Hello and Goodbye

We made it back to France without any trouble. Greece was beautiful and my summer was wonderfully lazy but I am ready for it to end. I am going back to Iowa City for one more year of undergrad which I was not planning on but that's ok. I am going to retake the LSAT and aim for a score in the 170's.
On a side note it's an amazing time to be in France, perfect weather.
I may use this blog to post short stories that I have to write for an upcoming class but other than the occasional post this will be my last one.
These past nine months in Europe have been wonderful in so many ways and I am glad that I had the courage to come here. But I have reached the end of this adventure and I look forward to the next :)

Two yachts and a speedboat

I woke up this morning and said to myself I would like to travel the seven seas, drink champagne for breakfast at noon, lounge by the pool till 5, and go dancing every evening wearing diamonds. And I did, for just one day.
My friend Eftihia (I know that's misspelled) invited me to spend the day with her. She picked me up in the morning and we drove down to the square where a speedboat picked us up. We were dropped off by the nameless wordless driver on a yacht. An enormous sleek sexy yacht. I would like to emphasize the sheer magnitude of this boat. Please excuse my ignorance of correct nautical terms and allow me to guide you through this vast boat in laymen terms. We walked onto the first floor and we were greeted by some guy who took our bags and then promptly disappeared. Eftihia took me around front to see the pool. That's right a pool on the yacht. There were some girls lounging by the pool who said hello. We then went into the boat uum cabin whatever. We went inside and through a bunch of glitzy rooms and up a staircase to Eftihia's room, which was enormous. Our bags were there and swimsuits had been laid out for us on the bed. After a tour of the three floors, numerous rooms, and a movie theater we joined the other girls by the pool.
We spent the afternoon alternating between the pool and the sea. People brought us club sandwhiches and freshly squeezed fruit juices. I use the term 'people' vaguely because they showed up instantly when we needed something disappeared into nowhere and wouldn't talk to me. We changed for a late lunch/early dinner and crossed over to a yacht anchored nearby. Just as glamorous. Up until this point I had assumed that the yacht belonged to Efthia's father or uncle or I don't know. Anyway I was introduced to five older gentleman. One was Eftihia's 'boyfriend' another term that can only truly be loosely applied because he was also the boyfriend of about three other girls on the ship.
It was as if I had walked into a James Bond movie. Except that James Bond is always extremely good looking and trying to save the world from imminent disaster so his slutty beahvior is forgiven. This situation was more like the Playboy mansion I guess. Old men and beautiful young women brought together by money. We had a lovely four hour dinner in which I heard interesting stories ate fantastic food and just for a minute imagined myself in that lifestyle. Alas when midnight came my fairytale day was over I left, alone, driven back to shore by the same nameless wordless driver.
I was invited to spend the night of course by Eftihia and her boyfriend, I declined. I may be able to visit this glamorous lifestyle for a day, an evening, a week, but I could never be a participant it's just not me.

One of the greatest things about traveling is exposure to new situations. While this particular one left me staring with my mouth wide open I appreciated the chance to see how others live and though it may never be a lifestyle I can live it helps me to keep an open mind.

*The picture is the view from the family's house at sunset

Dignity

Today I am sitting in the same square at the same cafe pouring coke from a cool glass bottle into a warm glass filled to the brim with ice and topped with a lemon. The ice causes me great distress. You see I am not thirsty at this very moment and the ice is quickly melting leaving no room in the glass for the coke. But then of course the Greek man who served me will no doubt be quite happy to bring me a new glass without ice. I know this because he told me so and his unabashed staring confirms his faltering yet endearing English.
A child's screams reach my ears causing me to instinctively smile, I recognize this cry. It is the cry of one who has scraped his knee and the blood will soak the cobblestoned street today only to be bleached out by the sun tomorrow erasing his existence on the island forgetting he was ever here. His mother rushes towards him taking him in her arms and assuring him that it will be ok everything will be just as wonderful for this child as it was before his scraped knee. And perhaps for this LaCoste clad child it will be. His deepest proximity to sadness being a scraped knee. I mention the clothes because they strike me as absurd. This place strikes me as absurd. It is a place in which one is constantly slapped with the magnitude of nature. If I turn to my left I can stare off into the sea and not see land and am impressed with how insignificant my existence is. If I turn to the right I can listen to the clinking of European riches. I am acutely aware of the wealth of the people because I am acutely aware of the suffering of the poor. A handicapped man wheels through the chairs and table and places some rude toy on the tables accompanied by a card which explains in different languages how sad his life is and how the ability to sell even the meanest of trinkets brings a little dignity to his poverty. Of course I have seen this all over Europe the same prototypical sad man with the same trinket and the same protypical privileged people ignoring him myself included. Here however it makes my heart sink a little more.

Paxos

We are now on the tiny island of Paxos. It has less than 2,000 inhabitants and is too small to be found in the world atals, at least that's what S says I haven't actually checked. The island is like the town in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun. Buildings surrounding the town center are old and half forgotten. The shutters bright green as if they have recently been painted contrast with the weather wearied salmon paint of the exterior. The windows are closed suggesting a deep slumber undisturbed by the children laughing in the square. The sea is a stone's throw away from the cafe where I am sitting. The boats are beginning to line the port, it's a Saturday night and the promise of festivities hangs in the air. I can see a Greek Orthodist priest in traditional garb of long black robes tall black hat and a big bushy beard talking on a cell phone in front of a group of bikini clad Italians on their way back from the beach. Their Italian words mixes with the stream of steady Greek from the women at the table next to me. They are wearing Prada sun glasses with flowing beack dresses over too tanned bodies. It is their children that are screaming in the square. This place is romantic and it makes me feel like I walked into a postcard. If someone were to snap a photo of me right here the eventual viewer would sigh and think "how sweet". Tourists are here of course but they are the more subtle type. The kind who own homes and yachts who have discovered this island in hopes of preventing others from doing the same.
Needless to say the house here is amazing, it's a seaside villa. There are three floors, three bedrooms, three bathrooms and amazing views. Every floor has a large balcony and we have a a pool as well. I feel overwhelmed here. I am a homegrown Iowa girl yet here I am on some Greek island sipping wine with millionaires and villagers, it's almost unsettling.

I went to Albania and all I got was this lousy...

