open in France, so there’s no point in trying to devine a method). We had Alan come too, and we found a place open near the closed one, and as it was freezing and we didn’t want to walk around more, we popped in there. Dinner was absolutely lovely and we all had our fill of delicious food. And Alan was a great sport talking in English the whole time (he’s from Mexico and is here as a Spanish assistant), though he did mention at one point that he was translating from Spanish into French into English! He’s become so totally immersed in the French language here and hasn’t really had the opportunity to speak English that often…guess that means the living in France thing is working ;)

Wednesday—This morning, my day off, we headed out early to catch the bus to Lyon and see Barbara. (My parents had met her and Vincent when I was studying abroad there). We got in around 9:30am and shortly thereafter arrived at Barbara’s for coffee and conversation. It’s been wonderful to be relatively close to Lyon and to get to see her from time to time, and I know my parents were excited to see her. After coffee we headed out into the city and hit up the Christmas market and generally enjoyed the sunny weather while walking through the streets (MUCH less crowded than when I was there for the Fête de Lumières). Pretty soon though we were hungry so stopped and bought sandwiches on our way back to the bus station.

We caught our bus on time and kind of collapsed from tiredness (I can’t believe we’re already wearing out a bit! Lol). The ride back to Bourg en Bresse (where we would have to catch another bus to Oyonnax) was uneventful except towards the end. First, we traveled through what seemed like Narnia…everys single tree-branch-blade of grass was coated in an icy snow. The sky was hazy white, and even though it was the afternoon it was gloomy and getting dark. The second “eventful” thing was that we again almost missed the bus. The train station was still not in sight when we had 3 minutes to go to make the connection! But, very luckily they held the Oyonnax bus from leaving in order to wait for our bus…whew. That would have been ridiculous otherwise. But, we made it back! I think tonight will be a great night to eat in, and go to bed early…gotta go start cookin’!

Thursday—Today I managed to get both my mom and dad to come with me to school (after they moved into my apartment since the hotel is closed now through the holidays). They got to experience more Christmas, though today we focused on making paper snowflakes since I have my younger kids today. During the recess break, Didier, one of the teachers invited my parents to come for the coffee break. They got to meet all of the other teachers, and one in particular, who I don’t work with but who speaks English, and they all got to talking. He then asked me if my parents and I wouldn’t mind coming back later that afternoon and talking to his CM2 class. He thought it would be cool to have real live Americans come and talk with his class, answer questions, give them a chance to practice their English,etc. We said sure and made plans to return after lunch. When we came back we initially said we could stay for a half hour but very quickly an hour passed. We discussed everything from the geography of the U.S., to the elitist college system, to sports, to what children do after school. It was interesting, though I think some of the things may have been a bit over the kids heads or out of their range of interests ;) In any case though, it was a very pleasant afternoon.

Arriving back at the apartment, we got a little time to rest up for what was going to be an exciting evening. We had our tea date with Annie and co. at 5pm, and then dinner at Yvon and Anne’s house at 7:30pm. Tea was absolutely lovely. Annie, Gérard, and Blanche (Annie’s elderly mother) served a full spread in Blanche’s apartment complete with the fancy china and a delicious homemade apple tart. I played the role of translator during our time, and actually found that it wasn’t too hard…I found that switching back and forth came more easily than it ever had before. The hardest thing was remembering to translate and not get caught up in conversation in French. But other than that, the communication barriers came down and we spent a wonderful evening with them. Then, at the end, Annie and Gérard offered to take us this Saturday to Lac Genin (where I’d hiked earlier this semester) which I am very much looking forward to—I imagine it’s covered in snow by this point and it will be so neat to see the change.

Soon after tea, we came back here to get ready to meet Yvon who was going to pick us up for dinner. It was great to be back at Anne and Yvon’s house, and having had so many nice memories there already, it was another thing I could share with my parents. Sophie joined us as well for dinner which was great. And, after first mentioning the concept of the raclette machine to my parents 2 years ago, they finally got to experience its wonderful-ness ;) Raclette is a cheese that melts quickly and you pour it over meats, potatoes, and veggies…pretty much, it’s awesome. So that was cool. Anne drove us back and I’m about to crash into bed because it’s super-late. Luckily I don’t have to get up super-early tomorrow morning because my morning classes are canceled…more about that tomorrow night!

Friday—This whole week at Louis Armand has been “la semaine d’art”…basically, art week. Instead of intensive classes, the kids have been spending the week creating art projects. Doing that right before vacation is, in my opinion, genius. You’re essentially taking all that energy and anxiousness the children have for the holidays and are channeling it into creative outlets. Brillant. Anyway, so today I didn’t actually have to teach which was great. Mom and I went to the school though around 1:30pm for the students’ Christmas show. It was chaos for the first part getting all the kids in, seated, finding enough space for everyone, etc. so we kinda stayed out of the way. They finally got started around 2pm, and it was a really cute presentation. Some of the classes sang and others performed skits (I saw a totally different side to many of my students…some of the most timid come alive “on stage”). At the end, the principal came around and gave everyone Papillots (a chocolate candy specific to this region that comes out around the holidays)---mmmmm. Soon we were on our way home (much easier going downhill) and now we’re back just relaxing. Good times, good times.

Saturday—Today was so much fun! First, we went to the market, and then Annie and Gérard took us to Lac Genin, though before that drove us up the hill by l’Eglisette so that my parents could get a view of the whole city. Luckily, it’s been a beautiful day and you could see straight to the other side of the valley (some mornings it’s too foggy). Next, we hopped back in the car and wove our way through the forest and mountains to Lc Genin. By the time we got there, we were at about 900 meters in altitude. As we climbed, the snow got higher and higher which was exciting. We parked near the auberge and headed towards the lake through the beautiful almost crystal-like snow. Soon I heard “Maur-RA, Mau-RA” and as it turns out, two of my students were there with their dad! They were all suited up to play ice hockey and had goggles on, so I actually had no idea who they were, at first. Finally one of them took their goggles off and I figured out who I was talking to…lol. They went off to skate and we edged out carefully onto the ice. But then, my mom, who didn’t have traction on her boots slipped, fell, and hit her head, complete with a bloody gash. Very luckily it was just a superficial wound…however, after that we headed inside the auberge for coffee and warmth. It was lovely just to sit and watch all the ice skaters. I want a frozen lake at home!!(aha! That's what you can get me for Christmas...thanks)

Sunday—Most of today was spent at St-Leger (my church here). We went to mass this morning, came back, had lunch, and then around 2:30pm I had go back again to warm up for the orchestra concert later in the afternoon. They had totally changed the space, moving pews, adding carpet, constructing risers on the altar. It looked ready for a concert, which was good since this morning I’d had no idea how we were going to all fit! Getting everyone seated and ready for warm-ups took the normal amount of delay (no matter how often either of my conductors say “we’re going to start exactly at this time so you’d better be in your seats” we never start on time, and half the time it’s they who are late…lol). But eventually we got down to it, and then had about an hour till the concert started. The place began to fill up rapidly—I didn’t realize this was such a popular concert. And I guess too, with all the parents of all the children singing, and of al the rest of the performers, you could fill up 3 churches.

The concert went off without a hitch (despite the cold). My orchestra played two Vivaldi sonatas (and we even had soloists from the Lyon symphony come in for one of them!), and accompanied the children’s choir. Another children’s choir sang, as did the adult choir—both who were excellent. It was a really enjoyable afternoon and evening. After a light dinner, we watched Love Actually (quickly becoming my movie-to-watch-in-France-at-Christmas) which is simply adorable and was perfect for tonight.

Monday (Christmas Eve)—Although not out traditional Christmas Eve (usually I’m frantically wrapping presents and we’re getting ready to go to my aunt’s house for dinner), it has still been quite a lovely day (and relaxing too). As my Christmas present to my parents, I took them to lunch at this cute little Italian place near the center of town. It’s actually a gourmet shop filled with all Italian products, but at lunch also has a few tables set up for the select few (we’d tried to eat there last week but found out you definitely needed a reservation). And it was DELISH….oh my….and Italian aperitif, real salami/mortadella, homemade lasagna, fresh cheese, and to top it all off, free champagne. Happy sigh ;)

Tonight was also nice. We went to 10pm mass at St-Leger. It was actually packed (gasp and shock), the church was quietly lit with candles and a manger scene, and I saw dozens of people my age. The mass was okay…actually, I can’t describe it, but it just didn’t feel right for some reason. Slightly disappointing, but then again, when you’ve got Jesus there, all things turn to good.

I can’t believe tomorrow is Christmas!! Ding dong merrily on high…!

Tuesday (Christmas)—Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la! This beautiful Christmas morning started off with cinnamon and sugar brioche french toast (omg)…what a way to start the day. We then opened presents (and some of my friends had sent things in parent’s suitcases and so it was a nice treat to feel like they were there with me too), and relaxed for awhile. Around 3:30pm we headed over to Christelle’s apartment…she had invited us over for coffee and to meet her former roommate Megan (who’s also American). Well, when we walked in, it turns out it was definitely more of a large and celebratory gathering. Christelle’s whole family was there (mom, dad, and 3 brothers), along with Megan’s mom, sister, and grandmother. Soon, Annie (the Spanish teacher at the high school) joined us as well. And it wasn’t just coffee either. We feasted on cheese, bread, wine, chocolate, coffee, and ice cream Buches de Noel…mmmmm. It was a very lovely afternoon and really felt great to be part of such a merry gathering of people. Everyone was so nice and it really added such a sweet touch to the day.

Around 5:30pm we headed back to the apartment so that I could start cooking Christmas dinner. Usually my mom is the one who prepares Christmas dinner for the whole family, but this year, it was my turn and she got to relax. On the menu: Soupe à la potiron (pumpkin soup), Confit de Canard (duck) with braised shallots over potatoes, and a zucchini and red pepper salad. Maybe not your traditional American fare, but delicious nonetheless ;) And oof, I’m stuffed. What a wonderful day. Goodnight and rejoice—the savior is born!

Wednesday—This morning we woke up to snow! Even though snow still has a problem sticking to the roads in Oyonnax (it’s cold enough, so maybe it doesn’t stick just to spite me), it was still beautiful. We had ordered a taxi yesterday to pick us up so that we can go to the train station in just a bit. All the packing is finally complete (my parents are heading home tomorrow, and I’ll be heading to Austria). The plan is to leave for Geneva on the 1pm bus-bus-train sequence and spend the night there tonight…we’ll part ways in the morning. This has been quite the adventure and I’m anticipating it will be rather sad to come back to an empty place after break. So, I’m off to take advantage of the time we have left. Ciao!

Christmas at School (12/17/07—12/20/07)

2008-01-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

The cool thing about celebrating Christmas in my schools is, well, that I actually get to celebrate Christmas in my schools! Coming from uber PC Washington D.C. suburbs where the elementary schools now have “winter parties,” it was quite a surprise to walk in one day last week and see the CPs (the first graders) decorating a giant Christmas tree in the main lobby! The teachers explained to me that Christmas, while not celebrated by everyone in the country, is so much a part of the culture and tradition of France, that it’s normal to celebrate it in school…well, not so much of the religious part (this is a very laique country after all), but definitely things with Santa Claus (Pere Noel), trees, stockings, and other Christmas traditions.

Before this week I had asked all of my teachers if they wouldn’t mind me celebrating Christmas with the children and teaching traditions of an American Christmas…I was rather expecting them to be like, “um NO,” but they were actually really excited and were fine with me doing that. Man, if I tried that back home there’d probably be people hooting and hollering that I didn’t give equal time to all the other religious celebrations going on now (and honestly, I'm all about diversity and learning about other cultures, it's not that...it's the way we go about it--we give up everyone's personal traditions/history in favor of a general all-encompassing blandness). Anyway, so I was stoked. I have been wearing a Santa hat in all my classes this week (not a great week for my hair though mind you), we’ve learned about the milk and cookies you must leave for Santa if you want presents (they love this), have sung “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and learned the American sign language version, and with the younger kids we have gone hog-wild with making paper snowflakes. It has been so refreshing to see that something as simple as cutting varying shapes out of folded paper can elicit the most pure of “oohs and ahhs” when opened into a snowflake. I have also discovered that I really do have some very very creative students. It’s definitely been fun to go back and “be a kid again” this Christmas.

