not Nice to me

Long story short,

i may have fallen encore
and now my leg is tres sore
a chunk of my knee
gone so far from me
i hope i shall fall down no more

also today i was very cranky. i think it was due to heat/lack of water.

but something glorious happened the other day.
...
its called ice cubes.

you may be familiar with them back in the states...i can't remember.

but at lunch the other day our waiter brought ice cubes in glasses for the girls who ordered soda.
he saw the intensley animalistic look on out faces as our eyes almost bored holes into the tiny cubes of frozen water.
thinking on his feet so as not to alarm the other customers of an impending fight over the precious ice cubes, he brought two other glasses full to the brim with nothing but the good frozen stuff.
ahhh. refreshing.

Nicely done, indeed

Hello world out there!
I write to you from Nice, in the heart of the French Riviera! We arrived on Saturday, after a slightly traumatic experience on the train where I was separated from the entire group. If you would like to read the story, continue reading! To skip the lengthy detail, just skip down to the *
Story:
We were taking a 5.5 hour train ride from Paris to Nice, but as it is the french train system, (and because of that whole volcanic eruption in Iceland) it was suuuuuuuper crowded and people were everywhere and it was confusing. I saw what I thought was car 17, so I sat down, then realized it was car 7 not 17. I ask a very nice french man and he was like '17 is all the way at the end in the other train'. Zut.
I grab my stuff (suitcase, duffel, backspace, purse, little shopping bag) and turn around to see the most gigantic pile of suitcases I have ever seen in my real life. Seriously. And there weren't just suitcases, there were people too. FORTY people and their suitcases, as I was to learn later.
Anyway, french trains, unlike about everything else here, leave on right on time. So there was no possible way I could hoist myself over the suitcases (and the people), let alone myself and my bags, to get to the other train. I begin to tear up. Many people see me. They were very very nice, and a little freaked out at my trying-not-to-cry face. This chic woman was like 'no one is sitting here right now its ok! sit down! breath deep!' so I did. But I was crying. And then an announcment came on saying that since it was so crowded not everyone had made it to their seats, so if you were one of those people come to this specific car. Imagine trying-not-to-cry-but-failing-at-it me walking through a gazillion cars of french people. not fun. however the same thing happened to this other french guy and he was pissssssed.
But not crying.
Anyway, turns out there are two sections to this train, because it was a very weird train - basically two trains stuck together. And there was no way to reconnect with my group. The train was completely full but they told me I could sit in the restaurant area. I go back and jump the slightly smaller pile of suitcases. All the people there were so so sweet to me. Thank you God for that!
I was trying to get my stuff over the pile and finally this woman in her mid fifties or so said 'come with me, we will take care of you' so she takes one of my bags and I follow her up and over, and we reach one of the four-seat sections where her husband was.
Apparently they were part of that gigantic group (going to something which had to do with young tennis players. Mind you, this was all in french). They had a ticket for the four seats and gave me one of them. Me. A stupid crying american girl. And they were talking to me and trying to help me calm down. And then another young guy came down and sat there and offered me some peanut m&ms. And then she let me use her phone to call katrina, and I left her a message. And then I finally calmed down. I think had I been traveling alone, i would have been fine with an unexpected detour. however, the pressure of being separated from the group was more...trying.
Then the leader of the young tennis group who had seen and talked to me earlier came over and talked to us and then in broken english made jokes with me, and started taking pictures. Which was slightly humorous. I hope they enjoy that later on. Finally two hours in the woman told me "ok, you have three minutes at this first stop. you want to try to get back with your friends?" so her husband went and got my green duffel bag and we took my stuff to the platform. I didnt even have time to thank them properly, because i BOOKED it down the entire space of platform with all my crap and barely made it onto the other train thing.
In any case, i will never forget those people's kindness, but it was a rough day.

*Annnnd we are back!
After a rough start in getting to Nice, I have been bathing in the beautiful sun of the Mediterranean. No, seriously, I am sunburned. Nice is amazingly beautiful, in its beauty completely surpassing my expectations. Despite the homework and mandatory museums, for the first time it kind of feels like vacation. My presentations done, with only museum sketches and art analyses left, I feel free-er, able to hike up to that beautiful waterfall we visited, lay on the beach, swim in the ocean, wander through the fresh flower and food markets, or eat one of the 86 gelato flavors at that one shop (ranging from tomato and avocado to lavender and jasmine).
I am looking forward to seeing you all again, but its going to be more than difficult to leave this beautiful country.
loves of warm sun-burnt hugs
natalie

From an internet cafe where it costs 2.5o eruo/15 min...

