Beware, Beware- the Ides of... February.

This one’ll be short, sweet, and practical!  When people talk about February, they inevitably talk about Valentine’s Day and maybe the comes-around-every-four-years Leap Day, but few people recognize that it’s the ‘normal’ February that’s the doozy.  Why?  Because… 30 days has September, April, June, and November… yada yada except February, which has TWENTY EIGHT (or in leap years, 29).  What’s the big deal about 28?  There are 7 days in a week.  And as I learned with those endless times tables, 4 x 7 = 28, meaning that February is exactly four weeks long.  So far, not rocket science.  You trick is that this combination means that March has the EXACT same setup of days/dates.  Following me yet?   

Check out the following calendar for February 2010:

And a calendar of the first 28 days of March 2010:

Look familiar?  

Moral of the story- if you’re booking plane tickets in January for a March trip and know that you want to fly on Friday the 4^th, make sure that you book your tickets for March 4^th and not February 4^th because there’s a Friday the 4^th in both months.  Trust me, it’s easy to make the mistake :) 

The Ice Queen takes on Spain

I was recently reminded on a trip to the east coast that some people actually do read this blog and enjoy hearing what I’ve been up to.  So… I apologize for the long hiatus in blog writing, and hope to entertain you with some stories about my travels and adventures over the past several months!  

Let’s see… I think I’m going to start with Madrid.  

This year, two of my good friends- one from my hometown and one I met in Madison- were both in Madrid, the former as a study abroad student and the latter as a teaching assistant in the Spanish equivalent of my French job.  I’d talked with them both on and off throughout the year about getting together and realized while looking at trip options for my winter break (in February- NOT to be confused with my Christmas break in December… gotta love the French system) that options in flying to Morocco are cheaper and more plentiful from Madrid than from Marseille.  (If you’re thinking, “wait… what?!  You went to Morocco?!,” don’t fear- I’ll post about that one soon!)  Win-win in my book… I’d get a chance to see the boys AND save money!  So, after minimal planning and a couple of booking mishaps, I was set!

I made it to the bus stop in Carpentras and the train station in Avignon without any problems (this is notable, especially after what had happened on my winter break) and hopped my plane in Marseille.  Nathaniel (my friend from home) agreed to meet me at the airport in Madrid.  Mid-flight on my way there, I started feeling slightly anxious.  I realized in my excitement to get to Madrid, I had assumed that everything would work out as planned and had neither a way to contact Nathaniel nor any idea where he lived if he wasn’t there to meet me at the airport.  Eep!  Fortunately, he was right there waiting for me- reliable as always :)  I hung tight to my single bag on the metro, remembering my one and only trip to Madrid two years before, where one of my travel buddies had her wallet stolen!  

My favorite street performer in Plaza Mayor

We stopped in at his place to drop stuff off and then headed downtown to meet up with Jordan (my Madison friend) and his friend, Jackie, who was visiting.  The name of the place we hit up for dinner (but let’s be honest… drinks)  escapes me, but the gist of it was that for every little appetizer you order, you get a 1 euro beer.  Delicious and cheap!  It’s still crazy to me that the two of them met in a town of something like 6 million people and figured out that I knew them both!  Anyway, they get along like an old married couple ;) and the combination of the two of them with the two of us girls was just what the doctor ordered.  

Nathaniel posing with the Madrid symbol

While Jordan worked and Nathaniel ‘studied’ the next day, they sent Jackie and me off to explore the city.  They doubted our abilities, since neither of us speak Spanish, but they needn’t have worried!  We probably had more fun without them than we would have had with them anyway ;)  I was particularly proud of my success in asking a saleswoman in Ingles where I could buy a razor!  Granted, all I was ‘no hablas espagnol’ and ‘rasoir (the French word) por favor?’ along with a fairly obvious shaving my legs pantomime, but still… Chalk it up as a win.  Nathaniel came to escort us to Jordan’s schwanky restaurant recommendation for lunch, which was good because he needed to practice his Spanish ;) (Jackie and I were fluent by this point, clearly, after spending all morning on our own.)  He gave us the tourist tour of Madrid and was nice enough to organize a protest since he thought that we needed to witness one.  

