Les Sables d'Olonne and the Congrès de France Louisiane

So it begins. I am going to attempt to tell the tale of my weekend in...les Sables d'Olonne. I know it's a little ridiculous how long it has taken me to write these blogs, but I've been pretty busy or without inspiration.

We arrived in les Sables d’Olonne at about 1:30pm. The communication had been practically nonexistent between us and M. Gustin, who was setting up our arrangements, so we were relieved when we saw a lady in her 60s waving the Louisiana flag at us. Her name is Monique Chos. She scooped us up and brought us to where we were staying. I had a rough idea of where Sables d’Olonne was before we arrived, but I had no idea we would be on the beach!



The house I stayed in is beautiful and belongs to the Parrins who are neighbors of Mme Chos. The house smelled faintly like my great grandmother’s dollhouse. Unfortunately though, the room I am stayed in smelled a little like cat pee. Then we left and went to Mme Chos’s house where Hayley would be sleeping. After leaving our things, we were off for lunch. Apparently the signature dish in Bretagne is…crepes! Finally! Our first crepes in France. The place she took us to was next to the beach with a beautiful view! Hayley ordered a Popeye crepe that had spinach and ham and cream, and I ordered a crepe with salmon, chives, and cream. SO GOOD! It was the best crepe I’ve ever eaten! It was around this time though that we were starting to realize that the people here knew nothing about us, why we were in France, or where we will be living. People elsewhere have been really accommodating to our language limitations, but it seemed like the people we met there were not so keen to our limitations and tended to use words we were unfamiliar with and spoke quickly. Annabelle, my hostess in Valenciennes, is quite the opposite. She has a very kind nature and willingness and ability to slow down and make us understand.


We had the afternoon to ourselves, and we explored a little and just soaked up the sun and watched the tide come in. Then we got ready and went to the congrès dinner. We all met by the port. We were waiting to board a ship when all of a sudden about 5 sailboats arrived adorned with American flags. They circled for about five minutes then sailed off to the applaud of the French who love America. Then the boat arrived and there were 5 men in suits playing some good ole jazz music! Hayley and I didn’t know what to think about all of this. So we just kinda laughed a little and hopped on. We boated over to the other side of the port (which was maybe a 5 minute ride), and during the trip one of the members took out his sax and started to play with the band! Once we docked we headed to a restaurant where everyone packed in to have dinner. We met several other people from Louisiana, but Hayley and I were definitely the youngest by far with most people in the organization over 50.

That night was our first real experience dining out in France. A typical French meal consists of an aperatif and amuses bouches followed by the entrée, the plat, cheese, dessert, and coffee. This night we had the whole shabang minus the cheese course. We had an aperitif (before dinner drink), then an entrée (appetizer) of oysters (my first time trying them and I think they tasted the way the beach smells) and scallops in a red but creamy sauce with Parmesan. We drank red wine and had more seafood which was apparently part of the calamari family served with rice (not so good) and salad for dinner with an apple and honey mousse for dessert. The food was very interesting but a bit of a seafood overload (at least with seafood I don’t normally eat!). We sat at a table with a very nice woman named Nicole who had been to Louisiana in 1985. She spoke to us mainly in French, but occasionally in English. She also told us to contact the general secretary for France Louisiane if we ever want to visit other cities in France like Paris, Nice, or Marseilles and she would help find us a place to stay for free! How’s that for nice! The company was nice and as the night went on people started to talk to us more and more. Not only was there the jazz band, but we were also serenaded by a Cajun band! It felt good to be surrounded by music that reminded us of home.






I had the best night of sleep that night. It was nice finally having a bed to myself, but we had to arise early for a walking tour of the city. It was terribly cold and windy and we were slightly under-dressed but we got a good history lesson and went inside an old church that had a big ship hanging in the entryway. The ship was there as a symbol to protect the sailors. After that we were greeted by the mayor and introduced to the organization along with the other Louisianians. We were served amuses bouches and apperitifs before we went to a restaurant where we had another very French meal. We ate langustines which are like crawfish, but they are pink and not cooked in spices. Then we were served a white fish in lemon butter sauce which was the best plat I ate there and for dessert we had this puff pastry apple dish served with ice cream. Yum!


