things i did today

(in no particular order)
-bought three sweaters for 5 euro at the friday market
-gave a mean produce vendor a dirty look and bought all my produce from the vendor directly opposite her*
-received postcards from donna and rach! <3
-bought 30 euro winter coat instead of 60 euro winter coat
-bought 20 euro boots instead of 60 euro boots
-FINALLY bought warm running clothes
-found yoga and was offered three free classes
-listened to bad religion while cleaning to feel closer to T
-skyped my besties at loaf day!
-made and ate cauliflower, kidney bean,& red pepper stir fry
-met an awesome former assistant from Texas
-drank a chocolat chaud outside of a bar tabac

life's good.

*She deserved it. Last week she yelled at my friends and I for touch-testing avocados, and when her coworker told her she shouldn't be talking to us like that, she said she doesn't need to have any respect for us because we're foreign and don't understand anything. Oh, how satisfying it is in those moments to look the person in the eye and say, "je comprends madame."

It was a graveyard smash

Last night, rendez vous USA, or, as Whitney called it, Operation confuse the hell out of the french by carving into pumpkins. This is one American tradition that did not carry over to France. So we brought it!

Mine's the baby, and Preston's not looking too good. Too many tiny wines and chocobons maybe...

And the award goes to nightscape in Paris by the talented Kaitlin!

I was afraid of missing out on Halloween this year, seeing as how it's my 2nd most favorite holiday of the year. But with friends this awesome, I think it's gonna be one of the best Halloweens yet!

Blissed Out

Did you ever have one of those days that just will not stop getting better?

That was yesterday for me. In the order of which they appear, my Sunday in awesome:

First little bit of awesome: Sunday market. There's an open-air market just about every day here, but Sunday is the biggest one. Walking past table after table of cheese, veggies, cider...it never gets old.

Second little bit of awesome: See-saw in the park across from the crêperie! (still waiting for those photos from W)

Third little bit of awesome: Crêpe flambée, as in the waiter set it on fire right in front of me!

Fourth little bit of awesome: Finally able to get photos off my phone! Back story: apparantly I am where cameras come to die. My first digital camera was stolen in Peru, so I had to buy a Peruvian one. That camera was swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean last time I was in France, and my amazing colleagues all pitched in to buy me my French camera. Couple weeks ago, it stopped working. Nothing dramatic this time, it just wouldn't turn on anymore. Then we have the camera on my phone, which takes beautiful photos, but which I can't find the USB cable for. Solution? Buy a card reader! The first card reader I bought didn't read either of the cards. The one I exchanged it for read the camera card, but not the phone! So, completely on a whim yesterday, I thought I would try to plug the cable for the new card reader directly into my phone...and it worked!

Fifth little bit of awesome: My absolute favorite favorite favorite bande dessinée by Marjane Satrapi (fabulous author of Persepolis), Poulet aux Prunes, has been made into a film and is coming out next week! I could shout joy from the rooftops.


Sixth litte bit of awesome: I've been invited to a proper English Christmas in Southampton! One of my best friends from the last time I was here and her family have asked me to hop the pond and spend the holiday with them. I feel so full of love it is unreal!

Seventh little bit of awesome: Skype. Thanks to this amazing software, the last thing I see most night's is T's smile. Perfectly happy end to a perfectly awesome day.

Friday WTF

Sitting at Le Lounge Cafe with some dear friends of mine, chatting in franglais and drinking my chocolat chaud, and a freaking hummer drives by. The kicker? It had a french license plate. Discuss.

One month in and already on vacation

Toussaints was on all the professors' minds yesterday, my last day of classes before the break. No work until November 3rd for me. I might be traveling with one of my floormates next week.

Class update: things have been going lovely at my school. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming, teachers and students alike. I have even been invited to a Franco-American Thanksgiving! It never stops amazing me how kind and generous people can be with complete strangers. I feel incredibly lucky.

I was a bit sick this week, but was able to get all of my medicine and multivitamins for under 20 euros. Thanks France!

Today I hit up the Friday market. I can not express to you how much I love open air markets. It may be my favorite thing about this country, and I often said when I was home that it was the thing I missed most (aside from friends of course). I mean, a place where I can buy enough fresh fruit and veg to get me through the week for 5 euros? Hell yes.

We are approaching Halloween and I have plugged in my orange lights (damn I wish my camera was working). I think tonight a John Carpenter marathon is in order. All of the English floormates have left or are leaving tomorrow for vacation. Me, I'll be here, introducing all the other assistants to American Halloween. I even brought my devil costume.

urban legends and baked beans, oh my

I'm happy as this day was long. You may have noticed I don't blog nearly as much this trip as I did last time. That is because I am crazy super busy all the time in the best way. Living in Caen is awesome. Always a new assistante de langue to meet. I must have met 30 already and that's not even half.

