The Terrible Threesome

As you all probably know, I went back home for the holidays.  I am working on a post about my treacherous journey home and delightful stay back in AMURICA!  For now, I will tell a delightful tale about my darling puppies.

Bath Time! (Note: I did not take this photo and this did not occur at the time of the story

)

One of the best things about going home was the warm welcome I received from my dogs.  Those three were so excited to see me!  Well Summer was a bit skeptical at first, but then she smelled me and started to freak out.  I guess she couldn't remember me until she got a whiff of that fine Emily odor.  They were all just so happy and delighted I was there, and I in turn was just as happy to see them.

I had a lot of fun with those three while at home, but nothing stand out in my mind more than the day I had to bathe them.   One night they stayed in the kitchen/hallway area of our apartment.  Most nights they stayed in my bed, but on said night I just wanted a bit of space.  Sleeping with three dogs nestled around you on all sides or even laying on your head or back or between your legs is not the most comfortable sleep.  I like to toss and turn violently when sleeping and this makes that impossible because every way I turn there's a dog.

I woke up at 6am partly from the jetlag and being unable to sleep in late and partly because I was having a nightmarish dream which was like the beginning to a horror film.  Nothing bad happened in the dream, but the bad sense of foreboding didn't sit well with me.  I entertained myself for the next few hours skyping France, listening to music, and reading Hyperbole and a Half (my most recent and all-consuming favorite pastime).  Alas, at about 10am I decided I was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

Craig woke up and before I could pretend like I was sleeping, he informed me that I had to clean up the mess the dogs had made.  They are not exactly 100% house trained so we have pee pads for when they make mistakes.  Well I think it was more than a mistake, but not wanting to get up and clean I made a deal with him that I'd bathe the dogs and walk Summer if he cleaned it up.  Well I got the first two cleaned up just fine, but it's not the bathing part that's difficult.  It's trying to dry them off.  I had bathed them simultaneously so I had to dry them off...simultaneously.  Big mistake.

So I start drying off Sterling and let him loose so that poor Charlie wouldn't shiver himself into a coma.  I laid a towel down for him thinking that he would try to dry his head off as he commonly does in such a situation (Yorkies apparently hate when their heads are wet).  Instead, he freaked out and ran off into the distance.  Shit.

At least now I had started to dry Charlie off.  But why was he dripping so much?  Oh wait, I dunked the towel in the water.  Shit shit.

Okay, no biggie.  I thought to myself "I'll just set Charlie down and go get Sterling and try to calm him down."  Now I had two dogs running loose in my room shaking off all over the place. Shit shit shit.

"Okay," I told myself, "don't worry.  I'll just get Charlie back and dry him off."  But before I could, "Oh no Sterling!  Don't use my clean clothes to dry off with!  And don't shake off on my bed next to my computer."  Shit shit shit shit.  

And then, shit.  Literal shit.  Summer had decided she could not for her walk to release herself.   Craig then informed me that walking Summer was my responsibility and therefore so was cleaning up her mess.  Fun times.

Meanwhile, the boys ran out of my room into the living room and jumped onto the couch and were using it to dry themselves off.  Wonderful.  In order to keep Summer from making more of a mess, and to stop the wet crazy dogs from bounding about making a soppy mess everywhere, I had to put the boys in their cage and take Summer for her walk.

The walk was successful, and she peed three times.  When I came back in the boys had been released from their cages into the newly cleaned kitchen/hall area at which point I decided it was time to wash Summer.

No problems with her bath other than she hated it.  I took her out of the tub and set her down and was about to wrap the towel around her to dry her off when all of a sudden....ZOOM!  She was gone!  Soaking wet, with leaps and bounds she ran away from me faster than I could catch her.  She bounded out of my room and onto the couch...still soaking wet.  I hollered for Craig to come help me, and he did.  We finally got her off, and I cleaned up her mess.

Now I'm back in France, and the terrible threesome are far far away.  Sometimes they can be a handful, but man, oh man, do I miss them!

I'm not really sure which one surprises me more...