Parents Arrival and la Fête d’Hiver (15-12-07)

2008-01-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

After spending the night at Jane’s house in Geneva (very fun times as always), I headed to the airport early this morning to meet my parents in the arrivals hall. I had only been waiting a couple minutes when they walked out and they seemed in good spirits ;) tired, but doing okay. Since they were so quick getting out, we actually had a little while before our train left from Cornavin (the main train station), so we decided to chill in the airport since the train station is a much more unpleasant place to wait. But, eventually we took the shuttle train back to the station, got on our train, and headed out of Geneva with no problems.

The problems, of course were once we got to France…lol. We got to Bellegarde, waited for awhile in the station café, and got on our bus in plenty of time. And we waited. And the bus didn’t move. Soon it was 12 minutes past our scheduled departure time. We only had 10 minutes in between our next arrival and departure to make the next bus to Oyonnax from Brion. Shoot. So, I talked to the bus driver who was under the impression he wasn’t even supposed to leave for the next 20 minutes! He ran into the station and we finally figured out what had happened. Just on Wednesday the train system (SNCF) had changed all of their hours (why you would do this right before the holidays is beyond me), and he still had the old hours. Our tickets were correct, but he wasn't aware of the difference, and neither was the guy who was supposed to come out of the station and tell him it was time to leave. They both consulted with another lady who did have the correct times and yes we were supposed to leave 15 minutes ago. Fabulous. So, we sped off, with the drive thinking we would make it there just on time. Well, we did. Right on the dot. Only the bus to Oyonnax had left early. Gaahhhhhhhh.

Very luckily, I now know people with cars. I phoned Sophie, my other singing compatriot, and asked if she wouldn’t mind picking up my parents, myself, and our luggage. She arrived about 20 minutes later with her boyfriend Jean-Christophe in tow, and her car is one of those cute little French ones, so it was rather like a clown car trying to fit everyone (all 5 of us) and all the luggage (3 huge bags) in at the same time. But we did it! Jean-Christophe was such a sport and even held the big duffel bag on his lap the whole way back. When we hit town we soon realized that most of the roads were all blocked off in preparation for the Winter Festival which was just about to start. We made it to the hotel though where Sophie dropped us off. I got mom and dad situated and then ran home to put on tights, another pair of socks, and a grab a warmer scarf…oh yeah, forgot to mention…this was the coldest day of the year so far and it was FREEZING. At least the sun was shining, or else I think we’d all have been sunk ;) Before running out again, I grabbed a bottle of water, my camera, and ran to meet Sophie and Alan and my parents in the center of town to start singing!

Along the way, I ran into some pretty, let’s just say, “interesting” characters. Santa Claus= normal. Giant fish, creepy aliens playing their noses in a cape and on stilts=slightly abnormal. Giant things with fermented faces in bonnets and dresses=definitely not something you see everyday (to check out pictures, go to the “France Continues” album at http://picasaweb.google.com/mkdiri). There were dozens more of these characters running around, new age-y music everywhere, TONS of people (this is the first time I can ever say the streets of Oyonnax were crowded…I was so surprised I took a picture as I was descending the hill), moving bands (not quite “marching”), dancers, jugglers, fire throwers, and lots of revelry. But man, so weird. Weird in a good way, but still assez bizarre. I was the first one of the group to get there, but in waiting I ran into lots of my students and their parents, another Christophe and Sophie (ironic), and managed to get hugged by one of the large bonnet-clad things. Quite amusing .

Finally my parents, Sophie and Jean-Christophe, and Alan arrived and we got things set up right in the central pedestrian area. And then the loud music started. Lol. So we waited a bit, and opened with Amazing Grace which was definitely the right move. We even got people to stop and start to form a group around us. Cool! We tried other songs, but soon realized, it was impossible to hear us over the din of the nearby food stalls, all the people bustling around, and the music still banging off in the distance. (note: next time, bring a mic) We had varied success in making ourselves heard, but at all different points in the afternoon, we each had at least some of our students stop by…which was adorable. And, my parents got to meet 2 of my principals. And we drank a lot of vin chaud (hot mulled wine). It was fun ;) Eventually they went back to the hotel, and we got a request from Anne Combier (Yvon's wife) to come and sing in the smaller park where organizations had their stalls set up. Turned out to be a much better location, much quieter, and it got us moving which was good since it was still FREEZING. We stayed there for a little bit and then decided to call it a night and head to the nearest brasserie for hot chocolate—excellent decision on our parts, I must say.

Soon, I left to collect my parents and go get some dinner at Le Zola. It felt sooo good to sit down, and drink wine, and eat hot food, oh man. We really had a nice dinner, though we were definitely the only ones in the restaurant part of the pub until everyone showed up around 8:30pm. I talked to the owner for a long time though and he tried to convince us to try their specialties which included all kinds of organs and brains…not exactly the night to try and sell us sweetbreads ;) After a nice long talk and dessert, it was decided that it was definitely time for bed. The day has been long for me, and I can’t even imagine adding a 7 hour flight on top of that. I’m excited though to start letting them experience a slice of my life this week, though luckily we don’t have to get up too too early for church tomorrow! Let the festivities begin…!

Party Like It’s Already Noël (13-12-07)

2007-12-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

Right now, I can safely say that I’m exhausted. Last night was a BLAST. Last night ended this morning at 4:30…heh. Way back during our 2-day stage, Anne had mentioned that she and her flat mates were going to be having a Christmas party in Bourg en Bresse this week and would I like to come? I knew it would be kind of tight again to get back Friday morning to teach at Louis Armand…but at this point, getting out of the house and meeting people has been so great for my morale and has just been so much fun. I decided to go and deal with my tiredness later (maybe not the best move since my parents are arriving tomorrow and I’m heading to Geneva in just a bit). But I can honestly say I’m sooo glad I went. Anne was a sweetheart and met me at the train station and we walked backed to her place, talking in a mixture of French and English. I met both of her co-locs (co-locataires…basically co-renters) and got to see their apartment which is just adorable (plus they all have huge bedrooms). Soon, I got to do Anne’s hair and makeup for the party, while the boys made cookies (too cute!). Guests started arriving around 9:30ish and I got to meet a lot of really cool French people, plus several other assistants from Bourg.

After a bit, the vin chaud was flowing, laughter and chatter rang out in the apartment, and everyone was having a fantastic time. Since Clément and Gael (the roomies) go to a technical school, most of the guests they invited were from school and by virtue of the trade were mostly all guys. I ended up meeting a ton of nice French guys, and for some reason tonight felt very much at ease with my French. It was also cool to find out that most of them were learning English (a lot wanted to do their internships in Canada and England). They were very willing to practice their English, as well as helping me with my French. The evening proceeded without much of a language barrier which was fabulous. Also included in the evening was a gift exchange…everyone had purchased a 4 Euro or under gift, and then they were randomly chosen and passed out depending on who’s name was picked out of the hat. The rest of the evening you were supposed to try and figure out who had bought that gift. The exchange was highly entertaining, with people getting some pretty funky gifts (Anne got a mystery melon…go figure…lol). It was definitely another great way to interact and opened up whole new conversations.

A little later on, one of the rooms turned exclusively into a dancing room. When there were not too too many people left (this is around 1am), there was still me, a couple of other girls, and a bunch of the guys dancing the night away. They asked if I knew any cool American dances, and I proceeded to teach them the sprinkler, the car wash, the lawn mower, the shopping cart, the shower, and the swim….oh MAN it was HILARIOUS. Imagine 10 very good looking French guys all doing the sprinkler and then the shopping cart across a room. All the girls were in stiches. Pretty soon we all migrated to another one of the bedrooms were two of the guys had broken out their guitars and were jamming. At this point there were probably only about 14 of us left. But the last couple of hours were just awesome. The two playing were really really good and basically just improv-ed a bunch of blues-type melodies and harmonies and just sitting and listening was very relaxing (though we did request a couple songs to sing to since everyone was falling asleep). I also got to talk with more guys that I had only met earlier on in the evening, and as it turns out, they’re really cool as well (it was a night full of cool people). Everyone was getting really tired and kind of silly, and at one point, Christophe, Julien and I were pretending to be gangstas. Oh man ;)

You know it’s the mark of a good party when no one wants to leave, but at around 4am people started to realize they had class in the morning, etc, and decided to call it a night. I would be sleeping over at the apartment, though didn’t really get into bed till around 4:30am. I needed to be up at 6:30am in order to walk to the station and catch the early bus back to Oyonnax. Getting up ridiculously early after only a couple hours of sleep was very hard, but I made it on time, got back to Oyonnax, and taught my full day today at school. Although I kept spilling water all over the table at lunch, I think teaching still went well and now I have a moment to re-coup before heading off to Geneva to pick up my parents from the airport. Hopefully the next time I write I will have had sleep ;) enjoy the weekend!

The Children’s Choir of Oyonnax (12-12-07)

2007-12-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

Tonight was quite possibly the cutest thing ever. Even though I knew that we were preparing a couple Christmas carols in orchestra to accompany a children’s group, I had no idea that they would be joining us for rehearsal tonight. There were a bazillion small children running around upstairs when I arrived, and I soon realized that probably 75% of them were my students! So I got lots of excited “Mau-ra”s as I made my way into the theatre. And, in order to prove that teaching can occur anywhere, I made sure to ask all of them in English, how they were doing ;) It was really sweet…once they all filed into the seats, and before we began, I got a dozen waves every minute as more and more students realized I was sitting with the orchestra.

We started rehearsing, and they actually sound pretty good. I think in general, it’s adorable when little kids sing. And, from time to time, you would see some of the children mimicking the director and conducting themselves. They also split into voice parts for a couple of the songs which was impressive, considering that there were so many of them, and this was not even the official children’s choir (I believe it’s just volunteers from all of the primary schools in the area). It’s also neat to see your kids in a different context outside of the classroom, and you really get a chance to see another part of their personality that may not come through at school. In addition, one of the teachers I work with was joining in the musical effort, and playing the flute as a guest musician for these songs. He’s one of the teachers I just adore because he’s very patient with the kids and is comparatively laid back. I finally feel like I’m beginning to integrate into the community here in town, and I really enjoy knowing people wherever I go. Yay for music and it’s ability to bring people together!

Ecumenical Bible Study (11-12-07)

2007-12-23T14:43:00.000-08:00

So after going to the “bible study” at the church a few weeks ago, I was highly disappointed with the lack of discussion, the non-throwing around of possible interpretations, the taking of notes, and the general lack of vivacity. I had planned to ask Christelle if she wanted to do coffee sometime and just talk about the readings. Well, she, in a sense, beat me to that suggestion. She and some other teachers from the high school were putting together an ecumenical bible study, and she asked if I would like to join (heck yes was my subtext when I agreed). Tonight was our first meeting chez Luc. There was myself, Christelle, and three other teachers from the high school, Luc, Mathieu (oh la la), and another man’s name that I can’t remember at the moment. Most of the night was spent just generally chatting and trying to figure out how we were going to structure the group, what we would read, etc, etc. I definitely was not in top form and when they directly asked my opinion a couple times and I froze and forgot how to speak French. Other than being embarrassed, the rest of the evening was okay, and mostly I just listened. I think we finally settled on discussing the relationship between loving people and sharing the Truth with them, especially as it relates to teaching and out students. …needless to say I’m super excited to see where this goes. We’re also going to do a rotating thing between apartments (which means I need to buy enough mugs for everyone…lol), and I think people mentioned also inviting non-Christian colleagues and definitely working on outreach. Ooh man, this is hopefully going to be good. Please pray for us!

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring… (9-12-07)

2007-12-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Yeah so, just a quick note about the rain…it’s been pouring and windy for about a week now without reprieve. It’s actually ridiculous how much rain we’ve been having, though it does make for an interesting soundtrack to my evenings. Not so much fun though when I have to walk 25 minutes home from school, it’s 30 degrees, pouring, and so windy that my umbrella is on the verge of breaking. Boooo rain. However, I do need to address something absolutely awesome that happened this morning at church. So you know how’s it been raining all day and all night? Well, this morning heading to mass was no exception. It was very gloomy inside the church with not a lot of light coming through the stained glass. BUT—as the priest started the final prayers right before the Eucharist was given to the congregation, these bright and vibrant beams of sunlight stream through the windows and everyone there is illuminated in this warm yellow glow. Shortly after the celebration of the Eucharist added, the sun disappeared again and it started raining. For those few short moments though, it was like God was maybe smiling down on us…just maybe ;) Needless to say, it was a very cool moment.