-a pounding migraine
-12 very itchy huge red mosquito bites
-a very widespread heat rash
-diarrhea
-my period
-seasickness
-two stolen bags

We went to Albania for the weekend and it was a disaster. One of the family's old babysitters is Albanian and her sister's daughter was getting christened and D and Ir were the godmothers. We left Saturday morning and came back Sunday evening but it seemed like so much longer. E's parents came with us; we all got to the port of Corfu and were looking for passport control for our specific boat. We found it and there were about 200 people in front of us, they were mostly a tour group and they were loud and smelly. The smell was actually incredible and merits it's own specific sentence, I thought I was going to pass out from it and Ir puked because of it. No I am not kidding.
We made it through passport control, the boat was supposed to leave at 9 but it didn't leave until 10. This boat is called a dolphin it's very fast very small and gross. In front of us sat two prisoners being exported back to Albania. All very exciting. Ir threw up again (the smell combined with the rocking). We got to Albania in a half hour. We then discovered that the grandparents had taken a bag that wasn't ours. They thought it belonged to us so they just brought it along. So we had to go to the the port authorities in Albania and fill out forms which took forever so they could send it back to whomever. The old babysitter, Z, met us along with her brother in law and so we piled into that car and a taxi, not airconditioned. The heat was so oppressive I wanted to cry; D and Ir actually did cry, well cry and scream and fight the whole hour and a half it took to get to our destination. OOO yes that's also when my period came... oh mother nature, you're so funny.
We made it to our destination Gjyrokastra (I know I spelled that wrong) we stayed in the nicest hotel the city had. The electricity was out when we got there so the air conditioner was broken. Not that it really mattered at this point. We were basically fried anyway. After we found our rooms and everything we then discovered that the grandparents had taken ANOTHER bag from Corfu that wasn't ours. Why they didn't say anything at the Albanian port when we were taking care of the other bag is beyond me. Then Ir started to cry again, I guess it's more like she just continued to cry, because she thought her grandma was going to go to jail for stealing two bags.
At this point my body was breaking out in little red spots everywhere. We went somewhere for lunch which turned into a big mistake because almost immediately all of us got diarrhea. So we returned to our boiling hotel rooms. The rest of the weekend passed in a hazy furnace like blur. We left on Sunday and the boat ride back was not on a dolphin but on the oldest boat allowed to sail the seas. It was terrible and it took 2 hours and I was sick the whole time, well the whole boat was sick. It was pretty disgusting.

So yeah, I can't really tell you anything about Albania except that if I ever go back I will be carrying an airconditioner with me

Days go by

My days are as follows:
10am wake up eat breakfast on the balcony with the family. Go to the beach. Eat lunch at a beachside restaurant. Lay on the beach. Come home rest for two hours. Dinner with friends of the family or at home. Sleep.

Yes that's right it's a hard life :) Well now that I am done making it sound like candy and roses the girls are driving me up the wall. I never ever get to be by myself and I am a person who values private time or at least I do now. There is an American family here, they come every summer, they have two girls that are D and Ir's age and they are spoiled rotten. D and Ir have a pretty easy time of things but E and S make a concentrated effort to raise them in a certain way which I find highly commendable given how easy it would be for them to just let the girls get everything they want all the time. Anyway, these American girls are brats. Yep, there is no nicer way to put it, several worse ways of course but you get the picture.
I was playing with all of them on the beach and we had an air mattress and one of the girls said "ok you can be my valet, feed me grapes" I said no ovbiously she said "you have to do what I say" and then I said no I don't and she said "you work for us, yes you do". I got out of the water before I slapped her. I feel sorry for their au pair. Really sorry. Thank god I picked the family that I did.
Also the American dad is a sleezy tool. We saw him in town with some hot girl about my age clearly not his wife clearly doing innappropriate things. Yep, thank you Americans for representing how nice. Call me oldfashioned, midwestern, naive, whatever you like but that's not ok by me.

We are going to Albania on Saturday for a family friend's christening. It should be interesting with plenty of food and merrymaking. I miss my family and I wish you were all here with me :/

Corfu the beginning

Well I made it to Corfu. Our flight left from Baden Baden, Germany at 6am so we left the house in Strasbourg at 4 am which means we woke up at 3am and I went to bed at 1am...so yes I was exhausted. I was delighted to discover that when the wheels of the plane hit the ground Greek people clap! You know Kudos to the pilot. Well we got all of our luggage and found taxis and finally made it to the country house. S has been teaching me all about the different categories of homes on Greece. The "country house" in literally on the side of a mountain with a view of the island of Corfu, Corfu Town, outher mountains, and the Sea which is breathtaking. The house has three bedrooms two bathrooms a big open kitchen and living room two balconies and a wrap around patio all facing the sea. It's beautiful. The yars has lemon trees, actual lemon trees. When I was little My auntie Keeka and Uncle Bruce would play Peter Paul and Mary's song, Lemon Tree and I would wonder what one actually looked like. Well they are everywhere here. For dinner we just pick some off the tree and squirt the juice over the salad.
The beach near the house is like the beach in Nice. It has smooth rocks and the water is clear. I can look down and see my toes. The heat is strong and the water is cool. We went to a beach in the south yesterday which was sandy with big waves.
The Greek people are so different from the French. The French are reserved and oftentimes considered very rude. The Greek people are loud and open and inviting, the contrast is striking. I love it here. The food is very good as well. Lots of oil and garlic, olives from the trees that are everywhere. S and E know so many people that wherever we go we are constantly being invited here and there.
The Greek women are stunning, olive skinned long dark hair and confident. I have never seen women so confident. They way they walk and speak, dress it's awesome.
Out of all the places I have been this is where I could see myself buying a home. A summer "country" home perhaps. I love it here!

On a side note the girls are driving me crazy. I don't have a moments peace they are constantly annoying me. Next summer I will drag Alex back here with me.
I would love to post pictures but I am at a dirty smoky internet cafe where the computers don't allow you to put your own information on it, or something like that.

And again

France and I have a special relationship. The kind in which I love so many things about it, but it chooses to constantly humiliate me. If I had a friend in a relationship with a guy similar to this I would advise her to run in the other direction. It seems that because my time here is short these lovely little moments have increased in frequency.
Next door to our apartment is a typical enormous French house. Three stories with lace blue curtains fluttering in and out of big open windows a lovely garden with hollyhocks and roses. Vines that spiral skyward crawling along the walls, piano music floating on the breeze and a little old French lady who resides as queen over this fairytale place. We talk almost everyday, in English (she overheard me and the girls once and even responds to me in English when I try out my French). Today she clipped off a rose for me, a lovely red rose (my favorite flower, am I predictable or what) and told me to smell it on my way to the grocery store. France in the summer is no picnic for the nose let me tell you, especially in the city.
So I was smelling this lovely flower walking along past other gardens stopping every once in a while to admire. At one particularly lovely scene that I was lingering over I stumbled into a sticky situation. A man, presumably the owner, came out of the house and saw me "suspiciously" eyeing his garden with a big old rose in my hand identical to his. He flipped out started yelling at me, about how selfish it is to destroy his handiwork, was I really stupid enough to think that he slaved over this garden for my singular pleasure and demanded that I give him back his rose. Well at this point I was struggling to understand everything he's saying, but I honestly got the gist pretty quickly. Then I tried to explain in horrible French that I hadn't plucked a rose from his garden and it had been a gift from a friend and of course he couldn't understand me. He just continued on his little tirade with me getting more flustered by the moment. In the end I just walked away with him STILL yelling.

Oh France why do you treat me so?

Karambolage

Karambolage is a television show that highlights the various differences and similarities between both French culture and German culture. It is 12 minutes long and shown every Sunday evening. The girls get very excited to watch it and I've seen it the past two weeks and it is very interesting and it's great because the girls get excited about it as well. The following is a link to the show's website. http://www.arte.tv/fr/connaissance-decouverte/karambolage/104016.html

love/hate

Saturday we leave for the Greek islands!! This of course means I only have a little less than a week left in Strasbourg. With my time here coming to an end I thought I would share some things that I love about France and hate about France.

