Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Suprise Secret Shhhh-Shhhhh
I'm planning the biggest suprise of my entire life!! It's gonna be nuts when this hits the fan!
More details soon to come!!!
More details soon to come!!!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Champagne, oysters, the Atlantic, sand dunes, and Rotary:
Salut tout le monde !! How is everyone ? Better yet, how is everyone in the absence of one of my 7-8 page long updates?!! I imagine you are doing well :)The time is nearing for me to step foot on native soil; soon I will be returning to see all of your beautiful faces and rest assured that I will be hugging all of your necks. And I can't wait! To say that I will be sad to leave France to come back home is a statement that possibly others in my place could and would say, but honestly, I am very happy to come back home…not for the cuisine, not for the cheese, not for the wine, not for the lack of beautiful parks, not for the lack of bountiful fresh produce, not for the lack of a train system, not for the lack of vine yarded rolling hills, not for the desserts…but for the twang in our language; for the live shows and concerts I miss; for the long car rides with the windows down and me just 'uh croonin'; for the second-hand stores, ha for Old Navy (oh how I've missed it!); for the oven I will have again, for dishes like meatloaf, roast, sausage with red beans and rice, peach cobbler; for mama's sweet tea; for the apartment I can't wait to decorate and settle myself in complete with an oven…did I mention that already!? I absolutely cannot wait to cook again! I have so many recipes and dishes that I am just so prepared to make people try! I can't wait to make guinea pigs out of you all :)
I am happy to return back to the "routine" life that I think that I used to take for granted, well, at least just a little bit. I appreciate a lot more of what I don't have here in France, and I simply joyous to have it in my life again. An encouraging and loving family (friends included!), unlimited and immeasurable support, and hugs (oh how I miss being hugged!) are just some of the bits and pieces of my life that have not strayed away from my thoughts while I have lived in France. I am truly and blessed young woman.
To clue you in on a «high» note in my life: I FINALLY received my VISA! So, after 7 months of administrative hell, I can finally say that I possess my title and I will not be an "hor-la-loi" for the rest of my stay in France :)
Two days after his birthday and as a 25th birthday present, my good good buddy from youth, Thomas, crossed the big blue to come and see me in mid-March. It was his first real vacation, his first plane ride, his first time in a foreign country, and his many more firsts. We had a blast parading around Lyon!! I can only hope that I proved to be a good ambassador of Lyon, my home away from home. Also, with him not knowing any French, I acted as the translator and his go-between for his every want and need :) Whether it was a certain word, an ATM, or a croissant, I helped him get his point across and I helped him experience daily French life! I think I also wore him out, walking miles and miles each day!
The same day that Thomas left, another good friend, Ashlee, came over from Heidelberg, Germany. She is the other scholarship recipient from my sponsor district in Arkansas. I hadn't seen her since we met up in Conway a "long" time ago! Oh man, it was great to have a girlfriend around! She stayed a week as well, and in that week's time we did a lot of walking and exploring, but also a lot of recuperation. As we both understand each other and our lives here in Europe, we spent a lot of time recounting our experiences, good and bad. I do believe that she and I are lucky to know each other because we get each other, and for the most part we like the same things! For example, hummus and sushi! We had a few evenings where we refused to eat anything German or French, and we opted for Middle Eastern and Japanese :)
Anyone up for a sushi party chez moi when I get back!? Lol, what good times! I wrote this for another update I was supposed to send out almost three weeks ago! Sunday : March 30, 2008 Salut tout le monde ! I am currently in an outbound train going from Paris to Lyon, returning from yet another marvelous voyage, which I am very lucky to have experienced! I just stayed on weekend in the Champagne region of France in a small city called Épernay. The ABFR (The Association which looks after all the past and current Rotary scholars in France) invited us to enjoy a weekend in the heart of where champagne is made, the "real" champagne, and in fact, where the only "champagne" in the world is made. (In other places they call the bubbly "sparkling wine", or they should!) We stayed with a Rotarian family for two nights, enjoyed two delicious picnic lunches, and two of the most riche and unforgettable dinners that will stay with me for years to come. During the second soirée this past Saturday night we all got together to tell of our experiences, to meet new people, to exchange our sponsor club Rotary flags, and to eat one HECK of a meal! Whoa momma! The entrée, two plats, a cheese dish, a dessert, and coffee at that! That makes for 5 different dishes, bien with café, and to top it all off, all-you-can-drink champagne! And let me tell you, you haven't had "sparkling wine" 'til you have sat in the home of a Champenois, connected to a wine factory! These houses and factories are everywhere you look in the Champagne region, and almost all of the work contributes to the production of champagne, be it bottle-making, cork-making, label-making, etc. And then, everywhere you look you see champagne vineyards, partout partout!
I stayed with a couple named Demissy. Jacques et Marie-Jo Demissy were absolutely adorable, patient, generous, and hospitable, and very hip and cool at that! What's more is that Jacques bears a striking resemblance to Harrison Ford! I had a room all to myself, well a suite really fit for the princess I was this past weekend. Neigh, Queen. My room had an annexed shower room, and the place itself was bigger than my apartment in Lyon! I was staying there with another scholarship recipient called Fumiko, a young Japanese who studies in Paris. One morning, before rushing about to meet our day, Jacques took Fumiko and I to a small village nearby Épernay, a village called Hautvilliers, the village of Don Pérignon, who "created" sparkling wine, a claim that is false, but made him famous nonetheless. He is buried there in the abbey. As we drove up and down the beautiful decorated hills upon hills of vineyards, Jacques explained to us how he grew up in these hills, how he first kissed Marie-Jo among these hills, how he knows all the back roads and all the ways and means to get away and be free of everything. Ahhh, those vineyards steeped in hundreds of years of new and old soil, buried, brought back to life, pushed aside for another season. It's just amazing to me that one field of one certain soil can bring to life one champagne. "Isn't it amazing!" The last thing that Jacques told us in the car ride that day: "When you come to Champagne, you don't just see the label or the name, you see that it is a way of life for everyone; you can't get around it."On Saturday before our amazing dinner soirée we all went to the Reims, a city to the northeast, which is well-known for being where all the French kings were crowned, except for three if I remember what the tour guide told us.
Basically, you can say that "France", the united land of France, started there at the Reims Cathedral where Clovis was baptized in 496. It's actually a love story! Lol! Clovis had a wife named Clothilde, and she wanted him to convert to Christianity. He wanted to keep on keepin' on as a pagan. Well, it happened one day when he was in serious trouble during battle against a Germanic groupe of barbarians called the Alamans that he decided that should he win, he would be baptized in the name of "Clothilde's God". And then miraculously, the Alamans retreated and he kept his promise to his lady friend. Alas, Francia was born. The Cathedral is also very well-known because it was where Charles VII was crowned in the presence of Joan of Arc. So, we were lucky and we got to see where all the magic took place! I also was very very happy to see another magical site in the Cathedral: Marc Chagall's rendition of a pre-existing triptych of stained glass windows. It was BEAUTIFUL and genius! He was hired to create something to replace windows that had been destroyed in the war. Chagall managed to exactly recreate three other stained glass windows…in his own modern whimsical patterning of course. I remember (I think we all do actually!) how cold it was in that Cathedral, and I was the last person out of there because I stood in front of those three windows comparing, studying, admiring them for a good long while! K, back to now.
So after Champagne, I came home to Lyon to be a busy busy body for two weeks straight, with basically a lot of Rotary stuff. First, I had a mountain of dirty laundry, and I nearly threw out the 'ole back to take it all to the laundr-o-mat! Next, I gave a few speeches for Rotary, I was invited to dine with Rotarians and with friends of Rotarians, and I was going to art exhibitions and demonstrations left and right.
And then, I was working with the Lyon Rotaract club in the action "Donner Mon Sang". I worked in the beautiful Chamber of Commerce building on the Presqu'île with other Rotaractors for an afternoon. I gave my blood, and I passed out flyers and explained to donors the procedure. It was an action on which several Lyon Rotary clubs collaborated. Then that same evening, feeling light-headed and puny, I went to a city called Écully to be awarded a prize for a short story I wrote for Rotary. Me and the other Rotary scholarship recipients of Lyon were asked to write short story, and we rejoined together to get our prizes with some other students, high-schoolers, who do Student Exchange in the Rotary Foundation. They wrote stories and were awarded as well. We had a sort of buffet that night, where each country brought a dessert from their respective country. Mmm, my favorite were the little chocolate, coconut cake balls from Sweden. (Magdalena, my favorite Swedish aunt, I will be taught how to make them! That's a wish and a command!) The next day I returned to Écully with my Rotaract friends to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lyon Rotaract Club. And it was a themed party! We dressed up in garb from the 60-70's, we drank a lot of champagne (for me it was the second week in a row!), and we danced the night away! Fun Fun! We also welcomed new members to the club, crowning them and kissing their cheeks :) I also went to a series of sketches performed by my Rotary club. They put a few comedic sketches to raise money for Alzheimers and Parkinsons. It was very very hilarious and well-recieved :)
This past week I was on vacation, a "real" vacation in a touristy part of France! I went to Arcachon with my host counselor, Marie-José and her husband Jacques.