Today I met two new friends at the station and we had a bit of a tour de Caen. Walked around the castle, the abbaye aux dames, brunched in an English tea house (baked beans with breakfast, really?), walked around the hippodrome where the horses race, and then met even more assistants in centre ville.

In total, we were fifteen. I don't know how we managed to find enough space at a cafe. French cafes are typically small and also jam-packed on Saturday afternoon. But we managed and I was smack in the middle of people who only wanted to speak French. Score!

Then off to dinner, my favorite creperie again. The hostess remembered my name and thanked me for bringing her lots of business. Last week I brought her ten, this week fifteen. I should get a free cider or something, right?

Then it was off to ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THEATRE PERFORMANCES I HAVE EVER SEEN. The theme was urban legends, and this one was about William the Conqueror. I am really stoked about it. First there was a musical performance in the lobby. Couldn't tell you the instrument. Looked like a giant silver leaf. It was somber and beautiful.

Then they ushered us into a big common room where everyone sat on the floor and listened to the story of William's skeleton. Long story short, it was raided, and after a seriously long time they managed to find all of his bones, except his femur. Pesky femur. Then they found it! Well, they're 90% sure it's his anyway.

After story time we broke into four groups and watched dramatic scenes in the cloister. Two each about William and his honey Mathilda - one for each in their own time, and a reinterpretation of each set in modern times. The performance finished with the old and modern characters coming toward each other. It made me think about conquering, and how whenever we embark on a new quest, we have to think about our past and contemplate our future too. Very well done.

Guillaume, pissed off and ready to conquer

Crazy Mathilde, being courted by a peasant


Photos to come! Promise!

call me ambitious

When else in my life am I going to have the chance to really focus on self-improvement? Let's face it, in the USA I never have time to create and reach goals for myself. Here, I work 12 hours a week, giving me plenty of time to travel, read, write, do whatever the heck I want, really. So, I present to you my goals for 2011-2012.

1. Get healthy physically, mentally, spiritually
2. Run 5k nonstop by March (the 3k track is literally right outside my door)
3. Find yoga and do it at least weekly
4. Eat seasonally
5. See Germany
6. See south of France
7. Perfect my french
8. Cut down dairy/sugar consumption
9. Write poems weekly
10. Try other forms of writing/arts
11. Create lessons that I can use later as a teacher
12. Save money
13. Make awesome friends (already cracking away at this one!)
14. Talk to family as often as possible
15. Translate some French poems
16. Complete National Poetry Month in April (write a poem a day)
17. Volunteer
18. Complete advanced degree of french studies
19. Handmake Christmas presents

This list was inspired by a photo I took last time I was in France of my goal list. And I realized I had done most of them:
1. Find yoga
2. Eat better
3. Walk 1/2 mile a day
4. Become fluent
5. Finish l'histoire de pi
6. Try 20 cheeses
7. See D-Day beaches
8. See Eiffel Tower
9. Go to England
10. Complete NaPoMo (intentionally not completed)
11. Write poem in French

Funny what changes in three years, what stays the same.

Two Words

Lavender. Chocolate.

15/16ths to go

Talking to T last night, I said I've been here almost a full two weeks, and he said that means I'm 1/16th done.

When you put it that way, it doesn't seem long at all! 8 months sounds forever to me, but 16 biweeks sounds like it's going to fly by!

I'm already anxious to be back home and see everyone I love/miss, but I am also really excited about all the new friends I am making here. I live with about ten other assistants from all over the world - Russian, Chinese, English, Spanish, and Arabic - which means we speak only in French woot! And almost every day I meet some new assistants at school or from the Caen Facebook group. Living in Caen there is always something to do. I already feel busy and I haven't even started classes yet!

September October November December January February March April May

I know sometimes it's going to feel like forever, but maybe I don't have such a long road ahead.

Sister Act

This is the story of how I almost came to live in a convent for a year.

Since the lease was postponed, I started looking at other housing options, you know, just in case it didn't work out. I couldn't stay on Nath or C's couches forever after all. I'd been in France over a week and still hadn't unpacked my suitcase.

Suddenly I had a few options.

Option #1: Single room in an apartment attached to a family's house. Apartment to be shared with a perfectly nice-seeming gentleman University student I had never met. Forgot to check if the door had a lock when I checked it out.