Hello!
Sorry not to have written in this thing in a long time. but dont worry, i am saving up memories galore. we are staying at a youth hostel (strangely here, that means actual youth. by now we are quite sick of middle schoolers yelling outside our windows until all hours of the night) and it doesnt have WIFI. Also, my new power cord decided to stop working. The MIJE isnt the best, but the location is INCREDIBLE. We are just a jump hop and a skip from notre dame and even closer to berthillon. i have walked along the siene, to the louvre, to the luxembourg gardens, etc etc etc. Paris this time of year is beautiful. Everything is blooming and they have planted a ton of flowers since we were last here. It is hard to believe that two weeks from now we will be across across the ocean (and back in spokane). Is it bad that I dont want to leave yet?
Today Rachel and I finally went to Angelina's. We returned, appropriately in a chocolate coma.
this section of the trip has been filled with museums. and museums. and more museums. my favorite so far has been the Rodin. Rodin was the man. and so was camille claudel, though sadly nobody really knows about her.
anyway, I must go as internet is running out. more stories to come i promise. as soon as i can anyway...
lots of love

Ireland's Call

I heard Ireland's call
I believe sometime last fall
Spring break plans began
Mia was a big fan
So we decided Ireland after all

It beckoned me from afar
From France I saw it's star
Our finals now over
We passed the cliffs Dover
By plane, not by boat or by car

Dublin found us safe and sound
No longer in air but on ground
Our hostel called "Times"
(I'm nearly out of rhymes)
Then next: Grafton street we were bound

For supper a restaurant called 'Gruel'
Where good meals was obviously the rule
I got some soup
Was not thrown for a loop
We considered the place quite tres cool
(and not even pretentious one bit!)

And that is that. Ireland seems lovely so far. We took today easy, due to some health concerns, but all seems to be going better now. Miss you back home!
<3 Nat

strangely it feels like home

So we are back in Paris at the Best Western again! Same room, same roomies; its wonderfully familiar.
Caen was lovely, and still doesn't feel quite real, just because it was kind of a whirlwind.

UPDATE:
I leave in less than 12 hours for Ireland! pray for a safe and uncomplicated flight.
Promise I will write more later :)

Of course you Caen

Hello from Normandie!

We have arrived safely in Caen, Normandie, to blustery Oregon-like weather and much better food than that of "Le Triomphe" (NOT a triumph in our opinion).

Its nice to be out of the city for a while. The last couple days of our first Paris tour were filled to the brim! It seems like the entire world is traveling abroad as I was blessed enough to see Julia, Sarah, Elizabeth, AND Marta in the span of, oh, I don't know, three days. It was fantastic but tiring. (ps the weather in Paris has turned its face toward sun!!! I even got a random sunburn!)
Sarah, Julia, and I walked around Pere Lachaise cemetery. It is so beautiful and GIGANTIC, housing the graves of Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Guillaume Appolinaire, Moliere, Jean de la Fontaine, Balzac, Maria Callas, Jim Morrison, Chopin, Heloise et Abelard, the list goes on and on. However, some of the most beautiful, breathtaking tombs were dedicated to random families. It is interesting because one doesn't just buy a grave. Its more like you RENT a grave, and have to pay continually.
Then we had dinner at Chez Papa and basically crashed. The next day I attended an Evangelical church service with my class and met up with mes amies as we walked all around the latin quarter, visited the Pantheon
(home to the crypts of Voltaire, Jean-Jaques Russeau, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola, Madame Curie, etc). Also, it was really cold in there. So of course we had to stop for gelato on our way to the blossoming Luxembourg Gardens. Then it was a sprint to about three different closed metro stations and the hotel so sarah and julia could catch their train. Which I don't think they did...

Then the next day Marta came into town! We set up to meet at Notre Dame, which was not very smart as there are two sides and about a gazillion people. After 30 minutes of searching we finally found each other! It was beautiful. We walked all around, to the Luxembourg Gardens (again, BEAUtiful), Shakespeare and Co, Les Jardins des plants, the Flower Market, and the Paris Mosque tea room for some delicious sticky sweet mint tea. This was followed by a brief visit inside the mosque and then me going back to my hotel room to do laundry in the bathtub. Later that night we all met up with Elizabeth and walked all along the Eiffel Tower and had wine and chocolate.