Let’s see… other fun and notable parts of the trip in no particular order… 

-An open-air market with delicious fresh fruit, where Nathaniel showed off his newfound wine connoisseur knowledge and introduced me to some study abroad friends. 

-Going to class- and seeing some of the same friends- when I joined him in class on Friday morning.  I think I enjoyed the lecture more than he did, since it was simple enough for me to understand and follow along (meaning that it was waaaaay below his level, of course).  I was actually called on to read out loud but he piped up to tell his prof that I didn’t speak Spanish.  Ah well, it would have been a good charade! 

Gotta throw in some ridiculous pics

-Walking all over the city, hanging out at parks, touring the Prado, and reminiscing about high school days (when we played French horn in the band together and he and the other section members used to call me the Ice Queen of the Underworld) as well as catching up about more recent events (excursions in France, spring semester vs full year study abroad students, etc). 

-Making dinner plans for the two of us along with study abroad friends, a roommate, and a Madison friend, Scott, who was studying abroad in France and came to join in the fun. 

Side note here: Dinner could very well have ended in disaster, as Nathaniel’s a very good cook and I’m very much not, and he left me in charge to do everything while he hopped on the metro to pick up Scott at the airport.  When he returned, the potato soup looked very much not like potato soup and I hadn’t finished half of the stuff I was supposed to finish… but I hadn’t ruined anything yet and he was able to salvage my feeble attempt :)

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and I had to leave Madrid behind en route to Morocco, so after a few fun days, I bid adieu to Spain, packed up my bag, and returned to the airport!  Gracias for a lovely visit, boys :)

Oh So Pretty

Follow-up to my last post about forward European men…

I recently taught a group of eighteen secondes (who would be sophomores in the US system) one of my favorite lessons, where we go over all of the vocab for how to describe the location of things in a picture (at the top, in the middle, on the right, in the foreground, above, below, etc) and then they break up into groups and describe their picture to another team, who then does their best to draw the picture without having seen it.  It’s always spirited and students resort to French to say the equivalent of things like, “Are you stupid or what?  I said a small dog!” or “That doesn’t look anything what I’m describing.  You’re a terrible artist.”  Taken out of context, the phrases that come out seem crazy… but I assure you that in the heat of the moment, it seems like a big freakin’ deal that the other team drew the giraffe facing the right instead of the left.  I intervene as quickly as possible to remind them that we’re describing things “In English! In English!” so that it doesn’t get too out of control.  One side note: I wish I had more lessons/activities like this, as it seems like they’re more likely remember vocab if they are able to use the words in some sort of activity.  A similarly successful lesson has been to introduce common phrases used when you’re talking on the telephone and then having students write their own conversations to act out.  I’ve had groups present everything from practical conversations where they make a reservation at a restaurant and ask questions about “the chef’s special” to ridiculous conversations between spies planning the details for Sarkozy’s assassination…

But anyway, where was I?  Oh yes.  Secondes.  After all of this fun and excitement, the bell rang and students filed out of class.  As usual, I was met with a flurry of “Goodbye miss!” and “Have a good day, miss!” exclamations as they ran out the door.  The last student was taking his time putting all of his school supplies back in his backpack and when everyone else had left, he looked up at me and said, “You’re so pretty.”  I smiled and said thanks and he walked out, clearly pleased that he’d been able to get his point across.  With some of my BTS classes, I might worry a little bit more about this crossing the line, but in this instance it was just so innocent and cute.  He clearly didn’t expect any response on my end, but merely wanted to tell me what was on his mind.  Needless to say, I felt like Maria from West Side Story for the rest of the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7BQRGXFLJs

Je peux t'appeler?