Saturday night was the Gala which started at 8:30pm. In case you haven't figured out the theme of this trip already, it's food, and of course at the Gala we had a ridiculous amount of food. We started the night with some delicious amuses bouches. There were two kinds. One was a type of miniature sandwich layered with cheese and salmon, and the other was a crab and curry mixture served in a little flat-bottomed spoon. For our apperatif we were served a strawberry blended drink. Dinner consisted of an entrée of a puff pastry with seafood and our plat was chicken with a gravy served with potatoes and veggies, but mine was kind cold and my least favorite part of dinner. Wine is customarily poured by men and the ladies wait for the men to offer. Unfortunately we were sitting at a table with "young" people (two couples in their 30s) who ignored us for the better part of the night. Not wanting to be rude, I waited for either of the gentlemen at the table to offer to pour me some wine. We drank some, but our wine glasses were not refilled. Oh well for getting tipsy! After the plat we were served cheese and salad. I ate the salad but was not too fond of the cheese. And finally for dessert we were served a spiced pear served with a scoop of cassis (black currant) sorbet and one of framboise (raspberry). OMG DELISH. I could have eaten that forever. In between all the eating there was cajun music and at the end of the night there was a lovely jazz singer who sang about 7 songs in English despite her being French. The night wrapped up with some line dancing to Cajun music and we finally left around 1:30am. What a long but interesting and food-filled night.

The next morning we packed our things and headed back to our respective cities. After lunch in Paris, Hayley and I parted for the first time since we had arrived and neither of us knew what to expect next. Now it's been over a month since we've parted and I'm finally posting this story.

Bienvenue en France

So here I am. All sorts of kinds of moved in. Most of you probably have a very basic idea of what I have been encountering but now I'm going to try to really flesh it out. Hayley and I arrived in Valenciennes on Sunday September 19. We waited patiently at the train station for my contact Mohammed who finally arrived and bought us lunch and started to explain things to us. We left there and were brought to Eric and Annabelle's. That day was special because they were celebrating Eric's birthday so there were many more people than normal. We met the immediate family comprised of Eric, Annabelle, and their three kids; Celine-18, Nicola-17, and Salomé-10. We also met both Annabelle and Eric's parents, Eric's brother and sister-in-law and their child, Annabelle's younger brother Mario and his girlfriend, and Annabelle's sister Leticia and her daughter Nino. There was champagne and so many tarts and desserts it was insane! They were very delicious though. Over the next couple of days Annabelle helped me get acclimated by helping me get a 10 ride bus pass and having Celine drive us around to show us where things were. Hayley and I successfully made our way to the centre-ville (or center of the city) by bus and did some exploring.

Wednesday September 22 Hayley and I left good ole Valenciennes for Vernon. We were one bag lighter at this point as I left my giant behemoth of a bag chez Annabelle and Eric (at their house). The highlight of that trip was trying to get from one train station to the other. Paris is like the center hub for most of the trains but they all come into/go out of different train stations. We had rough directions on how to get where we were headed, but there were no signs indicating where we needed to go and our 3 bags still slowed us down. I finally found someone to ask and we got on our way, but then we didn't know where to buy tickets for the metro. After we figured that out we had to push us and our bags through the turn stalls. I got through with two bags, but Hayley's big bag got stuck and she had to ask for help. We finally got through with bags and all and made it onto the metro and got off at the stop for the train station but then we couldn't find the train station. From where we got let off we had to go up to street level and then navigate a few turns to arrive at the train station which we found with the help of a very nice older woman. Finally we got on our train with moments to spare and headed to Vernon.

Vernon is a little town near Giverny where Claude Monet lived and painted and the Vernon train stop and the town itself is somewhat of a tourist destination. We found our hotel fairly easily and after dropping off our bags we went exploring. We found boulangeries/patisseries (bakeries/pastry shops), charcuteries (butcher shop), a supermarché (super market), and many places to eat. We also found a movie theater and discovered that Vernon is located on the Seine river, and it was a very beautiful sight. We ended up taking a nap and waking up around 8. When we went out to find our dinner we realized that the entire town was practically closed. We found an Italian restaurant and shared some wine and ate some lasagna. I finished my dinner with some delectable sorbet! The following day we went out and explored in another direction and found the McDonalds, a restaurant that we think was BBQ, a Chinese restaurant, and a giant supermaché named E.Leclerc that was somewhat like a Walmart. Hayley also met her contact and started to feel more relieved about the entire process. The French really like to talk but they aren't much for details, at least not over emails. That night she and I went back to E.Leclerc and bought some salads, pain (bread), brie, vin (wine), and an assortment of pastries to eat the next morning on our way to les Sables d'Olonne. After we finished our 2€ bottle of wine and our dinner we were craving some dessert. We headed out in the misting rain and went to the same Italian restaurant as the night before. We ordered two desserts and a carafe of wine to accompany it. The waitress looked at us like we were crazy for not ordering a meal (Pas de plat??). We ended up leaving her a couple of euro as a tip since we felt bad about her reaction.