The day after that was wonderful as well (aside from the seam on my pants ripping at Versailles). We got up early and took the metro and RER to Versailles. After being in the Loire in the off-season, the palace itself was a bit of a let down. We felt slightly like a herd of cattle, surrounded by twelve tour groups of people breezing through each room running after their tour guide's uplifted umbrella.
However, the grounds outside were not disappointing in the least. Seriously, if you ever visit Versailles, RENT A BIKE.
Best. Decision. Of the day. We rode through the countryside by fields of sheep and Marie Antoinette's hamlet where she played "little poor person", on bumpy old country paths through woods and wide field expanses, and next to the gigantic reflective pool, under rows of trees in a group singing sound of music.
I am so joyful that I will be able to remember this experience for the rest of my life. It was one of those moments.

...But its no espresso in front of a chateau

Or maybe it is.

This past weekend, three other girls and I decided profit from our time in France (and our free Friday) by visiting something uniquely European.
Early Friday morning (very very very early) we met up in the lobby of our hotel and hustled on over to the metro. We sprinted through the hallways and arrived to our connecting metro line just in time to see the doors close, and with it our hopes of making it to our train on time. Ok, so maybe that was a little dramatic, but unfortunately since it was so early, the next metro didn't come for another 15 minutes. At this point we were slightly resigned to the fact that we were going to miss our train. However, through team work (there's the composter! quick the tickets! we are on voie 17! where IS voie 17? there's voie 17! On y va!) we made it. From that point on, our two day adventure was the most relaxing part of my time so far in France.

We watched the sun rise over the countryside trough our train windows and arrived in the sweetest town where - get this - people in cars STOP for YOU to cross the street. Are we even still in France? I wondered. Our hotel was a leisurely 5 minute walk from the station and we were greeted by the most helpful hotel guy, Jerome. He talked with us for roughly 20 minutes while our rooms were getting ready and gave us fantastic dining suggestions and good logistical information. We walked across the garden to our huge room and could not help but literally jump up and down with joy.

After walking around downtown Amboise (which includes a chateau, by the way), Jerome called us a taxi and we visited Le Chateau de Chenonceau. We spent FOUR HOURS just looking around the chateau and its grounds, going through a little farm and a hedge maze, and stopping for some espresso at a tiny immaculate white table situated in front of the chateau. We decided this was the experience to which every experience after would have to be measured. Like, Thats pretty cool, but its not exactly espresso in front of a chateau...
And after all this it was still only 4 o'clock! The next day we spent in a similar fashion, at the Chambord Chateau.


Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. We didn't stop laughing nearly the whole trip, and it was a rejuvenating outside-the-city experience.

pictures now, stories to come

these pictures are made possible by:
Kelsey "the amazing" Toy and her camera lending
Rachel "the magnificent" Kelly, for her picture sharing.

little of good little of bad

So hello

Good news:
Tomorrow at 6:30 I leave on a train headed for the Loire Valley!
Today was lovely. We visited the the Paris Mosque and the Paris Tea Room (which may be my new favorite place in all of paris)
I had THE best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life. I had raspberry and coconut and was in a heavenly ice-cream induced coma walking back to the metro.
Best saint patricks day ever, by the way. I drank fire through a straw. I am not kidding

The bad news:
That is early tomorrow and I still have homework/journal to do
Some idiot on the street stole my free awesome giant saint patricks day hat right off my head and ran off with it

The worst news:
I am pretty sure I lost my camera. It was in my room one day. Not in there the next. Suck big time.

Anyway, I probably should have ended with the good news. But still. I am loving it here.And am very excited to see all the beautiful castles this weekend! And THEN I see Sarah and Juila!!
Gotta get to bed. after I do homework. and pack. and shower. oops.

Now for something a little more coherent

Hello all

It looks as if I am starting to get over my head-cold/sick/thing. This is very good news! However, another sickness is striking other members of the group, which is no good at all!

Friday: Mia, Rachel, Kaori, and I bought our train tickets for our trip to the Loire Valley! I am so excited to go and visit amazing castles like this one. That night some of us went to a tiny wine bar by the Eiffel tower for dinner. It was adorable, and we had a very satisfactory meal of omlettes and wine (and a shared dessert...yum!) Then we got to see the Eiffel tower sparkle. It is magical. No, really.