We took a car and drove towards the Atlantic Ocean, passing through some of the France I've never seen, the mountains of the Massif Central, the huge mountain range in the middle of France. I'm used to seeing the ragged snow-covered Alps…these mountains are much rounder and vegetal. Very friendly :) We got to a little city called Gujan, where Marie-José's summer home is. She originally inherited a home from her grandmother, but Jacques thought it inadequate, too small, so they opted to build their own home on her grandmother's property. So now, Marie-José just looks out on her grandmother's old home, know inhabited by neighbors! Kind of a bitter-sweet story it seems. Gujan is located on the banks of the "Bassin d'Arcachon", which is a brackish pond connected to the Atlantic Ocean. This salty basin contributes its baby oysters to other European countries where they hybrid their oysters into tasting different from the oysters in the Bassin, for they are salty, and often either with a mushroom or fruity-citrus taste. I went to their Oyster Museum, and it claims that the Bassin d'Arcachon is the capital of oyster productions. It produces 3,600 tons of per year-55% of the world's production in that little Bassin! So needless to say, I ate a lot of oysters and saw a lot of water and got a lot of Vitamin D. The Bassin is also known as a bird-watching site. They have a spread-out museum in the marshes of the Bassin that allow you to watch and identify several different species in their natural environments. Also, right below the Bassin are the Dunes of Pyla, the tallest natural sand dunes in Europe. I climbed them! Well, I crawled up them! That sand was so hard to maneuver with at the slope of the dunes! It was tons of fun, and when you get to the top of the Dunes, you look out to your left and it's nothing but a sea of pine trees, the Landes Forrest. You look out to your right and you see the Bassin d'Arcachon, a sandy bank called Arguin (which is home to many more birds and wildlife!), and the Atlantic Ocean. Now, I technically saw the Atlantic Ocean back in August at Le Croisic in Bretagne, but it was through an inlet and it was raining. So, I count this as my first time to really see the Altantic; it counts because for the first time I was seeing it in its ultimate vastness and nothingness…and it was everything to me :) Gah it was amazing to look out and see water for trillions of miles! Another thing I did while in the Bassin was go to Cap Ferret, a strip of land that actually creates the Bassin. On one side you have the Bassin, on the other you have the ATLANTIC! Marie-José and I took a boat through the Bassin to Cap Ferret where we had a blast seeing the Bird Island and the pillared oyster huts in the Bassin, and then when we got far enough out we could see all of the Dunes of Pyla. AMAZING! Just to think that I had climbed those things just a few days before was stunning. They are enormous and spread out across the coast like a regular beach, except just oddly elevated in the form of dunes. So anyway, we got to Cap Ferret, walked around the whole joint…saw the lighthouse, saw some Landais architecture, saw where all the rich people in the area live, and then I saw the ocean again! We finally found a road that led us to the ocean after I spotted sand dunes! We climbed up the dunes and then on the other side we found Heaven. Marie-José took my purse and my camera and told me to go and have fun, so I ran around the sand, picking up smooth pebbles and seashells and collecting sand. I stepped foot in the water, I didn't swim in it, seeing as it was FREEZING! It was a ton of fun, and I am still feeling the burn of it…got a little Vitamin D :)
Also, we saw some military bunkers (that have since been graffitied) that were used in the World War :)I think that could conclude my description of that amazing trip!From Gujan-Mestras/Arcachon I took a transferring train out to Carcassonne on the way home back to Lyon. The reason? The Medieval city of Carcassonne had always been a dream of mine ever since I started studying medieval literature. I got to the city and tried to figure out where I could take my luggage so that I could walk around for the afternoon hassle-free…turns out that because of bomb threats, the train station doesn't have lockers anymore. So, I waited on the bus, got on and just decided to rough it. Luckily I had carried only my big duffle bag and my best friends North Face backpack, so I only had what I could carry on my back. I wasn't about to miss out on seeing my medieval city! Oh and let me just make a note to all of you who will go and see Carcassonne. The city transportation sucks (about one bus on its route every hour!), and the Medieval city is pretty far away from the train, oh and the Office of Tourisme is closed from 12-2:00 (which is the time I needed it!). Nevertheless, I got to where I needed to go after asking around to many Carcassonnais. The people are really nice there, and they will freely talk to you. Ha, I have a little side-story. On the way out of Carcassonne to go to Lyon, I sat next to a girl about my age who was heading back to Montpellier where she works, but she was born in Carcassonne. She was extremely nice and we sat there and talked for two hours about the history of the city and the people that live there. She continued to tell me how loose peoples' tongues are and how they are apt to talk "vite", loose-lipped and without holding back :) It's true too!
They are very very friendly to foreigners. I talked to several people all intrigued by my accent and the fact that an American was speaking to them in French! (I find this everywhere I go actually. People are often under the impression that when Americans come to France they are going to speak English, which sadly is often the case.) Also, their French pronunciation is a lot different; it seemed very rushed and tongue-y to me, a very swallowed French. Occitan is spoken in the Languedoc Roussillon region as well. It is its own language and very characteristic of the other romance languages. I listened to a few people speak Occitan on a train, and to me it sounded like a mixture of French, Spanish, and Italian with an Italian flair of intonating sentences. What's more is that they pronounce the ends of their words like in Spanish and Italian, not like in French when you don't hear half of the word, ha let alone are you able to spell the word after hearing it!! So anyway, back to the medieval city. I got there to realize that the place is HUGE! It is an entirely walled city that overlooks the modern city of Carcassonne and on the inside of its walls is a whole city making money off of tourists. All I heard everywhere I turned where English, Italians, and Aussies! I was only able be there for about an hour and a half, but in that time I walked the entire thing:) I had a blast! Luckily, it started to rain just as I got back to the bus stop, with only a minute to spare. I was afraid that I was going to miss my train, so I shared a taxi with two Québécois who had just toured the city, and that was great because I happen to love everything about Québec! Especially it's language :) On the train ride home I was able to see the Mediterranean Sea!!!
It was my first time to see it, but sadly the only time I will be able to on this trip! Next time I go to see it, I hope I'm on a boat touring the length of it-The Odyssey style:) So that's about it, I got home sun-burned and buff from a long week of fun in the sun :)
As for my scholastic life, this week I am on my official vacation, ha, my second week of vacation as I took off last week to go with Marie-José et Jacques to Arcachon. For the rest of my vacation, I am going to be working my butt off, trying to continue working on and finish (if at all possible!) my memoir. I had to change my paper topic because with the last topic, I could not find a translated text in modern French. It was only in Medieval French, so now I am writing a memoir about a reoccurring character who popped up in several stories from the Middles Ages. His name was Aubéron, and he is also seen in Shakespeare's masterpiece "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as Oberon, king of the faeries. I hope that it will all go well and that I will learn a whole lot :)I also hope to take a trip to a well-known and well-preserved medieval city called Perrouges situated just to the northeast of Lyon. I gotta figure out how to get there. Supposedly there's a bus…no train.My good friend Anne is coming in Mid-May, and I'm pretty stoked about that! I think that she is too :)
That just about concludes my little update.
I leave you with some funny little things:
1) "How on earth did you see the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean!? It's in Spain!"
2) "You had better stop playing with that oyster Jessica, it's gonna come back to haunt you!"-a response to me playing with my raw oyster…the test to see if it is fresh: if you poke at its sides and it bounces back, you know that it is still alive and kickin' and thus ready to consume.
3) "Je suis libérée", I am liberated! I got laughed at for this one by Jacques. I said it after I climbed the Dunes of Pyla, after I was on top of the world.
As you know, you can equally see all of these photos and many many more all organized for you in my Picasa web albums. The first 8 albums are either new or have had photos added to them: http://picasaweb.google.com/BulletproofSpirit
Ya'll be good and I hope to hear from you soon.
Much Love,
Jess
I am happy to return back to the "routine" life that I think that I used to take for granted, well, at least just a little bit. I appreciate a lot more of what I don't have here in France, and I simply joyous to have it in my life again. An encouraging and loving family (friends included!), unlimited and immeasurable support, and hugs (oh how I miss being hugged!) are just some of the bits and pieces of my life that have not strayed away from my thoughts while I have lived in France. I am truly and blessed young woman.
To clue you in on a «high» note in my life: I FINALLY received my VISA! So, after 7 months of administrative hell, I can finally say that I possess my title and I will not be an "hor-la-loi" for the rest of my stay in France :)
Two days after his birthday and as a 25th birthday present, my good good buddy from youth, Thomas, crossed the big blue to come and see me in mid-March. It was his first real vacation, his first plane ride, his first time in a foreign country, and his many more firsts. We had a blast parading around Lyon!! I can only hope that I proved to be a good ambassador of Lyon, my home away from home. Also, with him not knowing any French, I acted as the translator and his go-between for his every want and need :) Whether it was a certain word, an ATM, or a croissant, I helped him get his point across and I helped him experience daily French life! I think I also wore him out, walking miles and miles each day!
