5 Months en France

Victory over St Victoire!

2009-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

Have I told you how my friends and I have attempted to climb Cezanne's famous mountain? Well, K and I tried again only to miss the bus. So Saturday, L, A and I met up at 10 – too early for everyone else – and headed out. Everyone we know has tried, and failed, to conquer Mount Saint Victoire. Either because they chickened out, or weather thwarted them, or they took the wrong path, or gave up, or never even made it on the bus, or got off at the wrong stop, etc. However, we were determined. Starting at the dam, we spent 2-3 hours climbing to the little chapel and shelter, then we continued to the Croix de Provence, which is at the top. After a makeshift picnic lunch here, we descended by another route and made it to the bottom after a few more hours. We sat in a little restaurant for a rest before returning to Aix. I got strawberry juice, so good! Then we searched for a bus... and hitchhiked instead!! hahah... good story, more on that in person.

The Old House

2009-05-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Several nights ago we were chilling in our room, this is when S
and I were sharing a bedroom, and our host mom called us down to
dinner. During dinner she told us how the big house had a bees nest in
the upper window and thus the President of the Fac was coming
to capture it. Late that evening, he arrived and we all
went over to the big house to watch. However, I have never been in the
big house and neither has S, so this was quite an evenement.
D told us that we could look in any of the rooms that we
liked. This house is a huge 18th Century Bastide house. There are 16
bedrooms, a salon, a kitchen, 6 bathrooms, a library, etc etc etc. I
felt like a child in a book, exploring a mansion that is only
inhabited for two months of the summer by a rich Parisian. The rooms
were old and stale, but oh so intriguing. At any moment something
could have jumped out at me! Haha. And the library was a lovely room
with a fireplace and comfortable chairs. I wanted to explore all
night. But alas, we had to go back to studying. Gosh. It was really
cool though. And I rather liked the old house.

Paris

2009-05-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

The next day was spent traveling back to Paris. Since most of the trains were full we had to go through Caen, and arrived in the late afternoon. We came up out of the Metro at the Charles de
Gaule – Etoile stop, aka the l'Arc de Triumph!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!! I was standing there in shock and awe completely forgetting how close it was to the last check in at our housing, only to find myself alone a few moments later and having to run to catch up.
All the GC kids, and a jet lagged K, were housed in a catholic house. I am not sure exactly what it was, some sort of a retreat center, that also rents out rooms, and has a permanent community that lives there. But the location was great, right near l'Arc de Triumph et le Champs d'Elseye shoot, I can not spell that. But at least I do not say it with an American accent haha! That is a major joke of all French speakers apparently... pronounced: shamps eelezay.
It rained on and off in Paris. And when it was not raining, it was so lovely that I wore shorts half of the time... oh wait, that was because I ran out of clothing. I want to tell you every thing but I
know that Lydia has long ago given up on reading this email and even the most avid readers are probably done caring so... Paris was awesome!!

But no, I can not leave it at that...
We saw more lifelong dreams : the Opera house... K and I were beyond thrilled and we only had 30 minutes to run around but we were breathless and singing the Phantom of the Opera the entire time... its an incredible place!!! I felt like I had already been, because I did a project on the Opera Garnier in High school for French class. But no... it was better!
Also I spent some time in the Louvre, the building itself is incredible, and then there are the paintings and sculptures as well, it was so overwhelming that LI and I left after an hour and went to the Musee d'Orsay. Yes! LI!! I met up with her and KC, and JY at the Eiffel Tower one night. But we had to go shortly after meeting up with them because we had a play to see that night – Don Quixote, but it was so lovely to see them. LI and the other Scotland girls hung out with S, G, and I then following day (while the GC girls went to Giverny) until their plane
left for Rome.
We passed by l'Arc de Triumph every day, and walked on the Champs de l'Elysees almost every day. We also visited les Invalides – grave of Napolean, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, the Pantheon – closed, le Tour Eiffel, took a boat tour on the Seine, picnicked on the edge of the Seine, ate meals with our hosts, took a day trip to Versailles, saw more graves, chilled the Jardin du Luxembourg – next to the Senat, walked past the Hotel de Ville, et le Centre Pompidou, saw a demonstration and dodged Socialist marches all day on May 1st, went to the Musee Rodin to enjoy the sculpture garden, visited the Place de la Concorde, and stopped at every Starbucks that J saw. ;)
It was a good week in Paris. However, Paris is too full of museums and sites of interest to be seen. Perhaps if we had taken a year there, or if everyone had not insisted on waiting til 10 am every morning to get out of the house, or if we had sky cars and infinite money, we could have... however, none of these happened, so we saw what we could, and it was wonderful.
I am very glad that Krista and I broke off the first day to go to the Opera house while everyone else searched for the grave of Jimmy Hendrix, cause I really wanted to see the Opera house and
would not have otherwise. And we still beat them back to lunch! Haha.
During the majority of the trip we got into museums free of charge as students of the European Union, but at the end we realized that it was students who are citizens of the EU... sigh. But that was not until May 1st which was the Workers day, or something like that. And nearly everything was closed anyway. So we 'walked by' a lot of things... it worked out. And at that point I was down to a handful of Euros after two weeks of traveling.

Mont St Michel

2009-05-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

Pontorson, is a tiny little village known only because of its proximity to Mont St. Michel. This world renown abbey dates from the middle ages when thousands would flock to the site either on
pilgrimages, or for safety from invaders. When the tide comes in, it covers all of the space between the Mont and the mainland. However, because they put in a permanent causeway a few years back, the tides and ecosystem there have changed.
Walking from the train station to the youth hostel was a little odd, the town was mostly empty. The town had a very different feel than Reims, a distant and bustling suburb of Paris. Finally, as the hostel came into view, a huge tour bus pulled up and started to unload.
NO!!!! Having flash backs of Strasbourg, we ran to the hostel. Luckily, the group was a bunch of students who filled all but 5 beds in the entire hostel, and they offered beds in their rooms to us. That night we went to a neat little crepe restaurant... best crepe meal ever! And I had buttermilk cause I always wanted to know what it was... yogurt that is not set, not sweet or buttery, or anything interesting like that... I felt like a cat, drinking milk with a spoon out of a bowl.
Mont St Michel was only 9km away. So we walked. Along the Cousnon river(?) Past horse farms, across from an old wind mill, near fields of yellow flowers, and past a sewage treatment plant... uhk. Anyway, it was incredible!! I have been wanting to go there for the past four years, and now I finally have. The Mont looms up in an eerie way as you approach, getting larger and larger until you arrive at the gate.
The city itself is one of winding medieval streets and tourist shops, but the abbey is beautiful. The abbey was very plain, but spacious and awe inspiring. This is another thing I need to show you pictures of, because if I tried to explain everything in detail... no one would want to read my blog.

Travel day #2 and Bayeaux

2009-05-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

We attempted to do another travel day... It was going to be Nancy, Reims (pronounced: rahnse) and Amiens, but instead, we took trains all day ending up in all the places we did not need to be and finally ended in Reims. After visiting the cathedral, and walking through the central area we found a hostel and planned out the next few days. We would not be going to Luxembourg, or Brussels, or Amiens... instead we decided to go through Paris and spend the remaining days in Normandy. This night I paid for sluggish internet access on computers with sticky unmarked-French keyboards in an attempt to figure out my life. It did not work, but it did lessen my stress one degree. And everyone that received an email from me that day, including potential employers, received odd unpunctuated messages, with double letters, and random French symbols.
I am not sure what day it was, but the next day we left in the early AM to go under Paris (it was painful, watching the metro stops of several famous and beautiful places that I wanted to see, pass above me), and ultimately to Caen – oops we meant to go to Bayeaux, and thus missed the only bus of the day to the Dday beaches... sigh.
Disappointed, we visited the cathedral before wandering the lovely little town. I had some more quiet and thoughtful time while G visited a famous tapestry, and then we went to the British burial ground. I had wanted to see the American cemetery, but since they stop all touristy things on weekends (brilliant!) that was not possible... this one worked quite well, actually.
I was struck by the lines of white tomb stones, and silent inscriptions on the graves...
“My only child...”
“Age 19”
“Known unto God”
“greater love hath no man than this that he laid down his life for his friends”
“at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember him,
RIP” etc.
As heavy clouds approached, several groups of what seemed to be teens from a British Military academy, swarmed the cemetery and laid flowers on the memorial. It hurt, in a beautiful way. While I hope that nothing happens, these young adults may someday be called to give their lives in the same way. As the rain fell, we ran to the train station to catch the next train.