Saturday: a couple of girls and I visited the most gigantic flea market I have ever been to! There are the typical sections, with multitudes of scarves and cheap shoes. Then there are the really sketchy sections (Julie was especially enchanted with a particular alleyway. I know this because after going through it she whispered, disgusted, "I think thats where people pick op prostitutes!") After going through the sketchy-ness, we found ourselves in the beautiful, but expensive, antiques section. Seriously mom, it was like garage sale finds on steroids. You would have gone crazy. Of course, as we walked further the items became more and more out of our price range. We saw books for over 400 Euros and a small pendant for 250. Still, it was nice. AND it was here that I ran into Elizabeth Farrell!!! This miraculous meeting brought to you by my hair (I knew it would come in handy sometime).

After talking with her and exclaiming over and over how crazy and cool this meeting was, I had to go because I was NOT feeling well. Unfortunately, from that point until this afternoon (Monday) I was sick and not very coherent. We were supposed to go to Notre Dame as a class on Sunday for mass. I, however, slept until noon. Then I managed to get out of the room and look for some French people to talk to, because we have to do that for our speech. I came back and basically rested the rest of the day, and worked on homework and my presentation.


Today:Monday: I gave my presentation and in class we were visited by a missionary in France. I came back to my hotel room, had lunch, took a delightful nap, and then rode the metro to Monmartre where I met up with Kelsey P. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time walking around and people watching. Then tonight, we watched Anastasia (that one is for my housemates!)


Anyway, in summary, the sickness is going away (lets pray!), and how lucky am I to be given this opportunity??? Very, very lucky indeed.

Its Paris, what else? (George Clooney)

(George Clooney)
So, you would think that all the hype about Paris would give me such incredible ideas that my experiences would inevitably lead to disappointment. However, not the case.
I. Love. It. Here.
Reasons why?
1. Even in the sketchier parts of town, it is still pretty
2. Fresh baguettes on every corner
3. The metro is liberating
4. Breakfast at the hotel
5. Shower at the hotel
6. The monuments and their rich history
a. Sacre Coeur
b. Eiffle Tower
c. Arc de Triomphe
d. Les Invalides
(and those are only the ones we have visited so far)

What I dont like?
1. Getting sick in Paris
2. Dog poop on the street

and other stuff probably that i cannot think of right now because my head feels weird.

talk soon. too tired.
(we are always go-go-go here)
love nat
PS I bought tickets to go to the Loire Valley next weekend!!!

since shutterfly takes so long...

hey everyone!

I am uploading pictures and it is taking so long! So I thought i would give a little update.
Well, we made it to Paris! After our three-train adventure and a brisk little walk, we finally arrived at our hotel! (its a Best Western...tres francais?)
Our hotel is lovely: with pretty nice rooms, fridges, and a WONDERFUL breakfast! Mike arrived to greet us yesterday and it was so nice to see him! He even brought with him a Whitworthian for us to look at.

After checking out a supermarche, Mia, Rachel, and I decided we wanted to get out of the hotel and explore! We booked it to Monmartre (because we had to be back very presently) and got our first glimpse of the Eiffel tower from the the top of Monmartre. AND we walked all the way up to sacre coeur! It was beautiful and it finally sunk in that we were in PARIS. GAH!

Today we had class with Mike. It was great and informative and organized: yay! Then we had lunch and had our first metro experience!!! Having never been on the metro, this was soooo exciting for me! It is liberating. We stopped off at Trocedero and turned around the corner and there was the eiffel tower!!! after taking a lot of touristy pictures doing things like jumping, popping our collars, or pretending not to be impressed, we took the elevator up to the very tip top! It was awesome and very very windy. It was not a good day to forget my scarf. However, it would have been worse had I forgot my camera.

This might be a little lenghty...

Bon soir, tout le monde.
(PS- When it is evening, you don't say bonjour. you say bonsoir. I am very bad at remembering this).

Right at this moment I am sitting in the lounge-area of our Strasbourg hostel, Ciarus. As sad as I am to be leaving the beautiful city of Strasbourg, I am not quite as sad to leave the Ciarus. Tomorrow we leave for Paris, doing what the French call a "saut de puce" which literally means a "flea jump". We will ride the train to Saverne, then on to Nancy, then finally to Paris.