The same day that Thomas left, another good friend, Ashlee, came over from Heidelberg, Germany. She is the other scholarship recipient from my sponsor district in Arkansas. I hadn't seen her since we met up in Conway a "long" time ago! Oh man, it was great to have a girlfriend around! She stayed a week as well, and in that week's time we did a lot of walking and exploring, but also a lot of recuperation. As we both understand each other and our lives here in Europe, we spent a lot of time recounting our experiences, good and bad. I do believe that she and I are lucky to know each other because we get each other, and for the most part we like the same things! For example, hummus and sushi! We had a few evenings where we refused to eat anything German or French, and we opted for Middle Eastern and Japanese :)
Anyone up for a sushi party chez moi when I get back!? Lol, what good times! I wrote this for another update I was supposed to send out almost three weeks ago! Sunday : March 30, 2008 Salut tout le monde ! I am currently in an outbound train going from Paris to Lyon, returning from yet another marvelous voyage, which I am very lucky to have experienced! I just stayed on weekend in the Champagne region of France in a small city called Épernay. The ABFR (The Association which looks after all the past and current Rotary scholars in France) invited us to enjoy a weekend in the heart of where champagne is made, the "real" champagne, and in fact, where the only "champagne" in the world is made. (In other places they call the bubbly "sparkling wine", or they should!) We stayed with a Rotarian family for two nights, enjoyed two delicious picnic lunches, and two of the most riche and unforgettable dinners that will stay with me for years to come. During the second soirée this past Saturday night we all got together to tell of our experiences, to meet new people, to exchange our sponsor club Rotary flags, and to eat one HECK of a meal! Whoa momma! The entrée, two plats, a cheese dish, a dessert, and coffee at that! That makes for 5 different dishes, bien with café, and to top it all off, all-you-can-drink champagne! And let me tell you, you haven't had "sparkling wine" 'til you have sat in the home of a Champenois, connected to a wine factory! These houses and factories are everywhere you look in the Champagne region, and almost all of the work contributes to the production of champagne, be it bottle-making, cork-making, label-making, etc. And then, everywhere you look you see champagne vineyards, partout partout!
I stayed with a couple named Demissy. Jacques et Marie-Jo Demissy were absolutely adorable, patient, generous, and hospitable, and very hip and cool at that! What's more is that Jacques bears a striking resemblance to Harrison Ford! I had a room all to myself, well a suite really fit for the princess I was this past weekend. Neigh, Queen. My room had an annexed shower room, and the place itself was bigger than my apartment in Lyon! I was staying there with another scholarship recipient called Fumiko, a young Japanese who studies in Paris. One morning, before rushing about to meet our day, Jacques took Fumiko and I to a small village nearby Épernay, a village called Hautvilliers, the village of Don Pérignon, who "created" sparkling wine, a claim that is false, but made him famous nonetheless. He is buried there in the abbey. As we drove up and down the beautiful decorated hills upon hills of vineyards, Jacques explained to us how he grew up in these hills, how he first kissed Marie-Jo among these hills, how he knows all the back roads and all the ways and means to get away and be free of everything. Ahhh, those vineyards steeped in hundreds of years of new and old soil, buried, brought back to life, pushed aside for another season. It's just amazing to me that one field of one certain soil can bring to life one champagne. "Isn't it amazing!" The last thing that Jacques told us in the car ride that day: "When you come to Champagne, you don't just see the label or the name, you see that it is a way of life for everyone; you can't get around it."On Saturday before our amazing dinner soirée we all went to the Reims, a city to the northeast, which is well-known for being where all the French kings were crowned, except for three if I remember what the tour guide told us.
Basically, you can say that "France", the united land of France, started there at the Reims Cathedral where Clovis was baptized in 496. It's actually a love story! Lol! Clovis had a wife named Clothilde, and she wanted him to convert to Christianity. He wanted to keep on keepin' on as a pagan. Well, it happened one day when he was in serious trouble during battle against a Germanic groupe of barbarians called the Alamans that he decided that should he win, he would be baptized in the name of "Clothilde's God". And then miraculously, the Alamans retreated and he kept his promise to his lady friend. Alas, Francia was born. The Cathedral is also very well-known because it was where Charles VII was crowned in the presence of Joan of Arc. So, we were lucky and we got to see where all the magic took place! I also was very very happy to see another magical site in the Cathedral: Marc Chagall's rendition of a pre-existing triptych of stained glass windows. It was BEAUTIFUL and genius! He was hired to create something to replace windows that had been destroyed in the war. Chagall managed to exactly recreate three other stained glass windows…in his own modern whimsical patterning of course. I remember (I think we all do actually!) how cold it was in that Cathedral, and I was the last person out of there because I stood in front of those three windows comparing, studying, admiring them for a good long while! K, back to now.
So after Champagne, I came home to Lyon to be a busy busy body for two weeks straight, with basically a lot of Rotary stuff. First, I had a mountain of dirty laundry, and I nearly threw out the 'ole back to take it all to the laundr-o-mat! Next, I gave a few speeches for Rotary, I was invited to dine with Rotarians and with friends of Rotarians, and I was going to art exhibitions and demonstrations left and right.
And then, I was working with the Lyon Rotaract club in the action "Donner Mon Sang". I worked in the beautiful Chamber of Commerce building on the Presqu'île with other Rotaractors for an afternoon. I gave my blood, and I passed out flyers and explained to donors the procedure. It was an action on which several Lyon Rotary clubs collaborated. Then that same evening, feeling light-headed and puny, I went to a city called Écully to be awarded a prize for a short story I wrote for Rotary. Me and the other Rotary scholarship recipients of Lyon were asked to write short story, and we rejoined together to get our prizes with some other students, high-schoolers, who do Student Exchange in the Rotary Foundation. They wrote stories and were awarded as well. We had a sort of buffet that night, where each country brought a dessert from their respective country. Mmm, my favorite were the little chocolate, coconut cake balls from Sweden. (Magdalena, my favorite Swedish aunt, I will be taught how to make them! That's a wish and a command!) The next day I returned to Écully with my Rotaract friends to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Lyon Rotaract Club. And it was a themed party! We dressed up in garb from the 60-70's, we drank a lot of champagne (for me it was the second week in a row!), and we danced the night away! Fun Fun! We also welcomed new members to the club, crowning them and kissing their cheeks :) I also went to a series of sketches performed by my Rotary club. They put a few comedic sketches to raise money for Alzheimers and Parkinsons. It was very very hilarious and well-recieved :)
This past week I was on vacation, a "real" vacation in a touristy part of France! I went to Arcachon with my host counselor, Marie-José and her husband Jacques.