Fête de Lumières (8-12-07)

2007-12-17T12:58:00.001-08:00

Right after “rehearsal” was over this morning I headed to Sophie’s apartment to meet her and Alan, and luckily she offered me coffee because after last night I definitely needed a jumpstart. We soon were off to pick up Sebastien who would also be joining us. Driving towards Lyon, it seemed as if the sky was clearing up a bit and the prospect that it might not rain for the Fête was exciting (more about the rain in the next blog entry). The ride their was fine, though even though I really like Sophie and Sebastien, it can be hard to understand them sometimes and I struggle to keep up with the conversation (Alan was also in the back though so we could chat in much slower French…lol). We parked way down at the Université Lyon I and took the tram into town. As we stopped along the way, more and more and more people kept getting on, and that should have been our clue as to how packed the city would be today. As it were, we found out soon enough heading towards Place Bellecour (so we could make a gift stop at FNAC). Holy Toledo rue de la République was PACKED. I’ve never seen so many people there in my life. And inside FNAC was not much better…I really feel like every single person in Lyon and their 5 cousins decided to all go shopping there at the same time. It was mayhem, though in one sense it was neat because there were people up and around and actually doing things (coming from Oyonnax, it was a shock to the system).

Sebastien and Sophie found the presents they were looking for and then I suggested we head down to the Christmas Marché by Perrache…ummm yeah, a normally 15 minute walk took about 35 minutes! We walked down rue Victor Hugo (another popular shopping street) along with 500 of our closest friends and inched step by step closer to the end (though it seemed like the sea of people and road went on forever). Finally we came to the market which was even more packed than rue de République or Victor Hugo—insanity, no lie. This was not my best idea ever. Just putting that out there. Because the rows of stands were so narrow, you were literally walking (though by walking I mean something akin to not moving) shoulder to shoulder, you weren’t able to stop at the stands—you just kept going with the flow of fish—and as a result, as soon as we could pull off for food we did. Luckily, a food station was right near the beginning and we joined the miles long line, though did eventually get our food…yay ;) It was very sweet too that Sophie and Sebastien treated Alan and me to dinner. Stepping out of the market rush to eat, we decided (reluctantly on Sebastien’s part) to once again head upstream and try to make it through the market. That was going to be impossible, so at the next turn towards the outside, Sophie and I exited, though in the process lost the boys. We got the group together again and went into Perrache to take the metro into Vieux Lyon to perhaps start seeing some lights (at this point it was getting dark and cold).

Oh my gosh, if I thought the streets were crowded…the metro was a whole other level of “crowded.” Fighting through the people, we pushed our way into the car (and managed to keep everyone together hooray!). Changing at Bellecour was “fun” too, though we did end up in Vieux Lyon after not too too long. We walked through the streets for a bit, stopping for vin chaud and pastry (of course), and then went to see if things had started at St-Jean. I had forgotten that today was actually the 8th of December, which is the official day of the Fête which is a festival of lights dedicated to Mary after she saved Lyon from the plague back in the day. So, I had also forgotten that on the 8th, there is a big procession of people with candles from St-Jean up the hill to Notre Dame de Fourvière for mass. We got to be in the square for the start of the procession! Way cool! There were dozens of priests, alter servers, a couple large crucifixes, men with torches, and a gazillion people with candles in the procession (anyone can join in), and it was so comforting to hear the rosary being said over loud speakers that were accompanying the processors. Even though we didn’t see any spectacles at St-Jean, to be there at the start of the journey to mass was very very awesome to see (and now I definitely need to come back so I can process the next time!).

Again pushing, shoving, and being pushed and shoved, we got out of the Place and walked down the Saône River in order to cross the bridge to the Presqu’île. At about that point it started raining—blahhhhhhhh. With umbrellas up, we decided to go to see what was happening in Place de Terreaux. What we saw there was quite interesting…interesting in the abstract “I have no idea what’s going on” sense. There was this giant stained glass-looking ball in the center of lights that kept changing color and moving around it/going up into the sky/etc. that was all set to “music”—sort of a weird slow techno, clocks ticking, water dripping, etc. After waiting around for something to happen, we realized we were going to be waiting for a long time if we expected a “big event.” We couldn’t figure it out, and left pretty confused. I compared it to Waiting for Godot…there’s the big event that everyone’s waiting for and expecting, that never comes. In between the repetition, there are smaller interesting distractions, though soon you’re back into the routine. It was a never-ending cycle, so, having the strength to do it, we broke the cycle, and unlike the characters in the play decided not to wait any longer for Godot (take that IB English…oh man I am such a nerd).

Our next couple stops were much cooler. At the square next to St. Nizer there was a cool light show in the trees, and as the lights and music changed, projections of different seasons on the church changed. They were quite detailed and quite pretty, and the music and sound effects added to the feel of the designs. Walking down Rue de la République again was challenging, though we made to another display (one that was like that toy that sits on your desk with the silver balls that are in perpetual motion), and finally made it back to Bellecour. In Bellecour they of course had the gi-normous ferris wheel, and also this fantastic purple, translucent, bubble around the center statue. The words “Only Lyon” and “I Love Lyon” were in purple neon signs on either side of the base of the statue…why they were in English, I’m not sure, but it was cool nonetheless ;) After crêpes with Nutella we made the move to start heading back to the car. By this point we were pretty much freezing and the rain earlier had not helped with the chill.

Back to Perrache we went to catch the tram. HA HA HA. We couldn’t even get down the stairs to get to the tram platform it was so packed with people! We waited in a mass of people almost up against a wrought iron gate that sooo felt like we were in the movie Titanic. Everyone around us agreed too ;) Finally we at least made it to the platform, though everyone was so squished that we couldn’t push through to get our tram (everyone it seems was taking the other tram) and watched it pull away 2 times without us! Lol. Sebastien however, being the jovial person that he is, managed to warm the crowd’s heart and people began parting so that we could make the next tram. Awhile later after riding the tram for what seemed like forever, we made it back to car and started home. Just walked in a bit ago, and it has never felt better to be back inside. Though, reflecting on this wonderful day has been a treat and I’m so glad that I got to rejoin the city to say “Merci Marie.” Now it’s off to bed, but be sure to check out the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/mkdiri !!

Chants de Noël and the Gypsy Rover (12/07/07—12/08/07)

2007-12-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

For our chants de Noël rehearsal, I offered to host and make dinner. I was excited because I love cooking and it always tends to be more special when you’re cooking for other people and not just yourself (Sophie had echoed similar sentiments on Monday). When Mary and I were in Bern we had met a really nice girl studying in Italy…she has also been taking cooking classes and gave us a couple recipes that she promised would be simple yet delicious. For our dinner I went with this special gnocci sauce that was a huge hit (onions, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes all sautéed in olive oil and chili flakes…add a little parma on top et voilà!). I should probably write to Jayme and thank her. Honestly, I was a little nervous because I was cooking for two people who come from amazing ethnic food backgrounds, though really, how can you go wrong with Italian? You can’t. After dinner and tea we started rehearsal and realized at about midnight that we should all probably get to bed ;) We did make plans to drive into Lyon Saturday around noon for the big lights festival…I was so super-excited because Fête de Lumières was one of my favorite memories from study abroad. Sophie left soon after, though Alan hung around for awhile longer and we sang and played and sang and played…mostly CCR, some Bob Dylan, and Stairway to Heaven. Really fun times!

This morning I was up fairly early to get down the Centre Culturelle for a meeting of the Irish Band. We weren’t going to be playing our instruments, but doing all the organizational stuff for the end of semester/start of next year. Although it took awhile for everyone to get there and get seated, we eventually started and kind of did a recap of the last semester and talked about concerts for next semester. It looks like we’ll be playing 5 shows, about which I’m thrilled—also including two St. Paddy’s Day concerts!! Plus, I signed up to go with the group to an Irish dancing workshop in March! We’ll be all staying together in a gîte, learning dances during the day, and then playing at night…I’m sooo looking forward to it, and I’m sure it’ll be a great opportunity to get to know people a little bit better. Once the business end of things was finished, Annie (the director) passed out the music we’d be playing next semester and one of the songs is on my list of all-time favorites—Whistling Gypsy (The Gypsy Rover). Annie then asked if I could start translating the songs…apparently they’d been playing all these great Irish songs (i.e. Whiskey in the Jar) and had no idea what they meant. I of course agreed, though did add the condition that I’d like the lyrics to things in advance since translating poetic traditional Irish lyrics was not going to be simple enough for me to do on the spot. I can’t wait to start figuring out how to translate the Gypsy Rover—it’ll definitely be a fun challenge ;)

Orchestra Rehearsal (5-12-07)

2007-12-13T08:26:00.001-08:00

Tonight was just my second rehearsal with the classical orchestra, but already it went better than last week (last week I was late because of the train coming back from Geneva, my cello was horribly out of tune, the A-string broke, I was sight-reading all the music, and had to play everything that was supposed to be on the A in a different position on another string….basically, my brain was on overload). I really really like the director, M. Salomez. He obviously know his stuff, but at the same time is jovial and fairly laid back…he’s fun. The first part of rehearsal though was with another director, who is also really cool, because apparently we’re playing a few Christmas songs with the children’s choir and with younger musicians. Those younger musicians joined us for this first part, and they’re so cute with their miniature versions of the instruments and they all have a look of determination on their faces while playing.

The last hour, we practiced our Vivaldi pieces (we’re doing the Concerto in C Major for 2 trumpets, and the Concerto in C Major for a bunch of other instruments) and I was the only cello that night so ended up having to be really on the ball…which is probably good for me. Unfortunately with the cello, I’ve never had too much motivation to practice (even though I love playing), so the fact that I had to be sharp tonight was just what I needed. And, I realized how much farther I still have go. Not having played at all in 4 years definitely shows, but at least I have a reference point from which to improve. I’ll be curious to see how I do next week. On verra. I’m off to lesson plan, so have a good night!

Les Chants de Noël Continue! (3-12-07)

2007-12-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, before I get into tonight, I have to make a comment about a delightful afternoon at school. With my oldest kids at 2 of my schools, we’re doing a pen-pal project with my old elementary school…Lake Ridge Elementary now teaches French, so their 5th graders are writing in French to my CM2 (essentially 5th grade), and my CM2 are practicing their English with them. The first thing we decided to do was to exchange “ID cards” that had the student’s picture and basic info on it. From the start, my kids were excited about the project, but today when I handed out their new pen pals’ ID cards you woulda thought it was Christmas. I placed the card face down on their desk until everyone had one and then said “go” when they were allowed to flip them over. You never heard so many excited squeals and frantic French as they all rushed to show each other their cards. It was adorable. Other funny things about the class:
--I had matched them up mostly by chance, though one girl in my class got pen pals that both noted that they liked gymnastics and she has specifically put that on her card—she was thrilled
--One of my boys got 2 pen pals and both happened to be girls—he was grinning from ear to ear
--Other boys that got matched up with girls couldn’t stop smiling and blushing the whole time
--I did pair up an American boy named Jonathan with my student who'd picked Jonathan for his American name in class and he sat in sheer amazement for several minutes
--they are all trying super-hard to make sure they pronounce their pen pal's name correctly
Basically, it was adorable, and totally made my afternoon and made the craziness of last week feel a lot less important. Sometimes I guess it takes the simple pleasures in life to make you stop and appreciate things just a little bit more. I just hope my Friday CM2 class has the same reaction! We shall see….

And, even though I was feeling less than stellar, I agreed to a vocal practice tonight for our chants de noel random performance. Sophie also offered to make dinner, and so really, how could I turn that down? The three of us went to Monoprix and bought ingredients for a tarte and crème chocolat for dessert (mmmmmm I love France). What was also cool was getting watch Sophie make the tarte and learn how to actually make something French…lol…so far in the apartment I’ve mostly been relying on Italian dishes ;) The tarte (ancienne mustard, onions, eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella, and herbs de province) took awhile to cook, so in the meantime we started singing. We’re really getting to a point where we’re more comfortable with each other, so Alan would randomly break out into a different song, we did our own rendition of House of the Rising Sun, and ended up going through Tears in Heaven. It had a very cool jam-session-type feel. Dinner was of course delicious (complete with endive and apple salad), and over tea we discussed the merits of red wine and port for your vocal chords. I think we’re going to each have a bottle handy next Saturday….coordinated wine-drinking ;) (kidding, kidding) Later (after dessert and tea) we actually rehearsed more, and Sophie came up with some really cool harmony parts for all the songs. So far we have about 5 songs, though I think we’re going to add more. I’m really lovin’ that we’re also crossing languages between songs and even between verses....as my orchestra director commented the other day, music is that great thing that transcends boundaries. Je suis d’accord!