A lot has happened since I last posted. We have been so busy!
Official Excursions:
1. Strasbourg Cathedral and the "guided tour of Strasbourg"
This last part is in parentheses because we never actually got guided past the cathedral. While the weather was gorgeous the day we arrived, the "vent du diable" was so ever present the day of our tour. This was especially disappointing as we had a lovely tour guide who taught us many an interesting fun-fact.
2. Struthof
This is the only concentration camp left in France. This trip was the hardest. Our guide spoke very rapidly and with a specialized vocabulary, but I think it was for the better that we were not able to understand a large portion of what he said. I think we were all emotionally drained after that visit. Luckily I got an almost-nap on the ride back, and we were set back to rights with our disco party later that night.
3. Ligne Maginot
This is the impenetrable fortress France built so Germany wouldn't be able to invade during WWII. Needless to say, it kind of didn't work. The Germans ended up just going through the forest. I wish I could say the visit was more interesting than it actually was. The best part for me were the guidelines about how the soldiers were supposed to go to the bathroom.
4. Haut Koenigsbourg
This castle was AWESOME. Spencer brought his guitar along for the bus ride and appropriately strummed a little of the Harry Potter theme as we pulled up. We had fun, and it was a sunny day. Unfortunately our tour was not guided, so we never did get the answer to why there were paintings/figures/pictures of llamas all over the place...
5. Colmar
A tiny little Alsatian town that inspired the popular Alsatian artist Hansi. It was really too cold to do much other than run to find a place inside where we could sit for a while. We found a petit cafe and drank some cafe. Then we stopped by some shops, took pictures, stepped inside the cathedral, and got free perfume samples (a new pass-time, perhaps?) Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the awesome museum, but I think we will get enough of those once we arrive in Paris.
6. Requir
I found this town much more charming than Colmar, but unfortunately we only got to see a little bit of it. The good news: the bit of it we saw was awesome. We went wine tasting in one of the many wine caves in the town.
7. Conseil de l'Europe
This visit to the lesser known of the official-European-important-thingies was actually quite enjoyable! Much more so than, say, our visit to the Parliament. None of us really wanted to go on this last excursion, myself included, but I was pleasantly surprised. We were greeted with taxis to take us there, a pleasant surprise in the face of a brisk cold walk across Strasbourg. There we received official visitor badges (!), and were greeted by a kind, humorous lady who practiced her English by giving us the information in our mother tongue. After a tres sympa tour of the classically 70's interior, we waited in a room for another speaker. Little did we know that our presenter would be the charming, interesting, thirty-something Scottish press officer, Angus. Oh, Angus. I think more than one of us girls wished that Angus could have given us all of our tours...
Anyway, it was a lovely visit, and I walked back with Kaori and we had a grand old time at bookstores and cafes and markets and that restaurant we always walked by and said "we have to go here it smells so good!" Oh, and we randomly saw Lucie, my host sister, in her giant purple hat on a field trip with her school. Its kind of a small world, you know?


UNOFFICIAL Excursions: (explanations to come next blog post. I gotta pack!)
1. Friday Nights
2. Petit France/Day with Julia!
3. Disco
4. Mozart: L'Opera Rock
5. Cafes and Musees

A Traveling Fool (from my entry for the class blog)

There are a few things to which the title of this blog post makes reference.
1. This is a class after all...
A group of the students here just finished reading the tale Tristan et Iseult. For those of you not familiar with this medieval French soap opera, this book concerns Tristan, a loyal knight of the king Marc, and Iseult, who is engaged (for political reasons) to Marc. Unfortunately, due to some heavily "herbed" (magic) wine and a long and lonely boat ride, Tristan and Iseult find themselves given into the passion of the "sortilege" (spell). The resulting story includes love, trickery, suspense, Marc perched atop a giant pine tree, some pretty creepy statues, equally creepy "Irish customs", and about five different words for dwarf. Seriously, if you haven't read this book, you should. In one of the final chapters, entitled Tristan Fou, Tristan disguises himself as a fool. By this point, it is clear that he is going a little crazy. The complexities of the medieval novel amazed me: nothing was quite as black and white as I had anticipated, and the didactic morals about fidelity and social stability were intricately woven throughout the entire story. It was great reading this novel in Alsace of all places, as it has the most Medieval chateaus of any region in France (over 400!). I love Alsace, and find it a bit sad that we are leaving it in just a week!
2. Traveling
For some, this is the first time having ever set their feet on European soil, while others have returned from Thailand just in time to get over the jet lag before leaving again. Regardless of previous travel experience, I think this trip is going to make traveling fools of us all. I find myself very fortunate to be with a group of people who are excited to be here and who are ready and willing to try new things, like a Mozart rock opera, escargot, or hiking through a forest in the snow to visit Haut-Barr. This group of students, and dare I say, future travelers, have been pushed way outside our comfort zone in at least one aspect. And speaking of being outside your comfort zone...
3. Just being a fool in general...
So, there must be something in the French air that causes a few more embarrassing moments than normal. Rachel has been documenting a few of these said incidents, and sadly most have to do with my clumsiness. These include: my falling down an entire flight of French stairs in front of my host sister (but hey, I learned new vocabulary like "bruises" and "buttock"), accidentally setting off the elevator alarm in the hostel, and pieces of the delicious tarte flambee that just seem to hop off my plate.
But despite the momentary red cheeks (or the rather long lasting bruises), these events really make for some great stories. They humble me, remind me to not take myself too seriously, and provide great bonding experiences. Because once you have made a fool of yourself in front of others, its easier for them to be okay with making fools of themselves in front of you. And then you get to the fun stuff.