We took a car and drove towards the Atlantic Ocean, passing through some of the France I've never seen, the mountains of the Massif Central, the huge mountain range in the middle of France. I'm used to seeing the ragged snow-covered Alps…these mountains are much rounder and vegetal. Very friendly :) We got to a little city called Gujan, where Marie-José's summer home is. She originally inherited a home from her grandmother, but Jacques thought it inadequate, too small, so they opted to build their own home on her grandmother's property. So now, Marie-José just looks out on her grandmother's old home, know inhabited by neighbors! Kind of a bitter-sweet story it seems. Gujan is located on the banks of the "Bassin d'Arcachon", which is a brackish pond connected to the Atlantic Ocean. This salty basin contributes its baby oysters to other European countries where they hybrid their oysters into tasting different from the oysters in the Bassin, for they are salty, and often either with a mushroom or fruity-citrus taste. I went to their Oyster Museum, and it claims that the Bassin d'Arcachon is the capital of oyster productions. It produces 3,600 tons of per year-55% of the world's production in that little Bassin! So needless to say, I ate a lot of oysters and saw a lot of water and got a lot of Vitamin D. The Bassin is also known as a bird-watching site. They have a spread-out museum in the marshes of the Bassin that allow you to watch and identify several different species in their natural environments. Also, right below the Bassin are the Dunes of Pyla, the tallest natural sand dunes in Europe. I climbed them! Well, I crawled up them! That sand was so hard to maneuver with at the slope of the dunes! It was tons of fun, and when you get to the top of the Dunes, you look out to your left and it's nothing but a sea of pine trees, the Landes Forrest. You look out to your right and you see the Bassin d'Arcachon, a sandy bank called Arguin (which is home to many more birds and wildlife!), and the Atlantic Ocean. Now, I technically saw the Atlantic Ocean back in August at Le Croisic in Bretagne, but it was through an inlet and it was raining. So, I count this as my first time to really see the Altantic; it counts because for the first time I was seeing it in its ultimate vastness and nothingness…and it was everything to me :) Gah it was amazing to look out and see water for trillions of miles! Another thing I did while in the Bassin was go to Cap Ferret, a strip of land that actually creates the Bassin. On one side you have the Bassin, on the other you have the ATLANTIC! Marie-José and I took a boat through the Bassin to Cap Ferret where we had a blast seeing the Bird Island and the pillared oyster huts in the Bassin, and then when we got far enough out we could see all of the Dunes of Pyla. AMAZING! Just to think that I had climbed those things just a few days before was stunning. They are enormous and spread out across the coast like a regular beach, except just oddly elevated in the form of dunes. So anyway, we got to Cap Ferret, walked around the whole joint…saw the lighthouse, saw some Landais architecture, saw where all the rich people in the area live, and then I saw the ocean again! We finally found a road that led us to the ocean after I spotted sand dunes! We climbed up the dunes and then on the other side we found Heaven. Marie-José took my purse and my camera and told me to go and have fun, so I ran around the sand, picking up smooth pebbles and seashells and collecting sand. I stepped foot in the water, I didn't swim in it, seeing as it was FREEZING! It was a ton of fun, and I am still feeling the burn of it…got a little Vitamin D :)
Also, we saw some military bunkers (that have since been graffitied) that were used in the World War :)I think that could conclude my description of that amazing trip!From Gujan-Mestras/Arcachon I took a transferring train out to Carcassonne on the way home back to Lyon. The reason? The Medieval city of Carcassonne had always been a dream of mine ever since I started studying medieval literature. I got to the city and tried to figure out where I could take my luggage so that I could walk around for the afternoon hassle-free…turns out that because of bomb threats, the train station doesn't have lockers anymore. So, I waited on the bus, got on and just decided to rough it. Luckily I had carried only my big duffle bag and my best friends North Face backpack, so I only had what I could carry on my back. I wasn't about to miss out on seeing my medieval city! Oh and let me just make a note to all of you who will go and see Carcassonne. The city transportation sucks (about one bus on its route every hour!), and the Medieval city is pretty far away from the train, oh and the Office of Tourisme is closed from 12-2:00 (which is the time I needed it!). Nevertheless, I got to where I needed to go after asking around to many Carcassonnais. The people are really nice there, and they will freely talk to you. Ha, I have a little side-story. On the way out of Carcassonne to go to Lyon, I sat next to a girl about my age who was heading back to Montpellier where she works, but she was born in Carcassonne. She was extremely nice and we sat there and talked for two hours about the history of the city and the people that live there. She continued to tell me how loose peoples' tongues are and how they are apt to talk "vite", loose-lipped and without holding back :) It's true too!
They are very very friendly to foreigners. I talked to several people all intrigued by my accent and the fact that an American was speaking to them in French! (I find this everywhere I go actually. People are often under the impression that when Americans come to France they are going to speak English, which sadly is often the case.) Also, their French pronunciation is a lot different; it seemed very rushed and tongue-y to me, a very swallowed French. Occitan is spoken in the Languedoc Roussillon region as well. It is its own language and very characteristic of the other romance languages. I listened to a few people speak Occitan on a train, and to me it sounded like a mixture of French, Spanish, and Italian with an Italian flair of intonating sentences. What's more is that they pronounce the ends of their words like in Spanish and Italian, not like in French when you don't hear half of the word, ha let alone are you able to spell the word after hearing it!! So anyway, back to the medieval city. I got there to realize that the place is HUGE! It is an entirely walled city that overlooks the modern city of Carcassonne and on the inside of its walls is a whole city making money off of tourists. All I heard everywhere I turned where English, Italians, and Aussies! I was only able be there for about an hour and a half, but in that time I walked the entire thing:) I had a blast! Luckily, it started to rain just as I got back to the bus stop, with only a minute to spare. I was afraid that I was going to miss my train, so I shared a taxi with two Québécois who had just toured the city, and that was great because I happen to love everything about Québec! Especially it's language :) On the train ride home I was able to see the Mediterranean Sea!!!
It was my first time to see it, but sadly the only time I will be able to on this trip! Next time I go to see it, I hope I'm on a boat touring the length of it-The Odyssey style:) So that's about it, I got home sun-burned and buff from a long week of fun in the sun :)
As for my scholastic life, this week I am on my official vacation, ha, my second week of vacation as I took off last week to go with Marie-José et Jacques to Arcachon. For the rest of my vacation, I am going to be working my butt off, trying to continue working on and finish (if at all possible!) my memoir. I had to change my paper topic because with the last topic, I could not find a translated text in modern French. It was only in Medieval French, so now I am writing a memoir about a reoccurring character who popped up in several stories from the Middles Ages. His name was Aubéron, and he is also seen in Shakespeare's masterpiece "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as Oberon, king of the faeries. I hope that it will all go well and that I will learn a whole lot :)I also hope to take a trip to a well-known and well-preserved medieval city called Perrouges situated just to the northeast of Lyon. I gotta figure out how to get there. Supposedly there's a bus…no train.My good friend Anne is coming in Mid-May, and I'm pretty stoked about that! I think that she is too :)
That just about concludes my little update.
I leave you with some funny little things:
1) "How on earth did you see the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean!? It's in Spain!"
2) "You had better stop playing with that oyster Jessica, it's gonna come back to haunt you!"-a response to me playing with my raw oyster…the test to see if it is fresh: if you poke at its sides and it bounces back, you know that it is still alive and kickin' and thus ready to consume.
3) "Je suis libérée", I am liberated! I got laughed at for this one by Jacques. I said it after I climbed the Dunes of Pyla, after I was on top of the world.
As you know, you can equally see all of these photos and many many more all organized for you in my Picasa web albums. The first 8 albums are either new or have had photos added to them: http://picasaweb.google.com/BulletproofSpirit
Ya'll be good and I hope to hear from you soon.
Much Love,
Jess
Friday, April 4, 2008
Les Dunes de Pyla
Oh yeah, suck it! Guess what I'm climbing in a week and a half!!!?The tallest dunes in Europe :)
My Rotary Host Counselor, Marie-José, has a summer home in Arcachon, France (near Bordeaux) and she's taking me there during Spring break :) OH YEAH! I can't wait to get out in nature, to see the Atlantic and to actually interact with it for the first time ever!!!!
My Rotary Host Counselor, Marie-José, has a summer home in Arcachon, France (near Bordeaux) and she's taking me there during Spring break :) OH YEAH! I can't wait to get out in nature, to see the Atlantic and to actually interact with it for the first time ever!!!!
YAY! I'm way stoked! 
When you get to the top you look one way and it's nothing but the Atlantic, and then you turn around and it's nothing but a sea of pine trees.
When you get to the top you look one way and it's nothing but the Atlantic, and then you turn around and it's nothing but a sea of pine trees.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Spring Fling, Flirting with Rebirth
Salut tout le monde!
I’ve been inspired to write another update. Sometimes with these things it takes a little motivation! (So thank you friend, you know who you are!) I think it’s the fact that sometimes when I am looking back on the past few weeks (sometimes a little over a month!), recounting what has gone on makes me realize what little time I have left here and what little time I have left to see all of my loved ones. Right now, to tell you the truth, I’m leaning towards the latter ;)
I’ve been inspired to write another update. Sometimes with these things it takes a little motivation! (So thank you friend, you know who you are!) I think it’s the fact that sometimes when I am looking back on the past few weeks (sometimes a little over a month!), recounting what has gone on makes me realize what little time I have left here and what little time I have left to see all of my loved ones. Right now, to tell you the truth, I’m leaning towards the latter ;)
To start, I was perdy sure a few days ago and even last week that Spring was coming quickly and was gonna stay. ALERT, today showed itself to be chilly and nasty in Lyon. So no. Not yet. Still flirting.
So, to clue ya’ll in on my little Frenchie life... I FINALLY had my medical visit to finish the last step to get my VISA. About a month ago, I went to my first French doctor’s clinic, and I was surprised at how fast everything went. I just chalk it up to the early bird catching the worm though. If you are early in France, the Frenchies don’t know what hits them!
Ha, I have a friend named Flore, and I had explained to her that before coming to France I had a teacher tell me that there is such a thing as “French Time”. She verified that, yes, in fact there is, and most people and/or businesses allot 15 minutes for a late arrival.
Anyway, back to the one-and-only experience that was my French VISA Medical Visit.
Let’s Tarantino the story and say that I am unhesitatingly modest.
Now, let’s rewind: I get to the clinic, get on the table, do the breathing deeply thing, the temp thing, the weigh-in thing, and the usual questions/icebreaker questions thing. Then, the nurse leads me into a room where I am to strip. Naked that is-from the waist up. GRRRR. I had to have a chest X-ray to make sure that I wasn’t carrying any nodules, Tuberculosis granules, infarcts, syphilis (that I obviously would have gotten in France, ha-ha!), bug nests, biohazardous bronchioles, drugs, etc.