Dislike
1. The sirens, wherever I have been in France and I suppose Europe in general at night I hear sirens. All hours all pitches and all volumes it's obnoxious.
2. All the stores close early. I know that my "American obsessed consumer" side is to blame for this dislike, but really it's annoying. I get off work between 6:30 and 7. ALL the stores close somewhere between 7-8. Which means that when I want to grocery shop it has to be on Saturday when all of France is shopping because all the stores are closed on Sunday.
3. French red tape. I have had to deal with a ton of prefecture stuff the entire time I have been here. Getting my Carte de sejour was a nightmare, going to various tests, dealing with the French police, blah blah blah.
4. The air is filled with smoke, less so than it was a couple of years ago but it's still a lot more than home and it makes my eyes water and my throat itch.
5. Snobby French women.
6. French cat calls, pick up lines, once overs etc. I know that guys in the US are stupid when it comes to women but in my own personal experience they have nothing on French guys. I once had a guy come up to me in a restaurant while I was with E and the girls and tell me he loved my ass, just some average normal looking thirty yr old guy. He wasn't being egged on by friends or anything. Yuck, thank you American guys for keeping those thoughts to yourself.

Love
1. Pastries of any kind, fruit chocolate, nuts they are all amazing and they simply aren't made as good anywhere else in the world.
2. Croissants. Yes this is a separate category worthy of it's own praise. They are delicious inexpensive bites of heaven. Flaky, melt-in-your-mouth goodness.
3. Wearing white all year round and mixing blacks and browns. The French are famous for their fashion sense and I love looking at the outfits put together and dreaming that yes I could pull that off.
4. Public transportation is amazing here. I know in big cities in the US they have subways and all of that but they are nothing like here in Strasbourg at least. The tram is very clean relatively inexpensive and easily accessible. The bus system is all encompassing same price as the tram and everyone uses it. It negates the need for a car, which means no gas prices, no oil checks...although if it weren't for the kind yet constant watch of my mom and grandpa back home I would probably forget those as well.
5. From Strasbourg I have easy access to four different countries all within two hours away. Germany, I can walk to Germany from where I live. It is literally right across the river. An entirely different language, a different set of customs deriving from a unique cultural history ten minutes away from my home. Belgium and Luxembourg are easily accessible as well. I have been to both countries once an separate occasions. Switzerland is an hour away by train and the train ride there and back again is breathtaking. Majestic mountains protecting lazy rivers, exactly how one would picture Switzerland to be!
6. The easygoing mentality of the French. The work week is 35 hours as opposed to 40 back home. E and S arrive at work at 9 have a two hour lunch break from noon to 2 and leave the office at 6. They have five weeks of paid vacation every summer in addition to other holiday leave as well.

That one time I was naive, charming, and super embarrassed

*edit*

It occurred to me after I wrote this post that some of the people mentioned might read this blog and with that in mind I deleted this post in an attempt to be polite. If you didn't read the story, trust me it was humiliating :)

Soldes and Summer

The girls last day of school was on Thursday, the schoolyard rang out with screams and "bon vacance" have a good vacation. The girls of course are super excited and also stir crazy. We don't leave for Greece until the 18th which means that I have two weeks of entire days with the girls in the beautiful summer heat.
We went to the pool yesterday where I succesfully navigated our way through gates and tickets and weird changing cabins. When the girls are with me out in public they seem to completely forget their French and change into shy and timid kids while I stutter and stammer in broken French. At this point I find it more amusing than anything else. The general idea of the public pool is the same here in France but standards of modesty are completely different. It's no secret that the US likes to cover it up compared to Europe and I have seen this in many situations while I have been here. I just wasn't expecting it at the pool, the beach of course. Well apparently pool, beach, park it makes no difference. This doesn't bug me in fact after five weeks (I am getting really excited!!) in Greece I probably won't notice but I was just surprised.
France has two periods of sales throughout the year. After Christmas and right now. There aren't any sale periods in between these two times so it's a little bit crazy at the moment. Every store is having incredible sales on everything that's left since February. I saw two women in Galleries Lafayette (a huge famous department store) scream and fight over a heavily discounted Burberry purse. Now I'd like to say I would never do that, but then again if I had 400-700 euros to blow who knows what I'd do :) My sale purchases are much more modest a 12 euros watch I've wanted since January and a cute 4 euro shirt. There are still two weeks left of soldes, I have my camera ready for the next catfight.

In the fall

Well it is absolutely official I am coming home in the fall. I have had some wonderful experiences here but without the internship I had originally been planning on I would find it very difficult to continue just as an au pair after summer. My decision has nothing to do with the family, they have been awesome! I talked to them about going home in the fall at the beginning of April but I wasn't going to leave unless they were able to find a suitable replacement. They have found another au pair, an American from NY and she is in the process of getting her visa.
I was offered a job/internship in Cyprus after I met the Cyprus ambassador but the internship only pays for food and housing, there wouldn't be an actual salary and it's a long term committment and while the work is my "dream work" and probably what I will be doing after I get my law degree...it won't work for me now because I would have to start paying off student loans and I wouldn't have the money to do it.
Soooo I guess I will have another year at Iowa in the fall. I have one more year of scholarship money so I will take classes, get another major, I am very close in English and History so that won't be stressful; of course both of those are pretty useless majors unless I wanted to be a teacher, which I don't. Then again I already have two pretty useless majors to begin with. Oh and of course I will save up money for law school in the fall of 2010!

If you look closely in the picture the American flag is there.

Elgin Marbles

E and S are both Greek so many of our conversations are about Greece culture, history, politics. Apparently the British are not on the good side of the Greeks right now. Back in 1803 when Greece was under the control of the Turks a British duke, Sir Elgin, went to Athens and saw the Parthenon and realized the value and worth of the gorgeous ancient statues and wanted to take them back to the UK. The Turks didn't care whether or not Sir Elgin took the statues so they give him permission. Sir Elgin proceeded to send the statues back to London on three ships. One of the ships sank forever losing 1/3 of the statues. The remaining 2/3 are in the British Museum.
For the past 50-100 years Greece has been trying to get the statues back from London, claiming that they never really had authorization to take them in the first place and that their rightful place is in Greece. London has obiously said no for many reasons, one being that the pollution in Athens would completely destroy the statues if they were to go back to their original place.
Just this past weekend a huge state of the art gorgeous musuem was opened in Athens right next to the Parthenon and Greece is now demanding that the statues be returned so they can be in their rightful place.
The following link is a BBC report on the whole situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_Wg_d1ZMaw

Joy said we could

The family lives on what we would consider the 6th floor of the apartment. They have a tiny balcony off of the kitchen that we generally hang clothes off of to dry and keep outside toys such as soccer balls. Occasionally D and Ir will take their blades outside on the balcony and go back and forth while I clean up after snack time. Today E was gone in the evening so while I made dinner they proceeded to do this. It is very rare that E isn't there for dinner, this might be the second time the entire five months that I have been here that she hasn't been home so the girls took their blades on the balcony. S came into the kitchen to check on things and saw the girls out their and told them to come in immediately because they know they aren't supposed to be out there. The girls then said "but Joy said we could".
Sometimes I get so irritated with them. They told me that it was ok for them to do it so of course I let them, who am I to question the parents rules. To me it's not a huge deal anyway so it seemed fine which is why I didn't question it. What irks me is that the girls knew they weren't supposed to do it and told me it was ok. wekwmqwe oh well I guess I will just have to ask the parents if every little thing the girls ever do is ok...?