My Favorite French Phrase Ever

Hello, blogoshpere!

So we left for Strasbourg on Thursday morning. I had mixed feelings about this move, as I am sure almost everyone on the trip had also. After 2 weeks, we were finally getting comfortable(r) with our host families! From here on out, we don't have any moms to bring water bottles to European Parliaments, or people to drive us to chic bowling alleys.

lets see...what has happened since my last blog...
Highlights:

-Tarte Flambee night! with all the students and their families and more than enough food. miam! (the French equivalent of 'yum!')
(you learn words like miam and how to say "stop! you bug me!", "pony hair salon", and the ever popular "you stole my tiger!" when you have 2 little host sisters. But I loved it.)

-Lunch with my host father's mother (and her companion Eugene) and visiting Mont Sainte Odile all in the same, amazing day. Lunch in the town where my host father, Daniel, grew up, typically Alsacian. We had amazing food (what a surprise) and I had my first taste of champagne! They brought out the good stuff apparently. That is one thing that I have noticed here that kind of surprised me: the amazing hospitable spirit. They really want to welcome you and serve you. At the house we tasted the traditional baeckeoffe (or something like that) and after we headed to the Voges mountains to see Mont Sainte Odile.
Ok, Mont Sainte Odile was my favorite place we went these first two weeks. It was incredible, built on a peak of one of the Voges. There is a fascinating history/legend about the history of this place and of Sainte Odile herself. So fascinating, that I decided to give my presentation on (Mont) Sainte Odile.
She was born blind (and a female to boot). Her father wanted to abandon her but her mother gave her to a servant, who gave her to some sisters in a convent. When she was 12, a bishop came by and baptized her and she regained her sight. And a lot of interesting stuff that followed.

So that is all that I can really write now, but I will leave you with my favorite french phrase ever. It is up to you to figure out what it is :)
"un coupe de footballeur allemange"

Au revoir
Natalie

cheesy songs, cheesy cheese

A French song for everyone!
Or at least some people. Rachel seems to have a song for everyone! And really doesn't mind singing them, especially after an incredible (and I mean INCREDIBLE) meal of raclette and a couple glasses of wine and some anise liquor. But more on this meal later...FIRST I simply MUST link here some of those songs. This first one was for me, its cheesy, its from the 60s, its Nathalie!
This next one is dedicated to my dad. Its crazy, its late 80s, and its just really weird. Here comes Andy!
The last one comes from the land of 1990s french rap, and is a personal favorite of mine. Going out to Mia, its Je Danse le Mia!

I don't think any description can do justice to Raclette. Its melted cheese on potatoes, tomatoes, other veggies, assorted meats, accompanied by white wine. Last night our meal went from 8-10:30. It was very French, and very Alsatian.
I learned quite a bit of history last night over dinner; the conversation seemed to flow quite freely (maybe it was the magical raclette. Or the wine. Who knows?). The Alsatian people have a very interesting history, as Alsace has changed hands between France and Germany a gazillion times. The people here really identify with Alsace, differentiating themselves even from the Lorraine area, just next door. Apparently in Alsace there are a lot of Turkish immigrants, but not really anywhere else in France, just like in the Moselle of Lorraine (where Rachel is from) there are apparently a ton of Italian immigrants. It is a big mining area and after WWII, Italy, especially the southern part, was really poor. The government instated an initiative to get Italians to come work in the mines, or something like that (keep in mind this was all in french). I found it fascinating.