Strasbourg

2009-05-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Strasbourg was in quite a bustle because of parliament. But we were able to explore the city and its gardens. The cathedral was lovely, and we found several buildings, streets, etc named after Rohan... haha. There was a lovely little section called “Petite France” and I spent a good deal of my visit there. It was on the water and straight out of a fairy tale... it just was not real! We spent several days in Strasbourg, one day I just wandered the city alone and sat by the water for a few hours to do devos. After more wanderings along the canal, a found myself in a lovely Parisian styled park on the opposite side of town.
It was good to slow down and just relax for a little bit. But I became very stressed about this summer because I had all day to think about all the things I should be getting done, but without internet access, my world unfortunately stops turning.
There is a lot more to say about Strasbourg, which is a lovely and enjoyable town, but I will leave you with this. I am already uploading several weeks of my life to blogger, and if you are bothering to read, you are surely overwhelmed already.

Travel day #1

2009-05-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

The following day was a little on the crazy side. Three cities and three countries in one day, all while carrying one HUGE backpack!
First, we went to Basel, it is between France, Switzerland, and Germany. We explored the neat little city and checked out its cathedral (in order to see the grave of Erasmus), before taking a boat across the Rhine from the medieval wall in Switzerland to a random playplace in Germany. Germany was short lived, and we were soon on our way to Colmar.
Colmar is a picture perfect Alsacian town. If you do not know what that means, try to imagine a little fairy tale town stuck between centuries. The buildings were story book with dark beams and white/colored walls. We went here because G had a lifelong dream of seeing a certain triptych that is housed in the museum in central Colmar. But just our luck, on Tuesdays, this museum is closed. It was also G's 21st birthday so he decided that it was just to spite him
that it had closed. Slightly disappointed, we went to a park to have a picnic lunch before heading to Strasbourg.
Strasbourg, just happened to be hosting the European Parliament when we arrived, so every thing was booked. We were able to find hostels to stay in, but this evening was more stressful than necessary and I called it a night pretty early. Without dinner and completely exhausted, I found myself in a room with a French woman and a Russian woman. Conversations with the French girl, were in French, and the Russian woman: in English, Spanish and French. It was quite a mix. And I often found myself translating between the two of them.

Switz w K and G

2009-05-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Geneva was lovely, surrounded by snow capped mountains, and offering 'swiss chocolate' in every store that we passed. K, G and I stayed with the daughter of our Directrice, and therefore started our visit by having dinner with her and her husband. There were a good deal of high priced stores in the downtown area, including a Lamborghini and a Rolex store. As you know from the recent world summit (g20 – G vingt), Switzerland is a tax haven. Even the post office was in on it, and they had ipods for sale. We walked by the UN – Nations Unis en Francaise, and there was a music video/Ballywood movie being filmed. It was quite amusing to watch. On another day when we were walking around Geneve we found a park with giant chess pieces and game boards on the ground. That afternoon we took a little ferry across the lake and past the jet d'eau, which was a huge shoot of water going a good fifty to a hundred feet into the sky.
After two days we took a train to Bern, the train twisted through the Swiss countryside and along Lake Geneva? The Alps loomed out of the water in a breathtaking manner as we passed through Lausanne. Bern is the capital of Switzerland and an enchanting little city. We stayed in the old city in a backpackers hostel. The cobblestone streets were lined with little shops and fondue restaurants. We visited the Bear that is kept on the edge of the city in a pit, and walked past the Einstein haus. One evening we visited the host mom of K's mom, (from when she studied abroad in Switzerland in college) and it was a lovely time. The experience is greatly enhanced when you meet the people that live in a region. The following day, J, the child of the host sibling of K's mom, showed us around the city and even took us outside of the old part. I was much more enchanted by the old city, but the university had the coolest library. On our last night, we made fondue in the kitchen of the hostel before running K to the train. We sang songs on the quai until her train arrived, and then sent her off to see her fiancé the US.

Barcelona

2009-05-13T12:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a lovely city, right on the Mediterranean Sea. J and I drove there with a girl from the Faculty de Theologie and two missionaries who are in French language school. After a long and cramped ride, we arrived in Barcelona. Easter weekend was very rainy and cold in Spain. However, we made the best of the situation and regarded many Gaudi buildings; we also explored his garden. Due to the rain, we really did not get to do much else...
We went to a really cool museum about the history of Barcelona and it had an underground section where we walked through the remains of the Roman city. They had the remains
of a guard tower, a wine factory, and a laundry washing place – I do not think that they were called laundromats back then. Barcelona had some beautiful buildings, other than the Gaudi ones ;) those were more interesting than beautiful. The -future- largest cathedral in the world was incredible. But it was intimidating and the rude and gothic images on the facade left me wondering what it really was for? All of the other Gaudi buildings were just being used to make money. Will this building be used to glorify God or just as another example of Gaudi's unique architecture? ... still pondering.
Before leaving Barcelona we had a cultural experience of ordering Tapas – hors d'oeuvre - at a local tapas place. However, no one at the restaurant spoke English, so we ended up with several random and sketchy food items. The French-Spanish-English thing did not treat us well... We ended up with squid, whole salted fish (made me think of my child hood sardine experience: bones and fish tails), calamari, and other random sketch things that no one wanted to eat. Not to mention the squid cost more than a whole meal should... F and I were to only brave ones, so we had to eat everything.
Oh, and we attended a wedding. Haha, by accident. Apparently there was a wedding going on Easter Sunday, at the international church that we found. It was amusing, and made me excited for H and C's wedding.
On Monday, we left Barcelona and went to the Mer. We hung out on the beach in a little town nearby and after lunch headed back to Aix. We got home a long after dinner and I ate by myself before diving into homework.
The following week was all work and no play. I was packing, planning, and trying to get life in order for my two weeks away. Also I felt pressured to figure out the summer because I would be on and off the internet over the following weeks and needed to get a job tied down.
Friday morning at 6 am I was finishing up a cover letter on gchat with H and putting the last few items in my backpack. I had to put everything else in my suitcase, and leave my room empty for the visitors that stayed in my room while I traveled. I met G at the train station at the same time as my Friday class usually starts and we headed to Switzerland.

2009-05-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

i have lots to tell you :) and i have written my family emails, so i can just edit those over... but i currently lack time... due to finals. but if/when i have time, i'll write

brb

2009-05-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

1,695 pictures, 16 days of fun, 19 trains, 8 hostels? a dozen or so baguettes, and a lot of euros later...
I just returned from two weeks of traveling around France, Switzerland, and chilling in Paris. I am
tired and have several exams to study for, however, I will try to get an update out soon!
Ciao ~R

heading out

2009-04-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been a bit of a panic, spent searching for hostels and planning the next two weeks of my life. oh... and the summer!
In the last hour, I have been running around packing, unpacking, moving furniture, vacuuming, looking up random items online, and talking to people via various computer chat services.
My head is in a spin due to the amount of pollen in the air, and I am currently debating how warm it will really be in Paris in 10 days...
If I do not talk to you before then... I will be back in May. Strange thought!
bisous.

growing up

2009-04-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

France, is -as always- lovely. I can not explain how blessed I am to be here. However, do not let me paint it as a fairy tale. Life has been very challenging lately. The stress of my future life has been disrupting what I have here and causing me considerable confusion. I have been reassured that: trials are put in our lives to grow us. But it is hard to say this to myself as I get up after a short restless sleep to study once more for an examen that I hardly can align with my goals or interests. My world is shifting and the reality of a one day adulthood is becoming apparent and less of a childhood game of make believe. You know how when we were little we would play kitchen set or have houses, cars and jobs? Well, I have played house with my apartment, cooking, cleaning, shopping, budgeting, etc. And I have a car at home. Also I have now held several random summer jobs and the next one will just have to be a little more grown up. But none of it is make believe now. There are grades and levels that must be reached or you start over... like burning dinner... its not plastic that you throw across the room at your little brother and then pick up and 'eat' 5 minutes later.