Snow White (12/01/07-12/02/07)

2007-12-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

This past weekend has been very fun and exciting (despite a head cold). I got to go to Geneva to visit Jane and see her perform in a traditional English pantomime. A pantomime? You mean with the white-faced people who don’t talk? No. Not that. That’s what I initially thought too, but actually we’re confusing it with “mime.” Pantomime, according to wikipedia, has strong links with the Commedia dell’arte style of Italian theatre and in England was considered a form of low opera—lots of slapstick, role reversals, and vaudeville-type entertainment. The Geneva Amateur Operatic Society was performing “Snow White” and Jane was actually playing Prince Charming (one of the role reversals). Needless to say, I was intrigued.

I had to take the 6am bus out of Oyonnax, so by the time I got to Geneva I was a little bleary-eyed and tired, but a round of shopping soon woke me up ;) Jane needed tag-tree gifts, so we went to a big department store and hit up the toy section…oooooh, so much fun! Kind of makes you wish you could still legitimately buy and/or play with everything in there (or it at least made me wants kids so I could live vicariously through them). We soon settled on a remote-controlled car for a 10 yr. old boy, and a classy bead and jewelry-making set for an 11 yr. old girl. After that we headed back to her apartment and had a lovely lunch and got to catch up before we were off to her call for the matinee show. I picked up my ticket while she went off to get ready, and as I waited I soon realized that most of the audience was going to be children…there were girls arriving in Snow White dresses, princess costumes, and everyone else in various themed-garb (note to self: next time wear appropriate attire). But you know what the best part was? Everyone, including the parents was so darn cheery. The lobby was decorated for Christmas, everyone seemed to know other families and they were happily chatting away, cider and cookies were on the tables, kids were practically jumping around with excitement for the show. If every pre-show were like that I think there would be a lot more people excited about going to the theatre.

Soon the doors opened and I found my seat…we’d actually had a close call with that because the show was sold out, and then the lady happened to find 4 cancellations in the 8th row center! So in the end, I had a great view of everything. The play, was in fact, hilarious. Jane was a fabulous prince and the rest of the cast was delightful. Plus, all the songs sung were known popular hits—for example: It’s a Long Way to Tipperraree, My Endless Love, I Could Have Danced All Night, just to name a few. Hilarious. I’d forgotten how much fun it is, or can be, to watch a musical with an audience full of children. They really got into it, and would boo and hiss each time the wicked witch came out, they “helped” the actors figure out which way to go to look for Snow White, they tried to warn the prince that it was really the witch disguised as the old women (“it’s the witch! It’s the witch!”), and hooted and hollered when Dopey did something silly. They were over the moon when the actors came into the audience during some of the songs, and when at the beginning they were given the task of calling out “Handy Andy” (one of the characters’ names) anytime someone tried to steal a bouquet of roses he was giving to Snow White….and boy were they right on cue! It was really great. The cast even brought the kids down to the front to sing a song at the end and all the kids got into it. What a fun experience! I was talking with the man who played Snow White’s nurse (sooo funny in that role reversal) and we were saying how for theatre these days there is a tradition of “appreciation” and a play is “art” and you can’t get involved, you can’t touch it, there’s always that 4th wall—this was much more enjoyable and the kids’ decisions to call out certain things actually impacted the direction of the play. To know that you can have that kind of interaction with the theatrical world is a great lesson to learn.

After the play, and having dinner with the cast, I was beat. Jane still had another show that evening, so I was going to go back to her place for a bit and then come back and go out with the cast. Well, to get back was a journey in and of itself. That night there happened to be a big race in town with lots of festivities, so even though I followed Jane’s directions on how to use the transportation system, everything was off and there were lots of special accommodations made for the race. Needless to say, I got lost at one point…though, I eventually figured things out. But, by the time I got back to her apartment, I realized things had taken about and hour and a half so I would have had to leave an hour later to get back to the theatre in time. And, unfortunately, I was not feeling well, so rather than push it, I decided just to stay in for the night. All curled up on the couch in my PJs with the cat and a movie was just what the doctor ordered. I ended up going to bed by midnight and conked out right away…there’s nothing like being sick to help you sleep :)

This morning we got up fairly early to go with her parents to church. It was a lovely little Episcopal Church (and the service was in English!), and we happened to hit the youth service, so the music was all LifeTeen-type music…it was great!! The pastor was really nice and they seem to have a great, close-knit community there. The funny thing about the morning was that Jane, because she was resting her voice, didn’t talk at all. I “interpreted” somewhat for her, though mostly her dad just cracked jokes at her expense ;) So great. Once we got back home, Jane continued her regimen of voice therapy and I got my stuff ready to go for the train that afternoon. We had lunch together and then she needed to go to her call for the show this afternoon, so I got a little more downtime with a lot more tea (p.s. have you ever had red tea? It’s wonderful!). I also had a second lunch with her parents (delish—her mom is an excellent cook) and it was interesting to talk to them again because the last time we spoke I was just embarking on the journey to France….it was really a reflective conversation in that I kind of took stock of the last two months and got to explain where I was and where I am now. It’s been an interesting transition to say the least, but at the end of the day, things have gone well and I got to report a lot of good that has happened. Praise God for giving me a little perspective ;)

Taking the buses back to the station got me there in plenty of time (which, after the last couple of close calls was a huge relief), and I was on my way back to Oyonnax. Waiting in the rain at Brion to take a bus to Oyonnax was not fun at all, so coming back to the warm apartment felt great. Now I need to get going with lesson planning and see if I can’t start to beat this cold by going to bed early…germs be damned! Heh. G’night everyone!

Stage (Stah-ghze) in Bourg en Bresse (11/29/07-11/30/07)

2007-12-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

These last two days have been long and a little tiring, though occasionally thought-provoking. All of the primary English assistants were told that we had a stage (basically teacher in-service/workshop days) for 2 days in Bourg-en-Bresse. We were also told that at least one teacher from one of our schools was supposed to accompany us. Emmanuel, the principal at L’Eglisette had mentioned that Cécile (another teacher) was going for a stage too and so after talking with her, she offered to drive me so I didn’t have to take the bus (yay!). Naturally, I assumed she was the teacher that was supposed to accompany me. I soon found out though that she had no idea about that…when we got to Bourg and saw our stages were in the same room she was really surprised that they were happening together. Come to find out, all she had received was a notice saying that there were still spaces available for this one stage. We were a bit confused, but as it turns out, so was everyone else. Most other assistants arrived without a teacher, or with one teacher from each school, or didn’t even come at all, or etc etc…nobody it seems had gotten the same information. Lol. Then there was the lunch issue. Apparently when the teachers comes to these stages in Bourg, they sign up beforehand if they want lunch and extra plates in the cafeteria are prepared for them. Well, none of the assistants had gotten that memo so there was a big to-do about seeing if they could even accommodate us for lunch. And that was just to start off the day…

The first activity was actually my favorite and the most interesting. A teacher came in to teach us Russian, and so we were transported into the situation that most of our students face. She taught almost completely in Russian, though did give a few instructions in French. We first searched for objects under a cloth and each time we found something she would say the word in Russian and we repeated (Russian is hard!). After that was a series of listening to a certain dialogue, putting pictures of the story in order, sharing results with the others doing the activity, etc. It was quite funny to see everyone struggling together—teachers and assistants. Trying to remember and pronounce the phrases was also amusing. Starting out the session like this was good in that it put everyone on equal footing and did give us a lot of perspective into the problems or struggles our students might encounter in learning English. The long discussion afterwards was okay, and we basically broke down everything that happened step by step…took quite awhile to finally get through it and I realized how much was actually packed just into that one lesson. And, I also could visually see how much time they expected us to spend on listening comprehension versus speaking, versus other types of comprehension and production skills.

After that, the session before lunch devolved into long running commentary on the same topic. All the teachers and assistants were given a chance to air problems and/or ask questions about anything going on in the schools. Well, it wouldn’t have been so bad, except that the “moderators” weren’t really moderating, and basically everyone just kept repeating exactly the same thing over and over, which was the confusion over the actual role of the assistant. Those in charge there that day from the academic offices kept reiterating that the assistant is there to assist, not to plan the lessons and lead the class, which was news to all of us who have a 9-month contract are supposed to be doing just that. I started to see where the breakdown in communication was happening. Apparently, in the U.S. we’d been given specific instructions from the embassy info and other sources that if you had a 9-month contract, you were “the teacher.” In the other Anglophone countries they had not received this kind of instruction. Furthermore, the CIEP which is the French overhead organization that deals with us also had even written in a booklet that there was a distinct difference between 9-month and 7-month contracts and the assigned roles….it seems no one was aware of anything and everyone was confused. Bon. Alors….

Our lunch break was actually quite nice and when you eat at the “cafeteria” you still get a multi-course meal! (we had bread, salad, a main dish, cheese or yogurt, and dessert). There, the assistants actually got to talk to each other and it was so neat to catch up with everyone after 2 months of living in our respective towns. I met a super-sweet girl from Bourg en Bresse named Anne, and we’ve made plans to hang out later next week which will be great fun I’m sure.

The day ended with watching a cheesy video called “Kids in Britain” and then discussing what cultural lessons we could bring up just about the school day. While that was well intentioned, it was not what was working for the end of a long day…lol. Driving back with Cécile we did get to talk a little about my role in the classroom, though I think we’re both still unsure after the session this morning. I’m finding out that no one really seems to have a firm grasp on what it is I’m doing here, and I feel bad for maybe having stepped on toes or offended people by not going about things in the correct way or through the correct proceedings. This would be the time for all the académies, départements, and embassy representatives to get their story straight and for us to not be afraid to ask questions and understand the opposite point of view.

This morning was a blur because I was exhausted. I remember Cécile saying “Maura, Maura…we’re here…” at one point and then I drank coffee. Lol. Today there were even fewer assistants and teachers than yesterday, though a couple new assistants were added in. Most of the first part of the morning was again going through a practical lesson (learning objects in a house), though this time leading an English lesson with a French teacher teaching and “using” the assistant (basically “How to Use Your Assistant 101”)….and that would have been great, only almost none of the teachers from our schools speak English. Sooo, yeah. We went through the long explanation again afterwards and I’ll admit, I did pick up some tips on how to asses listening comprehension (I think I’ll try them out Monday and see how it goes). We then got into groups and discussed possible activities we could do just with a picture of the inside of a house that they gave us…this was actually a great brainstorming session (yesterday’s was more pointed and didn’t leave much room for bouncing ideas off people) and a lot of people were giving very creative answers. I feel like this jump-started the productivity of the day. From there we actually accomplished quite a bit and had some useful sessions.

Briefly we also talked about how we as English speakers could “intervene” in other areas. And there were a lot of neat ways we could do things in the arts, P.E., history, etc., only this should have been dealt with at the beginning. As it is now, everyone’s schedules are set and we’re not allowed to work more hours. So, an interesting concept, but “inutile” for our purposes. The one idea that is fairly practical and that I think a lot of the assistants are going to try will be to lead recess games in English. It’s a good thing I still remember tons of clapping and group games ;) During the last part of the day we had a big re-cap and a “how did everything go?” session and it was great to get a chance to really try to make pertinent and helpful suggestions for next time (we have another stage in January). The two ladies running everything are really nice and seemed open to ideas and constructive comments. The ride home was quiet but it gave me a chance to look at the sky and the mountains which were stunning. We had a beautiful bright yellow, orange, and pink sunset that reflected a purple light on the hills and just made for a beautiful end to the day :)

Les Chants de Noel (25-11-07)

2007-12-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

First, can I just say that it's now exactly one month until Christmas??! Soooooo excited!!!!!! Jingle bells, jingle bells....and a partridge in a pear tree to you and yours.

Awhile ago at Yvon’s house, Yvon and Anne encouraged Alan and I to go out into the streets and perform Christmas carols. We decided it would be really fun to do a guitar/voice duo closer to Christmas and hopefully make some money to donate to charity. At Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, I happened to find out that Sophie, one of the French teachers at the high school, likes to sing, so we invited her to join us for a rehearsal we were going to have today. I wasn’t sure if she would actually be interested, but when I texted out the time and place, she responded saying she would be there. I was excited!! And a bit nervous since we were going to sing everything in two parts, and while I can sing the harmony, it does take me awhile to be able to "coordinate" with the other person. So Sophie came over and I was still trying to get a hold of Alan who had not yet texted me back. Finally, I was able to reach him and he was not going to be able to make it for a couple hours. That meant we wouldn’t have the guitar, so I popped out my cello to start going over parts. It was a little awkward at first, because I still didn’t know Sophie that well and wasn’t sure what she was expecting us to do. I had pulled up “Angels We Have Heard on High” online for a vocal duet and we started working on that. Discovery one: Sophie has the most beautiful high bell-like soprano voice! It was just lovely to sing with her. Discovery two: Angels We Have Heard on High is actually a traditional French carol, so singing “Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes” (literally the angels in the countryside) made a lot more sense and the tune is slightly different but still beautiful. It took awhile to get the rhythm right with the new words, but when we finally got our voices combined it sounded wonderful…even if we only got it exactly right a couple of times, it was still very encouraging.