London and York

I got back yesterday from a fantastic weekend in England! I saw Alex and met a lot of the people that are in his group. It was nice to be surrounded by fellow Iowans again. Alex and I took the train to see my friend Abi; we've been friends since high school and have always had many things in common. She goes to school there and graduates in a month, I am glad I finally got the chance to visit her. Back in London Alex and I just walked around the city, overall it was a very relaxing weekend. I loved London this time around. Last winter Alex and I were there and we were just rushing to see all the sights the entire time and this time we were able to just mosey around.
I did get to sit by an interesting mix of people on the varios train rides. From Strasbourg to Paris I sat next to this sleezy old French guy who kept inviting me to his home in Paris. This sounds way creepy and of course it was but it happens more than you'd guess here in France. From Paris to London I sat by a British couple and their Australian friend. They were very nice and were all in the midst of traveling the world since they are retired and fianlly have the money and the time to do it. They also invited me to their home in London, this time it was not at all creepy and extremely nice of them. On the way back from London to Paris I sat next to an American girl my age, she is currently backpacking through Europe and Paris is her second stop I invited her to my house. From Paris to Strasbourg I sat next to a French nun and we shared a lunch and had coffee together.

but how do they get the eggs?

At the dinner table E, S and I were talking about the news and in particular one story about a pregnant high school girl. Ir asked why she was pregnant and the general response was that perhaps she had made some decisions that weren't well-informed and Ir then asked well how can she decided to be pregnant? E said that yes, you can decide to get pregnant and Ir asked how? So E explained that girls have eggs and in order to get pregnant girls need to get the boys' eggs. Then Ir asked in her 8 yr old innocence "but how do they get the eggs??" hahaha I had to leave the table because I was laughing so hard at Ir's honest questioning and E's difficulty in explaining the birds and the bees to her 8yr old daughter :)

Birthday party

Yesterday Ir had her birthday party. Went to the horse club and took ten kids with us. Everyone had a really fun time and there was plenty of room for the kids to run around in and have a good time. We played a rousing game of red rover in which one little girl got punched in the nose "on accident" but other than that it was a success.

Not much has been happening with me this past week, hence the lack of posts. I leave on Friday for London!

Surreal

Sometimes I have to question is this all really happening, I am in France...this is my life right now or is it? It sounds odd but at times it feels like I am living the family's life not mine. For instance E and S had a dinner party and the guests included a Cyprus representative a Greek consulate representative the director of the Syracuse in Strasbourg program and the respective spouses. It's exciting to meet all these people who are in jobs that I would love to have living these foreign lives that I am sort of living as well. I wonder if I am in over my head.

An interesting opportunity came up and I am going to find out more information this week. I am apprehensive about what the future holds.

8 yrs old!

This is the cake we had for Ir's 8th birthday, it was the best cake I have ever had, fruit with cream soooo delicious!! You are actually supposed to eat the flower petals as well.

Congratulations Josh!

Last night my little brother Josh graduated from high school! I guess he isn't that little anymore but to me he will always be the annoying little tag-a-long brother no matter how old he gets or how many achievements line his door. When I was a senior in high school he was a freshman, I can't believe he is finished already! In the fall he will be attending Iowa Central as a swimmer and begin studying history and teaching...I think? Congrats Josh!

We are French

I went to the train station to buy a ticket to see Alex in London! The girl helping me was my age and super super nice. At the train station there are several different tellers and there is a screen above each window stating which language that specific teller speaks. Well I decided to be brave and go to a French speaking window. Which actually turned out great. Almost the entire conversation was in French, which really isn't too impressive since trains and travel is probably ch. 3 in everyone's French 1 book, but still my life is all about the small victories. Anywhoo this girl was explaining to me that before I get on the train I have to validate my ticket, essentially put it in a little machine that stamps that date and time on the ticket. Where I got lost was when she was trying to explain why I didn't have to do it in London because France is somewhat unique in that requirement. Sensing my confusion and disbelief that France would dare to be the one European country that requires this she laughed and said, "We are French" as if that alone explained and justified all the craziness that foreigners experience here in France.

Roses

The Alsace region is known for its flowers of all kinds. Right now roses are everywhere, it so happens that roses are my favorite flower. Everywhere I go there are roses of all colors and sizes it's stunning. When I was little I would weed my Ipa's rose garden and watch as my grandmother tended to her roses. Of course D being the little sweetheart that she is likes to run by the flowers and rip them off...

Tennis

Thursday was a holiday. Despite France aggressively touting it's separation of church and state it is a country deeply steeped in Catholic tradition. Thursday no school and no work because of "ascension". Friday in most parts of France people still have to work but the mayor of Strasbourg decided that it should also be a holiday. This is the third holiday this month and there is one at the end of the month as well. I suppose it's gets everyone ready for summer...
I went to a pool here in France and it's pretty much the same except speedos are the norm here. I really don't like pools that much a bunch of screaming crazy kids all in one confined area. D, one of her friends and I played tennis on Thursday which was hilarious. D and her friend don't play that well and while I can play decently enough, I certainly can't teach tennis so they were just chasing the ball around the court. People take tennis very seriously here and we were laughing and messing around while the people on the other courts were clearly phenomonal players. But we did have someone offer to give me free lessons. I politely declined :)

Strasbourg in Spring

Chicken Pox and Rain

It has rained every single day this week. Scattered showers, torrential downpours, we have had it all. How incredibly dreary. The weather of course puts the girls out of whack as well. So thank goodness it's Sunday. It was nice to go to church this morning although I usually am unable to relate to the pastor's sermon the songs and fellowship are extremely uplifting.
All three of my flatmates have the chicken pox. It started with Simona, a couple of her co-workers kids had it and she thought "O wow I hope I don't get it, I've never had it". Well she definitely got it and then Hong and Reza got it as well. Simona's mom came all the way from Romania to help (she is a retired doctor). I had the chicken pox when I was little, so hopefully I won't get them right? So far so good at least. If I even have a cold I want to be with my mom so you can imagine how terrible it would be for me to be here in France with the chicken pox without my mom. I know, I know, I am almost 21 I should grow up a little, but have you met my mom? Anyway Simona's mom and I went to the pharmay to get stuff for the three invalids but while her English is very good her French is nonexistent, even more so than mine so needless to say we struggled. In the end we got what we needed we think :) So hopefully they are on the road to recovery by now!

Tipping?