Arles

2009-04-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend K, S and I embarked with the Cartrieze (our new friend) for Arles. It is yet another old French city, filled with Roman ruins and placed along the Rhine River... wait was it the Rhone? The river does not smell very good, and is kinda hazy...
When we arrived, we visited a French market. They are so much fun. I love walking by all the booths and seeing the many foods, utensils, jewelry, clothing, books, etc that each tent has hidden inside. We have markets in A three times a week, but I never have time to stop in.
Anyway, only in Europe do you find ruins of Roman buildings laying scattered on the ground instead of set on a pedestal in a museum. We passed an old theater that was falling apart and the pillars were laying in piles around the park grounds. It was artistic, but nothing like the glassed in remains you see in the US.
Since we were on a money saving kick, we walked by several old Roman historical places. First, an arena that was in the midst of renovations and would be used for a bullfight the following day. Then a hot spring, or Roman Bath of sorts. Some old churches, and a Cloitre. We went into the churches mostly, but they charged for the cloister so we sat in the courtyard and ate the cheese, bread, and tomatoes that we had gotten from the market.
One of the churches had a black and white (noir et blanc - les francais sont toujours contre des anglais.) photography exhibit in a side room. And another had a bullfighting display. However the modernistic art gave me an eerie feeling. The different items were set up almost as if it were a temple to the Bulls, and made me think of Baal... not of art.

The plan had been to go to Les Baux de Provence after lunch and spend some time at this apparently incredible city! However, buses do not run until tourist season = juin et juilliet! So we took pictures with a Carousel that was not running, and watched the city workers clean - with soap and water - the street where the vendors had stood in their market stalls that morning.
Having left at six something AM we all were running out of steam. So, K called the mother of her host mother and we went over for tea. She was a cute older lady. She was short and bent over with age, but full of life. She walked from her house to the main street to retrieve us, and offered an assortment of drinks and Madeline's when we arrived at her home.
After a short repose in her living room she escorted us to an art museum with a handful of vouchers for a free entry. The museum had a display visiting from the Louvre!! It was really neat and had some cool, you guessed it! Roman artwork.

We caught the bus mid afternoon and headed back to A where we pulled a make-our-own-dinner, and had fajitas! It was way cheaper than going out and so much fun. Afterward S went out while I slept over K's. We watched the beginning of Madagascar in French... very funny!

stressed

2009-04-07T14:22:00.001-07:00

I am caught between the thrill of being here and the incredible opportunities i am offered daily to adventure and learn about my world in a totally new way
and the reality of lacking a summer occupation and my impending fall education.

God. only God.

April Fools/Poisson d'Avril

2009-04-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

April Fools is called the day of the fish in France. And little kids stick fish on each other's pack as a joke... not real fish, paper ones.
One of my profs got poissoned today! poisson = fish, not a deadly substance. It was quite amusing for him to turn around and have a little paper fish scotch taped to the back of his suit.

Spain!!!

2009-04-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

Well, this was a lovely adventure. I was nervous before I left. This trip was solo and between two countries where I do not fully speak either of the languages. However, it went marvelously. I thought that two full days of traveling would help me to think through all of the pressing matters of my life and to sort things out. Instead I mostly attempted sleep and spaced off as the sky and later Spanish countryside whipped by.
It was a trip of buses: bus to Aix, bus to Marseille, plane to Madrid, metro to bus station, bus to Seville, SEVILLE! bus to Malaga, bus to airport, plane to Marseille, bus to Aix, bus home.
Even though both Friday and Monday were mainly devoted to travel, this trip was amazing. I spent two whole days with two of my fav girls: Little L and K! They both lived in my apartment last year and will be next year too!! Yeh! The weekend was devoted to exploring Seville and catching up with the girls.
I can not tell you how nice it was to hang out with people who I really know and who know me. It made me miss home and my friends so much more. Now here I am telling my little brother on IM that I have two months and a day until my flight home!
And that is no April Fools!

Roller Bladers and Bus Escapade

2009-04-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

One morning we had to catch a bus back home after church. But there was a huge roller blade race going on on the main street of Aix. So our bus was not functioning on it's usual schedule, or going to the usual pick up point. We watched the races - and some bike races as well - for a matter of minutes before continuing along the bus line to find an open and functioning bus stop.
We live pretty far from town, so there is only one bus line that comes to our stop on Sundays. We waiting for this bus for ten minutes... at the wrong stop and watched it pass at a distance. Then we walked the line past several stops to find a stop with a bench. We then saw the bus pass us on the way to Aix, and awaited its return to bring us eventually home.
All that to say... the French have some odd and amusing past times... if any of you have a future in Competitive Roller Blading... this might just be the place for you ;)

Iles

2009-04-01T23:55:00.001-07:00

When I was home over break I looked up my area on the map and found some intriguing islands off the coast of Marseille. Well, I decided to go see them if possible and until two weeks ago, it was not going to happen. However, heheh.... we have gone!
We went to Marseille and took a boat out to the Ile d'If - Count of Monte Cristo anyone? We did not stay on that island however, we merely took pictures and continued to les Iles du Frioul. Our ship, the Edmonde Dantes, dropped us off on the only strip of stores and civilization on the islands, and we went off to explore.
Once again, a picnic was in order and we picnicked high above the water with a lovely view of passing ships and seagulls. The island was full of ruins and abandoned structures, flowers and birds, beaches and anything but bathrooms. We also found a good number of caves and stowing spots, perfect for PIRATES!! The girls and I took a million photos and only explored one of the two islands before we had to return to the mainland in order to catch a bus back to Aix.
I told the girls that if I were a pirate I would totally hide my goods on this island and sneak them in at night, but they did not believe me. However, just as we were boarding the ship, three pirates walked up!! They were the most realistic pirates I have ever encountered and two of them had live rats perched on their shoulders. The crewsman said "allons-y pirates" and they walked up the gangplank onto the ferry. Krista and I watched them carefully all the way back to Marseille and laughed at the balloon swords and revolvers which they made to entertain little french speakers.
And that evening the girls made dinner ourselves, chez Krista! Dinner was followed by watching Ice Age in French. Let me tell you, I did not realize how quickly Sid the Sloth talks... until I tried to catch it all in French: we laughed A LOT!

Cassis

2009-04-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

Several months ago when I went to Marseille with K and G, we bought these lovely 5 euro cards called the Cartreize. Pretty much we can go anywhere we want in the Bouches of Rhone for 1 Euro with the above mentioned card. So, Cassis was the first big adventure with these cards. However, since no one else had purchased them I had an adventure in speaking French politely to strangers. Because I had to keep the driver at bay for a few minutes so as to not leave the others behind while they purchased tickets pre 7am.
Anyway, Cassis: It is a lovely sea side town nestled between mountains and the Mediterranean. The beaches are comprised of white rock and minuscule pieces of seaglass. After successfully catching a 6 something and 7 something bus that morning, the day was spent mainly relaxing.
We caught some sun and walked through neighborhoods of cafes to a lovely rocky area where we picnicked with baguettes, cheese, et charcutrie. The Mediterranean was incredibly blue. I wanted to just stare at the waves for hours. After a day of relaxing and catching a little sun, we headed home. But not before catching some random parade of clowns and gymnasts for an unknown holiday.

2009-04-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

the sound of the rain is calming, but rare in provence.

i will write soon. so many little adventures have passed. however, with the weight of my future pressing in, i have hardly had time to think, much less write.