This blog post has almost nothing to do with my travels abroad, but the regularly scheduled blog posts will resume shortly (including one about puppies and one about my holidays and one about a dragon and a flower).  Until then, you get this:

I have been trying to look at this for the last couple of months, but no luck.  The Stats tab on my dashboard just never worked...until today!  I can't say that I'm surprised that the US made #1 (as they quite often do, USA! USA! USA!), or that France came in as #2 since I look at my blog quite often (I am almost sure that I'm the majority of the Mac usage as well), but China?  Poland?  Netherlands?  Russia almost had me confused until I remembered that I have a friend living in Russia currently (Shelby I hope at least some of that activity came from you).  All very interesting.  Keep reading random people and close friends and family!  Maybe I can make it to some more countries!

Home, Home on the Range

I am home!  Well, much like the tradition I've taken up in France, I continue to be a rambling woman, a bag lady of sorts, traveling from spot to spot.  I spent one night at my dad's and last night at my brother's and tonight I will spend at my grandmother's.  Then I drive back home to sweet Louisiana tomorrow night.  I cannot wait to see my ladies (and gay boys).  We are gonna dish about all the scandalous things I've been doing in France.  This things cannot and will not be divulged on my blog because well, the entirety of the interwebs doesn't need to know what sort of ridiculous things I've been getting into.  Also, I highly doubt my family members want to read about all of that nonsense, especially since I've already been told I talk too much about drinking.  So if you know me personally, and want the 411, just give me a call while I'm in town and I'll divulge it all.  Ladies and gents, I cannot wait to see you this weekend!  And on Sunday I get to see my mother in all of her pink eye glory.  CANNOT wait.

SNEAUX DAY(S)!

Snow in the Front Yard

If only you could see it twinkle.

So it has been brought to my attention that I don’t really talk about anything on my blog outside of wine.  With that being said, I thought I’d add a few boozeless tales to the mix.  So, snow or how we in Louisiana like to call it, sneaux.  Snow…what a wonderful and beautiful and delightful and graceful and cold and dirty and slippery and mushy thing.  So a week ago we got our first snow here in Valenciennes.  It was somewhat snowing when I went to sleep Monday night, but when I woke up Tuesday morning and walked to the bus stop, it was a bona fide winter wonderland.  Everything, including the roads, was just covered in this beautiful, glittery snow.  Every step I took created a footprint because my feet were the first ones to walk in it.  It was cold but glorious.  Seeing as I’m not used to snow AT ALL it was super exciting.

So I made my way to the bus stop and waited.  No bus.  Hmm…so I thought, I’ll just continue to wait.  Thirty minutes later and still no bus.  Another fifteen minutes later – nothing.  So I decided to walk home and check the Transvilles website (the bus company).   No buses because of the snow.  I contacted the school and informed them that I would be unable to make it to school.  Shucks.  So I was snowed in.  The upside was getting to go back to sleep and be all warm and snuggly in my bed.

So here’s the downside of snow.  It melts, and when it melts…well…it’s a mess.  My boots are not made for this kind of weather and my toes are really starting to hate the fact that I haven’t bought new boots yet.  Melting snow adds to the problem because it soaks through the shoe quickly and then I have cold wet toes.  Not good.  Also, people walk through that stuff and it can get right down nasty.  When David and I were in Lille on Friday all the snow had melted and all that was left of the perfect, beautiful, white, shimmering snow was what looked like sand.  Yuck.

Another fun fact, when snow melts but then it drops below freezing before evaporating, yeah, you get ice.  Yesterday I was slipping and sliding down the road to the bus stop.  Got there and wait about 15 minutes before deciding that the buses probably weren’t driving on ICE.  So I texted my teacher to let her know I couldn’t come in.  Day two of missed school due to cold weather.  Nice, but she definitely wasn’t understanding of the fact that if I miss bus number one and bus number two, there’s no way I can show up for school on Monday (seeing as I only work from 7:50-8:50).  Bus one comes at 6:39 and bus two comes at 7:09.  The buses didn’t start running until after 10.  Hopefully she and the principal will understand that this is out of my control.  I can’t help the fact that it takes me an HOUR to get to school.  They don’t seem too concerned with that.

So, this whole snow thing is just kinda spiraling out of control, but oh well.  I’ve decided I’m going to have to stay in Paris the night before I fly home (poor me, right?) because I don’t want to take a chance that the train I need at 5:30am Wednesday morning won’t be running due to snow/ice/whatever the hell. 