Yeah, I get that, who wants bugs hatching around in France? But seriously, give me a freakin’ gown! In the US whenever I had to get a chest X-ray, they always gave me a gown, and besides I’ve never done the breast x-ray thing, so, it was my first time! So, I am unhesitatingly modest.
Let’s just say that I am glad that is OVER WITH. I turned in my forms to the Préfecture, and they told me that I would have to wait like a month/month + 1/2 to get my actual VISA, which means that “soon”, I will have my official VISA, the one that apparently lets me live in France for an extended amount of time (not including the seven-eight months I have already lived her mind you!). That’s right! I will have my VISA just in time for the two-three months I’ll have left to live in France. Wow. I mean really.
So in a few weeks *cross my fingers and toes and arms and legs and eyelashes *and you cross your etc. too, I’ll finally have my VISA.
I started my classes in early February. I love my medieval classes more this semester than last; they are truly outstanding “formidables” ;) Originally I had hoped to take a German or Italian class, but sadly the classes that the University offers are in their fourth semester, for both languages. And seeing as how my language abilities in both of those languages put together couldn’t get me into fourth semester, I am not taking any of those classes. What I am doing is learning some basic Japanese. Another Rotary scholar named Miyuki who lives in Lyon invited me and one of her friends named Flore (the same girl above) to a Japanese language clinic. We went and discuted cultural topics and I learned some basic Japanese. And every week Miyuki, Flore, and I have lunch together and we cook Japanese food. The last time we made sushi :)
No, but Japanese is actually coming pretty quickly for me. I think it’s because of my linguistic courses at UCA, how they showed me the structures of different languages. It surprisingly doesn’t seem all that foreign to me. But the beautiful writing…I’m afraid that’s a lost cause only reserved for tattoos and elaborate silk-screens.
What I am planning on doing more of is reading more Spanish (to help me keep brushed up) and Italian, as well as continuing to study their grammar and verb conjugations. I am hoping to go to Italy and/or Spain after I leave Lyon, so it’s more practical for me to study Italian/Spanish than German, linguistically as well. They say that in many of the programs in the states that I may want to get into, you might have to know two languages apart from your maternal language, so Italian and Spanish seems like a more natural fit, seeing as how they are Romance.
In my medieval classes I am to write at least 25 pages memoir/research paper on a topic of choice. Right now it’s shaping up to be either: 1) Religious Truth and Romanesque Fiction in “L’Histoire du Graal” by Robert de Boron (which is about Arthur and his troupe searching out the Grail) or 2) “La Chanson de Roland”: Fiction in History, Truth from History? (“Song of Roland” that is, which I am more familiar with from past studies.)
So those are the two topics I have chosen, and right now I am doing a lot of research and just enjoying each class discussion. On Wednesday, the prof is gonna advice us on our topics. I haven’t felt so excited about going to class since some of my French classes at UCA, and that is giving me motivation :)
Last month my good buddy Chen-Chi Yu AKA Paul had his 23rd birthday, and we had a wonderful time! We had our usual Chinese hot dishes, but this time I went over before the party and helped out, so now I know how to cook authentic Chinese food! We had a great time, he had invited French speakers only over, and so the night brought many new friends. We ate a “Charlotte” cake and I learned how to play Tarot cards as a card game. It was a lot of fun!
Ha, I have a friend named Flore, and I had explained to her that before coming to France I had a teacher tell me that there is such a thing as “French Time”. She verified that, yes, in fact there is, and most people and/or businesses allot 15 minutes for a late arrival.
Anyway, back to the one-and-only experience that was my French VISA Medical Visit.
Let’s Tarantino the story and say that I am unhesitatingly modest.
Now, let’s rewind: I get to the clinic, get on the table, do the breathing deeply thing, the temp thing, the weigh-in thing, and the usual questions/icebreaker questions thing. Then, the nurse leads me into a room where I am to strip. Naked that is-from the waist up. GRRRR. I had to have a chest X-ray to make sure that I wasn’t carrying any nodules, Tuberculosis granules, infarcts, syphilis (that I obviously would have gotten in France, ha-ha!), bug nests, biohazardous bronchioles, drugs, etc.
Yeah, I get that, who wants bugs hatching around in France? But seriously, give me a freakin’ gown! In the US whenever I had to get a chest X-ray, they always gave me a gown, and besides I’ve never done the breast x-ray thing, so, it was my first time! So, I am unhesitatingly modest.
Let’s just say that I am glad that is OVER WITH. I turned in my forms to the Préfecture, and they told me that I would have to wait like a month/month + 1/2 to get my actual VISA, which means that “soon”, I will have my official VISA, the one that apparently lets me live in France for an extended amount of time (not including the seven-eight months I have already lived her mind you!). That’s right! I will have my VISA just in time for the two-three months I’ll have left to live in France. Wow. I mean really.
So in a few weeks *cross my fingers and toes and arms and legs and eyelashes *and you cross your etc. too, I’ll finally have my VISA.
I started my classes in early February. I love my medieval classes more this semester than last; they are truly outstanding “formidables” ;) Originally I had hoped to take a German or Italian class, but sadly the classes that the University offers are in their fourth semester, for both languages. And seeing as how my language abilities in both of those languages put together couldn’t get me into fourth semester, I am not taking any of those classes. What I am doing is learning some basic Japanese. Another Rotary scholar named Miyuki who lives in Lyon invited me and one of her friends named Flore (the same girl above) to a Japanese language clinic. We went and discuted cultural topics and I learned some basic Japanese. And every week Miyuki, Flore, and I have lunch together and we cook Japanese food. The last time we made sushi :)
No, but Japanese is actually coming pretty quickly for me. I think it’s because of my linguistic courses at UCA, how they showed me the structures of different languages. It surprisingly doesn’t seem all that foreign to me. But the beautiful writing…I’m afraid that’s a lost cause only reserved for tattoos and elaborate silk-screens.
What I am planning on doing more of is reading more Spanish (to help me keep brushed up) and Italian, as well as continuing to study their grammar and verb conjugations. I am hoping to go to Italy and/or Spain after I leave Lyon, so it’s more practical for me to study Italian/Spanish than German, linguistically as well. They say that in many of the programs in the states that I may want to get into, you might have to know two languages apart from your maternal language, so Italian and Spanish seems like a more natural fit, seeing as how they are Romance.
In my medieval classes I am to write at least 25 pages memoir/research paper on a topic of choice. Right now it’s shaping up to be either: 1) Religious Truth and Romanesque Fiction in “L’Histoire du Graal” by Robert de Boron (which is about Arthur and his troupe searching out the Grail) or 2) “La Chanson de Roland”: Fiction in History, Truth from History? (“Song of Roland” that is, which I am more familiar with from past studies.)
So those are the two topics I have chosen, and right now I am doing a lot of research and just enjoying each class discussion. On Wednesday, the prof is gonna advice us on our topics. I haven’t felt so excited about going to class since some of my French classes at UCA, and that is giving me motivation :)
Last month my good buddy Chen-Chi Yu AKA Paul had his 23rd birthday, and we had a wonderful time! We had our usual Chinese hot dishes, but this time I went over before the party and helped out, so now I know how to cook authentic Chinese food! We had a great time, he had invited French speakers only over, and so the night brought many new friends. We ate a “Charlotte” cake and I learned how to play Tarot cards as a card game. It was a lot of fun!
Last month my Rotary club invited me to their Rotary Movie Night which helped raise money for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. We watched “La Jeune Fille et le Loup”, which I highly recommend, as it was very well done. Also, I now have a little update on my Rotarienne friend Chantal: her knee was not as bad as the doctors thought, still having the surgery, but recovery looks more hopeful. What they did do was hollow out her knee until all that was left was skin basically. She now has “le genou d’un robot” – a robot’s knee. She showed me all of the radiography, and it’s quite amazing that she is now hobbling around like she is. Ugh, it looked so painful and debilitating. She did have a major Plus through the whole experience…thanks to a surgeon friend of her brother’s, she stayed in a CASTLE for rehabilitation, just east of Geneva (about 1.5 hours away). This is a beautiful French countryside where the Alps tower over the East, where the air is clean, the water pristine. She told me that she had the view that no French artist could replicate…emphasis on the “French” :) I’ve been over to her place, cooked her dinner, let her talk non-stop for hours and hours. She said that for a month she wasn’t able to carry on conversations as she normally would, and that was nearly as bad as the surgery. I can understand that, especially since she talks my ear off ;-)
I had a week-long winter vacation from school a few weeks ago. I kept it on the D-L in and around Lyon mostly, but I did get the chance to go with Michèle (an older Rotarienne), Paul (her husband), and Janine (their friend) to see where Michèle grew up and where her family has lived for many generations. I was COMPLETELY spoiled like a grand-child the ENTIRE day. It was lovely. She showed me the church where she was christened in Crémieu, the same church where her grandparents lived during the war of ’14. Crémieu happens to be a “Cité Médiévale”, a nationally sited medieval city. We ate a four course meal at a quaint little restaurant, and we climbed up to the cliffs to see a spectacular view of the departments Isère et Ain, stretched out along the Rhône river. Along with Crémieu, they took me to several villages…Trept, Évieu, Brangues, Morestel, etc. They took me to their summer home in Trept for a while, where Michèle cut me down branches from her forsythia tree and sprigs from her Rosemary plants. I know have forsythia hanging out of window’s banister and my favorite herb to garnish my dishes :)
Also, during my winter vacation I also went to Annecy, France, a charming little city just south of Geneva. It was raining there, so for most of the day our beautiful view of the Alps and the clear lakes was clouded, but we walked around and saw the beautiful castle and the best shops I’ve yet to see in France. We truly passed a great afternoon. We had a tour guide named Joacim, a Finnish student living in Annecy whom we met at a Swedish party in Lyon. All of his friends are Swedish because he doesn’t actually speak Finnish. He comes from an island with border issues, thus he is a Finn who speaks Swedish. Veird. Anyway, he’s a really sweet guy who showed us a great time. For the rest of my winter vacation I went to the library and tried to figure out just what my classes are all about, and I also started looking for and applying for jobs back home. I just don’t want to get home and have to wait two months to get a decent job. I’m not saying that still might not happen, but I just wanna get a leg up and feel like I’m doing something.