Musical Reminder

2009-03-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

i haven't written in a while because life has been crazy. there is a lot to write about... but it will come. and in the meantime, there are always photo albums on facebook to keep you entertained.

as i was packing for SPAIN!! and stressing about things, this song just really caught my attention:

thrice:
the towers that shoulder your pride
the words you've written in stone
sand will cover them, sand will cover you
the streets that suffer your name
your very flesh and your bones
sand will cover them, sand will cover you

so put your faith in more than steel
 don't store your treasures up, with moth and rust
where thieves break in and steal
pull the fangs from out your heel
we live in but a shadow of the real

step out from time, see the dust of nations
step out from time, hear the stars ovation

Saturn will not sleep, until the sand has made us clean
still we stack our stones and bury what we can
but it all will be undone, and nothing built under the sun
 will ever stand before the endless march of sand

so put your faith in more than steel
don't store your treasures up, with moth and rust
where thieves break in and steal
pull the fangs from out your heel
we live in but a shadow of the real

so put your faith in more than steel
don't store your treasures up, with moth and rust
where thieves break in and steal
pull the fangs from out your heel
we live in but a shadow of the real


   

2009-03-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

clothes are a necessity and concerning yourself with them otherwise is gratuitous
therefore i will conserve my euros for future adventures instead of vetements.
a picture of my wallet before I embarked on a trip across 3 countries... gosh currency is confusing.

$

2009-03-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

there are times in life to save
and times to spend that which has been saved,
this is a time to spend... you're in Europe!!

i would agree with this statement...
but only to a degree,
because i have only saved so much money.
the daily desire for adventure is hard to resist.

pictures

2009-03-09T04:08:00.000-07:00

pictures are on their way... i am not at my computer right now. if you have time, London is already up on FB - via albums from 4 people and a few video clips.

Irlande - Winter Break Part 2

2009-03-09T04:01:00.000-07:00

I find that very few people go to Ireland. Dublin airport, was actually Dublin airport, and our bus got us to the center of town within a matter of minutes. The town did not impress me much. It was a little dingy and mostly comprised of pubs. But we had a meal at O'Brien's - Irish Panera, and went to our new hostel to recharge for a few minutes. Our hostel had the most friendly and helpful desk staff ever seen, and they were quite wonderful!

After our rest, it was off to the Guinness Storehouse... G's main objective in Ireland. Under a cold rain we wandered the streets of Dublin for miles... and miles... and then stopped at Starbucks, then wandered, then retraced our steps... And finally we made it to the storehouse. The tour was educational, mostly concerning the process of making Guinness Beer and also about the importance of the quality of each ingredient. I enjoyed the marketing section and we got a good laugh out of the slogan: Guinness is good for you. At the end of the tour we were on the 7th or so level in a glass room called the Gravity Bar. It had a wonderful view of the sun breaking through the clouds over Dublin. The sea was shimmering to one side and we could see snow covered hillsides in the distance on the opposite side. Departing the storehouse, a wet little band of GC students, plus K - our one W student, and L - she's Canadian, shuffled through the streets to the oldest pub. Ever? Or just in Dublin? I am not quite sure, but the original pub was from the 1100s and the structure in which we ate dinner was dating from the 1600s. Younger, but still older than our country, G pointed out.

Wednesday was a day set aside to see the Irish Countryside. The tour we tried to book was cancelled, so we bought day passes on the commuter line and took it North to a little fishing village named Howth. It was a breath of fresh air for me. I missed the Atlantic, and being in cities for days was ok, but getting old. The sailboats reminded me of Cape Cod and the hills sloping away from the little town inspired the adventurer in me. We visited a church and wandered through a graveyard before sitting down at a cafe and having paninis or soup while looking out on harbor. It was cold this day and everyone was a little on the tired side... Climbing back on the commuter train, half of our company - 3 or 4 of us fell asleep while the others chatted all the way through Dublin and out the other side to Dulkey. This was another little town and after yet another stop at Starbucks, to fill J's need, I was slightly disappointed. However, I would not let them simply wander through the village and pressed everyone up through a neighborhood in search of what to me, looked like a castle. To the others, it was simply a stone structure on top of a hill. After walking through several neighborhoods, we found a tiny path between two fenced in yards and across from a stunning view of the ocean. Following this path we found a lovely panorama of the ocean and the bay, Dublin, some islands, and the hills that we had seen covered in snow the day before! Upon further venturing we found ourselves where they filmed the movie "once." It was so lovely up on the hills that I wanted to stay forever. The sun was shining, there was fresh air and country. We continued down the other side of the hilly path, past a few odd stone structures and into a little town to a different train stop. On the way to the train stop we also passed Bono's house and Enya's - apparently. The train brought us along the shoreline and back to Dublin. We decided to make our own dinner that night and were able to feed all 7 of us for 11 Euro... not bad! After cooking and eating together we went to the Arlington hotel for some live Irish music and some live River Dance. Afterward a bunch of the kids went out again, but I was tired so I stayed at the hostel with K and A and we went to bed early.

Monday we had a tour of Trinity with a student who is related to G's hosts in London. After her tour, we went to see the book of Kells... it was ok but the ooooold library upstairs was much more interesting to me than one page of a book displayed in a glass box. No offense G, it is very cool. After a short lunch we searched for the old city... but I do not think that it exists. Dublin is mostly Pubs with the occasional church or food store. So we visited a church and went to a lovely bakery while it sleeted for 3 minutes. In the early afternoon, we caught a doubledecker bus - finally!! and headed to the airport to make our way back to France.

We flew back to Stansed and stayed the night in the airport. It was not very comfortable and the guards walking around with machine guns did not make us feel much better. But our flight was really early in the morning, making it not worth the trouble to go to a hotel or to London for the night. I do not know about the others, but I slept all the way back to Marseille.

Back in Aix, S, K and I ate lunch over J's house. Than S and I napped while the other two girls got haircuts. We returned home in the evening to have dinner with our host family and to finally rest. Clean sheets on a single bed -not a bunk bed- never felt soo good, I slept till 10 the next morning.

Saturday I stayed in. I basked in the sunlight coming through my window, wrote in my journal for a few hours, tried to figure out classes for next semester, and took a nap. I still have not figured out next semester and today was spent mostly in Aix after church... therefore unproductive.

Londres - Winter Break Part 1

2009-03-09T03:52:00.000-07:00

A somewhat detailed description of our adventures to, and in London... however a lot of the story is missing. In order to not make this posting ANY longer, I will leave you with this:

On Friday Mr. Ch. brought S and I to the MP2 airport where we met up with G, L, and J for our flight to London. (I still get very excited by planes! And after 10 flights, the thrill has not yet worn off.) We flew into the Stansted airport around dinner time, it was a bumpy landing and we exited the plane to find out that we were still over an hour from London. So, after 40 minutes in a bus, a pit stop at Starbucks - for J, who is obsessed! - and a 40 minute ride in the underground, we found ourselves in Waterloo looking for our youth hostel. After checking in and dropping our bags, we ran to the closest food place to eat. Ned's noodles... mine were orangy-pink. However, this did not faze us and we spent the next few hours wandering London's streets in the dark. The eye, Parliament, Big Ben, and several bridges later we returned to the hostel to get some shut eye.

In the morning we were off again to explore with a little more light, and a lot more people on the streets. People drive on the "wrong" side of the road there... this was quite confusing, but luckily every crossing had the words "look left" or "look right" painted on the ground. We checked out Buckingham Palace- and saw a row of horses go by, Parliament was passed again, Westminster Abbey - and we attended an evensong service (it was incredible, the voices of the choir being echoed by the massive structure of the cathedral... breathtaking), some famous arch, Piccadilly, another Starbucks, the admiralty building, the Tait museum of modern art - creepy more on that later, and a little pub for dinner. The pub overlooked the Thames river and had a splendid view of London's skyline. I ordered a meat pie to be Britishlike, while six of the other girls ordered fish and chips! On the way back to the hostel J and I grabbed some Ben and Jerry's ice cream and split it in the hallway of the hostel while chatting with the other girls. It was overall a full and rewarding day. We also met up with some other GC students and lost the one boy of the group to his mother's best friend's cousin's son... or something like that... they were hosting him. Big Ben has a lovely chime, by the way. I rather enjoyed hearing it from my hostel as I fell asleep, and listening to it sound from the street below.