OMGGGGGGG just 8 days till I come home!!!  8 days from now I will be preparing to take off and fly home.  Oh boy!  Oh boy!  I’m getting REAL excited.  I just have to finish Christmas shopping, pack, clean my room, call AT&T and get them to turn my phone on while I’m home (that’ll probably take all day), prepare lesson plans on Christmas with songs and games, and be ready to roll out by Tuesday at around 6pm.  So much to do in such little time.  Oh yeah, and Allison and I are going with Annabelle to Belgium on Saturday.  It’s not Germany, but it’ll do! Everyone keeps saying that they just want me home for Christmas so I hope everyone is really ready to get whatever random shit I have found.  This is hard.

St. Nicolas Parade!

Said parade upon which we stumbled.

Surprise! Surprise! What is Before My Eyes?

Last night I decided to stay in and just be at home for one night.  It was really nice.  I ended up getting to talk to several friends back home.  Since I didn't go into town last night I decided to go into town today, and low and behold, I picked the perfect time.  I met up with Allison and David at Subway.  We then walked over to Place d'Armes (the mall) in Centre-Ville.  We saw some people in pink and blue outfits, so we just had to see what it was.  It was a mini parade!  It started with a marching band, followed by some people in crazy red and green costumes and then the pink and blue frilly costumes.  The last group also had a little dance they did (video to come).  At the very end there were people in masks handing out St. Nicolas cookies, an ass and St. Nicolas himself.  In France they celebrate St. Nicolas on Dec 6 (tomorrow) and it's kinda a big deal.  He's the patron saint of boys.  Ste. Catherine was already celebrated Nov 25 (Thanksgiving this year) who is the patron saint of girls.  Anyway, it was pretty cool to stumble upon a little piece of home (i.e. parades and costumes) right here in Valenciennes!

All I Want for Christmas...

Strangely enough, last night I had a dream in which some bad guys were chasing after me or putting evil spells on me and I lost on of my top front teeth.  Very weird dream, but it made me think of wanting teeth for Christmas...or other things.  This Christmas is going to be really different for me.  Normally every year my dad asks me consistently for what I want for Christmas and I have to come up with a list of things for him to sort through and get me.  This has not happened this year, and I attribute this to the fact that I'm in France, and he has no real way of calling me.  So there haven't been any conversations of the like.  Also, no questions from mom, brothers, friends...anything.  No biggie.  Maybe they aren't gonna get me anything.  No biggie.  I can still make my dream wish list of everything I might want for Christmas.  I can always get them for myself.

1. Going home for Christmas.  Obvious, right?  The number one thing I know I will get this year is spending the holiday with my friends and family.
2. A massage.  My back is all kinds of knotted up.  I could really use a day at the spa to relax this ragged ole back of mine.
3. Money.  Money is good for so many things, like paying rent, traveling abroad, buying gifts, etc.  Christmas and the next couple weeks rent are gonna make a significant dent in my bank account.  My American bank account is already reeling from the negative exchange rate.
4. iTunes gift cards.  That's right.  Music is my heroine.  I need it to get through the day to day, and although my spending habits have decreased whilst I've been in France, I still gotta get something new from time to time.
5. Boots.  The boots I brought with me broke shortly after arriving.  I now have nothing tall and warm enough to wear.  Also I need something to help me walk through the snow.  My little Louisiana body is just not used to all this snow and cold weather.
6. Winter coat.  Yeah, I brought my "winter" coat with me.  That coat is meant for Louisiana winters, not French ones.  I am layering and layering, but still, I gotta get a coat before I freeze to death.

Anything after that is lagniappe.  I seriously can't wait.  Less than two weeks till I'm home.  WAHOO!!!!

Also...

In case you can't tell, that's wine...from a box.

This is my life...

L'amour

I have come to the conclusion that not only do I think I'll stay single this entire time I'm in France, but I seriously doubt that I'll find a boyfriend or romantic counterpart anytime in the near future.  I know that love can sneak up on you, as evidenced by my own best friend, J Mills, but I really don't see this happening for me.  This doesn't make me sad.  It's just a stark realization that I've come to and I think making this realization might just help me to enjoy my time abroad.