I was walking home from school a couple of days ago and there was a car in a driveway on the same side of the street.  Nothing new… he was about to turn right and there was a gap in traffic, so I waited for a minute for him to turn.  50m further down the road I saw the same car on the opposite side of the road, pulled off in a little parking area.  He was trying to catch my eye and I figured that he was offering to give me a lift so I gave the universal “no-thank-you-head-shake” and kept walking ahead.  I thought that was that, but then he pulled out into traffic and pulled off the road AGAIN, this time on the same side of the road where I was walking so I had to go right by the car.  This time no choice but to confront him.  Before he could start to propose n’importe quoi, I stammered out a “Je suis presque arrivée, merci!” (I’m almost there, thanks!).  The rest of the conversation went down like this:

Man: “T’es italienne?”  (You’re Italian?) Shoot.  There goes my confidence in my French :p

Me : « Non, en fait, je suis americaine » (Nope, I’m American)

Man : « Je peux t’appeler ? » (Can I call you sometime ?)

Hesitation on my part… what do I say?!

Man: “ You are with a boy?” [sic]

Me: “Oui! Bon après-midi!” (Yes! Have a good afternoon !)

Little white lie never hurt anybody, right?  After that, I walked briskly away and walked past my driveway, waiting to turn until he had driven away and was around the corner where he Now judging from his accent, French wasn’t his first language either… but he clearly lives/works here, given his confidence with the language and the fact that he was driving a car.  I just keep trying to put myself in my place and figure out what kind of backwards thinking would make you think that kind of behavior is semi-normal.  It’s not the same since I’m a girl, but I think that if any of my guy friends are driving on a country highway in the states and see someone walking on the side of the street, they’re highly unlikely to pull over and ask if she want a ride.  And even less likely to pull over three times, especially after the “no thanks” head shake.  And to then ask if it’s ok to call sometime?!

Yeah, no chance I’m ever gonna understand this kind of behavior.  Can’t say I wasn’t warned that European men would be forward!  

Mont Ventoux... quand il porte pas son chapeau!

Le Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux is the name of the mountain located near where I live, and is known for its participation in the Tour de France during the summer.  It’s right at the very end of the Alps- you can see where they go from there!  Unfortunately, they close the very top during the ‘winter’ (for you Wisconsinites, winter here is nothing like what we’re used to… zero snow, zero ice, lack of cold… at the base of the mountain anyway) due to snow and ice at the top of the mountain.  Usually it re-opens in mmid-April, and I’m hoping to make it to the top before I leave France!  My French petit ami, Michel, (who is 70 and already married and hence not actually my boyfriend) decided to take me up just as far as we could go, and even tried to illegally open up the gate so that we could continue to the top since it looked like the road was clear, but wasn’t successful.  Isn’t it gorgeous?!  One really cute saying is that when there are clouds and you can’t see the top of the mountain, the locals say that Mont Ventoux is “wearing its hat” (il porte son chapeau) :)  

Me at the 'top'- first snowball in France :)

Michel trying to jimmy the gate for me

ABCs... Association France-Etats Unis, Berlingots, and Chez Serge!

You know how in middle school the popular kid got to invite all of his/her friends to the coolest birthday party ever?  You know how awesome of a feeling that is?  Me neither ;) haha Ok but seriously, let me give you a little bit of background here.  My host family is part of the France-Etats Unis Association, which normally does events with students at the IAU (Institutes for American Universities) in Avignon.  However, the Avignon center has had low enrollment in the past several years and just recently closed permanently.  No American students at the IAU meant that the association had to recruit Americans from elsewhere… and since I was handy, they turned to me and let me invite other American friends (and Spanish friends who live in Carpentras!)  :)  Hannah and Brooke and Becca all came up from Marseille and Caitlin and Laura took the bus from Orange, and Maria met us at the bus stop. 