Sunday was Football day! The three girls- who stayed at my hostel - met up with the one boy, G, and got onto the Tube. We traveled out to West Ham, to realize that we did not know where to go from there. I embarrassed myself by _apparently_ mispronouncing the name of the venue. Boleyn Grounds... How would you say that? Well the gentlemen to whom I inquired thought I had said "Bowling Grounds" and he went off about how that is not the correct pronunciation in a friendly British way, ending it all by telling me that I need merely catch another train and follow the crowds. Sigh. So follow the crowds we did, past endless booths selling paraphernalia and food. Our seats for the West Ham - Man City match were behind the goal in the Centenary Stand. But altogether it was a lovely spot. The game went well, and the home team won. We got a little culture... err bad culture from one over mouthy fan who sat behind us and showered us with his spit during the entire game. Upon leaving the stadium, the spectators were queued for over a mile to get back on the underground. Since we were on the far side of London from our hostel, we took advantage of the location and stopped at the London Bridge - it was just a normal bridge, the Tower of London - a castle!!, the tower bridge, Shakespeare's globe theater, Starbucks, and walked through a Russian festival? On the way back we touched the Thames, and saw a lovely sunset sky, and lost G, once again. The girls and I went to a little Thai place for dinner, because everything else was closed and then we called it a night.

Monday was tour day! Haha. Pas vraiment. But I had arranged to meet up with some of my Summer workmates from WAJ! So we were to meet them at Victoria at 10.30... But first L wanted a real English Breakfast. So, instead of eating at the hostel, we went to a little cafe/diner/whatever and had breakfast. The large breakfast consisted of: Beans, Eggs, Fries, Toast, Mushrooms, Sausage, Bacon, Tea, and Fried Tomatoes. I had the smaller one, but beans for breakfast? Then we headed to Victoria. However, it was not just a short walk like I thought it would be, and Victoria is a HUGE station! It has trains, buses, underground, taxis, all sorts of stores etc. So after a good 40 minutes of walking to the station, J and I walked around it a few times without finding our assigned meeting point and finally went inside where we found his majesty's voice - the rendezvous point. However, at this point we were an hour late. :( And our phones weren't working to call internationally, so I invested a pound in a pay phone to call R. Good news, the plans had changed to an hour later, but since I did not have internet access, I had no idea. C and R - the British boys, were lovely and they showed us around for a bit. Regent - posh shopping, Trafalgar Square - the lions, Piccadilly, a little cafe, Parliament again, Camden market - seedy so we did not stay long, and the museum of Natural History. Luckily all of the museums that we visited were free, but for most attractions we simply walked around the outsides or peaked through the windows because we were not going to pay 10-26 pounds at each place we visited... No Way! At the end of the day we went to Abbey Road and pretended to be the Beatles walking across the street. But the cars did not like this much and it was getting quite dark so we joined G and his host's friends at a local place for dinner. THEN! I had steak and kidney pie! Wooster would be proud. ;) It was actually really good, and I must say that I like meat pies and would have them again. However, I will not speak endlessly of them as the gent in J&W did. I HAD to have one just for the sake of telling you guys about it! haha. If you want a more detailed description... I will get back to you.

Tuesday was an early start, rushed as well. We woke up late, took the Tube to Victoria, could not find buses to Stansted and the ticket booth was not open before 7 am. Finally we got on a bus to the airport... but this one took a good hour and a half and we found ourselves panicking at the airport. I got stopped because my bag was too big and I had to go through a different gate and J's stuff got searched because her liquids were not packed properly, finally we made it to the queue at the same time as the other GC kids who had left HOURS before we did... Strange.

This flight was a sleeping flight. But as Ireland peaked through the clouds, I had to open my eyes. There it was. That green, lush, hilly, country of which I had heard so much, and yet so little.

sunshine

2009-02-24T02:53:00.000-08:00

people come alive when the sun is out. the courtyard is full of people chatting and enjoying the light. even non smokers are out there today!
i am at school waiting for class to start and attempting to type on a french keyboard... harder than it sounds.

odd foods

2009-02-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

Someone asked the me what have been the strangest things I have seen in France. I do not know that I can think of anything. I mean I have seen some odd clothes, and some slightly loopy people, and a few other odd items. But I think the strangest things thus far have been food related. I do not have rabbit, buffalo, ostrich, etc. like some of my friends. However, the other night we had Pomelo as dessert. It is a HUGE grapefruit/orange from which you eat only the little juice packets. :) And then one night we had smoked salmon on pancakes. It was apparently a Russian dish, but the meat was hardly what you would call cooked. Tonight, we had fried eggs on macaroni, with french bacon. It was good. But just a funny idea, breakfast and dinner stuck together.
Hmm.
Ok, that is all I have for now.

.thought.

2009-02-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

maybe i'm naive. i think i'm on a huge adventure when this whole time i'm simply along for the ride. i have been reading the emails and blogs of my friends who are elsewhere in the world and i feel small in comparison. nothing has happened here. yes. i have seen several old buildings and gone on some cool adventures, and i'm in france. but i have not been challenged. i am living with a well off family next to a country chateau, and i go to school in one of the loveliest cities in europe.
what do i have to say for myself? this is not a challenge.
linguistically yes, i'll admit that i deal with anxiety daily when presented with situations in which i must apply that which i am learning.
but spiritually, physically, i am not struggling. should i be?
does a lack of intense challenge equal failure?
or am i merely going through a different time of life and must look for what i can in this situation, without seeing poverty or facing danger daily.
God meet me where i am.
i don't know what you want for me here.

chat excerpts

2009-02-09T13:31:00.001-08:00

perhaps i'm a little too excited about france,
i even think that walking to the bus is exciting.

we spend endless hours in class but have little to no homework,
maybe i should assign myself some homework because my french is awful.

le 9 Fevrier 2009 encore - email

2009-02-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

Let me give you a few highlights from the past few days. I was sick again. So after a day or two of me laying around in pain, and missing yet another class, it became Saturday. The head of our programme, Mme B, said that I should rest all day and not go out. But my host mother, Mme Ch, said that as an active child I would probably make myself worse by staying in the house all day, and gave me permission to go out for the day. After a relaxed morning, S and I went to Aix for a French picnic with the other GC students. We hiked up a series of streets for about 40 minutes to arrive at the site of a Roman ruins and have a picnic overlooking the city of Aix and St Victoir.
On the way down we visited one of the many "Cezanne sites" that the city boasts. However, I simply wandered the garden instead of going inside to see the studio. I was in a reflective mood, and the garden was peaceful. We also visited a garden that had stairs leading up through landscaping dotted with cypress trees, to a patio with several impressionistic paintings of Saint Victoire. From this patio we could also see a lovely view of said mountain.
Some of the GC girls and I went to a Mexican place to grab dinner before heading to watch LOL. Yes, it was a French movie (in French) named "Laughing out Loud." However, we got home quite late and found that the door would not unlock. We tried and tried but it would not even budge. And mind you that this is the outer door, the shutter. Have I told you about the first time we came home late? I told the boys on gchat, pretty much I ended up breaking porcelain door handle. And S and I died of laughter before getting into the house after our first night coming home after bedtime.
This time it was not a laughing matter. I cut my hand on the broken doorknob tying to make it budge. So I was standing there dripping blood all over the ground while we tried to get the door open. Finally we called to be let in. M Ch opened the door to see me standing there with both hands bloody, and a bloody set of keys, while my roommate stood beside me, with all of her belongings piled in her arms. M. Ch was quite happy to see us. I would say that he was chipper as he let us into the house with a, "Well hello Girls!" This afternoon however, questions came about the blood spots all over the ground outside the front door... C'est moi. I told them sheepishly and displayed my gauged finger for inspection.
On Sunday we intended to only spend the morning in Aix and return home for the afternoon. But after church we had burgers at the British restaurant, that I may have mentioned before, the Bulldog? And then went to our friend J's host home. While there I spent the entire afternoon planning and researching several options for our winter break which is 10 days from February into March. I came up with a good 8 itineraries, some included modes of transportation using 4 airlines and 3 train travel websites. Meanwhile, J did her homework for mardi and S took a nap. After hours of planning we came up with a wonderful scheme to spend a handful of days in London and a handful of days in Dublin. And then never spend money again!! ;) We pulled our friend G into the deal and by the time it was dark out, we were a happy bunch of future travellers! I must say that Ryanair is a great invention. Our tickets from London to Dublin are only about 15 euro.
Well, I just returned from dinner. It was yummy, green veggies with herbs de Provence and crepes with meat and cheese inside. After we had the usual course of cheese and bread, and then a dessert of petit swiss? and clementines. Good times.