Option #2: Convent where another English assistant is staying. Cheaper than aforementioned apartment and closer to the town center and all relevant tram/bus lines. The catch? Lots of rules to obey. No cell phone ringers after 9pm. Vibration with discretion. No talking after 9pm. No showers after 10pm. No boys allowed upstairs. Wanna go out after 9pm? Not unless you asked for the key by 4pm that day! It wasn't all bad. For one thing, I knew it was safe. I knew I would get to speak French all the time. And I would even have a housemate who I already knew I got along with.

Option #3: Room at a local high school. This one didn't seem likely because I had asked them over the summer and they were all booked. But wait, what's that? One of the assistants never showed up? There might be a room available? Well, guess who was knocking on their door at 8:30 the next morning with all of her bags saddled on her sides, looking like a homeless person who really needed a room? THIS GIRL.

So here I am, settled in, tiny buddha bought for my desk and keychain bought for my new keys. Sacrilege?

forgive me; i spoke too soon

All this week I kept saying, I'm too lucky. Something bad has to happen.

So I went and lost track of my cell phone for 20 minutes and it was stolen. And my lease was delayed a week, meaning I can't move in tomorrow as was the plan. Now I have to wait until Thursday.

Hmm.

Voila le week-end!

It's late Thursday morning here, and I'm wearing a big smile because this afternoon I go to sign my lease. I can't believe how lucky I am. A super cheap apartment in a nice neighborhood. Very calm, just families and senior citizens, mostly. I met my roommates and landlord yesterday when I went to help them move in furniture. All of the bedrooms have brand new armoires, desks, and beds. Then the living room and kitchen have a hilarious blend of old and new furniture. Retro, c'est cool.

And on top of all that being free, we have our pick of anything we want from another apartment that has been abandoned. Well, not really abandoned. See, it's kind of a come and go apartment, people come and leave stuff, knowing a new group of people will be moving in after. So over the years tons of stuff has accumulated - from mattresses and sheets to suitcases, clothing, games, and kitchenwares! I already eyed up a super nice food processor. Get ready roomies, hummus is on the way.

Tonight the weekend begins. I've heard exciting things about Thursday night in centre ville. Lots of people out and about, drinking, and making a ruckus. On vacation, Alex and I saw a drunk fight, and it wasn't even a Thursday! Oh, how I am happy to live in a University town.

Photos to come of apartment and city life. For now, how about a tour of my town's history?

Chateau Ducal de Caen - built by William the Conqueror in 1060. Was used as a barraks in WWII and extremely damaged. (Excuse the bad photo - couldn't get a shot that wasn't blurry and had to put the camera on the ground just to get a clear shot of one tower!)

Abbaye Aux Dames - former abby commanded by William the Conqueror for his honey Matilda. Founded in late 11th century.

There is also l'abbaye aux hommes, which I haven't gotten around to taking a photo of yet.

Eglise St. Pierre - one of the many churches here, this one is closest to where I am staying now. Built somewhere between 13th and 16th centuries. This view is from the drawbridge of the castle at night.

Pardon my bliss. There isn't much better than being in a beautiful historic city with some of the most supportive friends in the world, speaking a language you love everyday. Now, if only I could bring all of my besties and T over here, life would be perfect. But hey, close to perfect is pretty damn good. :)

three lessons and a lucky star

Nathalie says I have a lucky star, and she is so right. I don't know what I have been smoking lately, but I have been doing really stupid things. And for some reason I haven't been completely put out. I guess they make for good stories.

Lesson One: Don't share too much on the subway in Paris
I'm travelling with a HUGE suitcase, a 20 pound bookbag, and a handbag. Lots and LOTS of shady looking dudes get on four stops away from mine. Also enter a nice older looking woman, who leans against my bookbag. I stand to rearrange my things so there's more room.

Woman: Here, I can help you lift your suitcase like this if you want.
Me: Oh, thanks, that's nice.
Woman: Oh man, this is heavy! What's in here anyway? (Joking)
Me: Oh, I'm moving here for 8 months so it's my whole life.
(Pause)
Woman: Oh No! Don't say that! Don't say that at all! There's dogs all over here. You have to say, what's in here? Oh, just..stones and rocks and important bowls, and plastic games...

Lesson Two: Don't leave your wallet at the bar/tabac
Even if the woman behind you turns out to be really nice and finds it and gives it to the man at the register, and even if you realize five minutes later and run down the street to go get it back, just don't ever ever leave your wallet with ALL your money and id and important numbers in the bar/tabac.

Lesson Three: When you buy a phone card, don't leave the receipt with the code on it at the register
Similar to lesson two. Even if the cashier gives it to the manager and you go get it back ASAP, it's just much easier if you remember to take it with you right away and not risk losing 20 euros.