That sums up our first few days in each of our cities and I'll be posting additional entries about Sables d'Olonne and what has happened this past week soon. And pictures! Be patient my darlings!

Visuals, FINALLY

This is a picture of some very trippy art that welcomed us upon our arrival to Copenhagen. I didn't get to see any of actual Copenhagen, so this will have to suffice on how different Denmark must be.














This is a fabulous picture of me in the very strange little toilet in Copenhagen's airport. Very disheveled and very dirty and tired.
















This is what Hayley ate in Copenhagen's airport.
















This is what I ate. We thought we were doing good ordering salads, but they were so darn oily and very different. I liked the olives and artichokes, but I don't think Hayley felt the same.
































This is Hayley and I upon arriving in Brussels. We were waiting to be scooped up by Buckley so we just took some pics of each other. What a journey!


























This is the view from where we slept. Good morning Bruxelles!















I ate at McDonalds! I know, I know. Me? Eat at McD's? But they have Salade! A "Summer Salad" at that. But let me tell you, the caisse or cashier, did not understand my American accent when i said summer. It's soomair. Haha. And coke with no ice (not pictured). It was really good tho. Very un-American, and I'm okay with that.







More picture to come soon!

Brussels

What a world wind! These past few days have been EXHAUSTING! We got in Brussels on Thursday around 5pm (10am in LA) and boy was trying to get to Buckley’s exhausting! First we had to get our bags, then we had to get on a bus which was supposed to take us right outside of where Buckley works, but Thursday just happened to be the day of the summit where all the European heads of state met to discuss European Union-esque things and man of the streets were blocked. So we were dropped off on a corner 20 minutes (walking distance) away and we had to wait patiently for Buckley to come find us. From that point we dragged 4 bags all over, on two metros and one tram. Finally we arrived at Buckley’s. Then 4 bags up the stairs to her place. Finally we could enjoy Bruxelles!

Thursday night was pretty chill. We just helped her make eggplant parmesan (super delicious!). Friday we woke up and ventured out into the unknown. We walked down the street to Place Flagey and ended up finding food and Internet at an Irish pub. We had a very nice waiter named Adrian who was from Romania. Unbeknownst to us, we witnessed a purse snatching. There was a window to the building and a woman was sitting at that table inside. The window, which spanned the entire height of the building, was open and her bag was right on the ledge next to a table in the courtyard. That table was directly next to us. A man came and sat down for a moment and then got up not even a minute later. We didn’t realize until 20 minutes later what had happened when a waitress asked if we had seen the bag go missing. We waited an hour for the police to give a statement but they never arrived so we left. We then went and purchased our tickets for Sunday to Valenciennes. Success! Then we got a phone call from David, a fellow teaching assistant and scholarship recipient who will also be living in Valenciennes. We went to meet up with him and just chatted for a while about things to come. That night we ended up going out and having real Belgian food. I had mussels and Hayley and Buckley had a dish known as la carbonade flamande which is a beef stew made with beer. The mussels were cooked with onions and celery and I found the taste to be a bit…overpowering. And everything was served with frites or fried. We walked then to the city center and saw so many churches and museums and the royal palace. Then we saw the Grand Place. It was so surreal. Very epic and strange to be standing in the middle of an area that’s so old. Next was Delirium, a very famous (and touristy) bar with 2003 beers! We tried maybe 5 while we were there so only 1998 left to try! Then we went across the way and tried absinthe. You dip a sugar cube in the absinthe, set it on a little flat metal piece that has holes in it. Then you light it on fire, wait a few seconds, drop the sugar in, stir/break up the sugar, and shoot. It was very strange and burned, but a fun experience nonetheless. Then while waiting for the bus, Clem, Buckley’s boyfriend, bought some frites covered in sauce, and we all ate them while waiting. They were REAL good. Frites are apparently a huge thing in Belgium and are sold everywhere in Brussels.