le 9 Fevrier 2009 - email

2009-02-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

This morning I took the bus all by myself into the city. My house mate decided to faire un grasse matinee, also known as "sleep in." I made record time down the hill all by my-fastwalking-self. The sun was just starting to illuminate the houses on the hill facing me as I finished my walk down the Chemin. By the time I arrived at the stop, Mount St Victoire was a lovely shade of purple, as the close side was the final piece of the morning landscape that had not yet been touched by sunlight. During the ride a French high school student with slightly emo hair sat next to me, and I wanted to talk ask him how life was. But that doesn't quite translate ;) so I just saved the question to ask my brothers.
I sat silently on the bus, and dismounted at the Rotund, as is usual. The Rotund has a huge beautiful fountain with stone lions, several chiseled tiers and 3 women representing 3 local cities. This fountain is surrounded by a busy traffic circle. Traffic circles/rotaries are everywhere in southern France. Some people at school thought that the traffic circles on the North Shore and in Cape Cod are strange, but they're not half as haphazard as some of the rotaries around here. All this to say, after a walk past cafes and through old archways, up winding streets and into aged corridors, I finally got to class this morning and survived all 6 hours of education. Just kidding. It was wonderful. Les Cours du Phonetiques et le Langue Francais.
Around 11, I met with a friend of mine, K, for lunch and we wandered new rues until we found a small lunch place that suited our tastes. Actually, I think we just decided that after wandering past 100 other small cafes, shops, and restaurants, we should just eat! We chatting about little things over lunch and then went to a Cafe for dessert. While there we talked about God and our church backgrounds and a little about summer jobs. She is really sweet, and a little reserved, but I have been enjoying getting to know her! Around 17h20 my housemate and I took the bus back and walked up the hill to our house. We usually get back just in time for dinner, but since we got some free time tonight, I'm writing you before dinner. The scent of dinner being prepared is drifting through the house. Meanwhile M. Ch. blasts classical music from his office, and the sound of my house mate skyping a friend who is studying in Spain can be heard from time to time over the melodious strains.

2009-02-06T04:35:00.000-08:00

when one is sick, a sweatshirt is like comfort food, because i can't eat.

A few random comments:

2009-02-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

First, most stop signs here say "stop" on them. They don't even say arrêt, like the ones in Quebec.

Second, I've told you that the cars are tiny here, and that they drive quickly, but I also realized today that in France there is no such thing as a gradual stop. Nothing like daddy taught us about easing in and out of acceleration/deceleration. I see near accidents daily, and my housemate is quick to offer that she would never drive here whether or not we legally can!

Third, on our bus ride home we sometimes pass this little van that has been converted into a pizza truck. Imagine an ice cream truck set up on the side of the road, with a bunch of older men drinking beer, sitting on stools and laughing with the truck owner as if they are sitting in a bar downtown. Now place this image next to a Rotary in Southern France, around dusk, and you get the picture I see out of the bus window.

Alright, that's all. I love and miss you! I must go study french grammar now before I fall asleep at the computer.

One more thing: You might not find this funny, but I thought it was hilarious:
It says: le vrai Hot Dog New Yorkais
The Real/True New York Hot Dog.

le 2 Fevrier 2009 - email

2009-02-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

the keyboards in the library are very different than the one on my computer.
the keyboqrds in the librqry qre very different thqn the one on ,y co,pyter: thus i zill zrite lqter: i thought thqt i zould be eqsy to just sit dozn qnd arite q note before clqss: but it is proving to be auite frustrqting qnd not thqt co,prehensible: sorry:

I haven't written in a few days, but life is good. I talked to a few of you on my birthday. At that point I was sick. I've been sick for days now... This was not a very good week. I was sick on and off starting on the 27th. It seems that I get sick every time I need to wake up early for classes. How would you like that for a new disease? <<>>

This past week, besides missing several classes to lay sick in bed, I had many visits to the school office. French office workers apparently have no interest in helping American students. I told you that my first class, Niveau 1C, was not challenging me. Well I have changed myself to Niveau 2A and I like my new professor very much. However, it is also much more challenging than the old class so I have to be on my toes, instead of trying to stay awake during class. Also I am in need of some review. Sigh. My French is coming along very slowly, and I speak in a broken pathetic sort of French. But I understand most of what is going on around me, and I can feel myself improving.

Now that I am 21 I have decided to try some drinks ;) I was sick most of the week so I did not have my 'first drink' until Friday. We were at a friend's apartment and the other GC kids were making coconut rum milkshakes, so I tried a little. Then at a birthday party at the church on Sunday, they served wine. So I tried some, but I did not like it. I was told later that I tried a dessert wine which was very sugary and that was why it tasted bad accompanying by dinner. So, sadly my first encounter with wine did not go over that well. I am pretty hesitant with trying new drinks though, so I have mostly just tried a sip of other people's beverages instead of going ahead and ordering one for myself. Don't worry, I am a very responsible child ;) Haha. Today our host parent's daughter had her second child, so we had a big dinner. To celebrate Mr. C took out a bottle of champagne. To all Herbie the Lovebug watchers: it did not tickle my nose. Haha. But the taste was much more manageable than the wine I had on Sunday!

Now that I am 21, my only occupation is not drinking; let me tell some other stories. This weekend we were slated to go to Monaco. But due to some miscommunication, S and I did not get a spot on the bus. We spent the rest of Saturday morning trying to find a way to Monaco on our own, but we could only found a train that would take 5 hours. So, we went to the library, shopped a little, and had lunch with K.

Oh! And I bought a sweatshirt. Remember how I wore my sweats as often as possible during break because I was not bringing them with me to France? Well, here I am, purchasing a sweatshirt. But no, it is not the same - its a French sweatshirt. And I only wear my sweatshirts around the house. Most people do dress nicely in France, however there is quite an undercurrent of Adidas porting students and teens. Mostly because they are copying a popular football team - l'Olympic de Marseille. And I saw a girl in all white the other day, but that is very rare, black is the norm.

S and I slept over our friend's apartment this weekend because her host parents are in Switzerland and they said she could have guests. The sleepover was very amusing and we were so American! We ordered Pizza from Dominos, made chocolate chip cookies and watched an American film. Sunday night we went with several GC students to meet with some Missionaries at a little British pub called the Bulldog. We ate huge burgers and watched football matches on a big flat screen TV from time to time. The little place was so UK! It made me want to go to London so badly!

We did not get any of the snow that is putting France in a tizzy. But it has been raining and blustery the past few days. This makes our commute to town much more interesting. Have I told you about that? We walk for 20-30 mins down the hill to take a bus for 20-30 minutes to the center of Aix, then we walk 10-20 minutes to school. This commute forces us to come home early every night because the buses stop at 20h and we do not want to pay 20 Euro for the taxi home. All of the GC students live within a 35 minute walk of the Institute. So, we are a little more limited than they. While the entire walk home is uphill, I would not trade our situation for any of theirs. The gardens are so beautiful and the trees have not yet flowered! And the views of Mt. St. Victoire in the morning and sunset over the valley on the walk home are irreplaceable. However, the march is tiring. Thus, we accept every offer from our hosts for a ride into town. It is less than 20 minutes by car, and your pants stay dry.

I really should be heading to bed, so I do not have abroad morning nauseousness tomorrow... Right now I feel so good that I almost forgot how sick I felt this morning. Around 7h20 (1:20 AM for you) this morning, I was bending over my bed debating getting dressed, and ended up back in bed shortly. Uhg. Sorry that I have been so bad about communication. Well, I guess that you guys would not know. I talk to my family daily. However, I am severely neglecting everyone else I know. I guess I should work on that. I have hardly even blogged since getting here. Oh boy!

I love you all! I miss you daily! ~R

PPS D, tickets to see a match w Rinaldo are suuuper expensive. I saw one ticket for 900 Euro. No way!! So, I will probably be going to a cheap game when I go to the UK, not an expensive one with famous players. Whatevs. ;)

le 26 Janvier 2009 - email

2009-02-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

I drank 5 cups of tea on Saturday (1 at my host home, 2 in Avignon, and 2 in Aix-en-Provence), and fell down the stairs on Sunday. In case you're missing my randomness, I thought I'd let you know. :)

Well, I haven't written in a few days because we have been quite busy. Mostly just hanging out in Aix with the other GC/Wheaton students and some girls from England and Canada. However, this weekend we went to Avignon to see the Palais du Pape and also to Marseilles. Today classes started. I have to get up before 6 tomorrow for class so I'll make this one short.