Also, during my winter vacation I also went to Annecy, France, a charming little city just south of Geneva. It was raining there, so for most of the day our beautiful view of the Alps and the clear lakes was clouded, but we walked around and saw the beautiful castle and the best shops I’ve yet to see in France. We truly passed a great afternoon. We had a tour guide named Joacim, a Finnish student living in Annecy whom we met at a Swedish party in Lyon. All of his friends are Swedish because he doesn’t actually speak Finnish. He comes from an island with border issues, thus he is a Finn who speaks Swedish. Veird. Anyway, he’s a really sweet guy who showed us a great time. For the rest of my winter vacation I went to the library and tried to figure out just what my classes are all about, and I also started looking for and applying for jobs back home. I just don’t want to get home and have to wait two months to get a decent job. I’m not saying that still might not happen, but I just wanna get a leg up and feel like I’m doing something.
This past week I was writing a short story for my Rotary District. I think that whoever wins gets award at the District meeting in May. It’s an autobiographical story of one of my most embarrassing moments that happened in Québec. Some of you may know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout ;) I didn’t attach my story because not many of you do the French thing, but ask me if you wanna read it :) I’d be happy to send it.
What’s next for me?
1) Well, my dear bestest buddy Thomas Herndon is coming to see me in about oh, 12 DAYS! I am way too exited! I have sat down and plotted out a day by day of what he and I are going to do, that’s how excited I am! Oh, and I partly did that because I know Thomas, and I know that he would appreciate me telling him what the crap we are doing :) I also have a fellow scholar from my sponsor district in Arkansas who is living in Germany and who will be coming over. I think that Ashlee will come and overlap some time with Thomas, so it’ll be three Arkansans in Lyon!! WHOOO-hooo!
2) Another bestest buddy, Anne Milligan, is coming at the end of May as an “I just finished my first year of law school” sort of self-present. I am sure it’ll be Girls Gone Wild when she gets here :) Haha, just kidding mom. No, but really, we are gonna have so much fun, Anne and I, Thomas and I, Ashley and I, Ashley, Thomas, and I. ACK!
3) My Frenchie friend Marion has told me that her parents want me to come to their country home in Provence, smell some lavender and get some fresh air.
4) Flore invited me to go and stay a weekend with her family in the countryside just west of Lyon.
5) Marie-José and Jacques want me to go with them to their summer home in Arcachon near Bordeaux. I’m super excited about going to see the Atlantic, actually putting my feets in it! I still have yet to do that! As you may remember, I saw the Atlantic in August at Le Croisic, but it was way too cold/rainy/windy for me to even put a toe in the water. So this time, I will be surrounded by sun, mimosa trees, and the ocean looking at me right outside the window!
6) Michèle and Paul invited me back out to their summer home. They say it’s not right that I came in winter, and that I must come back to visit when the geraniums are falling out of their baskets, when the rosebushes can poke at me, and when the sun stays in the sky long enough to finish the gardening, so says Michèle:) I imagine I will be able to take some more rosemary ;)
1) Well, my dear bestest buddy Thomas Herndon is coming to see me in about oh, 12 DAYS! I am way too exited! I have sat down and plotted out a day by day of what he and I are going to do, that’s how excited I am! Oh, and I partly did that because I know Thomas, and I know that he would appreciate me telling him what the crap we are doing :) I also have a fellow scholar from my sponsor district in Arkansas who is living in Germany and who will be coming over. I think that Ashlee will come and overlap some time with Thomas, so it’ll be three Arkansans in Lyon!! WHOOO-hooo!
2) Another bestest buddy, Anne Milligan, is coming at the end of May as an “I just finished my first year of law school” sort of self-present. I am sure it’ll be Girls Gone Wild when she gets here :) Haha, just kidding mom. No, but really, we are gonna have so much fun, Anne and I, Thomas and I, Ashley and I, Ashley, Thomas, and I. ACK!
3) My Frenchie friend Marion has told me that her parents want me to come to their country home in Provence, smell some lavender and get some fresh air.
4) Flore invited me to go and stay a weekend with her family in the countryside just west of Lyon.
5) Marie-José and Jacques want me to go with them to their summer home in Arcachon near Bordeaux. I’m super excited about going to see the Atlantic, actually putting my feets in it! I still have yet to do that! As you may remember, I saw the Atlantic in August at Le Croisic, but it was way too cold/rainy/windy for me to even put a toe in the water. So this time, I will be surrounded by sun, mimosa trees, and the ocean looking at me right outside the window!
6) Michèle and Paul invited me back out to their summer home. They say it’s not right that I came in winter, and that I must come back to visit when the geraniums are falling out of their baskets, when the rosebushes can poke at me, and when the sun stays in the sky long enough to finish the gardening, so says Michèle:) I imagine I will be able to take some more rosemary ;)
As far as inner thoughts go…I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly about mortality, about how old I am, how far I’ve come, how sometimes I don’t know what the crap I am doing, and it got me to thinking about the many big events that are coming up this year.
1) This year unofficially marks 4 great friendships that I have had for 10 years. I say unofficially because during my first semester of HS, I don’t know how close we all were! Here’s to you Thomas, Katie, Matt, and Jennifer :) I love you all so much, still and unfailingly :)
2) My dad turns 50 on the Ides of March. So this March 15th, I won’t get to be there and that pains me! Dad, when I get back, we are going to celebrate like it’s 1999, k?!! Oh man, you got it comin’ my old man!
3) I am turning 25 this July. 25 YEARS OLD! (Emphasis on the OLD!)
4) We are all turning 25 this year! Matt, Katie, Thomas, Me, etc. It’s all happening!
4) This year marks my 10 year anniversary of loving the Goo Goo Dolls! It all started with the “Iris” video baby! However, my first concert-and yes it was a Goo Goo Dolls concert-wasn’t until a year later! For those of you who didn’t know (which really most of you do!), I have loved the Goo’s for as long as I can remember, or your for that matter!
5) Ten years ago, during my second semester in HS and second semester in French, I vowed to myself that studying France’s language and culture would be a life-long commitment. And here I am 10 years later - in FRANCE!
1) This year unofficially marks 4 great friendships that I have had for 10 years. I say unofficially because during my first semester of HS, I don’t know how close we all were! Here’s to you Thomas, Katie, Matt, and Jennifer :) I love you all so much, still and unfailingly :)
2) My dad turns 50 on the Ides of March. So this March 15th, I won’t get to be there and that pains me! Dad, when I get back, we are going to celebrate like it’s 1999, k?!! Oh man, you got it comin’ my old man!
3) I am turning 25 this July. 25 YEARS OLD! (Emphasis on the OLD!)
4) We are all turning 25 this year! Matt, Katie, Thomas, Me, etc. It’s all happening!
4) This year marks my 10 year anniversary of loving the Goo Goo Dolls! It all started with the “Iris” video baby! However, my first concert-and yes it was a Goo Goo Dolls concert-wasn’t until a year later! For those of you who didn’t know (which really most of you do!), I have loved the Goo’s for as long as I can remember, or your for that matter!
5) Ten years ago, during my second semester in HS and second semester in French, I vowed to myself that studying France’s language and culture would be a life-long commitment. And here I am 10 years later - in FRANCE!
Isn’t it all just nuts!? Just looking back on things like long car rides through the back roads with the music blaring, HS senior pictures, movie nights on the big, long dark-green couch, that God-awful prom, my first trip to France, and ha the wide-spread panic of the Y2K bug, it just makes life seem so out of reach and its moments so fleeting.