We started off the day with a trip to Confiserie du Mont Ventoux, where one of the nicest candymakers ever showed us how they make the traditional candy of Carpentras, the berlingot.  The candy is made of mostly sugar, which is heated up to something ridiculous like 400 degrees Celsius in a big stir-fry pan.  When it’s hot enough, it’s poured onto a metal table, where the color and flavor is added.  The traditional flavor is mint, but many other fruity flavors exist too.   The material at this point was how I imagine plasma might be… the man poured the liquid onto the table, where it became solid enough to fold and pick up, but it was still so hot that once it had been set back down on the table, it flowed like a liquid.  Crazy!  Once it had been worked enough to be sufficiently cooled, he took a small ball and went over to a hook, where he rapidly pulled the candy using a hook.  It’s difficult to describe, but it was almost like really flexible twizzlers.  Treating the material like rope and working it quickly like this turned it white!  He then took the small ball of white material back to the table and snaked it over the rest of the sugary solution, making the stripes which identify the berlingot.  One all of the stripes had been added, the whole ball went into a machine, which pulled the candy and cut it, finalizing the process! 

1. Pouring out the liquid

2. Working the... liquid?

3. Working it til white

4. Adding the stripes

5. One BIG berlingot

6. Feed it in the machine...

Mmm- tasty!  This one's mint :)

After our candy-making (and eating!) experience, we headed to Chez Serge, where we ate a delicious lunch.  All of this was to celebrate the signing of the first treaty between the United States and France, way back on February 6 of 1776.  Merci d’être venus!

The crew in front of Chez Serge!

Raindrops on Bridges and White Roman Ruins...

Santons and Guinness and Bright Afternoons… these are a few my favorite things! 

Not necessarily in that order :)

Arles is a city in southern France not too far from where I live (I mentioned in a post this fall that the soccer team in this area is Arles-Avignon) and is famous for several things: its Roman architecture, its traditional ‘style,’ and as I found out from a Wikipedia search, it’s also where Van Gogh painted some of his most famous paintings, including two of my favorites: the Yellow Room and the Night Café. 

Some of the Roman structures remaining include an ampitheater and the Alyscamps:

Roman ampitheater

Alyscamps

Joelle and Steve and I took Caitlin and Laura to explore, and it just so happened that there was also a big santons exhibit in the Cloitre.  Here are some of my favorite displays! 

Tarascon castle

We headed from there to Beaucaire and Tarascon.  Beaucaire had an enormous statue of a bull and a sweet marina to greet us- we took turns picking out which boat we’d like to own in the future.  From atop the hill in Beaucaire, we were able to see the Tarascon castle- pretty neah, huh?  We also found a Drac in the town square, but my camera wasn’t the one we took a picture with, so I’ll add that when I can steal it from someone else.  Both Tarascon and Beaucaire have their own mythical beasts, which remind me a little bit of the hodag in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. 

Tarascon Tarasque

Beaucaire Drac

Rhinelander Hodag

That takes care of the white Roman ruins, santons, and bright afternoon part… Raindrops on bridges and Guinness took place in Toulouse the following weekend.

French and Occitan

Dino :)

After a somewhat bittersweet goodbye to the IAU (Institute of American Universities- a school in Avignon where American students studied French) as it closed, I headed off to meet Caitlin, Laura, and Gavin in Toulouse.  Toulouse is in southwestern France, and like Provence, speaks a language in addition to French called Occitan.  The city’s called La Ville Rose (The Pink City) but unfortunately, due to the weather conditions, it was more like the Gray City for us.  However, I still really enjoyed our time there!  I’m including several of our pictures below :)  Caitlin and I checked out a Natural History Museum, which was really sweet and even had DINOSAURS!!  Love it.  We also hit up an art museum and took advantage of the opportunity to take some fun pics ;)  One of our other highlights was our night out at an Irish Bar, where highlights included but were not limited to Guinness pints, Heineken pictures, and glowstick glasses!  Caitlin and I went exploring early on the morning that we left and also found a cool little park over by the University, which is the second-largest in France. 

Au revoir from Toulouse!

More to come as I catch up on the fun! xoxo