A little while later, Sophie asked me if I knew “Amazing Grace.” And that song, God bless it, metaphorically broke the ice completely. It’s weird because it’s always been one of my favorite songs, though within the last few months I’ve sung it more than I ever have. We taught it to our kids this summer in Bosnia on the day we celebrated July 4th (because it sings about other kinds of freedom, and is symbolic of the abolitionist movement), I sang it with a Bosnian Brother at a monastery we visited, it’s been stuck in my head ever since, and now here I was singing it in France. It seems to be the song that transcends boundaries. Anyway, we pulled it up and started singing. Sophie had only ever heard the original version, so I was able to introduce her to a gospel version that I knew. She loved it and we sang it over and over for the next hour or so. It was also cool to get to translate and explain what all the verses meant which really caused me to reflect even more deeply for a moment on the power of the message. So cool.

Eventually Sophie needed to head out and plan lessons (as did I), but I think this is the start of something wonderful. Alan actually arrived several minutes after Sophie had left, sans guitar…turns out that while he was tuning it before coming over he had broken a string! Thus, we basically just had a nice afternoon tea and chat rather than working more on the music, which was fine (my voice and energy level needed a rest!). It was good to catch up a bit and start to talk about logistics for singing in public…the main obstacle being that there are never too many people out in the streets of town…oh Oyonnax ;) I’m sure we’ll come up with something and we’re hoping Sophie has some ideas as well. We shall see. Now it’s time for me to hop on the lesson-planning boat so I’ll catch you later!

Thanksgiving in Oyonnax (24-11-07)

2007-12-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

For our own “Thanksgiving” today, Andrea, the other american assistant, hosted several people at her apartment for an afternoon meal. I got up early and started cooking…gotta have the stuffing (plus, a black-bottomed chocolate pie doesn’t hurt either). Just in time, I headed over to the apartment to finish cooking the stuffing in their oven. Everything looked lovely, and Andrea had even bought Turkey napkins when she was in the U.S. over Toussaint! A sophisticated candelabra completed the look of the table. Soon guests were arriving (Andrea had invited some of her colleagues from the high school) and the food was being presented to the table. We had everything from turkey to stuffing to mashed potatoes to green beans to pecan pie…I think for doing everything from a French store and kitchen, we made out pretty darn well. Plus, because Andrea had ordered 3 rotis de diande (the turkeys), the man at the market stand gave her sausage for free so we piled that on as well.

The meal was delicious and I only wish by that point I could have eaten more since everything was so good. We took a bit of rest before dessert (thank goodness) in which I tried to hand whisk up so homemade whipped cream…only, it was taking forever, and finally Sebastien came into the kitchen to see what I was doing. He and Emmanuel soon took over and went crazy on the cream—it was intense. Soon we had a kind of thick-soup consistency and decided to call it a day and more or less drizzle it over the chocolate pie. Oh well, it worked :) Even after dessert, everyone hung around for awhile longer, with Sebastien leaving around half past eight to go to another dinner…lol. The rest of us hung around and watched a movie in the apartment—it was great to sit and not have to move for a couple hours ;) When we eventually left it was about 11:30pm, so in all, the day has been about 10 hours and I’m definitely ready to drop. G’night all and Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wine, Art, and Good Times (23-11-07)

2007-12-04T01:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight was just lovely…I was invited to one of my colleague’s houses for dinner. I work with Odile’s class at Louis Armand, and hers is the class with which I spent the most time on the field trip a few weeks back, so we’ve had many opportunities to chat. Anyway, I was super-excited because this was the first time I’ve been invited over to one of my teachers’ houses (before it’s been teachers at the high school). Odile has a lovely house and after seeing every thing we headed into the kitchen where she was finishing up the dinner (which smelled wonderful)…we got on the topic of what Americans vs. French people traditionally eat for Christmas dinner, and I soon realized that a lot of my specialized food vocabulary was severely lacking. After several failed attempts at drawing squash and other Christmas dishes, we got out this massive English-French dictionary she has and had a good laugh once we realized what I had been trying to say all along. Soon, her husband Jean-Yves came home and we popped open an Alsacien white wine for an aperitif and settled on the couch in living room. Conversation was great, and I actually didn’t have too many problems understanding, though as I had told Odile before it’s much easier when you know the topic being discussed ;) We covered everything from our respective education systems, to the merits of cross-country skiing and disadvantages of downhill skiing (Odile and I have both had interesting tumbles down mountains), to places to visit in New York City—I was definitely very comfortabe, and was greatly enjoying the company and black pudding hors d’oeuvres (that took another trip to the dictionary to figure out…lol).

Dinner began and was simply delicious. We of course started off with an entrée (an appetizer) (cold trout and salad), and then the main meal featured a stew of sausage, kale, and potatoes (being a meat and potatoes kind of girl in this region works out well), with bread and wine. I had brought a Bordeaux for the meal, and soon I found out that Jean-Yves is a wine enthusiast so we had a great conversation about wine, which somehow lead us into politics, and eventually art. Over desset I discovered that both Odile and Jean-Yves love art, and Odile and I poured over a Camille Claudel book as she showed me her favorite sculptures. And though I had noticed several watercolors on the walls of the living room, I had not realized that they were Odile’s paintings. We had a great time walking from piece to piece and discussing them as I also got her impressions from when she painted them. Because most of them were of the pyrannees, she showed me their family album from their trip there—the trip must have been spectacular. The views in the pictures were just stunning and reminded me of how much more of France I still need to see (darn you Oyonnax and being so far away from everything!) . All in all, it was a wonderful evening, and I definitely felt myself relax as the night went on (the vocabulary and grammar worries melted away with the wine I think). It’s now time for bed though because I have to be up tomorrow and start cooking for…..Thanksgiving #2!!

Thanksgiving Chez Michelot (22-11-07)

2007-11-27T03:41:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, Barbara Michelot messaged me and said I was welcome to come to Lyon for their big student Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night. At first I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get there because of the strikes (grrrrr), but even with the altered bus/train schedules I managed to find a way there, though I’d have to leave the next morning at 6:30am to get back to Oyonnax in time to teach. I quickly arranged a place to stay with one of the other assistants in Lyon (thank you Mala!!) and soon after class was over for the day, I headed into Lyon. When I first got to the Part Dieu train station, I met up with Mala for a little bit and we had a lovely time chatting over café and half-jokingly lamenting the "woes" of teaching.

Soon though I hopped on the tram towards Barbara’s. I got there a little early, but it was nice to just sit in the kitchen with her and her son Martin, sipping wine, talking, and enjoying the smells of everything cooking. The students began arriving about an hour later and the bustle of a holiday dinner began. More and more people streamed in, each with a dish to share. Quickly, the serving table filled up with stuffing, turkey (Barbara had prepared 3!), salads, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, cornbread, etc, etc….it was quite beautiful and there was definitely more food there than you could ever eat (though I tried, rest assured). It was so neat to be back there for the second time for Thanksgiving and to celebrate the holiday in style. Plus, I got to catch up with Laura, who had been in my classes at W&M, Megan, who Mary and I had met in Bern, and Natalie, another Lyon assistant. And, I got a chance to meet a whole slew of other really nice people. It was a very merry evening with lots of laughter and stories and of course wonderful desserts ;) I am definitely thankful for everything!!

Eventually I said goodnight and took the Metro to meet Mala. Through the pouring rain we walked to her place, which is actually a really cute house that she shares with 3 other frenchies, a dog (who’s adorable), and a cat. She got me all set up on the couch and I got to bed around 1am, planning to get up at 5am in order to get to the metro to get to Part Dieu. It was a good 4 hours of sleep ;) It was still pouring when I woke up the next morning which made things fairly cold and dismal, but I got to the train station in plenty of time (unlike the last time, thank goodness) and then went in search of the bus station. Turns out it’s behind the train station, and to get to it I had to literally wade through a river that was running across the only access street (I felt like I was back in Williamsburg). Regardless, I got to the stop and just had to wait like a half hour and then got on the nice warm bus and passed out from a satisfied exhaustion. Luckily, none of the routes back to Oyonnax had been cancelled that morning, so I got back to town right on schedule, and had just enough to go back home, drop my stuff, and head off to school…to celebrate more Thanksgiving ;)

Thanksgiving at School (11/19/07-11/23/07)

2007-11-27T02:47:00.000-08:00

Celebrating an American Thanksgiving with my kids at school has just been a blast! Most of them had never heard of it (many thought it was Christmas), though a few students guessed that it was a holiday when I wrote “Happy Thanksgiving” on the board. It was really neat to introduce something that is uniquely based in North America and tells a bit about our own history. After establishing that it was indeed a holiday, it took a little explaining to finally describe what it meant to “give thanks” and all the implications behind that. But, we got there, and then I proceeded to tell the story of Thanksgiving with cartoon drawings I’d made up that covered four major aspects. It was kind of funny afterwards to quiz them on comprehension (even though I’d done most of it in French and really emphasized the things I was going to ask them about later) especially when I asked why the pilgrims left England in the first place (“to discover America?” “because it was cold in England?” lol). After the story I passed out a “recipe for Thanksgiving” on which I had drawn traditional food that we eat on Thanksgiving, with the English word underneath, and had them try to guess what each thing was…again, it was hilarious to hear some of the guesses and they had a great time trying to figure out what each thing was.

At this point, depending on the age level, we either talked about things we were thankful for or made hand turkeys (where you trace your hand and it becomes the head and feathers of a turkey…you know you always enjoyed making hand turkeys in school). With a couple of my classes, I was really impressed with the deepness level of some of the things they were thankful for (one boy said he was thankful for justice and no racism). Also, with my hand turkey classes some kids went to town and added hair, jewelry, shoes, etc. and really came up with some creative turkeys ;) it was cute. Our final activity was my favorite since it included trying…..stuffing! When I went to the Commissary in Wiesbaden I bought lots of Stove Top Cornbread stuffing and it turned out to be a big hit in class. Oddly enough too, save for 2 classes out of 14, there were always exactly 14 people in the class who liked it when we took a poll…it was a little strange. But yeah, so it seemed to be a successful “dégustation.” Basically thanksgiving week rocked.

Le Conférence de Musique (21-11-07)

2007-11-27T02:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my « I am such a William and Mary Student » moment…I had heard from Annie (the Irish Group director) that there would be a music conference tonight based on the evolution of Baroque music, including a performance of some Bach pieces at the end (with many members of the classical orchestra playing). I thought it would really be good to go even though I had no idea what actually would be discussed (and I wasn’t sure if I would understand any of it). But actually it was quite fun because it was rather intellectual and of course featured classical music. The cello professor was the one giving the presentation and he basically took us through he early start of the baroque movement, the evolution of the instruments (even showing us the different templates used and styles manifested) and then transitioned into Bach. What was cool, other than the fact that I understood probably 95% of things (yesss!), was that he really broke down one of Bach’s fugues and gave what he called “insider secrets” to the piece and its structure. As he was doing this, he had members of the orchestra play the different parts so one could hear what he was describing. It was really kind of cool because even though I’ve played music for many years, I’ve never taken a class that literally lays everything out for you. So it was actually very interesting and the fact that I learned something and got to be a “student” again was great. Plus, before the conference started I started talking to one of the ladies who’s in the Irish group and she’s really nice, and now I know at least one person ;) All this to say I’m now even more excited to get involved in the music community here!