France is still lovely and the novelty of being here has far from worn off. During our bus ride to Avignon, we saw ruins and fragments of the old civilization everywhere. The palais was huge, I guess I had never imagined that a castle would be so large. However, it was really cool! The immensity of the structure and the age of the building itself were dumbfounding! It was almost like I was in an old movie, wandering around an old fortress and searching for the top, from which I would see the surrounding countryside. We explored most of the palais with the help of electronic guides. They look like really old cellphones that are a foot long and black. Each one is programmed with informational messages for a room. So pretty much all 7 of us were wandering around a castle with these ghetto black things stuck to our heads. Afterwards we went to the le pont D'Avignon and sang an apparently famous song about dancing on that bridge :) Back in Aix, we chilled by eating Thai food and meeting up with a few people from the program.
On Sunday, after church and a lovely lunch a la maison, our host parents drove us to Marseilles. They showed us the new and old ports, and a whole neighborhood that had been destroyed by the Germans. Only one building was left, and it was erected by Napoleon. Then we went up to Notre Dame de le garde which was on the highest point in the city. From there we could see all of Marseilles and the surrounding hills. Also les Iles de Frioul and the island where the Count of Monte Cristo was supposedly held - ile d'ife, I think. It was a beautiful sunny day and the Mediterranean was a wonderful shade of blue. There was a lot of traffic near the beach, (and we saw a surfer too) so we did not go all the way to the other side of the city. However, D, I saw a Maseratti. haha.
When we returned home I went on a little run, after falling down the stairs. However, the area in which I live is very hilly, and I'm not used to that. So, after a loop I stretched while watching the sun set over the range des etoiles. It was dreamy ;)

Today I had my first few classes. I tested into the highest group of Level 1. But it was really boring today. 6 hours of class. Ahhh. The professor was wonderful but most of the students were clueless. This was a little frustrating because I am used to being with and listening to the conversation of advanced French students. I understand most French that is spoken to me, I just do not always know how to reply. So tomorrow I am going to request a level change, we'll see how that goes over. :(

Sorry to send such a short and boring email, I'll try to have some more adventures so I have better stories to tell you.
I love and miss you all! ~R

a sad PS for the little animal lovers. Dogs are everywhere here. And today one got hit by a car right near me :(

le 21 janvier 2009 - email

2009-02-03T13:10:00.001-08:00

Bonjour a tous!
I don't have as much time to write today because we are leaving with Monsieur C in a matter of minutes. However, I wanted to say hello and let you know that I'm thinking of you all. :)
Things have been busy since I arrived here. We have spent a lot of time with our parents d'accueil since Sunday. They are very wonderful and understanding. We frequently are given little lessons in French etiquette, such as bread on the table and don't cut the nose off of the cheese. The food is delicious! And we have fruit and or cheese with every meal :) Yay!
S - my housemate, and I, explored the city of Aix the other day. It is small and full of historic buildings. The area dates back to the time of the Romans, I believe. We also had a meeting with the other students and went to the school to fill out paperwork. Afterward we watched "Luther" it was an interesting movie and the theater was full. Yesterday we went into the city on the bus and saw 'slumdog millionaire' with other students from GC. It was a really interesting film and well done. However, both of these were in English.
It is confusing to try to do things in French because I am so inadequate. My family is understanding and frequently must repeat things for me, and I just end up babling or being quiet with the other students. I hope things will get better as I study etc.
Today is our exam for language placement. I'm nervous, but I'm excited for classes to start next week.
We have a trip planned to Paris, it's mandatory ;) And some of the other students and I are already planning to go other places in Europe. Madame C is a great advocate of travel and pushed us towards ryan air which has some flights to/from London for 10 Euro!! Can you imagine that??
My family and I watched the inaugural address last night, but it was hard to understand with the English original being outplayed by a French voice over. The French speak so quickly!! Haha.
Alright I think it's nearly time to go. When you wake up this morning I will probably be receiving my testing results... we get them at 16h. ~R

leftovers

2009-02-03T12:36:00.000-08:00

i love leftovers. at home i eat them all the time and my whole apartment can tell you that i even eat their leftovers at school. however, in france there is no such thing as leftovers: food wise.
but, because life here is so busy that is all i have for you: written leftovers.
i love and miss you all, but i really don't have time to write more than my family. so here i've adapted a few more emails to them for you to enjoy.
heart - because the little heart thing messes up HTML r.x.

2009-02-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

some little things i've figured out:
. both my first and last name don't translate well into french
. while europeans are better at geography than americans, they're more likely to know where boston is than what rhode island happens to be.

2009-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

its rather odd to run your life in a currency other than you own. the only other currency I had ever used was Canadian and our exchange rate is nearly flat. however, calculating costs in my head and choking over the difference between the dollar and the euro is just part of the whole experience. their money is so colorful compared to ours. and carrying around a load of coins is so inconvenient!

2009-01-28T09:16:00.001-08:00

Saturday, several other GC students and I jumped aboard a bus in Aix and went to Avignon. There I toured my first castle and wandered the streets of a strange French city. It was lovely.
It was like being in an old movie, wandering the halls of a stone fortress and hearing the stories of the previous inhabitants.

We did spend some time being tourists as well (thus the signature phone booth shot). We were instructed during our orientation to 'be tourists' one in a while, in order to fully enjoy the places that we visit. However, we were also instructed to learn about the cultures and customs of our hosts cultures, and I do believe that I am learning these slowly.

the french Flu

2009-01-28T03:10:00.000-08:00

Apparently they have the flu in France, as well as in the US.
Being nautious is a good way to end my 20th year and to start my semester in France.
Yesterday, on my second day of classes, I found myself laying on the ground for an hour and then sitting in a strangers office for hours before deciding to call my hosts to pick me up. Upon getting back to the house I took some French medicine and slept on and off for a good 16 hours. Now I am on a strict diet of bread and water, with some tea and noodles stuck in there. There will be no birthday wine or fancy meals for me!
I did not get sick once this year at GC. But once I come to a country where I have not contracted every childhood disease known to man, I get taken out by a little bug. I managed to miss 3 classes and I will go to school tomorrow to find out what level I am enrolled in for the semester (I am also in the midst of changing levels - because it takes a good hour to get to school and my house mate has all afternoon classes while I had 8 AMs every morning. And the classes in which I was placed were not in any way challenging.)

Adjusting

2009-01-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

Before I came to France, I was worried about a few very small things. But overall I was not very scared about coming here. It is funny to see how little things can consume your mind while the most important items are left unconsidered... like the receipts I was supposed to bring for a refund...
First, I was scared that I would not be able to drink water. At home, I drink water with almost every meal and between them as well. People in the US had told me that the water in Europe is bad and that I should get used to mineral water after a while. But my host family has a britta pitcher, similar to the one in my apartment at school, so we drink water with every meal.
Second, I did not know whether we would have good fruit to eat. At home, my brother runs a small home business with fruit straight from the wholesaler. So we my family has fruit all the time, very good, fresh fruit. However, my host parents value their health and we have fruit and/or a salad with every meal. It has been very interesting to see the host of desserts that can be made simply with fruit!
Third, I would not be allowed to smile. We are allowed to smile, but it is impolite to smile at strangers... especially strange men. They see a smile from a woman differently. However, I have smiled and laughed quite a bit with my host family and my friends from the US.
Fourth, I would not have internet and would get online a few times a month. While this would probably be a good idea, it is not true... maybe I should limit my access... We have internet access 24/7 at the house and wireless at the Institute.
Well, I think it is time that I head to town! A bientot!

2009-01-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

I do not have the time to write so I am attaching an adaptation of an email which I sent to my family :

Dimanche le 18 Janvier, 2009

Ma Famille.