Voila my lessons. Things I already know, but I've been completely absent-minded here. I have to get better!

Commute, 9-24-11

This entry was written from the plane to Paris on the day I left for an eight month work contract.

Woke up happysad today. Long road ahead. Dressed, printed directions and booking, hugged Alex goodbye. Packed the car. Drove to my parents, installed Skype, advised them to get a webcam so I can see them and the kids when I feel homesick. Aunt Crystal & Uncle Jeff were there about to install hardwood floors. Can't wait to see how they turn out. Said another round of goodbyes. Held it together. Stopped at Wawa for a last pumpkin spice/hot chocmicals 16oz. That and my egg sandwich and swedish fish, T's treat.

Then it was on the road - we made awesome time, were in DC by 12 noon (3-1/2 hours total drive including rest stop in Maryland). First stop: Air and Space Museum. Hell yes. Free to enter and only $15 to park. I really recommend this if you ever happen to be in or around Dulles. The whole museum is just this huge aircraft hangar. It's deceiving how massive the place is. You walk in, and you see all the huge planes, and you're like, oh, it's not that big. But by the time you have walked one section you've walked the length of at least ten huge aircraft. So yeah, huge. We saw THE Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Not a reproduction, but the real thing. That changed the mood real quick. We saw tiny yellow planes, car planes, parachutes, Nazi planes, the Air France commodore, and a Bud Light plane, among others.

Then there was space. A real-life shuttle, satellites, even a freaking jet pack. That made T really happy. Then after that we went up to the observation tower, from which you could see Dulles airport, which I flew out of! Also from the observation tower you could see lots of bugs, huge expanses of green, and the parking lot that housed only 2 yellow cars. My car Sundae looks great in aerial view.

We found a pizzeria called Generous George's. It became clear just how generous George was when the waitress brought over our water - each of us got a pitcher with a straw inside. At one point I looked at another table and saw a ten-year-old chugging out of the pitcher some hot pink sugary drink. Sigh.

Enough of the bad, let's talk about more good. T and I drove around trying to find Sully Park after lunch, and that's when I started to feel sad. Sad to leave him, family, and nervous in general about starting a new life, albeit a temporary one. Less tears this time than in 2008, and I kept remembering what everyone has been telling me - this is so right. I am incredibly fortunate. This is the chance of a lifetime. Eight months is going to fly by.

T & I finally found the park and had a short walk. Then off to the airport where he walked me in and discovered that Cinnabon coffee is terrible. My bag was checked no problem, I was offered a gate right away, and things started to feel better. Until I had to say goodbye. No words for just how hard that is to do.

After a quick pep talk from Donna and Rach over the phone, I approached the group of assistants that had started accumulating at the gate. We shared a group flight (the reason I travelled all the way to DC). What a great way to meet everyone. I don't think anyone on the flight was from Caen, but I now have friends all over France!
And now I'm on the plane. Crazy Heart was awesome. The Troll Toll episode of Always Sunny was on the movie server too. We had a slight delay in Iceland, but we're in the air now and I know where I am going when I land. Such a nicer feeling than I had three years ago. Wide-eyed and lost in the Paris subway, too nervous to speak the French I thought I knew so well after only three semesters.

I look forward to this year and everything it is going to bring me.

A bientot!

Bon Jour

Or, Bon Voyage, but the cake they bought me for my last day of work said "Bon Jour" by mistake.

Leaving in 4 days. Feel rushed.

My awesome friends threw me a going away party on Saturday. Highlights:
-The house decorated in yellow, including the balloon stringed to the handle of my car door
-Emily's french prostitute garb and non-pareil cupcakes, because she says there's no match for me
-Competing plum tarts, of which there was no discernible winner
-Coppola wine, Sangria by the bucketful
-Homemade banana bread with fresh bananas
-Cheesy veggie pie and empanadas and kick ass mac and cheese
-The giant scroll on the wall to sign (wall decor for France!)
-Telestrations and apples to apples

Leaving on a jet plane

Tomorrow I get a Visa. September 24th I leave for France. I do not have a return ticket.

Three years ago I did this. I got on a plane and moved to France for seven months. I left my loved ones for a country I knew next to nothing about, a language I had taken for a year and a half, and a shitty paycheck. This time I am leaving for much more. A career and a boatload of savings on an education being the most important things.

This all feels very surreal at the moment. Am I really going to be teaching high schoolers in Caen? Am I really going to be taking classes at the University? Is it true that I will miss holidays again, and 32 Tuesday nights with my niece and nephew?