Cyrano (20-11-07)

2007-11-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my first experience with le théâtre in France since I’ve been back here. Having bought our tickets awhile ago, Steffi, Andrea, and I went to the Centre Culturelle to see the production of “Cyrano” starring Jacques Weber who apparently is a very famous actor and thus the entire town showed up and packed into the theatre. I really couldn’t believe it! Every seat in this huge theatre was full, along with extra chairs placed in the balcony for overflow. But, as I found out, productions like this with big name actors rarely come to Oyonnax, so this was quite the big deal. The play was based on Cyrano de Bergerac and I have to say, overall it was pretty good, though Jacques was definitely a scene-stealer ;) Surprisingly I think I understood most of it, and of course it helped to have studied the play beforehand (yay Pre-IB English 10!)…the director did some interesting things with a giant screen in the middle of the stage, having the actors read letters to start off each act, and having the ensemble of 3 actors play multiple roles to create a world based on the play but occurring simultaneously with the world of the play itself. The set design was kind of “eh”, though the lighting designer did have some really cool effects in there towards the end that created really interesting lines and “streets” on the stage, and this one cool flash of light combined with the screen flying up to reveal death. Oooh dear, I just re-read what I wrote and I feel like I’m starting to write a critique for theatre class…lol…I loved all my classes at W&M, but I definitely can’t look at plays anymore without looking through a critical lens. Oh well, it was definitely more interesting to analyze things and engage myself that way rather than just sitting there and trying figure out what the actors were saying in French ;)

The Week After Vacation (11/11/07-11/19/07)

2007-11-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

The week after vacation was interesting for several reasons…one, I went hiking in the snow, two, France began massive transportation strikes (grrrrrrrr…and I thought it was hard to get out of Oyonnax before!), three, I discovered 2 orchestras to join in Oyonnax, and four, Russ came to visit (remember the Aussie we met in Munich?) for a couple days and got stranded here because of the strikes. I’ve concluded that life here may be boring and not busy from time to time, but it is never dull.

The hike was interesting. I got a call from Jean-Robert early Sunday morning asking if I’d like to go on a hike with him and some friends. I said sure, assuming it’d be a pretty, grassy, mountain-y hike. Heh…no Maura. The place where we went hiking was much further up in the Jura and at a much higher altitude which all equals SNOW. I had to borrow hiking shoes and a weather-proof coat, but soon we were off. And almost immediately my shoes were soaked through since the snow was just soft and melt-y enough that you sunk into it instead of walking on top of it. I was definitely freezing for the first part, but by about 20-30 minutes in I was surprised at how much I warmed up—a very good thing. I think I also need to work on being a faster hiker…it was hard to keep up with the group, though it was nice when one lady Françoise slowed down a bit at different parts during the hike and we talked for awhile. Halfway through (about 1 hour in) Jean-Robert had us stop at a farm house wall claiming he had a surprise for all of us. Turns out he’d baked a fresh apple cake that morning and packed with it a huge thermos of tea…so standing there in the freezing cold, while it’s sleeting, in the middle of nowhere we had cake and tea—it was wonderful. As I start to look back on all the experiences I’ve had so far, I realize that it’s the little things like that which have really started to turn this into a life rather than just a visit. Very cool. By the time we got back down to the car though I was exhausted and had huge blisters on my heels—way to ruin the last hour of the hike feet, good job. However, getting back in a warm car has never felt so good, and getting to shower and curl up in blankets back at home made me that much more thankful. A good day.

So yeah, now the strikes: I was wondering when they were going to happen, and was surprised they happened this late in the fall. And, per usual they were fairly annoying. More so because Russ (who texted me 2 hours before he was going to arrive and was like “hey, I’ll be coming to see you!”…lol…people usually never follow through when you invite them to come visit) got stuck here in Oyonnax. The week was therefore completely different because suddenly there was this other person in the apartment all the time (there is very little for tourists to do in Oyonnax). And just as I was getting used to living alone (oh the irony)! I’m sure I was more than a little OCD about things because I had to re-learn how to share, and how to accept other people’s ways of doing things ;) But, I was also at school teaching that week, so Russ was pretty much on his own and found that lounging around and then shopping for candy suited his fancy quite well. We did go to Le Zola (the nicer pub in town) one night with Andrea, Steffi, and Sebastien which was a lot of fun, and then hit up the Museum of the Hair Comb (yes, I know…) towards the middle of the week. Plus, I have to say cooking became a lot more fun when I wasn’t making things just for me so we did have some pretty fantastic meals (confit de canard, savory crêpes, etc.). Several attempts failed though to help Russ get to Geneva (he would be catching a flight from there), and days turned into a week. Finally, we got him on a bus at 6am one morning and as far as I know he is now having a fabulous time in Rome.

Oh!—and orchestra news! Well, before Toussaint vacation I had gone to the Centre Culturelle to inquire about theater classes and found out we have a music conservatory at the Centre...I talked to the assistant director who said it would be great to stop by rehearsals for a couple of the groups and check them out. Although I didn’t get a chance before vacation, once I got back I went into the office and happened to run into the head of the string department, who is also the director of the Irish Music Ensemble and she totally sold me on it. I arranged to go to rehearsal Saturday morning. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is nothing better than waking up on Saturday morning, sitting in a comfortable theatre chair and listening to Irish music…man it was wonderful! (and the director was super-psyched when she found out I’m actually of Irish heritage) The next Monday after seeing Russ off (and after teaching for the day), I went and enrolled in the conservatory—it’s great because it’s one flat tuition fee for the year and you can be a part of as many groups as you want. I also was able to come back later and rent a cello and though it took several steps, I did get to meet the cello prof (who also plays in the classical orchestra) and the conservatory director. Everyone was so nice and welcoming and I’m really excited to get started with everything. Wish me luck since I haven’t picked up a cello in about a year ;)

Chez Lohmer (11/1/07-11/6/07)

2007-11-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Finally that night, after taking another train out from Frankfort to Wiesbaden, we were met at the train station by Ana and her dad. It was so wonderful to see them!! We made a quick stop at the base so that Mr. Lohmer could get petrol for the car, and we actually had to wait outside the gates! If you don’t have an ID, you’re not allowed in. Ana said things have changed there since 9-11. Soon though we were back at the Lohmer’s house where her mom had a roast and salad waiting for us for dinner (so nice)…we ate with her dad who’s really fun and we had a great time catching up on all the gossip everyone’d heard over the past few months since we left school. Her mom also had made us Halloween goody bags and we looked out back to see the Jack-o-lanterns that they had carved…and at that point I lost it…just seeing something so familiar, so American, and so family-oriented really struck a chord and I was bawling. However, eating lots and lots of the leftover candy helped and soon I was in a much happier mood (yay chocolate!).

The next morning after a bit of a lie-in and a pancake breakfast, Mary, Ana, and I left to visit the town of Rüdesheim, located on the Rhine River. Our first stop was the park along the river and immediately I felt the urge to toss a bunch of leaves in the air. We thought it would be such a cool picture if we could get us throwing leaves…after about 10 minutes of trying, I think we got 2 or so that turned out ;) Walking into town and seeing some of the streets was delightful because the town was so cute!! Plus, we got to go into a Christmas store, and when we came out we ran into street musicians (an accordion and a tuba) playing traditional tunes while some tipsy couples were singing and dancing in the street—it was great. We then headed up into the vineyards in the hills which were quite stunning with their bright fall colors, even under a gray sky. The vineyards were a perfect stop on our way back to the center of town for the new wine festival going on that evening! The Federwiesen (new wine) that had come in from the region was actually very good…it was a smooth, fruity white wine, without a strong alcohol taste (I didn’t feel it till I stood up…lol). By that point we were rather chilled and hungry, so we found a lovely restaurant with outdoor heaters—we were able to sit outside in the garden-like atmosphere and still feel cozy. Mary and I both tried weiner schnitzel which I have to say was excellent. Over the course of 2 hours we had a lovely conversation, we still couldn’t seem to order tap water in German, and I got hit on by a really hot, albeit drunk, German guy in leiderhosen who just came over and plopped down in one of extra chairs and started talking to me in German ;) The ride home turned into a Sound of Music sing-a-long upon discovering Mary had been on the SOM tour in Austria, and we decided we needed to watch it…I think we got through a half hour once we got back and then collapsed in bed from sheer exhaustion (the good kind though, when you know everything is going to be okay).

Our adventure the next day was seeing Worms (pronounced “Verms”) with the promise of rockclimbing in the afternoon. Scott, Ana’s boyfriend joined us, as did her dad and soon were we off to the church that tried Martin Luther for heresy (remember the Diet of Worms?). We started in the cathedral which was built in the 1200s…Scott and I pretended we were in the Da Vinci Code and tried to decipher Latin and German written on the walls (we were close!) while Ana and Mary reminisced about their art history class. The inside of the cathedral was beautiful with lots of relief sculptures, a creepy crypt, gorgeous modern stained glass in a chapel, and a very ornate altar. Outside the cathedral was a cute market selling hand-made jewelry, scarves, truffles, wood carvings, and different confitures (we didn’t quite know what kinds they were, but whatever, they were good)…so, we explored for a little bit and then went to see the Martin Luther statue in the park, which was surrounded by scaffolding that made it look like a rock concert... “Now presenting those fabulous reformers, the Martin Luther Band! One night only, folks.” Our last stop before leaving Worms was the Jewish cemetery…tons of uneven gravestones covered in moss blanketed the cemetery. It gave off a bit of an eerie feeling, though at the same time was very peaceful with the big overgrown trees, bright yellow leaves, and light breeze blowing through it.

Later that day we drove to Felsenmeer (a UNESCO site) to go rock-climbing. And when I say rock-climbing, I mean, literally climbing up and over huge rocks (none of that descending from cliffs thing for us!). These giant rocks had fallen into position thousands (maybe millions?) of years ago with the movement of the tectonic plates…it was so neat to climb over these massive formations, and then to look back down the hill at the sea of rocks. Even though it had been raining and was still misty, we found a pretty covered area and opened up the picnic…and quite a full spread I must say with meats, cheeses, tomatoes, a baguette, soda, chips, muffins, carrots, etc. After the mandatory photo-op under the trees, we continued the climb though not for much longer since it was raining harder and was getting dark. We descended in the dark and sang “rock” songs (songs with the word “rock” in them) on the way down (you know you’re a William and Mary student when…). Arriving back home quite tired, we nonetheless played Farkle until the cows came home (and I finally pulled out a win!), and then crashed once more into bed.

And can I just say how awesome Sunday was? We got up early to go to church near base and it was muoy exciting to hear mass in English again. The church is a beautiful worship space and the choir even sang some CCM songs which was comforting. It’s such a blessing to have had the opportunity so far to celebrate the Eucharist anywhere that I’ve gone. After church we went to….the Commissary!! (you should have seen the excitement on Mary’s face) The Commissary is an American supermarket on base, and so Mary and I stocked up on some American goodies and food to make for our kids and Thanksgiving dinner (we had no idea how we were going to carry it all back to France with us, but we would just have to figure that out later). Next we went to brunch on base (they finally let us on after seeing our passports and getting signed in) which was like the UC only so much better. It was a very filling meal (ahhh comfort food) but we followed Mr. Lohmer into the brand new gym so he could “check something out”…which turned out him suggesting a game of 3 on 3 basketball! Everything would have been hunky-dory had it not been for the huge breakfast we just ate or the fact that we were still in church clothes ;) Nevertheless, it was a blast and we ended with a game of Around-the-World (we let Scott win…love you Scott).

Back home, we put all the groceries away and started making….PRETZELS!! Having found what claimed to be German grandmother recipes online, we decided to combine 2 different recipes that sounded good. We first made the dough, and while letting it rise, watched more of the SOM…after making fun shapes and letting the dough rise some more, we watch the SOM…we let the pretzels boil in baking soda water and while they baked and cooled, watched—you guessed it—the SOM…only this time, Mrs. Lohmer threw in hilarious running commentary and we all gushed over Captain Von Trapp (oh Christopher Pummer, marry me!). Then, it was pretzel-eating time!! They ended up turning out really well (and Ana even made an “S” for Scott….awwww). Scott came over shortly after and we all walked to the Golden Lotus for a German-Chinese dinner buffet…it was a really cute little restaurant with yummy food (plus sushi and crispy duck!), though we still couldn’t order just tap water ;) We walked back home stuffed and finished watching SOM, and afterwards played a card game called Squeal with Ana dominating the game—talk about an intense multi-tasking-oriented game! That night, I had the opportunity to catch up with Ana for a long time (I think we were up till 2:30am) which was simply wonderful…I love being able to have someone to “go deep” with—such a cool thing.

Our final full day was marked by sunlight!! (finally!!) After Ana and her dad put the bike rack and bikes on the car, we drove to Landeburg to ride around for awhile and then to finish the day in Heidelberg. It was hard to stay awake on the ride there because we were all so tired, but we tried our best to keep each other up. Pulling into Landeburg (in the sun!! sorry, I was excited about this) was like driving into a painting. As we would see on the bikes, the town was incredibly picttoresque with adorable half-timbered buildings, cute shops, and narrow cobbled streets. We started biking around the town and then began following paths along the Neckar River and ended up in another small town across the river by accident. But, we again found the right path that allowed us to make a big loop back to the banks near Landeberg where we stopped for lunch along the edge. Lunch was very pretty and peaceful save for the geese that hissed at Mary and even came up out of the water at her! too funny! (well, maybe not from her point of view, but from ours it was great). We continued biking around town, stopping to tour Catholic and Reformed churches that were right next to each other. Finally, we had to peek into one of the Christmas shops, where Ana, upon finding a napkin ring that looked like diamond ring, got down on one knee and proposed to Mary. I got everything on film.