Saturday we slept in but then we ended up walking the entire city again. What a great work out for our little bodies! We saw the Grand Place again during the daylight and there was a bit of a festival going on. Buckley says that although Brussels isn’t the most beautiful city, she loves it because people are always doing something. Saturday night was crazy. A lot of Clem and Buckley’s friend came over for a party and we were surrounded by many French, an Albanian/Italian, and an Austrian. At first the night was less comfortable for Hayley and I because we didn’t know anyone and obviously the language is a barrier, but as the night went on everyone drank more and more and it got more and more fun. French house parties are somewhat of an event. Everyone brings something. There was a lot of wine and a few other liquors and the boys were all drinking beers. Throughout the night the hosts have to put out food periodically. First there was pate and foie gras. Then there were these meat roll-up things that someone brought, sandwiches, pizza, chips, cookies. Every time the table was cleared of food there would be more food in about 10 or so minutes. And you never put out more than one thing at a time.

I ended up getting in a heated debate with one guy named Tristan about his perception of Americans and how they perceive Muslims. He seems to think that 95% of Americans think that Muslims are terrorists. I informed him his numbers are severely off, but no hard feelings were had. Then there was dancing. OMG they were doing Cajun dance steps (which I remember from 8th grade!). First Hayley danced with Tristan and I watched but then Tim asked me to dance. Let me tell you, I didn’t stop turning and twirling for an entire song. Then Hayley danced with Tristan again and I watched Tim dance with his fiancée Marie Claire. It was beautiful and very affectionate to watch those two dance. They would sneak in kisses here and there and it was very sweet. Then Buckley played this one song which was a classic end of the night song, and we all ended up dancing in a circle going round and round, one direction then the next. I think that was the most fun we had yet! Now we are on the train to Tournai. Then we will transfer and go to Lille and then transfer again and go to Valenciennes. I cannot wait to leave at least one bag in Valenciennes. I guess that’s enough for now.

From the Plane

9/15/10 @ 12:40pm Central Time

It just dawned on me how scary this all is. Here I was realizing what's in front of me. It's so overwhelming, and then I laughed. I realized how scary this all is just a little too late. I can't change my mind now. I just have to do it. I'm gone for months. I think I'll just have to do it scared and see what I'm made of. Now I'm tired again and I think. I'll attempt to sleep.

In descent into D.C.

I wish I was with my dad on the way to Vegas. That would surely be more fun than this. I slept most of the first leg of the journey. I don't know what that will mean for the cross-Atlantic flight. Some part of me thought it was a good idea to ask my dad not to come, but now I wonder why I thought that? A grown up to take all of the responsibility if things fall apart. The plane is wobbling and I have to pee but it'll have to wait. I hope we land soon.

D.C. 5:20pm Eastern Time

On the airplane. Holy shit. This plane rocks! There is a blanket, pillow, water bottle, and headphones for every person. Currently listening to blues. They have a camera on the front of the plane and we are watching as we taxi down the runway. All we can see right now is a plane in front of us, but still! There are two dudes blaring Justin Bieber. Now I'm listening to Dance Music! Rihanna!!! Dance Version! This flight is looking better than the last already. The first plane was tiny and neither or our book sacks would fit in the overhead bins, but on this flight both of ours fit, one in front of the other. Takeoff. Still turbulent so Hayley and I both just took a dramamine. Electro dance now.

Copenhagen 8:52 am Copenhagen time

OMG. I puked on that plane. Got nauseated and puked. I didn't have a puke bag so Haylye gave me hers. That gumbo was better going down than coming up. I wish I had a bed right now. I'm on borrowed time. I had to pay for this internet. So I think I only have 30 minutes left. I am so beat, it's not even funny...I cannot wait to get to Brussels so that I can find Buckley and sleep on her futon. And try not to puke any more. I HATE turbulence

Au Revoir Mes Amis

I don't have much time to write this morning, but hopefully I will once I get where I'm going. I just wanted to say that I am so freaking fortunate it is unreal. I have the BEST family and friends. I love every single one of you. You are all a girl could ask for. Every note and message and gift you have given me will always be cherished in my heart. I will be taking off in approximately 6 hours and arrive in Brussels in approximately 26 hours. Don't I'm just a facebook message/skype chat/email away. I'm gonna miss you all more than you can probably imagine.