Thanksgiving in France

Thursday was Thanksgiving back in the States, but here in France it was just another workday.  I spent the day telling my classes all about the origins of Thanksgiving, why we don't call Native Americans "Indians," the types of typical American cuisine served on Thanksgiving, how we celebrate it, that it's not a religious holiday per se, and Black Friday.  I spent 9.5 hours at my school in Beuvrages and spent 7 hours on repeat.  It was really swell, but very tiring.  Summary of my Thanksgiving lesson is this:

• In 1620 the Pilgrims came from England to America on a ship called the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth.  They came for religious freedom.
• They made friends with the Native Americans because they didn't know how to grow any crops and could not feed themselves because in 1620 there were no supermarkets or McDonald's.
• The Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to grow crops such as corn.
• The Pilgrims were so thankful that in 1621 they threw a big party to thank the Native Americans, but also God.
• Today we celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November.
• It is a holiday that is celebrated with your family, usually including extended family.
• We celebrate Thanksgiving by having a big feast that includes:
• Turkey (Dinde)
• Mashed Potatoes (Purée)
• Rice and Gravy (Riz et Jus de la Dinde)
• Corn (Maïz)
• Salad (Salade)
• Stuffing (Farce)
• Sweet Potatoes (Potates Douces)
• Cranberry Sauce (Sauce des Canneberges) - They don't have Cranberries in France so this was hard to explain
• Green Bean Casserole (Casserole des Haricots Verts)
• Apple Pie (Tarte aux Pommes)
• Pumpkin Pie (Tarte aux Citrouille)
• Pecan Pie (Tarte aux Noix de Pecan)
•  In addition to the feast, families watch football games; both college and NFL. (Explaining the differences between the two was interesting as collège in French means middle school and football means soccer.)
•  There is a parade televised from New York called Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Macy's is the name of the store that sponsors the parade.  The parade consists of giant balloons that resemble cartoon characters and floats.  (Explaining floats was difficult but the French word for float is "char."  Once I figured this out my lessons went much smoother.)
•  Black Friday occurs on the day after Thanksgiving.  It is a day of big sales (soldes) with huge discounts (remises).  Stores open around 5 a.m. and lines form at 2 a.m. because the biggest discounts will only be given to the first 200 people.

That doesn't seems like a lot of info, but trying to convey all of this to students with a very basic understanding of English was very...interesting.

Now although Thanksgiving was on Thursday in the States, here in France we celebrated the Saturday before Thanksgiving (Nov 20).  It was potluck so everyone had to bring something.  David and I chipped in to make a big ole salad.  In France they don't have any mega-sized serving bowls, so I bought a big blue bucket to serve it out of.  It was so super yummy, but I forgot to take pictures of it.  The party took place at Sara's, another American assistant, and she had prepared chickens because turkey is only eaten in France around Christmas.  There was also green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, potatoes au gratin, mashed potatoes, quiche, cheesecake, chocolate cake, and apple crumble.  The meal was so delicious and super filling.

We started the meal at 3pm and I started drinking wine with my meal.  If you know anything about drinking that if you start drinking it pretty much means you have to keep drinking if you want to get drunk and keep your drunk.  So I kept drinking.  There was a big lull after the meal when a lot of the people from the meal left before the party started that evening.  I wanted to nap, but knew that would have been a terrible idea.  So instead we went on a hunt for large plastic cups and ping pong balls so that we could play beer pong.  Success!  I played my first game of beer pong in about 6 years, and it was also probably only the second time I've ever played.  It was super fun and Shelby, and I didn't lose by too much.

Shortly thereafter there was more beer drinking, wine drinking, more food was served (as in the French tradition to continually serve food throughout a party).  A bunch of us retreated up to Sara's room and chatted and had a mini dance party.  We then decided we needed to bring the party downstairs.  All of us in our American glory descended the stairs and entered the living room and turned what was a casual hang out into a dance party. Go us!  We turned the lights off and the party was hopping.

The next several hours are very blurry, but I do know that I tried to play matchmaker for David and ended up spending a good long while talking to this girl in French about how nice David is and how she should be interested.  Then there were fries.  Then somehow I got into a deep conversation with the French girl about how Americans have a perception of how all French people are lovers and how Americans don't know anything because they are too culturally absorbed (present company excluded of course).  That was a disaster of a conversation.  Most people can speak French better the drunker they get.  I think I discovered that the drunker I get, and the more I speak French, the more I use up the French in my head, and then by the end of the night I can barely form a sentence.