After locking the bikes back on the car, we drove to Heidelberg, parked, and headed into the old city. There’s this one huge pedestrian street and Mary and I were elated to finally see people our own age!! (Heidelberg is a university town…Bonneville and Oyonnax, not so much) It was so much fun just to walk down the street (the buildings were all done in this deep red color, mirroring the type of rock found in the area), and we stopped in a Starbucks along the way. Now, I’m not a huge fan of patronizing American shops abroad, but we really had to use the bathroom, and so I did “have” to buy a hot chocolate ;) Even though I adore chocolat chaud in France, drinking a Starbucks hot chocolate brought back memories from the end of summer…it’s funny how tastes and smells can really spark certain memories or evoke certain feelings that you may not have even known were being associated with that sense. Anyway, moving on…we kept walking, eventually reaching the bridge from which we saw the Heidelberg castle up in the hills, and from which we watched a beautiful sunset. On the way back to the car we of course did some shopping, Ana and Mary got gelato, and we stopped in a couple more Christmas stores.

Back at the house we made waffles (with Mary creating this fantastic dessert waffle) and then went about trying to squeeze everything we’d bought over the trip into our bags…heh, no easy task. But finally, we finished and even had time to talk to Scott on the phone (since we hadn’t gotten a chance to say goodbye) ;) yay. What an amazing trip it had been, and wonderful it was to be with family for a few days…the Lohmers were amazingly generous, warm, and sweet…I know prayers were answered and I definitely felt different, more uplifted, by the end of the trip. Also, being with Mary for the voyage was sooo much fun and we really had a good time together learning how to be spontaneous ;) This is a trip I will not soon forget. The sun has gone to bed and so must I....Good night and adieu (to yieu and yieu and yieu)!

Neuschwanstein (1-11-07)

2007-11-21T06:58:00.000-08:00

Bright and early the next morning Laura, Chris, Mary and I got to the train station (Russ had not met us at the couches so we assumed he wasn’t coming), bought our tickets just in the nick of time and hopped on a train to Füssen, from which we took a bus to the base of the castle. We’d settled on seeing Neuschwanstein (you’ve probably heard of it or seen a replica—it’s the Cinderella castle), which was the last castle mad King Ludwig II had built before his deposal and mysterious death. For awhile on the train we weren’t sure if we were going to see sunlight that day either…almost the entire ride we were shrouded in a thick white fog—we couldn’t even see beyond a couple meters out the window. Then, for 5 minutes, the fog broke and for the first time in 2 hours we could see the countryside! And it was beautiful! Green fields, lots of cows, and purple-tinted mountains….and then, as if only a dream, the fog crept in and were once again all in white. By the time we got to the town at the base of the mountain though, most of the fog had started to rise over the valley, so we could at least see where we were going. Plus, as the sun came out while we started our climb up the hill, a lot of the fog burned off and we could start to see the views in the distance. Walking up in the fall colors was gorgeous and it was turning out to be a perfect day. The sun was bright overhead by the time we got to Neuschwanstein and we ran around taking pictures before our turn to go inside the castle…it’s a 35 minute guided tour (mandatory, you can’t just walk around) so we got in line for our time slot and soon were inside.

I have seen some pretty spectacularly decorated places before, but this was insane…in a good way. The rooms were either covered in murals dedicated the stories in Wagner’s operas (Lugwig loved him apparently) or in shiny gold paint and bright, highly saturated colors. It was gorgeous…some might say over-the-top, but hey, if you’re gonna decorate something like that you might as well go all the way. The throne room was my favorite with gold sparkling everywhere and deep cerulean blue panels, a starry ceiling, and huge windows that afforded a fantastic view of the mountains and valleys in the distance. Plus, since it was so sunny that day, everything in the room just glittered. Also very cool was Ludwig’s bedroom with all its hand-carved wood detailing on the walls and his four-poster bed, also covered in intricate carvings. Then, he had even had a theater built in the castle who’s stage basically resembled an enchanted forest—so cool. I just really really enjoyed it…so many colors and so much to take in. Our tour ended in the gift shop (of course) which was kind of weird since it was still in the castle itself (there’s also a café), but on the way out we did get some great views of another castle below and two crystal blue lakes nestled between autumn-colored hills.

Next, we hiked over to Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge) in order to get a better view of Neuschwanstein. And who do we meet on the bridge but Russ! Apparently he’d only been about 5 minutes late to our meeting place, though we’d already gone. He took the next train out and was hoping to run into us somewhere on the grounds. Quelle chance! We then proceeded to take a zillion pictures with the castle and then went across the bridge to climb up a hill for an even better view. I’m so glad we waited a day to go because we truly had the perfect day with bright sunlight and blue skies…going in the rain and fog would have been miserable. There was still a little time before Mary and I needed to start the journey back to Munich and head up to Frankfort, so we all hiked down to the waterfalls and pools below the castles. It took awhile to keep going down and down into the ravine, but looking back up at the falls was just so neat. And we definitely spent a little too long at the bottom before realizing we’d need to pick up the pace in order to make the train from Füssen back to Munich (there was only one every couple of hours). The hike back up the steep stairs took awhile though we were still doing okay on time…on the way back down from the castle into town we stopped for freshly made beignets (mmmm) and then booked it. We said our goodbyes to Laura and Chris who were going to hang around a little longer, and the 3 of us left to catch the bus to Füssen.

Getting into Fussen, Mary and Russ both commented that they were hungry…however, it was All Saints Day at this point and in the predominantly Catholic Bavaria, nothing was open—nothing, except a grill café down the road from the train station. Even though the ordering was quick and we’d be cutting it close, the preparing of the food took forever. Afraid we’d miss the train, Mary got her food and then we ran back to the train while Russ waited for his burger to be done. Literally 1 minute before the train left, we saw Russ running, burger in hand, towards the train and he hopped on just before it started pulling out of the station. Close call. Our journey back was in the sun and so we really got beautiful views of the countryside and lots and lots of cows J Very pretty.

By the time we got back to the Munich station we had just enough time to call Ana’s house and tell them we were leaving (it was going to be close to a 4-hour journey), say goodbye to Russ, take a couple pictures with another lion, and get on the Duetsche Bahn to Frankfort. Sitting and relaxing down felt sooo good…especially because we had pretzel sandwiches again…heh. After some down time, Mary taught me this really cool dice game called Farkle and I was addicted—I think we must have played for at least the last hour of our trip…and about halfway through started speaking French which I think really threw the four hot guys sitting across the aisle from us who had been looking over with increased interest once we started the game. Fun times.

Munich (10/30-10/31)

2007-11-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

Many many hours after leaving Bern, we finally arrived in Munich, and after hitting up the tourist office (we found out there was a free concert on the 31st! yeeaaaaa!) Mary and I did our traditional hostel-wandering before finding out hostel about 100 ft. from the train station. Quickly dropping off our stuff, we headed over to Munich’s 3 famous art museums, each concentrating on a different time period in art. In reading the guide book earlier, I (mistakenly) thought that both the oldest and newest were open late that evening. So, since we knew we would need more time for the old art museum, we headed into the modern one, following a stream of people. However, upon our arrival at the entrance we found out from a nice docent that everyone was going to a lecture, it was in German, and the museum was closed. Oh well…better luck next time.

Instead, we headed back towards Marienplatz and decided on shopping and dinner. Joining everyone in the world in Zara and H&M, we definitely picked up some great deals and by that point were ready to sit down and eat—and boy did we pick the right place. At Weisses Brauhaus we were greeted by lots of loud jovial noise, tables overflowing with people and beer, waitresses running around in traditional dress, and the atmosphere of a very merry place. We found a tall bar table (a group of about 8 men were all sitting behind us, drinking beer and patting each other on the back) and noticed a big basket of pretzels on the table…mmmm…we got started on those as we scanned the menu, which had every variety of meat you could imagine cooked in every different way possible. At this point I forget exactly what we ordered, but along with our house beer (Schneider Weisse) came a feast of different roasts, pork, creamy and crispy potatoes and sauerkraut. Oh man, it was sooo good. Mary also felt the urge to sing the Gaston song from Beauty and the Beast, and a cook who saw me looking at a live pig’s head back in the kitchen made it “talk” to me…heh, it was just great fun there and we definitely felt we’d made the right decision in skipping the museums ;) Plus, we got to sit and talk for about 2 hours and you just don’t get to do that very often.

Walking back up through the Marienplatz we stopped to watch a German guy with a guitar doing a comedy routine in English. He was quite funny, though what was even funnier is that a few minutes after stopping we ran into Megan and her dad again! We chatted with them for a bit and then all headed back to our hotels/hostels (they had changed places on us). Such a fun evening!

The next day we had decided to skip the castles because the man at the tourist office looked up the weather for us and said it was going to be pretty gloomy. So, we took Jayme’s advice and went to join the free walking tour of Munich offered by this certain company (Sandemans—it’s great and offers tours in other cities as well). At the corner we met up with a bunch of other English-speakers and our guide Travis—complete with a newsboy cap, beard, and swirled SalvadorDali mustache (a tribute to his favorite artist). We found out while walking that Travis is a artist who’s been traveling on working visas from Australia, spending time in Japan, Asia, and now Munich and is able to fund himself by selling his work. We all headed over to Marienplatz where the tour “began” with interesting facts about the Old and New Town Halls right there in the square—the Old one had been bombed during World War II and rebuilt in the 1960s, so the New Town Hall which was built in 1908 and survived the war, was actually older.

In the cloisters of the New Town Hall Travis gave us a basic run-down on the history of Munich (the story of the Lions and the Monks, Hitler, hyperinflation, no noticable monuments here to anything that happened during the war). We rushed back out to the square to see the famed Glockenspiel that has two anamatronic scenes that play out: one, a wedding and a joust, the other the cooper dance. What’s the cooper dance you ask? It’s a funny dance of the barrel makers in which you hop on one foot, put one arm in the air and hop around in a circle—try it, it’s fun, I promise I won't laugh ;) The “grand finale” of the Glockenspiel was a bird squawking…apparently it’s one of the most highly overrated tourist attractions in Europe! go figure!

At the Frauenkirsch (the church with the two tall blue towers) we heard an interesting anecdote of how the devil helped build the church, and how the towers survived the war because they were the way the bombers coming to demolish Munich could tell they were over the right place. It’s so sad to think about all the history that was destroyed in Munich…and then it gets you thinking about all the OTHER historical meccas brought down under the bombs. Shortly after we headed down to the famous food halls/market area (Viktualienmarkt) for lunch, and though I’m not sure what I had it was delicious ;) (some kind of meat…man I love this city)

Our post-lunch part of the tour included seeing a giant Maypole with depictions of beer halls, the coopers dance, and Oktoberfest. Interesting side note about Oktoberfest: the Australian Embassy only has one embassy in Germany (in Berlin), but during Oktoberfest when an insane percentage of the drinkers are Aussies, Australia sets up a temporary embassy in Munich when all the drunk Aussies lose their passports and get into trouble. Heh. We soon went to Hofbräuhaus, one of the most famous beer halls in Munich…and come to find out Hitler was a big fan and gave a couple speeches from the upstairs cupola, and even had Nazi swastikas painted on the ceilings (though they have now been painted over with the Bavarian flag). Walking through was quite an experience with a vast amount of people, bustle, crowds singing, a polka band, huge steins, beer lockers, and reserved tables for the locals and regulars. Back out on the street we headed to what I’m terming the ritzy street (Maximilianstrasse) because honestly I can’t even afford to window shop there. We went by the Opera and learned a little about its history and then famous beer revolts that occurred when Ludwig (I think it was him) raised the beer tax…that was silly, Ludwig. Our next stop was the royal residence which now houses art, and it was hilarious because Travis took us on the “free version” which meant walking around inside the courtyard and peeking in through the windows ;) He even waved to some of the guards inside who obviously knew him.