I’m just glad now that I am a picture junkie and that I write more, so that ten years from now I can reminisce with a wide-array of technology right at my fingertips! At this rate, I’ll be able to make slide-show presentations out of every decade. Okay, out of every year :) Ha, the funny thing about it is: each slide-show would probably last a good afternoon ;)
I’m just glad now that I am a picture junkie and that I write more, so that ten years from now I can reminisce with a wide-array of technology right at my fingertips! At this rate, I’ll be able to make slide-show presentations out of every decade. Okay, out of every year :) Ha, the funny thing about it is: each slide-show would probably last a good afternoon ;)
To end, I will leave you with some funny things I have been hearing lately:
1) Flore and I had a conversation about the word "Doody", as in Poo. Apparently there is a word in French (and I'm still not sure of this word!) that is pronounced the same way and it is a term of endearment. Well, I explained what it was in English and she just cracked up, we both did for a while! Tears streaming down :)
2) "Does Mineral water have the same effect as Mineral oil?" Ummmmm. No.
3) My mom knows this lady, she will go unnamed because of her silly silly question! "Wow, she is always getting vacation over there! So, why is she having vacation this time? Is it President's Day?" Ummmmmmm. No. Our 3rd Monday in February is not the same in France ;)
1) Flore and I had a conversation about the word "Doody", as in Poo. Apparently there is a word in French (and I'm still not sure of this word!) that is pronounced the same way and it is a term of endearment. Well, I explained what it was in English and she just cracked up, we both did for a while! Tears streaming down :)
2) "Does Mineral water have the same effect as Mineral oil?" Ummmmm. No.
3) My mom knows this lady, she will go unnamed because of her silly silly question! "Wow, she is always getting vacation over there! So, why is she having vacation this time? Is it President's Day?" Ummmmmmm. No. Our 3rd Monday in February is not the same in France ;)
With the first signs of Spring from France:
with forsythias blooming, cherry blossoms sprouting, and Cinderella birdies chirping,
Jess
with forsythias blooming, cherry blossoms sprouting, and Cinderella birdies chirping,
Jess
PS. To get your photo fix, I have added plenty :) All of the first 5 albums are either new or have had photos added ;)
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Global Warming
I came across this today. I live near the Alps, these glaciers, and it's just disturbing to look at these two pictures!
http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/little-ice-age-two-en.html
http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/glossary/little-ice-age-two-en.html
Friday, January 25, 2008
New Year Update
Hello everyone. I hope ya’ll have had a great a great holiday season. I imagine everyone is going back to school or work, rather dragging back! Me too though, I went back to school for two days last week, took my tests, and now I’m on vacation until February 6th. So if you’ve ever heard that the French like vacation time-you’re dang straight. Me, I’m not used to it, and my current status is happily unmotivated. It’s vacation-right?! Oh gosh, I’m becoming too French! Sounds like a horror movie! : ) Just kidding ; )
No, but seriously, I don’t think one’s citizenship is so easily left behind, not subconsciously at least. I’ve been gone for half of a year now and the other morning without any cyber or any other entertainment aid, I found myself singing simultaneously, belting out: “Does He Love You” by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Dylan, and “Jack and Diane” by Bruce, three artists American unique in their style, in their American style.
No, but seriously, I don’t think one’s citizenship is so easily left behind, not subconsciously at least. I’ve been gone for half of a year now and the other morning without any cyber or any other entertainment aid, I found myself singing simultaneously, belting out: “Does He Love You” by Reba McEntire and Linda Davis, “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Dylan, and “Jack and Diane” by Bruce, three artists American unique in their style, in their American style.
So, anyways, lemme tell you about my holiday season.
I spent Christmas at Marie-José’s house with her husband Jacques, her sons, and her mother’s family in Décines, France, a suburb of Lyon ‘bout 20 minutes out. What a time I had! First we had champagne with nuts and cracker sticks, in a sort of hoity-toity Super bowl party. Then we ate all the seafood that the sea could spit out in one day. Sooo much seafood! …tried raw oysters for the first time, ate whole shrimp, salmon, a julienned celery dish, volaille (which is some sort of fowl), and a “bûche de Noël”, an over-sized delicious Swiss cake roll if you will. Mmmm. Yummy ! We exchanged Christmas gifts, and Marie-José and I had each other choked up ; )
I went to England / Scotland from Dec 28th – Jan 6th. Give thanks for Christmas money, grandparents, and that secret stash : ) Thank you!!
I stayed in a town called South Shields, right on the North Sea and not too far away from Hadrian’s Wall/Scotland. I had metro access, and frequently I used it to go to the greater known city of Newcastle where I visited the Plantagenet himself, Henry II’s Castle Keep. All over Newcastle, I’d walk around for hours, talking to friendly Northern Englanders. People were seriously sooo friggin' friendly there, immediately and warmly with nice surgically or mechanically unaltered smiles. Haha, that’s a little joke out there for all you crazy people who always make fun of their teeth ; )
I stayed in a bed and breakfast and every morning the owner would cook me a traditional English breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and mushrooms.
I stayed in a bed and breakfast and every morning the owner would cook me a traditional English breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and mushrooms.
There is so much to tell about my vacation time really (which is still going on-remember!?).
One day from Newcastle I took a bus to Gateshead, England to an open-air sculpture/masterpiece called the “Angel of the North”. He rests atop a hill looking out over Northeastern England. It is said that 90,000 people see it daily (it is right near a major highway). His wingspan is about that of a jumbo jet and his whole frame itself is constructed of weatherproof steel. Withstanding nature’s elements, he is very much a sight to see, and me, I really enjoyed all of his different angles…reminded me of a “The Decemberists” song called “Of Angels and Angles”. In truth, it was one of my most favorite moments ever-spiritually and intellectually ; )
One day from Newcastle I took a bus to Gateshead, England to an open-air sculpture/masterpiece called the “Angel of the North”. He rests atop a hill looking out over Northeastern England. It is said that 90,000 people see it daily (it is right near a major highway). His wingspan is about that of a jumbo jet and his whole frame itself is constructed of weatherproof steel. Withstanding nature’s elements, he is very much a sight to see, and me, I really enjoyed all of his different angles…reminded me of a “The Decemberists” song called “Of Angels and Angles”. In truth, it was one of my most favorite moments ever-spiritually and intellectually ; )
From there, a few days later I naïvely took an hour and a half bus ride to go to Durham, England. I could’ve taken a train from Newcastle to Durham that would’ve taken 10 minutes and would’ve cost the same (which I did on the way home!). Let’s just say that it’s a good thing that I like a good countryside and that I like to eavesdrop on some friendly Northern Englanders. I took the bus on the first trip.
So I get to Durham to step off of a bus and into a dream. The accessible, historic, and energetic city itself is worth the trip! While there I asked where the entrance to both the cathedral and castle were and the petit bistro owner sat me down with a yummy lemon pastry and cup of tea. In no time, she was telling me everything I could do within a span of a long afternoon. I was very excited to go to Durham after the B & B owner in South Shields consulted me over breakfast one morning, and so when I got there, I went to the cathedral first. At Europe’s greatest example of a Norman cathedral, I wasn’t able to take pictures because of its amazing preservation. The thing started construction in 1093!! But, I can sure describe it for you! St. Cuthbert is buried there, the vaulted ceilings are immaculately untouched, the columns stand tall with v-shaped engravings, and the stained glasses are diverse, spanning a time period of hundreds of years. Only a few Norman medieval windows withstand, located in the Galilee Chapel, dating from around 1170. From the cathedral I went to a small museum dedicated to St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede, a museum that held St. Cuthbert’s original tomb. OH I was so neat! Its engravings had medieval drawings of different events in the lives of Jesus and his disciples, and the curators did an excellent job of piecing it back together, the tomb and the engravings. It was indeed most excellent!
I went to see the castle soon after. I didn’t get to go on the inside because it is enormous and I didn’t have enough time. It was HUGE!! …formed in an almost circle on top of Durham’s hill, it along with the Cathedral are UNESCO world heritage sites. Durham sits on the river Wear and its name justly means “hill on an island”. And furthermore one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson, says, and I quote: “I unhesitatingly gave Durham my vote for best cathedral on planet Earth.”
I SAW IT!!! : ) Oh yah.
I got back into South Shields to prepare for my next journey to the Scottish Highlands, which I believe to be a Heaven on this earth, even with its inclement weather! We slid down crags and glens; we couldn’t see through blizzards; we drench-soaked our boots; we got back on the bus with little snowballs clinging to our gloves. Amazing! I couldn’t have asked for better weather or for better adventure, or a better tour guide! Throughout central Scotland, he told us stories about every glen, every Loch, every significant ruler/historical figure, and so much more in between. I saw the castle where much of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was filmed. Remember the famous coconut bra scene? Haha, the tour guide told us that in the castle at the ticket office they sell coconut bras! I saw all 23 MILES of Loch Ness. Looking out over Loch Ness, I saw Aleister Crowley’s house, the Boleskine House, the haunted house where Jimmy Page lived when he wrote the first draft to “Stairway to Heaven”. I saw Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain. I met Hamish, the celebrity cow, or “coo” as the Scottish say. I ate haggis. Ask me what it is, I’ll be happy to tell you; ) True story-I told my brother about this…He tells me: "Eww Jess, you’re gonna get gout!"