In France you don't really leave a tip for anyone, taxis, hairdressers, waiters. I guess it is polite sometimes to leave a couple of euros after a meal if it was exceptionally good or if the bill was really big. Just in general though there is no tip. I worked at a restaurant for 4 years, since I was 16 and I hate people who don't tip back home. I always wonder what the people in these service jobs make without the tips, since I have paid for most of my college and previous Europe trips, and a summer in China almost solely off of tips.
My neighbor and I ordered Pizza Hut pizza for delivery (online = awesome) and when I went down to get the pizza it crossed my mind that maybe I should tip him. He did drive all the way across town on his little motor bike in the rain to get us our fatty American food piping hot in less than 30 minutes, back home he would have gotten a great tip..but here who knows. My hesitation and my French combined did not clear up the confusion so I just handed him 3 euros and got a really strange look in return, so maybe they don't get tipped, or maybe it was a "thanks for the crappy tip"look. I don't know.

The Reader

I watched the movie The Reader on itunes the other day with a Bulgarian friend, a Romanian friend, a Spanish friend, and a German friend. I have Itunes on my computer which allows me to download movies even though they haven't come out in theaters here in France yet. The movie is about a German woman who was a Nazi gaurd during WWII, she is put on trial for her war crimes and eventually imprisoned for life. The movie is seen through the eyes of a man who had an affair with her when he was a teenager and is a law student observing her trial and eventually sends her tapes of books while she is in prison.
Kate Winslet won best actress for the movie. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, yes she convningly played the part, there was a certain feeling of sympathy for her but part of me was just like...yeah so what she killed people and now she suffers the consequences. I understand that my reaction to it is a bit crass because who knows what anyone would have done in that situation, in that day and age, we like to think we would have done the right thing but it is easy for us to judge when we are completely removed from the situation.
Anyway I thought the film was interesting but not one I would particularly recommend HOWEVER all of the other girls watching it thought it was fantastic, they were able to sympathized with the protagonist. Perhaps it's just me or maybe it's a deeper cultural difference between Europe and the US. I am not sure. I just found it surprising that I was the only one at the end of the film who was still thinking....well justice has come full cycle

Luxembourg

The family and I went to Luxembourg Friday morning to visit E's sister and her son. I debated whether or not I was going to go with them, but decided to because I had never been to Luxembourg and I haven't actually traveled with the family yet, because every break I have had I went to see Alex. Well, Alex is back in Iowa until June when he goes to London soooo you know. Luxembourg is about two hours away from Strasbourg by car. Ir gets airsick, boatsick, and carsick before the trip D and I had a contest to see who would sit in the middle, I lost and so I got to experience her car sickness up close and personal for two hours. Gas here is bought by the liter which is insane, we bought 37 liters which is about 9 gallons for 50 euros which is about 67 dollars and we had to fill up twice plus almost 50 euros for tolls, yikes!
Anyway we got to Luxembourg which is a country that has uumm one city. It was beautiful trees hilly and Luxembourg is extremely rich so the roads where nice and the builldings were modern and new and all the old ones are well preserved I couldn't believe it. Not that France is dirty or particularly poor, just in comparison. We had lunch with E's sister at the European Union which is another government building that seems to do exactly what the Council of Europe does, S was trying to explain it to me, they are apparently two completely seperate entities that do pretty much the same thing...or at least that's what I got out of it. We walked around the city center of Luxembourg which is clean and beautiful with shops and very typically European. Afterwards we went to E's sister's house and met her son, Chris. They live in a gorgeous large home in a village near the city. Chris is 16, he is definitely a typical 16yr old, awkward and all of that. I loved him haha he reminded me of my little brothers or my big brothers at that age haha we got along fabulously. We all went to dinner with another Greek family and had a blast. I hear more Greek than I do French, and I am learning new words every day, who knew!
After dinner I went downtown with Chris and his friend Costasdinos, Constantine in English or Costos for short (I don't know how to spell his name). Costos was exactly how I picture a Greek adolescent boy, patriotic, loud, awkward, cocky, a little stupid, and completely lovable. His English was superb and he made it his job to introduce me to everyone on the street. Luxembourg is very small so we met a lot of people. It was a lot of fun. When I go out in Strasbourg with friends they are all international mostly older than me (late 20's) expats who have moved to Strasbourg because of an urge to learn about another culture. We speak in English because we don't know French and despite our desire to learn about another culture we hover together and speak English because it's comfortable and safe in a place were we are completely out of place. When I went out in Luxemembourg it was with high school students who live there. We spoke in English because they were able to do so and make me comfortable. Despite them being between 15 and 17 the conversation switched from French to Greek and English. I guess it is the difference between learning about a culture and being part of a different culture.I really had a good time and I can't wait for the summer when I will learn more about Greek culture and spend more time with the people I met.

ooo yeah, in the city center there was a McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Chi Chi's, and a Subway

Name Days

Today was Ir's name day. Her saint was from Iran and was tortured by five rulers because she refused to give up her faith. I guess here in Europe you get a name day as well as a birthday, so we had cakes and pastries for lunch delicious! D was mad because the week before break was her name day and her parents forgot, well it was her second name day so I guess they didn't really forget because they though two name days was a little much. The girls had chocolate eclairs, I had foret noire which is a typical Alsatian dessert that is made of chocolate cherries and cream it was awesome and E and S shared a faust cake which is just rich chocolate.
The month of May has a lot of holidays, so I hear, this weekend I am going with the family to Luxembourg to visit E's sister who lives there. Then in another week or so we have another holiday. Then the last weekend of May is another holiday and E and S suggested we go to London to visit Alex but since it will be his first days there we won't because he will be busy getting adjusted to his schedule and internship.

Are you okay?

I am back in Strasbourg, my break was fantastic! I studied a lot during the week and bombed my stupid Latin final bleh. I saw friends (sorry I missed you Vicki). My little brother Josh had his graduation party which gave me a chance to see relatives and friends and my little sister turned 16!!
There are so many distinctive things about the US I love it and miss it. On my flight from Detroit to Cedar Rapids the lady I sat next to struck up a conversation (American style) i.e. what's your life story and let's pray, she was sweet and simply kind. Stores are open past 7 pm, I hate that about France. Styles are more conservative and people are more hurried. When I am at the grocery store in France the checkers sit on a chair behind the cash register and take FOREVER to ring up all the items, then everything has to be bagged by you in a bag or box that you brought from home. It annoys me to no end. In the US if we are in line for ten minutes people start complaining and wondering what is wrong with the cashier or the store in general. I am not saying that being in a rush is a good thing...I just prefer fast service.
Throughout my entire life I go out of my way to avoid embarrassing situations, perhaps this is why I constantly find myself in them. For example when I got to Cincinnati on the way back to Frankfurt I was pulling my backpack out of the overhead compartment. The plane was really small so my bag barely fit up there, I had to pull really hard causing it to hit my head and knock me over on to the person in front of me. Luckily this guy thought I was the funniest thing on the earth and pretended I had mortally wounded him and begged me to resuscitate him, meanwhile I almost died from embarrassment. When I got to Frankfurt I had to take a bus back to Strasbourg, it was super crowded so I had my feet hanging over the ledge into the aisle, I was also exhausted so my head kept slipping and waking me up and to my horror my whole body slipped and I woke up as I was falling into the aisle. Consequently my fellow passengers frantically asking me if I was alright in German, French, Alsatian, and Chinese...the only place in Europe where apparently no one spoke any English. I of course was so flustered combined with my week long French hiatus resulted in everyone continually poking me to make sure I didn't fall asleep in case I had a concussion or something I don't know. The couple in front of me kept offering me beer (oh Germany) and I finally accepted so they would leave me alone, but I don't really like beer of any kind but they insisted I drink all of it which made me want to barf. Since when is beer good for a concussion.
Finally we made it to Strasbourg with nothing on me hurt but my pride...which is pretty used to being humiliated so you know no harm.