Every week in Monday staff meeting at work I jot down a schedule for the next two weeks. This is what today's looked like:


So surreal.

The pluses:
-Time, time, time. Time to write. Time to run.
-Fresh produce market weekly
-Possible cheap housing related to community service
-Skype (didn't have wifi last time, already gave my parents a headset and installed it on their computer)
-AMAZING support system in France, whom I can't wait to spend all my time with
-Current boss is totally understanding
-Going away party with all my besties in one place

Chic, c'est la vie.

Craft Night!

On Wednesdays we craft. CK, Alex, and me. This week we were lucky to have the company of talented graphist (yep, that's a word now) MN!

Alex painted:


CK sketched the crowd:


MN gave us a ghostly forest:


And I put a bird on it:


Thanks for the pastels CK!

Alex made some progress last night. Isis helped.


And finally, I can't decide if Weds or Tues is my favorite day. Crafting with friends is rocktastic, but Tuesdays have this:

NaPoMo Day 30 Poem

So, I met my National Poetry Month goal at just about the same moment I found out Osama Bin Laden is dead. Weird.

This isn't the first NaPoMo that I have completed, but it is the first I feel really confident about. The photos were an awesome inspiration. Congrats, too, to fellow NaPoMoers Rach, Donna, and Kendall. Good show. Thanks for the prompts.



Photo from Black & WTF Photos:

We walk an elevated green field on the outskirts of a zoo in Cohanzick
for miles it feels
for seconds it feels
and on top of this hill
we come across a soccer goal
and inside the net is a panda.
We would like to play soccer
but how can you hit a panda
with a soccer ball? Peacocks
roam the brush up here and
we pass dried animal
ribs jaw teeth
we pass trash, stained orange,
tires bottles dolls that have
been washed again and again
by the mud.
We listen. The wind wisps
our hair. The peahen cries.
Remember the monkeys who
looked too human, the bear
who rested in a hammock
made of recycled fire
hose. Remember the chainsaw
art, the dingo who howled at
our smell. How do I blink
and you’re in uniform, approaching
the ball. Inside the net, the panda falls
onto his fluffed back. He is ready to catch.

NaPoMo Day 29 Poem

Photo from Black & WTF Photos:

A world without plastic
No tupperware to hold our leftover rice, no red solo
cup to drink our beer from at parties, to eat our cereal
from when our bowls our spoons are stacked dirty
in the sink. Without plastic, the snap of a new DVD
case doesn’t send your memory to the chalked desks
of fourth grade, the velcro latch on your trapper keeper.
In a world without plastic, our boots would be made
of rubber again, and they’d be everywhere: a woman
finds one floating in the sink next to the pestle;
somewhere a young boy hitches an old fireman’s
to his back and strides home, dreams future forming.
In a world without plastic rubber would make our bottles
our fake breasts our cheap picture frames our milk jugs
hopes future forming.

NaPoMo Day 30 Translation

La Grasse matinee*
Jacques Prévert
from Paroles
French version here

It’s terrible
the small sound of a hard egg broken on a pewter countertop
it’s terrible this noise
when it stirs the memory of the man who is hungry
it is also terrible, the head of this man
the head of this man who is hungry
when he looks at himself at six o clock in the morning
in the mirror of a department store
a head the color of dust
it’s not his head really that he looks at
in the window of Potin’s
he doesn’t care about his head the man
he doesn’t think about it
he dreams
he imagines another head
a calf’s head for example
with a vinegar sauce
or the head of whatever can be eaten
and it gently stirs his jaw
gently
and he gently grinds his teeth
for the world is paying its head
and he can do nothing against this world
and he counts on his fingers one two three
one two three
that makes three days that he hasn’t eaten
and he repeated to himself for three days
This can’t go on
this goes on
three days
three nights
without eating
and behind these windows
these pastes these bottles these reserves
dead fish protected by the boxes
boxes protected by the windows
windows protected by the cops
cops protected by fear
nothing but barricades for these six unhappy sardines
A little farther the bistro
creamed coffee and hot croissants
the drunk man
and inside his head
a fog of words
a fog of words
sardines to eat
hard egg creamed coffee
coffee sprinkled with rum
creamed coffee
creamed coffee
coffee sprinkled with blood!...
A man highly esteemed in his neighborhood
was murdered in broad daylight
the murderer the vagabond stole from him
two francs
to be a sprinkled coffee
seventy cents
two buttered tarts
and twenty-five cents for the tip for the boy
It’s terrible
the small sound of a hard egg broken on a pewter countertop
it’s terrible this noise
when it stirs the memory of the man who is hungry.

*La Grasse matinee is an expression for a lazy morning.