I stayed the night in a hostel in Inverness where I made friends with a girl named Cedar from Vancouver. Inverness is by latitude and longitude the highest place I’ve ever been, I wasn’t really all that impressed by the city itself (probably because it was after dark), but its location is great for touring the Highlands.
I got back into Edinburgh and trained out of Scotland towards Newcastle, sadly without having seen Edinburgh on foot. I’d like to go back. I left too early in my opinion. If you are gonna go to Scotland, just do it for a long period of time and never take it for granted.
Then never go back home ; )
From Newcastle/South Shields on the 5th of January I left for London to spend 1.5 days there, walking around, seeing “Chicago” on stage, riding the London Eye. Didn’t have much time in London either, as with Edinburgh…I’ll have to go back (and I’d rather go back to Edinburgh to tell you the truth! London is so stinkin' expensive!). It sucks that I didn’t get to visit those cities for very long, but honestly, it doesn’t matter because I really enjoyed the North Sea, the Highlands/Lowlands, and all the countryside in between. It does a girl good ; ) I'm a countryside tourist anyhow.
So I get to Durham to step off of a bus and into a dream. The accessible, historic, and energetic city itself is worth the trip! While there I asked where the entrance to both the cathedral and castle were and the petit bistro owner sat me down with a yummy lemon pastry and cup of tea. In no time, she was telling me everything I could do within a span of a long afternoon. I was very excited to go to Durham after the B & B owner in South Shields consulted me over breakfast one morning, and so when I got there, I went to the cathedral first. At Europe’s greatest example of a Norman cathedral, I wasn’t able to take pictures because of its amazing preservation. The thing started construction in 1093!! But, I can sure describe it for you! St. Cuthbert is buried there, the vaulted ceilings are immaculately untouched, the columns stand tall with v-shaped engravings, and the stained glasses are diverse, spanning a time period of hundreds of years. Only a few Norman medieval windows withstand, located in the Galilee Chapel, dating from around 1170. From the cathedral I went to a small museum dedicated to St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede, a museum that held St. Cuthbert’s original tomb. OH I was so neat! Its engravings had medieval drawings of different events in the lives of Jesus and his disciples, and the curators did an excellent job of piecing it back together, the tomb and the engravings. It was indeed most excellent!
I went to see the castle soon after. I didn’t get to go on the inside because it is enormous and I didn’t have enough time. It was HUGE!! …formed in an almost circle on top of Durham’s hill, it along with the Cathedral are UNESCO world heritage sites. Durham sits on the river Wear and its name justly means “hill on an island”. And furthermore one of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson, says, and I quote: “I unhesitatingly gave Durham my vote for best cathedral on planet Earth.”
I SAW IT!!! : ) Oh yah.
I got back into South Shields to prepare for my next journey to the Scottish Highlands, which I believe to be a Heaven on this earth, even with its inclement weather! We slid down crags and glens; we couldn’t see through blizzards; we drench-soaked our boots; we got back on the bus with little snowballs clinging to our gloves. Amazing! I couldn’t have asked for better weather or for better adventure, or a better tour guide! Throughout central Scotland, he told us stories about every glen, every Loch, every significant ruler/historical figure, and so much more in between. I saw the castle where much of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” was filmed. Remember the famous coconut bra scene? Haha, the tour guide told us that in the castle at the ticket office they sell coconut bras! I saw all 23 MILES of Loch Ness. Looking out over Loch Ness, I saw Aleister Crowley’s house, the Boleskine House, the haunted house where Jimmy Page lived when he wrote the first draft to “Stairway to Heaven”. I saw Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Great Britain. I met Hamish, the celebrity cow, or “coo” as the Scottish say. I ate haggis. Ask me what it is, I’ll be happy to tell you; ) True story-I told my brother about this…He tells me: "Eww Jess, you’re gonna get gout!"
I stayed the night in a hostel in Inverness where I made friends with a girl named Cedar from Vancouver. Inverness is by latitude and longitude the highest place I’ve ever been, I wasn’t really all that impressed by the city itself (probably because it was after dark), but its location is great for touring the Highlands.
I got back into Edinburgh and trained out of Scotland towards Newcastle, sadly without having seen Edinburgh on foot. I’d like to go back. I left too early in my opinion. If you are gonna go to Scotland, just do it for a long period of time and never take it for granted.
Then never go back home ; )
From Newcastle/South Shields on the 5th of January I left for London to spend 1.5 days there, walking around, seeing “Chicago” on stage, riding the London Eye. Didn’t have much time in London either, as with Edinburgh…I’ll have to go back (and I’d rather go back to Edinburgh to tell you the truth! London is so stinkin' expensive!). It sucks that I didn’t get to visit those cities for very long, but honestly, it doesn’t matter because I really enjoyed the North Sea, the Highlands/Lowlands, and all the countryside in between. It does a girl good ; ) I'm a countryside tourist anyhow.
After I got back from GB, my friend Nathan came down from Strasbourg and on a whim, without a second thought, we decided to just take off for two nights/three days to Genève, Switzerland. It was the same distance from some of the French cities where we considered going and just as cheap (cuz we are cheap!). The weather there in mid-January was jacket and scarf weather! It was nuts! There we were nestled between the Swiss Alps, next to Lake Geneva and weren’t freezing! We took advantage and had a great time sightseeing throughout Genève and her suburbs and Lac Léman AKA Lake Geneva. Back dropped against the Swiss Alps, the lake’s perfect position and beautiful parks entertained our many strolls and picnics. We came back to Lyon and nearly choked on its air after having spent three days in a fairy-tale land with very little air pollution! I actually got sick a day after we got back! Nathan says it was from the city’s pollution. I concur. That my dears is a somber thought.
I also showed Nathan around some of the higher and cleaner (haha!) parts of Lyon, places even I had never seen. Good times. Good times.
Since I’ve been back I’ve been trying to figure out what the crap I’m gonna be doing when I get back stateside. Who knows? Anyone got any ideas/life plans for Jessica? I haven’t taken my GRE, so I imagine for a year I will be working and getting my stuff together, preparing for my next big move.
I also showed Nathan around some of the higher and cleaner (haha!) parts of Lyon, places even I had never seen. Good times. Good times.
Since I’ve been back I’ve been trying to figure out what the crap I’m gonna be doing when I get back stateside. Who knows? Anyone got any ideas/life plans for Jessica? I haven’t taken my GRE, so I imagine for a year I will be working and getting my stuff together, preparing for my next big move.
Since I’ve been back, I’ve been doing more Rotary stuff. Also, soon I will be comforting/taking care of Chantal, a Rotarienne who took me in as a God-daughter. She has had knee problems for decades, and the doctors say that the only thing left to do is to do surgery on her leg. She will have that done in the next few days, and I am bound and determined to do anything I can for her. It’s just so sad to see her like this because she has so much energy and so many miles left to go. I hope the knee won't arthritis. Us loved ones just have to keep her mentally healthy so that she can get on and walk on it, keeping up that amazing energy of hers.
As for what’s up next, tomorrow I am going to Strasbourg for a few days, and then when I get back I’ll have until the 6th to prepare for my new classes. I hope to sit in on a beginner’s German or Italian class. We’ll see what is offered. I need more challenge in my life ; ) This living in a different country is getting a little routine, and I’m depressing myself watching it go by. I am determined to keep busy and keep on keepin’ on. I hope that before I leave this place, I get to the point where I don’t want to leave, instead of wanting to leave it all behind. I’d rather leave a place already missing it, than wanting to kiss it goodbye ; ) Also, I gotta start studying for the DELF, a test I can take in France before I leave that will give me a piece of paper saying that my French comprehension is legit.
Also, this March my host Rotary district will have its district conference in St. Étienne, a good-sized city just south-west of Lyon. Another event is planned for March in Épernay in the Champagne region. The AABFR, the French Association that organizes events for all of the Rotary scholarship recipients who come to France, has organized for us a free weekend in the champagne vineyards. I am VERY excited about this because I will be able to reunite with my friends I met in Paris when the AABFR put together that weekend in September. It should be a lot of fun : )
Also, this March my host Rotary district will have its district conference in St. Étienne, a good-sized city just south-west of Lyon. Another event is planned for March in Épernay in the Champagne region. The AABFR, the French Association that organizes events for all of the Rotary scholarship recipients who come to France, has organized for us a free weekend in the champagne vineyards. I am VERY excited about this because I will be able to reunite with my friends I met in Paris when the AABFR put together that weekend in September. It should be a lot of fun : )
Well, as always, let me know how things are going, let me know how you’re doing...for I do love knowing and still being a part of your lives.
Do keep in touch, and take care ; )
Do keep in touch, and take care ; )
With planes, trains, metros, buses, and tramways from a girl who is travel-maxed-out,
Jess
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