Parenting

I am an official holder of a Carte de Sejour and yes I had to pay the 300 euros, well E and S paid for half of it. Supposedly the money is for the medical exam that I HAD to take in order to get the card, even though I HAD to get a physical before I even came to France so it's all pretty stupid if you ask me. E says it's because France doesn't want foreigners to come and live and work in France. Students only have to pay 50 euros for their card because they are visitors and are going to go back home, but since my visa is an au pair visa and not a student visa France thinks I am some horrible job stealing immigrant who isn't going to leave, hence the exorbiant fee. Either way that mess is taken care of.
Alex is here!! His study abroad program is finished which makes me sad because he won't be so close. He is coming back to Europe in June for his London internship so that's not so bad. We both are going home on Saturday. I have a week of vacation which is fantastic but mostly I have to get all the stuff for my classes and thesis taken care of, or else I would have gone to Naples with the family.
I am getting a lot closer with the family here. Nothing like my own family, but what could ever be? I have been thinking alot lately about different parenting styles. There were times growing up when I thought my parents were horribly strict, but in retrospect they really weren't so bad, I mean I turned out alright:) I got to do a lot of things my friends didn't get to do and my parents have a high degree of trust in me that I know is pretty unique. Even within my close extended family there are drastic differences in parenting between myself and my cousins. Despite those differences my one cousin that is getting older is proving to be such a sweet, fun, caring guy. I think that the imoportant thing is making time for the kids, and the other stuff like rules, limits, discipline, all equals out in the end. E and S also have their own parenting style and while it is different than what I am used to I am definitely beginning to appreciate it. They both have full time demanding jobs but they manage to be involved with their kids and find they always find the time to be there, it's really quite extraordinary. Being here makes me realize I will never be able to be a stay at home mom, ever. I don't have the patience or enthusiasm required. I hope that some day when I do have kids and a job I am able to find the balance that E and S have managed. Being here also reaffirms the fact that I don't want kids for a very long time. How does my mother do it?

I took the second picture because my mother's maiden name is Schuler, *shoutout* to my grandpa! Alex and I saw it on the train in Germany on the way to Baden-Baden

Prefecture

Before I came here I got my visa from the Consulate in Chicago, it was good for three months. When I got to Strasbourg I went to the prefecture to get another piece of paper that replaced the visa which expired today. In order to eventually get my carte de sejour, the paper that allows me to stay for the year I had to go to the medical exam, which I did, and wait for mail. I got the mail and today I went to the prefecture to finally get the actual carte de sjour.
I got there and all my papers were in order everything was fine and then the lady behind the desk asked for THREE HUNDRED EUROS!! At first I thought I misheard her so I asked her to repeat herself, and yes I heard correctly 300 euros please! Perhaps this wouldn't have been a big deal if I had known I would have to pay it then I could have saved up for it but I had no idea that I would have to pay anything at all, I just assumed that E and S would have told me. 300 euros is what I make in one month. Needless to say I don't have that money. True I don't have any expenses here but I have been traveling and that adds up, fast. So I was on the verge of tears while this lady is quickly losing patience with me, I was trying to ask if I can put it on a credit card, not a smart thing but I don't have the cash so basically my only option. She either didn't understand me or the answer was no.
Then I tried to say I would come back tomorrow, thinking I would have to borrow the money from E and S and just go without getting paid at all for the next month. Except my stupid paper expired today so I had to get the card today or something. Then I tried to call E but of course my dumb phone was out of minutes, I never ever use the thing how does it run out of minutes so quickly?? Then another lady comes up and takes me aside and tires to explain everything to me. The thing is I understood what the first lady was saying, I got all of that and I could even understand the second lady. I just don't know how to respond in French so she thought I didn't understand which meant she just kept repeating herself while I kept saying je compris, which I think means, I understand.
I think the second lady was saying come back tomorrow with the money, I will keep your carte de sejour at my house and tell the prefecture you already paid so you don't get in trouble. The problem is I am not sure if that's what she was really saying all I know is that she said goodbye and see you tomorrow and left with my papers....GREAT. I don't know her name, or when I am supposed to come back tomorrow to secretly meet her and give her 300 euros, geez this is a mess. Also she took with me the paper I got in the mail saying my stupid card is ready in the first place, so if she isn't there tomorrow and I go back I have no paper.
I didn't cry throughout the whole mess, despite really wanting to. I guess I will have to borrow the money from E and S tonight (not get paid for the entire next month) go back tomorrow, and wander around the place looking for the lady who has my papers...Wish Me Luck

A Good Year

The other day with some friends I watched the movie, A Good Year. It takes place in a French Vineyard and involved love and passion and money and French scenery. Needless to say I loved it. In the movie the protagonist, Max, is a British stock broker he is ridiculously rich. His uncle dies and leaves him his vineyard in Provence. He rediscovers his love for wine, France, himself, and a life less hurried. Life here does seem to be less hurried. There are two weeks in October, three weeks for Christmas, two weeks in February, two weeks in April and five weeks in the summer for holiday. Of course not everyone takes all that time off but in general you get the idea. In the states for people with jobs there are uumm two three day weekends half a week for Thanksgiving, and a week for Christmas...if you're lucky. It's very different. Better...who knows I think I am still too blissfully young to care :)
Everyone always asks me how my French is coming along so I might as well tell you it's horrible. Not as horrible as when I came but not noticeably better. I know shake your heads and point your fingers. I never ever have a chance to practice. Really I swear. The family speaks English with me or Greek amongst themselves mostly. All of my friends here are international so we all speak English together. I am friends with ONE actual French person. We get along very well and love to get coffee together, she doesn't indulge in my sinful partaking of pastries...do the French ever? She however is more determined to improve her English then I am to improve me French, once again shake heads and point fingers. Also, she generally just gets annoyed with my atrocious French and switches to English after she hears my very successful attempt at butchering her beautiful language...her words not mine. She tells me that foreigners shouldn't be allowed to learn French and I tell her English is more useful, like I said we get along swimmingly! So in short I need to try harder but as of yet it's still "like to death to my ears"

Spring

It's amazing how suddenly spring came. Two weeks ago when Alex was here it was cold enough for winter jackets. Today it's 75 and sunny. The flowers are in bloom, there are trees on the leaves it's fantastic! My allergies are killing me though, thanks dad. People are still wearing heavy jackets though, I don't understand. E makes the girls wear at least three layers in the morning plus a jacket haha you can imagine how much they enjoy that. My friend Estelle and I are taking our bikes out today. I will let you know how that goes. Strasbourg is a very bike-friendly city. On all the streets there are lanes for bikes, but the bicyclists are crazy so I am not sure how I will fare. I miss you all!