This morning I woke up to loud hammering noises. And I could not for the life of me figure out where they were coming from! I finally found out from my host mother that our retired neighbors (with whom we share a wall...its kind of like a duplex) were doing some construction work.
I wish I could show you how these houses are constructed. My house has a built in stair master (in the form of just a lot and lot of stairs), with narrow hallways and cupboards and/or fridges that you can only open when other doors are closed.

Something I like about traveling abroad:
Simple adolescent graffiti becomes hilarious. Walking by the castle where we have class (yes, we have class in a castle), someone had changed the letter "T" into a "P", changing a chateau into a chapeau. A castle into a hat. I found it hilarious.
ALSO!
We always walk by this store on our way to class, where we see a poster of George Clooney seductively holding a tiny espresso. Apparently, its a "thing" here in France. George Clooney and Nespresso. What else?

So far my family, my sister, and my Michele are getting post cards :)

Scotties and Americans...?

Today I opened my computer to my homepage (MSNBC) and the largest piece of news, stuck right in front of my face where there was no way I could miss it, was the fact that "Sadie the Scottie becomes America's new Top Dog"
Thanks MSNBC, I am glad that I won't perpetuate the American stereotype of being ignorant about world affairs!

Ah, American stereotypes. That is probably what I like least about France, and what I have been struggling with the most. I think a lot of it is just cultural differences (for example, the French love to debate, and argue about things. Nobody is offended, and nothing is personal: it is an art of the highest form. I however, hate confrontation of any sort, and find it very difficult to separate the insulting of a persons beliefs from the insulting of the person). And so much of what they know about the US is blown out of proportion by the media.
However, the other day when we visited the European Union Parliament, my scarf fell as we were leaving a room. The incoming group picked it up and the tour guide brought it out. I ran over to get it, and as she gave it to me, I heard her mutter under her breath "Oh you Americans". I was a little shocked, as we were all speaking french at the time. Really? I didn't know about the stereotype of Americans being the only nationality to accidentally drop scarves. The word that really comes to mind is disappointing. It was disappointing to hear.

However, my experience here so far (all 6 days of it) has been pretty positive (save the falling down the stairs). In class, we are reading Tristan et Iseult which is the Middle Ages equivalent of a soap opera. I am really quite enjoying it. The tea is fabulous, and bien sur the food (although I have discovered I am not a fan of white blood pudding. Which is not pudding, or blood. It is white sausage).
Last night Rachel (student, not host mother) and I went to see Percy Jackson: Le Voleur de Foudre. It was funny, perhaps even more so in French than in English. The best part, however, was that we could understand almost everything. Completement en francais.

Et Maintenant, des photos:
This is Haut-Barr. Tres cool, non?


In front of the EU:


The Double Helix staircase in the EU:
(which apparently is based off a similar design by da vinci in the chambourd castle!)


The view from my room:



Also, today I bought some post-cards. Who wants?
Much love from Saverne
Natalie

les bleus et la fesse

The only guaranteed way to make sure you learn french vocabulary words like "les bleus" or "la fesse" (bruises and buttock, respectively), is to accidentally fall down an entire flight of french stairs in front your wide-eyed, frightened 10 year old host sister.
ah, bien sur.
This embarrassing moment brought to you by socks on wooden stairs! Makers of quality embarrassing moments since the first visit of Americans to France!


Later that day, after a wonderful visit to the town of Metz (in Lorraine, with a cathedral with the highest interior of any in France and some stained glass done by Chagall), and meeting the cutest 6 year old french girl ever,my host sister Adele, we stopped at a 'resto' (restaurant) for some LEGIT tarte flambee.
oh, mon dieu.
it was heaven in the form of a thin pizza topped with cheese, onions, and tiny pieces of ham. At said resto I spilled my apperatif of blanc cassis, which is white wine with cassis (which is, I believe, a black current liqueur). I caught my glass at the last moment, luckily not spilling too much, which was good because it was delicious! My host parents remarked on how I have such luck! (not dying from tumbling down the stairs, catching my glass before it hit the ground). To this I simply replied that no, what I have is practice.

I am feeling much more comfortable here, and I think the jet lag is finally wearing off. Today I went to a Catholic Mass in the city center, and later my host family is taking me to Haut-Barr. Then tomorrow, back to the grind for our second official class.