More beer and some dirty dancing later and somehow it was 4:30 in the morning and time to call it a night.  But hot damn!  That party was a freaking blast!  I have to say my French Thanksgiving was pretty damn epic.
A few pictures courtesy of Sara:

Allison, Tristen, Myself, Joey (over my shoulder), and David

The Famed Beer Pong.  Did I mention that Allison is a beer pong beast?  Cuz she is.

Sara, Myself, and BEER

Dance party upstairs.  Tristen, Shelby's back, Me (doing something me-like)

Turkeys, Teaching, and Thanksgiving

Update on life:

Really starting to get into the swing of things at school.  So far I have taught about Halloween, Thanksgiving, the difference between American schools and French schools, Scotland (barely, mainly a review, but WTF right?), describing a person and what they are wearing, and I even taught/attempted to teach the 6e (sixième) or 6th graders (10-11) the hokey pokey (they had a LOT of fun with that).  There were also a lot of question and answer periods, but those have for the most part dissipated with the exception of a Q&A I have with the 3e at Beuvrages tomorrow (3e or troisième are the equivalent of 9th graders).  Tomorrow I only have to work 2 of my 6 hours at Beuvrages because two of the teachers have to train tomorrow and the other doesn't need me.  This has let me stay up late talking to my mother and watch 4 episodes of Prison Break.  I promised my darling brother Craig that if he would send me the DVDs I would watch them before I came home (originally scheduled for May).  I am trying to appease him but also loving the storyline!  Can't believe it has taken me this long to watch this show!

Although I don't have to work tomorrow, I do have a lot to get accomplished.  I have to try to prepare my answers for my students and ready some visuals if possible.  Also I need to shower as I did not take one today.  I also need to go to school early to talk to the principal about getting the Thursday before the break off so that I can leave December 15 instead of December 17 to come home.  As soon as I buy my ticket, I will let everyone know!  I am very excited to get to go home and spend the holidays with family and friends.  I think this holiday season will be pretty special.

Other things happening in my life...we had a holiday last Thursday so I had a five day weekend because I work neither Wednesdays or Fridays.  I drank a bottle of wine plus every night.  It was drunken bliss with minimal hangovers.  Also we tried to go to football (soccer) match here in Valenciennes, but it got rained out (womp womp).  Instead had a homemade meal courtesy of Allison and we hung out until about midnight when we met up with a bunch of British assistants.  New friends!  It was a drunken but fun night and we got to go out dancing (whoop whoop!).  Today I got sushi with Shelby.  It wasn't as good as the other place, but it was still yummy.  I cannot wait to mange on an Ichiban roll when I get home.

This weekend holds in store for us a Thanksgiving celebration!  There will be turkey and who knows what other sort of assortment of American, British, and French cuisine.  It's a potluck so I have to try to find something to make.  Maybe green bean casserole.  Maybe something else.  Who knows.  All I know is that I want to stop talking about Thanksgiving and just get my eat/drink on.

Comments

PLEASE  I beg of thee!  Leave me some comments!  I've made it so that anyone, including anonymous people, may leave comments on my blog.  This basically means that if you don't have an account, no biggie.  Just leave your little ole comment.  Thanks friends.

I'll be home for Christmas...

Oh, and in case you haven't heard, I do believe I'll be making the treacherous flight home to Louisiana for the Christmas holidays. The best part about this is that I will get to see the people who I miss and who miss me the most. Also, in fact, I will get to see people who I didn't get to see before I left (i.e. Chassidy and Michelle). Everyone is important to see but at the top of my list are my darling nephew Kenny and my darling niece Emma Jane. I love those little babes so much! I am learning how to love children again. When I went to college I removed myself from knowing little children and got really weird around kids. I attribute this to my education. The more I learned, the more independent I became, and the more independent I became, the less babies sounded like a good idea to me. Needy little things that whine and cry a lot and grow inside you like an alien are are carriers of disease. I'm pretty sure working in the food service industry didn't help because of the bad parents who would let their children do anything including put things in their mouths, run around screaming, and not pick up after these messy brats. In the last few years I've regained my senses to realize that children can be very wonderful with the right parent(s). I absolutely adore both Emma Jane and Kenny and I wouldn't want to live without them in my life. This does not mean I've decided to have any babes of my own, but playing with other people's kids is down right okay with me.