TTYS
Emily

FRUSTRATION

I think I have done a really good job of staying focused and keeping on top of everything. But today is just pissing me off. I try and try and try to get everything together and organized, but sometimes it's just too much. I am pissed off at AT&T for their monopolistic ways and the fact that they are impossible to deal with. I have two choices. I can suspend my contract for 6 months that I'll be gone and pay for the rest or I can cancel my contract and lose my phone number (which I've had for SEVEN years) along with my unlimited internet package (which AT&T does not offer anymore because they're a**holes. On top of this awful dilemma, I have to try to contact someone to look at/fix my A/C which I believe is the root of many problems in our condo. I hate that I have to take care of everything because I'm responsible and no one else seems to be. I am just tired of running around and being a grown up.

Oh yeah, and my contact from one of my schools has confused me more than anything. He has no idea what or when orientation is. The teachers who have offered me housing want me to pay €100 a week to stay with them, which I find a bit ridiculous even if it does include food and "everything" (what everything includes is beyond me). He has no idea who my contact is for the other school I'll be teaching at, and I have no idea how to contact them.

I'm just run down and tired and wish that I didn't have to do this all by myself. I hate running into walls and not having the energy to push through. I just need all the BS to be over with already.

Money, Money, Money

I just remembered the most amazing thing! So recently I've been going crazy spending money on eating out, clothing for France, and other trip accessories. It has really been stressing me out to see so much money being depleted from my account. The money I've tried very hard to save for France. The money that won't even make it to France because I keep spending it (with reason!). The money that isn't being replenished because I'm barely working at this point. So this morning I went to stash some money away and remembered the fact that I never spent, nor deposited my winnings from my Vegas trip! I now have $400 to ease my money problems and relieve my buyer's remorse! Thank you Vegas gods! You just saved my day!

Fear isn't just a movie staring Mark Wahlberg...

It is 1:04 a.m. and here I am, blogging. I am pretty wound up right now. I have been searching and googling and planning and preparing for my trip, but I think I might just have a panic attack. My whole game plan this entire time was to just take everything one step at a time, and now I think I need to rethink that strategy. It has just recently dawned on me that I might not have enough time to accomplish everything I need to get accomplished before I leave. There are still so many loose ends I need to tie up, and it's getting closer and closer to my departure date. This week already got booked up, next weekend I'll be in Houston, and the weekend after is my last weekend here in Louisiana. It's all starting to hit me, and hard. Not only do I need to finish my pre-departure shopping, I also need to find time to see all of my friends, research where to stay and how to get around once I'm there, prepare my paperwork, go to a couple more doctor's appointments, and then there's that whole mess about getting all of my shit together for everything that needs to be done after I get there. Oh yeah, and there's that tiny thing called housing that I have no idea about.

I am seriously starting to freak. I know everything will get done, but it's really sinking in that once I get there, I'm on my own. Of course the first week and a half will be awesome. Hayley and I will be traveling together, so neither of us will have to feel alone. From New Orleans to D.C. to Copenhagen to Brussels to Valenciennes to Vernon to Sables d'Olonne, but then I leave Hayley and all of that comfort and go back to Valenciennes alone. Hopefully I'll meet some people upon arriving there and make new friends, but the thought of being alone in a strange city is kinda making my chest hurt. I guess what it boils down to is that I'm starting to lose my tough gal exterior and realize that I'm terrified of what's on the other side of this adventure. I've been waiting for this for so long. I can't just let a littel fear and anxiety and possible panic attacks and chest pains stop me now! I must endure. So I plan on trying to wind down, relax, get some sleep, and wake up in the morning with the ferocity to attack these issues head on.

The Clock is Ticking...

Tonight was a nice and relaxing evening. I watched a couple of movies and just relaxed. I finally saw L'Auberge Espanole. For those of you who don't watch a lot of foreign or French films, this is a movie that is kind of a must see when you've been studying French, and not for the French, but more because it's a movie that is about traveling to a foreign country and trying to get a grasp on the language. It's a fun film and I'm actually really glad I waited until now to see it. The main character, Xavier, moves to Spain for a year to study abroad and work on his Spanish. I won't spoil the movie, but it just fits so well with what I hope to do. Hopefully I won't have to share an apartment with six other people, but I do hope to meet lots of people and learn another language.