Three Months

I have been here three months today, I can't believe it's been that long already! The weather here is gorgeous! Sunny and in the 60's I love it every nice day we have I meet up with my friends Emily and Rachel and we walk along the river bank with pastries :) I am not sure if it's just my imagination or not but people here do not know how to dress for nice weather. I am wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt or capris, you know spring clothes. Yet I still see pea coats, big bulky sweaters under leather jackets, and everyone is still wearing black...time for some color, come on!
This weekend is Easter break and the family is going to go to Switzerland to go skiing...I hate skiing. Luckily I get the weekend off as well to do with as I like. I originally was going to go see Alex and his friends in Cinque Terre (Italian Riveria) but because it is so close to the date and absolutely everyone in Europe is traveling this weekend the trip would cost around 500 euros. Sooo that's definitely not happening, I might just stay in Strasbourg and finish up homework and relax with my friends here, maybe take a day trip somewhere.

The past week the NATO conference took place in Strasbourg and neighboring Kehl. Obama was here with other bigwigs so the city was on lock down. The entire center was barricaded off and parts of the cities were in red and orange zones depending on proximity to the conference. Thousands of protestors came to Strasbourg to stir up a little attention, someone tried to set himself on fire in front of the Court of Human Rights. Honestly it didn't really phase me because there have been strikes taking place since I have been here. It was fun to join a little bit of the craze though.

I feel gross

Today has not been good. I woke up feeling even worse than yesterday. My nose is runny I have a terrible wet cough and I can barely swallow. The girls have been crazy. I know that it is just intensified by me being sick but really, the past couple of days they have been terrible. They are supposed to eat all of their food before they can get up and they have to have water or milk with lunch. They asked for juice today and I told them no. They freaked out Ir went and got it anyway and drank some then D wanted some and I told them both no, they wouldn't finish their lunch, fought, spilled food all over, well you get the picture. The girls know that they have little chance of getting in trouble for anything they do around me since I can't do anything so they just act like little monsters.
End of rant...for today

Run around the house 100 times

The girls today had a lot of energy. It's spring, it has finally stopped raining and well you know they are kids. I on the other hand feel really sick and tired today. Not the best combination to say the least. When I was little and my siblings and I were getting crazy, which was most of the time, my mother would tell us to go outside. If we said we didn't want to she would threaten us with chores. We spent a lot of time outside :) D and Ir can't go play outside we live in the city and they have no yard at all. It's no wonder they have so much energy, imagine being a kid and never having the chance to run around.

On a better note Alex and I had a great time together. We went to Baden Baden, Germany to the spas. They were glorious! Baden Baden is famous for its natural hot springs and the water was so relaxing I could have stayed there forever. Alex got a little bored. I love the way German sounds. It's very guttural and choppy and most people hate the way it sounds. It sort of reminds me of Chinese. Baden Baden is an hour away from Strasbourg by train and it's surrounded by the Black Forest. It was very beautiful. The countryside of Germany sort of reminded me of Iowa. Obviously not rows and rows of cornfields but it was split up into neat sections. Iowa from the air is rows and rows of square cornfields and Germany, at least this part of Germany slightly resembled that.

Chinese

We found a Chinese restaurant we really like here. The food is good and inexpensive and the owner is very friendly and Alex enjoyed speaking Chinese with him. The had an entire conversation in Chinese that lasted about 15 minutes and I was really thrilled to find that I understood about 80% of it. It was nothing super complex, questions like where are we from, how long they have been here and why France. It is nice to know that I can still understand some Chinese. It also made me realize how complicated French is in comparison. Conjugating verbs, feminine and masculine words, present passe compose imparfait, all combine to make one very complex language. Reading and writing Chinese is of course difficult but Alex says that there is a definite logic to it and once you understand that it makes is easier (I have yet to understand it).

In general my experience is going well. My auntie Keeka pretty much summed up exactly how I feel; she said (more or less) "some days it feels like the biggest adventure of your life and others you wonder what in the world you are doing there". She spent a year, maybe more I can't remember, in France when she was my age so she can relate better than anyone.

It's just mold on top of mold

Last week Sarah and Nolan were here visiting! I showed them around the city and took them over to Kehl to see some of Germany. We had a lot of fun together, I mostly enjoyed just talking and laughing with them. They went to Paris after Strasbourg, and by all accounts had an amazing time there. Alex and I were unable to join them there but it was just good to see faces from home no matter how short the time seems. Sarah also brought me more of my clothes from home, which means the trip back to the US next winter will involve a lot of overweight luggage!

Alex is here this week! I am so lucky that the program he chose gives him travel time. I am not looking forward to the summer when I probably won't see him at all because he will be interning in London. Well I guess I will be in Greece, so it won't be all bad :)

Tonight we were going to stay in for dinner and just fry some burgers or something simple in an attempt to save money. The grocery stores close at an insanely early hour here so we were stuck with what I had in my fridge. It turns out what I had in my fridge was inedible.
1. Moldy cheese 2. spoiled hamburger meat 3. Chicken from Alex's first visit ooo about two months ago! Whoops!

We went out for Chinese instead

2 days with Dad!

My dad was here this past weekend, he flew in on Saturday afternoon and left Sunday evening. Very brief but we had a blast! My dad is the best person to travel with, no really he is ask my mom. I have been here over two months and he was here briefly thirty years ago and I still felt like he knew way more than I do. He took me Sarah and Nolan out twice for very nice lunches. We got to try new dishes and the second lunch we ate at the restaurant in my favorite Strasbourg building. We stayed at the Sofitel in town which was nice and had a gorgeous bathroom with a huge bathtub which I loved because my place only has a shower...which is in the kitchen, not ideal.
Saturday evening we had dinner with S and E and two couples. One couple consisted of a Scottish man and a German wife, the other was a French couple. The dinner conversation switched from German to French but for me, mostly English...I am still learning. Dinner was delicious and my dad has a good time talking with people.
Sunday morning we went to church then we went downtown for the Carnaval parade on Sunday afternoon after our lunch. We threw confetti and watched as the evil said goodbye before Easter, some of the costumes were really ugly. Then dad took a train to the airport and left for India.
It was really great to see him and he teased me about my horrid French which I have been diligently studying in the days since he left :)

Every day

This week has been pretty boring. I have stayed in and worked on homework and French and that's about it. I am going home at the end of April to take tests and before I take those tests I need to have the work completed, I am behind. By default I have only spent 5 euros this week. I still have 40 euros in change but at least I am saving money.
D and Ir always ask me about my home and my siblings and my life in the US. I was explaining to Ir the concept of states (their last au pair was from New York) and she pretty much understands it, they have different regions here in France as well. Then she asked me "Is Canada a state as well?" :)
Today I picked up the girls from school and we ate lunch, which was cold raw salmon, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes with salt (yuck), and plain yogurt (yes very healthy), afterward they played a little and I made their beds. E came home and was surprised to see the beds made and said "oh Joy you don't have to do that X will". I am certainly not being overworked here. The most "housework" I ever do is putting our dishes in the dish washer when the girls and I are done with lunch. At dinner E does it. I am so lucky that I ended up with this family. Also, I am very thankful for X she is amazing!
I think the most exciting thing that has happened to me this week is that I finally figured out how to correctly use the washing machine. I used to pull the clothes out of the washer and they would be soaking wet, I literally had to ring out each article of clothing several times before I hung it up to dry. Well today I did laundry and went to freetranslation.com and typed in what was on the washer. Turns out I had been pushing a button that stopped the washer before it reached the last part of the cycle. Who knew?
Tomorrow my dad comes!!! E and S are throwing a dinner party for him which is incredibly kind of them, the dinner will be fun, E and S always invite very interesting people.
Also Sarah and Nolan come tomorrow as well! They will be here until Wednesday and then they will train over to Paris where hopefully Alex and I will be able to meet them for the weekend!