I talked to Ashley yesterday (Emma Jane's mommy) and she told me that Emma Jane drew me a picture and wrote me a letter! She then tried to shove it out the mail slot on the door assuming that would work. Ashley had to explain that it needed an envelope and a stamp to make it to me. Apparently little Miss Emma Jane also put her raincoat and rainboots on and said she was going to France to find me. I just love her! Kenny doesn't know who I am really and he can't talk either, so I don't expect to be hearing from him anytime soon, but maybe I'll be able to skype him soon!

Other things I'm looking forward to: Seeing my parents, seeing my grandma, seeing my brothers, seeing my pups, seeing my friends, late night fast food, Chimes, Cane's, peanut butter and jelly, American junk food, movies in English, Christmas dinner/breakfast/foods, drinking wine with my dad, bickering with my mom, calling my mom "mom," hugging my brother while he looks at me with disgust, using my iPhone to make phone calls...and the list goes on. One surprising thing that I'm actually looking forward to is listening to Christmas music. Normally I hate it, but I cannot wait to go over to my dad's house and have that place lit up like nothing you've seen before with 7 dogs running around under my feet and Christmas music blaring. It'll be fantastic. It's funny how sometimes you miss the most simple of things. Example: I talk to my mother almost everyday on FB chat, but I always call her "Maman" or "Mommy" or "Mother" or something like that, but when I'm at home I almost always call her "Mom." I just miss being able to call her mom. Also, I def plan on bringing back lots of American junk food to share with my fellow assistants. Score.

Colds Are No Good When You Have to Go to School

After reading my darling friend Allison's blog, I've decided I need to be more proactive about posting things. Just things from my day to day. So here it goes. Today, I am sick. I have a bit of a cold. Being sick in France is not fun, but amongst other things it is also difficult to remedy. Why you may ask? Walgreens and CVS don't exist here, but there are Pharmacies that are indicated with a lovely bright green neon cross. Before I ever came to France I was warned about these mythical places. Basically most American medicines cannot be found at these places and you have to know what you're asking for to ask the pharmacist. That can be very difficult if you don't know what "I have a runny nose and I'm congested" is in French. Well the other day it wasn't that bad, just a sore throat. I braved the pharmacy and told the pharmacist that I wanted to buy some vitamin C and I had a sore throat. She gave me some vitamin C instructing me to take one in the morning and some lozenges and told me they had vitamin C in them and to take 4 a day. So that seemed easy enough, yes? Well the vitamin C has to be dissolved in a glass of water so I have yet to try those and I didn't necessarily want lozenges, but they worked better than any that I've tried in the US. Since I've become more sick I haven't been out of the house long enough to go back and the walk is not a short one from my house. To get to the nearest pharmacy I have to walk at least 30 minutes just one way. Sometimes I miss my car and the convenience of it. Sheesh. Luckily though Annabelle gave me some saline nose spray which seems to be working. At least i can breathe out of my nose again.

Today was a hard day because I had to work at 7:50 this morning. Working at 7:50 in Trith St Leger requires me to arise at 5:45am to get dressed and ready myself. This sounds awful, which it is, but it's worse because when I have to wake up this early, my body doesn't let me sleep straight through the night. So sick little ole me woke up at 2 and 3:30 and 5 thinking it was time to wake up. I also had a dream that I had flown home instead of going to school and had to explain to my teacher why it was impossible to show up for school today. Anyway, so I woke up and got out to the bus stop in the frigid cold. It was 41ºF this morning (and no I still haven't adapted to Celsius) and the wind was a-blowin'! It was colder than the day when it was 32ºF outside! So then I waited, got on the bus, rode the bus for 50 minutes, and then had to wait another 5 for someone to let me into the school. Another 15 minutes of waiting for class to start. Then I get my little students who are quatrieme or 4th which is the equivalent to 8th graders in the US. They didn't seem to understand a thing I said to them in English or French for that matter and they generally refused to talk. I tried to play a game with them. Nothing. I also tried to be silly and get them to laugh, but they were impossible! Then the bell rang and I went to wait for the bus to ride the 50 minutes and walk the 10 minutes home.

Now I've had a nap and feel more refreshed but still sick. I didn't feel like eating a sandwich for lunch and I remembered that I had a bag of popcorn! It may be French popcorn, but man oh man is it good! Just what I needed today! Salty popcorn and coke. Oh, and the French prefer sugared popcorn. So when I found salted popcorn I was overcome with excitement and now I've found the perfect day to eat it. So I guess today isn't a total loss!

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