In other news, my visa appointment was this past Thursday (8/5) and it seems to have gone quite smoothly. While I was waiting I met Maddie, a fellow teaching assistant! And get this, she's also from Baton Rouge! She'll be in Lyon, but hopefully our paths will cross at some point. After we finished at the consulate, she and I chatted for a while. She studied abroad in Aix and she was very insightful about living abroad. I have been asking anyone I know who has lived/traveled abroad what their pieces of advice are. So far it has been very helpful, and I'm hoping to find out more before I leave too. Hayley (my fellow teaching assistant and scholarship recipient) was able to come to Houston and spend the night with me at my grandmother's since her appointment was the following day. She and I are planning on traveling together. We are planning on meeting in Lafayette on Thursday to buy our tickets. We plan to purchase one-way tickets leaving out of New Orleans on September 15 and flying into Brussels. This trip is going to be awesome, but I still have so much planning to do! Only 1 month and 5 days till we leave! ONE MONTH AND FIVE DAYS...holy crap.

Oh, and before I forget, here's the link to our LPB interview. Click on the link that says "La Fondation Louisiane Scholars."

Les Vacances!

I have been cleaning my room! And for those of you who know me, this is an amazing feat! I am currently taking a break, and I did just get started, but still, I am on the road to a clean room (a very long, windy and treacherous road). I decided to take this break to share with everyone who reads this blog, whoever you may be, what my breaks will be like while I'm in France. So my contract officially starts October 1, 2010 and ends April 30, 2011, so just keep that in mind.

1. Vacances de la Toussaint aka All Saints' Day: Saturday October 23 - Thursday November 4
2. Vacances de Noël aka Christmas Holiday: Saturday December 18 - Monday January 3
3. Vacances d'hiver aka Winter Break: Saturday February 19 - Monday March 7
4. Vacances de printemps aka Spring Break: Saturday April 16 - Monday May 2

So I'm there for 7 months and get 4 paid breaks while I'm there. Pretty darn radical. If you noticed, my last break takes me past the last day of my contract. Everyone start planning your trips to visit now! If anyone wants to come over the first or second break, that would be awesome! If not, well, we'll make it work. I am just sooo excited for all of this! Wahoo! Back to my room now...until next time, adieu!

Busy as a Bee

Soooo much has been happening since I got back from the west coast! Last week was very hectic. I got back Sunday night, and I had to go to work Monday morning and then make it to LPB for 1:30 for an interview. Myself and some of the other scholarship recipients from La Fondation Louisiane were being interviewed about why we have chosen to study French and what we are expecting about our upcoming trip. It was really fun, but the kicker is that after the interview, Dr. Arceneaux offered us a great opportunity. We have all been invited the weekend of September 24-26 to attend a congrès (or conference) for France-Louisiane Franco-Américainie. We were given train fare to get there and we will be provided rooms within French homes to stay during the congrès. I think this is such an amazing opportunity to get to know the other scholarship recipients better and also to get a really great introduction to French life! Hayley (one of the scholarship recipients) and I have really started to discuss travel plans, but we are both really nervous about our visa appointments. I was really scared I made the wrong appointment, but the TAPIF contact, Carolyn Collins, is fairly confident the appointment I have will work. So here's to hoping that everything goes super smoothly! Hayley might even come and stay at my grandmother's with me for our visa appointments, which would be great to plan travel arrangements and whatnot. So much to do with so little time to do it all in! I have been nonstop for what seems like the entire month of July. I went to Vegas and L.A. and have come back to work all week, go to New Orleans this weekend, and I might be back in the NOLA next weekend too. My visa appointment is on August 5, and then I plan to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Wimberley, Texas. I am really looking forward to having a few weeks at home before any more traveling. But I guess soon enough I'll be leaving and doing lots of traveling! But for now, I'm going to just try to make it through the next few weeks in one piece.