The end of the day’s sites and stories were historically very interesting and a bit intense because they told of the rise of Hitler and his “revolution” and the resistance to the Nazis and the repercussions that came with that. For instance, there was a plaque in front of the Residenz that everyone was supposed to salute as they marched by, though to avoid it, some people started using a side street. However, a spy was sent to record their names and how many times they passed that way and then retribution was carried out. There is now a gold stripe on that road commemorating those people…most of the monuments in Munich are very subtle. We ended the tour shortly afterwards at the fieldhaus and we briefly peeked into an all-white interior church. The one good thing that the Nazis did, is that they took very detailed pictures of everything before the city was destroyed, and so this church for example was rebuilt to exact specificity…however, the photos were in the black and white, so rather than get the inside of the this church wrong, they kept it all white—it’s quite stunning and peacefully beautiful.

By the end of the tour Mary and I had made friends with Russ, an Aussie, Tannis, a Canadian, and two other Canadians, Laura and Chris. Mary and I had originally planned to hit up the museums that afternoon but the 5 of us decided to go back to Hofbrauhaus for the famed 1 Liter of beer. Fighting our way through the throngs of people, we finally found a table and squeezed in. Honestly, I think we were only planning on being there a little while, but soon, that little while turned into 4 hours. Over the course of those 4 hours Mary, Laura, and I each had a liter, with Chris, Russ, and Tannis coming in at 2-3 each…craziness. We were joined for the last hour or so by 2 fun German guys and quickly made friends. It was a very cheerful time and once the band started playing and all the soccer fans pre-gaming for the match that night started singing, it was quite the party ;)

However, Mary and I were still on a mission to make it to a free concert (and this one was going to be in a church) and would need to leave soon. Before we left though, we made plans to meet up in the hostel bar later that night and plan a trip to the castles for the next day (with Russ, who was quite gone at this point, promising he’d be there and even writing our meeting time on his arm). We dashed out and realized we still needed to pay for the second night in the hostel…before the concert. So, we practically ran from one end of town back to the hostel, paid, and ran in the completely opposite direction and past where we had been, all-in-all running for about 45 minutes. You can imagine our dismay and sadness when we got to the dark church and discovered that the concert was the next night—gahhhhh. At that point we gave up and recognized that anything we’d tried to plan up until this point had not come to fruition, so why bother—we had a great time being spontaneous. Walking back though was not so much as we didn’t have anything to drink and were parched. Back in the hostel bar we met up with Laura, Chris, and Tannis and Mary and I, being the big drinkers that we are, ordered OJ and mugs of water…lol. We planned our trip to the castles the next day, and then since we’d have to get up super early we all headed off to bed.

Bern (10/28-10/30)

2007-11-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

Arriving in Bern that first night was a little crazy. Once we got off the train we were practically bowled over by masses and masses of people…where everyone was going at 8pm at night, I have no idea. Next, we definitely got lost trying to find our hostel and ended up walking around the city for quite a bit before locating it (we were supposed to turn at the McDonald’s…turns out we were supposed to turn at the second McDonald’s…silly us, that was obviously our mistake thinking there’d only be one McDonald’s in Bern…lol). The city itself was pretty quiet (because everyone was at the train station) and we noticed a lot of construction happening around town. Finally we got to the hostel which was really nice and went to eat our dinner in the big common room. There was someone watching “Music and Lyrics” (the one with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore) so as we ate we slowly, decompressed, and eventually joined the movie watchers. For some reason, that night, it was great to watch an American movie….and then to subsequently fall into bed from exhaustion.

The next morning we were up at a decent hour and went out to start exploring the city. We initially did a “church loop” on our way to the tourist office, stopping at St. Peter and Paul, a French church, and a reformed church. In one of them there were organ lessons going on so we got to hear a bit of music while enjoying the architecture. Once we got to the Tourist Office we found out some bad news…practically everything in Bern was closed on Monday and there were no concerts at all that night! Gahhhh. And it was true, as we read signs, everything had either happened the night before or were happening the next night. So, we took to just walking around the city (which, by the way was freezing), and visited each of the scenic overlook points around the town…which led us to the Parliament building and the famous cathedral (also closed because it was Monday). Eventually we headed over to the bear pits…the symbol of Bern is the bear and they actually keep real live bears in a giant pit on the other side of the river. After being appalled by the conditions and the number of people feeding the bears, we decided it was time for lunch…wandering around for bit, we finally found a really cute pizzeria upstairs in this old building that was pretty okay for our price range (note: Switzerland is expensive!!). It was great to sit and talk for an hour, and we had a really cool moment…the whole trip in Switzerland we’d been having to pay for bottled water (sooo not worth the cost) when we’d asked for tap water, in part because we did not speak Swiss German. In France there’s what we’ve deemed a “secret term” to get free tap water: un carafe d’eau (a carafe of water)…well, even though he initially spoke Swiss German to us, we figured out that our waiter spoke French, and hoping for the best we ordered a carafe d’eau and got it!! We were elated! Maybe you had to be there ;)

After lunch the great “Chocolate for the Lohmers Search of 2007” began…you see, our last stop on the trip would be visiting our friend Ana and her family, and we really wanted to bring them something nice from Switzerland. What is Switzerland famous for? Chocolate. Luckily, or not luckily depending how you look at it, there are about a zillion chocolate shops in Bern. We went into what seemed like a dozen shops checking out the goods…finally we settled on fancy cookies that seemed to be à la mode in Bern and the Bern Bear gingerbread which was a local specialty—yay! And, since we were already in the miles of arcades that exist in Bern we took the opportunity to go shopping!! (one of my favorite pastimes) It was so much fun just to browse around, visit department stores all decorated for Christmas, and stop and drool over pastries and chocolateries. Soon we realized we’d need dinner so we stopped in a Migros and bought food to cook back at the hostel…on the way out we noticed a stack of gingerbread, one with a clock tower iced onto it. No sooner had we stepped back outside when we saw the same clock tower down the street…and took the obligatory photo of us, the gingerbread, and the clock tower (soon after though, we demolished the gingerbread).

Back at the hostel while eating dinner we started talking to this sweet American girl named Jayme who is studying in Macerta, Italy. We had a really interesting conversation with her and for the first time I kind of understood why staying in hostels is cool…you meet a lot of neat people who tend to be pretty friendly and who have taken on wonderful endeavors. Plus, with Jayme we swapped travel tips, opinions, and got a great recommendation on a free walking tour of Munich (and if we ever go to Macerta, we have a place to stay!). Heading back to the room we ran into two new people in our room, a girl named Megan and her dad. As it turns out, Megan is studying in Lyon with the same program I was with! (cue Twilight Zone music) And, she’d just talked to Barbara about me on Wednesday at the pain et fromage because she has an interest in being an assistant next year (music gets louder). Then, to top it all off, when we told her our itinerary for the rest of the trip, we’d planned the exact same things and were staying at the exact same hostels (da dum!). It was weird…such a small world.

Our last morning in Bern, our last in Switzerland in fact, was spent trying our darndest to get inside the cathedral since it had been closed the day before…well, just so you know, it’s not open until 10am and the train we needed to catch left around 9:30am…grrrrrrrrr….silly cathedral people. After buying Swiss chocolate at the Co-op we hopped on a train to Zurich to begin the journey to Munich. We definitely enjoyed the high speed trains and pretzel sandwiches, but the long rides in the clouds and rain definitely equaled no view, and instead nap time!

Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen (28-10-07)

2007-11-17T12:28:00.001-08:00

The train from Lucerne to Interlaken significantly made up for the dreary Geneva to Lucerne trek. We were on a slow train that climbed up and down and around beautiful mountains and valleys with spectacular views of lakes, snow-capped peaks, and green farmland. It was simply beautiful. Once at the train station in Interlaken, we hopped on another train to hopefully see Wiegen, a town higher up in the mountains near the Jungfraujoch, which Mary had visited last year. However, on the first leg up to Lauterbrunnen, we found out that our Eurrail passes did not cover us because all the trains going up into the mountains were privately owned…grrrr…so we ended up paying quite a bit on the bus and deciding to stop in Lauterbrunnen rather than pay more money to go further up to Wiegen. Oh well. Still, stopping in Lauterbrunnen was gorgeous and we did get a good view of the Jungfraujoch, had fun talking to cattle, saw a beautiful waterfall, and just enjoyed the scenery. We then headed back down and spent a couple hours in Interlaken, which, for all the hype did not deliver. Yes, it was pretty and we were lucky to see a vibrant sunset, but mostly the town consists of really expensive hotels and fancy restaurants that we couldn’t afford ;) We did check out a couple old churches, and walked past the central park area only to discover that half of it was a big grazing field complete with cattle…kind of cool and a little strange at the same time. Walking back in the shadow of the setting sun was really nice though we were excited to finally get on the train to Bern and relax.

Lucerne (10/27-10/28)

2007-11-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

So as I said, I was up early at 4:30am (4 hours of sleep…hm…why does that remind me of William and Mary?) and caught the train to Geneva to meet Mary, and then, armed with our Eurail passes and lunch, we took a 3 hour ride towards Lucerne. Unfortunately, although we’d planned everything else out to a T, we forgot to plan the weather (next time we’ll call God in advance). So, malheureusement it was very cloudy, gray, and pretty cold when we arrived. Our “tour” of Lucerne was motivated by the search for an ATM so we could pay the hostel (and since we hadn’t yet been to the hostel we still had all our bags). However, in our search, we also discovered many cool things: the downtown shopping area, several street bands, Saturday shoppers, and a patisserie called Chez Hug (and if you check out the pictures, Mary is actually hugging the croissant outside the shop—I promise I did not put her up to this).

Finally we asked in a hotel for the nearest ATM and learned one was just around the corner. Actually, it was quite near to the first place we wanted to go anyways—the Bourbaki Panorama. Any of you Americans out there know about the Franco-Prussian War? I thought not. Well, Mary and I were eager to check this panorama out since it was mentioned in the guide book, little did we know we’d learn something in the process. Going in and dropping off our bags felt fantastic (the lady at the desk let us keep them locked up there, though she did think I was trying to counterfeit money since I was trying to pay with a very old Swiss note my dad had given me that wasn’t in circulation anymore, come to find out). We headed upstairs to the museum first, and discovered a lot about the Franco-Prussian war, and the role the Swiss played in housing the interned soldiers which helped set up their reputation and tradition as a “humanitarian aid” state. The panorama itself was quite impressive. It’s this massive stories high circular/wraparound mural depicting a scene from the winter of the war. It was done by an artist who actually spent 4 years doing life studies during his tenure as a relief worker during the war…in 4 months (with the help of 10 other artists) the panorama was painted. Since panoramas were popular in the age before the cinema, it was meant in part to make you feel like you were part of the scene—and with all the detail and scale, it definitely did.

Soon we were off to check into the hostel, and shortly after headed to see the Rosengart Collection art museum. We mostly viewed Picassos (many of which I’d never seen before so that was really cool), an exhibit by Paul Klee, plus several Vuillard, Bloch, and Léger. It was a lovely space for art with a mansion type feel rather than a museum and made viewing all the more pleasant and unhurried. When we came out of the collection it had turned just a bit sunny so we frantically ran around taking pictures while we still had the light. For dinner we ended up at Goldener Löwen, both choosing Rosti—this wonderful grill of cheese, french fried potatoes, tomatoes, ham, and egg…basically, a heart attack waiting to happen, but Ohhh so good.

The period after dinner marked Mary’s and my futile search for a culture night during our travels. Mary had mentioned that when she and her mom had been traveling, they always tried to find a concert/play etc. at night in order to experience a bit of the arts and culture of the place they were visiting and to make the day feel complete. However, that would not be the case for us, no matter how hard we tried. For example, earlier in the day we had walked by the famous Jesuit church and tried to interpret the German announcements posted on the board outside. We thought we had figured out there was an organ concert that night—we thought wrong. We arrived at the church after dinner only to find it empty. But, we did get to walk around and through the church (very ornate) without anyone else there and in almost complete silence so the night wasn’t all lost. Back at our hostel we talked for awhile with a really nice Aussie named Ilsa who had been traveling for 8 years as an aid worker. She’d been all over the world and had so many neat experiences, though after this Europe trip was heading home for the first time since she’d left. I can’t imagine what that kind of life must be like, though I’m sure it requires a great deal of endurance.

Mary and I slept for a GLORIOUS 11 hours and got up the next morning to attend church…in Swiss German. I always find it fascinating to go to Catholic mass in other languages, and this church was no exception. And! There was a song Fr. Jim would always have us sing at Daily Mass back at school that we sang in German! Very exciting. Shortly after, we headed up into the ramparts and towers along the city walls to hopefully get some good views (it ended up still being pretty overcast unfortunately), and then raced back to the hostel before checkout to get our things and head to the train station. After buying delicious pretzel sandwiches, we were off to Interlaken!