:) I miss you guys already! France is beautiful! The flights were long and I could not sleep so I was up for 30 hours yesterday... er over the course of the past two days. However, I slept for 12 hours last night and am feeling much better than on Saturday. From the plane I watched Maine, Canada, darkness, and finally England, the Netherlands – les paysbas, and Germany go by. The stars are so vivid when there are no lights within a 1000 miles and you are far above the clouds! The plane's monitor read that we were at 3000 ft and that it was -60 degrees during most of the flight. I guess we were a lot closer to the stars than usual.

Yesterday morning as we were flying from Germany to France, the sun rose. It was amazing. There was a sea of clouds below me and they changed from blue to purple to white. Meanwhile the sky and distant clouds played games with the color spectrum as the Alps found their way above the cloud line. At one point I could see lots of little villages below me who had not yet seen the sun, but they had snow all around them.

Southern France is hilly and full of houses that you would love, tan brick with red slate roofs, and shutters. I saw the Island where the Count of Monte Cristo was 'held' and an aqueduct from the Roman times! I tried to take a picture from the plane, but I failed. The drive home was pretty quiet. I am not very good at small talk apparently. We drove over winding roads while little Citroen's, Renault's, Smarts, and several American branded cars zipped by. The speed may be in km but I think that everyone drives fast here.

Madame et Monsieur C are very kind. They both speak English very well which has been helpful at times. Their house is beautiful! It is a converted stable house. The house is surrounded by lovely gardens, mostly comprised of trees. There are many olive trees around the house and a nice in ground pool on the other side of the house. When we were walking around their grounds there is a lovely view of Montaigne Sainte Victoire - which was made famous through Cezanne's paintings. It turns pink in the evening and throughout the day is several other colors. Also the first bulbs are coming up in the garden!

Fountains are very popular here. I should have known from the pictures of Aix, but seriously they are everywhere. Madame C told me that they keep the noise of the world away, creating peace for the houses. It has been consistently 40-50 degrees which S. and I think is warm, but the Southern French think is cold. They were surprised that I ran in shorts today. :) The French typically eat dinner at 8 pm. But I was too tired to stay up last night so they let me shower and go to sleep at 8... The food is amazing here! I have enjoyed every meal that we have had and the cheese is delicious!

We drove to Aix for church this morning. After the service we were introduced to many church members and the C's drove us around the city. It is a cute little city, full of Provence style houses. It has small streets, small cars, and lots of one way roads. I am excited to explore and Madame said there are many nice museums etc. Oh, and Aix has both a Gap and a McDonalds, haha. S and I got several pieces of tourist information in Aix, and the guides show the locations of castles, vineyards, and fountains, etc. I think that I have adjusted quickly to the time change... once I got over yesterday. It actually seems to work quite well, to stay up until your new time zone goes to sleep then wake up at a decent hour in the morning... that way my body did not know that I was getting up at 2 am.

2009-01-17T06:27:00.000-08:00

i am in france!!
crazy thought, i know.
it has not yet dawned that i'm here for several months and that english will be of little to no use presently.
the trip over went smoothly, for the most part. and i caught a few breathtaking scenes from the plane. the sun's light over the US. a sea of clouds. the sun rising over Germany. and the Mediterranean Sea!
last night i was full of artistic and beautiful words with which to convey these things to you. however, it is now Saturday 9.30 am EST and i have not slept properly since 7 am on Friday. it is 15h ici. instead of crashing, i am attempting to beat jet lag at its own game by staying awake until tonight. i've only drifted off once...
my host parents are very sweet. but it will be interesting seeing what the limits are in a french home. not in that i will test them, but that they have been given to us slowly, and so i hope in the meantime not to step on any toes.
thanks for praying for me. :)
i should go.
aurevoir!

^ the sun rising over Germany

the clock is ticking down... down... down...

2009-01-15T15:40:00.000-08:00

I will be at the airport this time tomorrow, awaiting a plane then boarding and leaving these shores.
I have only left the US twice... both times to Canada. And I have flown four times, not since a trip to Florida in 2001. Another not so relevant fact, that I am going to share with you: I have never left this time zone. I am about to be introduced to jet lag.
Stats which will soon be expanded: the farthest places I have traveled are S - Florida, W - Ohio, N - Quebec, Canada, E - Cape Cod, MA or maybe Maine; all of these are within EST.
Speaking of time... I need to invest in an alarm clock and a watch sometime before classes start. In the US, my cell phone is my alarm and time piece.
As I pack my allotted 100lbs of luggage, I can not help but come to the realization that I am leaving. This is no longer a hope, dream, or plan, it is a reality.
I will try to write as often as I can. No promises.
Love you all! ~R

aurevoir

2009-01-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

Goodbyes are very odd and often awkward encounters.
I must say that I do not enjoy them and do not look forward to saying "goodbye" to my friends, however, it must be done.
In the past few days and weeks I have left many people with the hope that I will see them several months from now. But whether to hug or shake hands, to tell them the truth (that I'm slightly scared and nervous) or simply mention the positive aspects of this coming departure (hopefully full of adventures), is a bit of a struggle.
Today it dawned on me during a cramped 6 hour car ride from Northern New Hampshire to Rhode Island, that I will not see most of the people I love until June. Having always lived within a few hours of my family, a trip down the hall/across campus, or a phone call away from those I love, I was rather taken aback by this new concept.
I will miss you all dearly.
And whether or not I express this well in our goodbye, I will be looking forward to the day we meet again.
I am thankful for my friends and friendships. I pray that this trip will help me grow into the person God wants me to be, as well as to become a friend that will bless you each.

I have a lot of packing, preparing, goodbyes, and freaking out to do this week...
On Samedi, I will be in France.

Time is counting down...

2009-01-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

My visa has finally arrived! This takes a huge weight off, but it adds to the reality of my upcoming adventure. I realize more everyday how many aspects of my life need to be arranged before I leave for France. I have been writing to do lists daily. And there are many necessary items that I have not yet purchased. This post makes me sound very materialistic, but there are many basic necessities that I still have not acquired and I'm leaving in 14 days.
However, I am also getting excited and starting my schemes. I am planning on attending a football game in Marseilles. And I've been looking into all sorts of traveling options such as those encouraged by Eurail passes. All of my friends know me as a schemer... this will not stop when I go to the other side of the world! However, I my planning ability may be slightly thwarted by the language barrier. I dreamt last night that the French people could not understand me at all. :(
As I sit in my basement listening to the chatter of my 5 year old brother, I realize that there are many things I will miss from the states. I have so many wonderful friends here. But 5 months is not a lifetime and I will come back with irreplaceable memories. Everyone with whom I have spoken, is so positive about this trip. I am thankful to have so many supportive friends and family members.
And I've acquired a backpack for the 15 days I will spend traveling with friends after my semester ends. Well, I'm off to work on some of the many things that are hanging over my head...
Ciao!

these are my littlest siblings playing in a snow fort that my brothers and i built for them last week. :)

2008-12-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

so the latest task is that i need to figure out what to wear while abroad. i've come to the conclusion that my clothes are quite outdated and that sweatshirts are not as widely accepted in europe as they are at home. haha. so shortly after christmas, i will embark on a mission to equip myself for education and travel alike. my 'experts' suggest scarves, and skinny jeans. online it looks like sweaters and jackets are pretty in. however, with a limited budget, i will definately be looking into a trip to the wrentham outlets. until i leave, i will be wearing my sweat shirts as often as possible. leaving them behind to great me when i return to the US 5 months from now.

2008-11-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

this is finally becoming real!
it is finally setting in that i will be in France this spring.
i've spent so many years wanting to go and hoping to get a chance one day.
my chance has come, i applied and was accepted and now i will be going.
in two months i will be on foreign shores, and 21!
so many changes.

as i explained the trip to many of my relatives this past week, i realized that i am about to take hold of an incredible opportunity.
one full of challenges and growth,
blessings and difficulties.

and i am very excited.

i have so much planning to do, and so much to learn. i have one more night at home before i go back to school to face all of my final projects and exams.
there are a lot of things i am going to miss about school, my home, my family, new england - which i love so much. but i know this adventure will be worth the sacrifices.

2008-11-19T07:32:00.000-08:00

I have been accepted to my school's study abroad program in France!!
So on the 16th of January I will be leaving this continent for the first time, and heading to Europe for around 5 months. :)