Whoops

I am in the Charles de Gualle airport on one of the computers here. You pay at a machine and you get a certain amount of time to use the computer. The machine takes bills up to 50, which is great because 50 was all I had. I bought 5€ worth and watched in dismay as the machine spit back 45€ in 1€ coins. I was amused as I listened to the chorus of French people around me chuckle, it's nice to be back!

Rome again then home again

On Thursday evening Alex and I caught a bus to Padova and then a train to Rome. On the train we met an older Italian man who owns a small private international law firm in Rome. He travels regularly to Brazil and the other BRIC countries. He was very pleasant and interested in what brought us to Italy. He lives near the Pantheon in Rome, which is a really nice area. I was impressed. We arrived in Rome after 2300, our hostel was about 2 blocks from the train station. The area around the train station isn't the greatest, it's not dangerous per se but a little sketchy at 11pm. We were on the street of the hostel and some lady came up to us saying "Joy Chung Joy Chung" I was pretty freaked out, but it turns out it was the lady who runs the B&B we were staying at. We were pretty late in getting there so she was headed to the train station to meet us. She was fantastic and the B&B was awesome. Hot water, beautiful room, filling breakfast included in the price, and it was all very inexspensive. It was much nicer than the place we stayed at in Rome the last time we were here, that place was a little bit creepy.
Since we had already been in Rome we didn't feel like we had to run all over the place to see everything which made the trip awesome and we still ended up seeing a lot of sights. We saw St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. We walked around the Colosseum area. We saw Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps at night which was better than in the day. the weather was perfect the entire time we were there, 50 and sunny! I had Gelatto three times and I still want more. We were reluctant to leave.
We took a train back to Venice Saturday night. We ate at a little pizzeria which was not at all touristy and deliscious. We were probably the only non-Italians in the place, but it was packed and the food was cheap and good, nothing better ;) The Italians next to us asked us about ourselves and how we ended up in Italy and what we thought about our travels.

The pictures are of me and Alex at St. Peter's Basilica, at the top of the Spanish steps, and a picture of the Palantine

The Good Earth

I was reminded of one of my favorite books this week, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. The book chronicles the life of a Chinese peasant pre-Mao era. The author has written other books as well but in my opinion she doesn't caputre the attention of the reader or the spirit of her characteres as well as she does in The Good Earth. In one part of the book the main character wakes up and thinks to himself "there is a luxury in living". The rest of the book goes on to describe how he and his family depend on the earth for their livlihood. The book is excellent. This past week I felt exactly like that! Every single day has been fantastic.
I arrived in Venice last Saturday and Alex was able to meet me at the airport. We took a train back to Paderno del Grappa where he lives. I stayed in a very nice hotel, incidentally the only one in the surrounding area. I got to meet all of Alex's friends and everyone was very friendly and easy to get along with.
Paderno is very small probably less than 1,000 people live there. Alex is studying there with a program called CIMBA and there are 140 students there. I probably saw less than 20 Italians, even so the local Pizzeria was deliscious and Paderno is in a valley surrounding by beautiful mountains. I had a very relaxing time there.

The magnificent month of March!

This week went well, the girls were very good and the weather was perfect! The month of March is going to be awesome. I leave on Saturday to see Alex for one week. My dad is going to be here, only for two days but still it's going to be so great to see him!! My dad is to blame for so many things about myself, my love of France and how gullible I am, just to name a few :) Sarah and Nolan are coming!! Then after they leave Alex will be here again, as you can see I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks!!

Are you sure?

I went to a cafe/study place today on a friend's recommendation. The place was fine cheap no big deal, it was however on the very end of one of the tram lines and then some. I got there studied for a long time and left at 10:15. I know the tram stops running at midnight so I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get back. WELL actually some of the lines or part of some of the lines stop running before midnight, the one I needed included. I spent one hour and forty five minutes walking home in the rain....perfect

This and That

I can't believe the week is already over. Alex just left for the airport and I feel like he just arrived, blah. The good news is that on Saturday I am going to go visit him!!!!! I am really excited, he is in a tiny tiny village in Italy called Paderno del Grappa, it is somewhat near Venice.
We went to Basel, Switzerland which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Strasbourg. We went to the zoo and just walked around a little bit. We ate lunch at the zoo and I accidentally got two meals and it was VERY expensive. Switzerland is one of the most expensive places to live in the world plus it was the zoo cafeteria which automatically means the prices are ridiculous. Basel is located on the Rhine and borders both France and Germany. What we heard was a mix I am assuming a local dialect. However everyone also spoke French so we were able to manage.
I had my medical exam in order to get my carte de sejour which is my long term residence permit. The exam consisted of people taking my weight, height, asking if I was updated with my shots and then I had to get the famous French chest exam haha I had already read about the whole experience beforehand so no surprises there. I also got to keep a copy of my x-ray which is absolutely enormous and I have no idea what I am supposed to do with it...souvenir?
E and S invited Alex and me downstairs for a formal dinner which was very nice and quite grownup feeling. The meal was complete with five courses including a cheese course:) The cheese and the desert was the only French part of the meal. In fact the whole time I have been here I have had an actual French meal maybe twice. The family is Greek so we eat Greek food. Anyhow the meal was good, and it was nice to talk to E and S and they got to know Alex a little and liked him as well.
The next day S and E showed us around the Council of Europe which is where they work. S is a human rights lawyer and E works on a committee in the council. The buildings are not too impressive but what goes on there is something that really interests me being an international studies major and wanting to go to law school. The court of Human Rights is the big branch of the Council of Europe and basically it allows any citizen to sue their government if they feel their rights have been violated. Of course this carries with it the problem of all IGO's, enforcement. The idea is beautiful and suits idealistic me just fine.


Also I found a church I really like here. It's called Trinity International and it's and English speaking church, quite similar to a church back in Cedar Rapids called New Covenant except much smaller, about 50 people. I have only been there once so far and I won't get a chance to go back for a while since I will be gone the next two Sundays but the people were friendly and the music was good.

OOO and thank you for the mail, I LOVE getting it! I got a letter from my mom, auntie Kika and Uncle Bruce, and Ipa!!!