Oh, also, for all of you who were dying to know (although you did not comment with your guesses...):
the answer is D. Grease! This fact led to my host mother saying "oh sandy!" in her John Travolta voice multiple times during our 1.5 hour car ride from Saverne to Metz. Ah, la vie :)
Au revoir
Natalie, la maladroite

vingt quatre heures.

Vignt Quatre Heures, for those of you who dont know, is the French name for the television show we know simply as :24:
Just as I was about to hit the sack (dont know what the french equiavlent of that colloquialism would be), I heard Rachel, my host mother, calling my name. I grabbed my empty mug of tisanne (herbal tea, keeping me warm in a 20 degree house), and headed downstairs to put it away. On my way past the living room, I saw another man sitting and chatting with my host parents. I wondered...could this be the man they were tellig me about? I stopped by the room and opened the door.
Indeed, I was introduced to none other than their neighbor ( my neighbor for the next two weeks), Jacques Bauer ( the French equvilent of Jack Bauer...but not really). This Jacques Bauer runs every Sunday with Daniel (my host father), and has a son, Julien, who is a 21 year-old classical musician (piano, violin,organ, etc) and who is also studying to be a male nurse. Apparently, as Rachel tells it, he is also very cute.
Yes, tonight, I met Jaques Bauer and talked with him and Rachel about the Buffalo extinction in America, and I tried to assure them that the buffalo have not gone completely extinct. You can bet that I am going to milk this story for all its worth. Also, I feel like I am jokingly being set up with his son, but hey, I could do a whole lot worse.

Also, I found out that Rachel has a special place in her heart for (guess which movie)
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Sister Act 2
3. Anything Morgan Freedman
4. Grease

Answers to come next blog update!

le jet lag, it is, how you say...ok. it sucks.

bonjour.
I am writing to you from Saverne, France! Yes, we finally made it. My jouney began with an 8 am flight from Portland to Spokane, where I waited until about 1 until my fellow travelers began to show up. All except our professor, that is, and it was here where we learned that madame Brown had caught a bad illness and wont be with us the first few days. However, our TA, Katrina, boldy stepped in! From there, we flew to Seattle, waited again, and then flew into London. From the Heathrow airport we flew (yet again) to Paris, and took le TVG (really fast train) to Strasbourg, and piled into a 14 person bus to Saverne.
However, our autocar (bus) ended up breaking down halfway to Saverne. which turned out to be fine. The exauhstion was, by this point, so overwhelming that i found it difficult to be angered or anything of the sort. i was almost even too exhausted to be tired... even if my accidentally sleeping in until 3 PM would state otherwise...
So we sat there in the bus, hoping it was a regular cigarette our driver was smoking, watching a woman watch us from her 2nd story window, watching the snow, taking pictures, and soaking up what is the typical travelling abroad experience. that is, broken down vehicles and being late to destnations, but also taking seemingly negative events and using them for positive experiences.
My Host Family!
they seem quite nice. I think I am going to have to struggle to parler toujours le francais as my host mother is an english teacher! her name is Rachel, and she is kind, albeit a little intimidating. I am still not quite sure what my host fathers name is ( and at this moment not sure it they have an apostrophe key on this keyboard...) but he is sweet and helped me igure out the telephone. i know they have 2 daughters, though one - the six year old, i believe, is at her grandmothers house for the week.
anyway, i am not quite sure what to do. It is so overwhelming! tomorrow we will have class, so that will give me some structure, that is if i can manage to wake up on time.
i will write again soon, hopefully.
au revoir1

Four Days!

Bonjour, tout le monde!

We leave for France in FOUR DAYS. I am excited for it, but I still don't believe it has fully sunk in that I am leaving almost everything familiar for three months...

Here is a brief schedule of where we are going to be and when:

Tuesday, Feb 9: Group flies to FRANCE
Wednesday, Feb 10: Group arrives in Paris, takes train to Sauverne for homestays
Thursday, Feb 24: Group moves to CIARUS - STRASBOURG
Monday, Mar 8: Group moves to PARIS
Thursday, Mar 25: Group takes the train to Caen in Normandy.
Thursday, Apr 1: Group takes the train back to Paris
Saturday, Apr 3 – Saturday, April 10 – Spring Break in Ireland!
Sunday, Apr 11: Arrive back in PARIS Class starts the next day
Mon, Apr 26: Group takes the train to Nice
Tue, May 4: Group flies home from Nice


et voila!
Now on to packing...