My 25th Birthday

I turned 25 today! I've already come to terms with the fact that I am now officially a quarter of a century old. This trip has been insane. Vegas almost ate us alive, but I did leave with $400 and a bunch of memories I didn't have before I went. So I guess that's a plus. California has been super. Just hanging out and relaxing and not worrying about France has been super. I guess it's just what I needed because I got my arrêté in the mail Tuesday. I will be teaching at two schools. One is in Beuvrages and the other is in Trith St Leger. They are both in the suburbs of Valenciennes so I believe I'll be living there and commuting to the schools. I am really excited, and I cannot wait till I get home to look at all the paperwork in person. Other than that, I've helped Maggie buy some awesome items for her Etsy store. We went swimming a couple of times, saw a play, ate some good food. Last night we had some serious margaritas at the Velvet Margarita Cantina and the waiter gave me a birthday shot. It was fun getting to hang out with Bekah again and hang out with Franchesca (Maggie's up until last Friday, co-worker from American Apparel). Night out with the ladies was just what I needed. Today has been really shill and relaxed. Lots of David Bowie and some good eats and great company. Plus Maggie made me a blueberry pie for my birthday. The one thing I always want for my birthday, and she made it from scratch. She is a doll and I love her for it! Don't want to leave, but I guess it's inevitable anyway. Until next time L.A...

The Anxiety is Killing Me

So I just woke up at this ungodly hour in the morning (6:15), and I checked my email as I normally do after waking up when I'm still kinda out of it. I had 14 emails...FOURTEEN. And every single one of them were from people in my region saying they had received their arrêtés (contracts). I am both excited and extremely anxious now. I think my heart might explode and my brain implode if I don't receive this stuff soon. I have made a grave mistake and I have fully booked myself up in the month of July. I am busy every weekend and I won't be here for my birthday and I don't even know when I'll have time to celebrate with my friends. Not that I need to, but it's one time of the year I get to surround myself with all my dearest friends and just be ecstatically happy to see them all. With going to Las Vegas/Los Angeles I'll be gone two weekends in July and the following two weekends are Lauren's bachelorette party and her wedding. Not to mention that the day after I get back in town from L.A. I'll be heading up to LPB to do an interview about the scholarship I got and about our expectations about going to France. I am feeling the stress and pressure of it all. And worrying about when I'll get my paperwork is suffocating. I know I just need to relax, but sometimes that's really hard. I'm over extending myself, but I just need to breathe. I could use a massage...but maybe another day. Okay...time to get ready for work now. Another busy and exciting day is ahead of me. Chin up. Mind right. Focus and determination. And relax. Maybe I can get through my day, and the following month, now.

An explanation

So here I am. Working towards a goal. I am, for the first time in my life, going to move away from Louisiana and live outside of the country for 7 or 8 months (give or take). I am so extremely stoked. So I am going to share the details of this whole wonderful ordeal. I applied in January and in April I found out I had been accepted into the TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France) for the 2010-2011 school year. My académie, or school district, is Lille. This does not mean that I will necessarily be living in Lille, but it does mean that I will be living in the Nord-Pas de Calais region of France. This region is the most northern region in all of France. It borders the English Channel and Belgium. From Lille, it is only an hour train ride to Paris and a 45 minute train ride to Brussels (or so I'm told). The weather is cold and rainy. Rainy I think I can handle, it's just the cold part I'm worried about. I have been told that I tentatively have a 7 month contract teaching middle or high school students. I am waiting as patiently as I can for more information. I have an appointment to get my visa on August 5, but I have to wait for my arrêté, or contract, to come in the mail. I cannot get my visa application processed without it. I found out about a month ago that I was eligible for a bourse, or scholarship, from LFL (La Fondation Louisiane) for attending a Louisiana university and getting accepted into the TAPIF program. I went and interviewed and made a friend in the process. Both Hayley and I realized at the award luncheon that we had both been chosen as recipients of the bourse. She and I have exchanged numbers and are texting back and forth about any and all status updates. She will be placed in Rouen, which is in the northwest of France, which is also cold and rainy. I'm very excited to get to know her better and to have a friend overseas even if she won't be in my region. She and I will meet up again July 19 when we both show up at LPB for an interview. There are so many things happening and I'm getting really excited. Also, I've made some other contacts with people who will be assistants in my region. One guy, Aram, lives in L.A., and I plan on meeting up with him when I go to visit Maggie. Hopefully I'll make some more friends via e-mail/facebook before I go. For now, I will go back to waiting and hopefully have something to add to this blog sooner rather than later.

Until then,

Adieu!

Le Premier

So here I am. In bed. Should be sleeping. But I'm on the computer creating this blog. I spent a while thinking of names for this blog and finally gave up and picked "She Bop en France." It doesn't really mean anything, but at least it has a name. I know I'm not in France yet, but I intend this blog to follow me in my travels to and from and during my trip to France. So here's the start. A blog. She Bop. More to come when it's not so late at night...