It is What It Is (No Matter How You Call It)

Wilt u een tasje?

2008-10-04T01:33:00.001-07:00

Thanks Bower for giving me that extra kick in the ol' arse to get me writing on this thing again! I need some good kicks every so often. I realize the last post was in July and it is October, but things are settling (a bit) for me and I know have somewhat steady internet access...

So, what to say? I started school again! There are times that I wonder what the hell I got myself into and times that really inspire me. All the time I ask myself is there anywhere else I would rather be right now and so far every answer is "Nope." I miss Portland dearly. I miss river floats in August with my buds, I miss going to pick apples and pumpkins with Dad and Pam, I miss election debate drinking games with Carmen and company, I miss 2$ microbrews at The Vern, and the Portland breakfast culture, I miss Ultimate!!, bike ganging it to a show/event, I had craving for tootsie rolls recently, but that could be from hanging at too many coffeeshops... But the thing is, I want to grow both in knowledge of the world and myself and this program, I am finding, is a good place for that.

Well, you probably don't want to hear about what I miss about Portland, but more what the hell am I doing and why I don't want to be anywhere else. I wish I could explain everything that has been going on in this post, but that just ain't possible, so again, I'll give a little summup.

The basic philosophy of the program is "action learning." We of course learn concepts, but in a practical how-can-I-use-this-in-the-real-world-way. There are 13 of us in Team 2 (second year of the school) and we come from 6 different countries. We have a team leader who has much experience in both teaching and practical business. She is not our teacher, she is more like a coach in that we run our classroom differently from day to day. We as a team make the decisions about our learning. We decide our agenda for each day as it comes. We decide about creating our room environment, decide when we want our vacations to be, how to spend our budget, etc. It has been a challenge to get 13 people to agree, but that is also part of the learning process and I can see we are already getting better at it. So, where do the real world projects come in you ask? Well, there are several opportunities. KP has 5 business partners who made an agreement to support the school financially because they believe in what we are. There is potential to do projects with them, there is potential to bring in other businesses to do projects and we can create our own projects of course as well. I will talk more about specific projects later.

As to personal things, I am still living in my apartment, but am planning to move in with some other students hopefully soon. I broke up with the guy I was dating when I first moved here in July. This weekend, I am going to a farm outside of Utrecht because I just need to be in the coutryside for a time. Things are moving along and I can see many great things on the horizon. I will post more often so you can come along with me. What good is having all this if you can't share it right? It has been a month now in the program and already I feel I have learned so much! Well, this is getting too long I think, but just know that I love you all.

Slugs, Raw Herring, and Bicycles

2008-07-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

I am in Rotterdam now and staying put for a while. I have found an apartment and a job (though it is small right now) and most importantly a bicycle! Well, some call it a bicycle I call it the gazelle.
A bit of a summup is in order I suppose. I left off last time heading to Stavanger. Well, ended up staying there just under two weeks. The man Oyvind (typical norwegien name) lived there with his checkens and a French guy named Florent (Flo-raun) who was couchsurfing/trying to make a little extra money. Helped out for a time, but I think two weeks was a bit long, so I headed out, making my way down to Kristiansand where I was to take the ferry back to Denmark. It was a long, interesting journey accross the 250km. I hitchhiked the whole way with 7 different people. Everyone I met was just great and one time even stayed in the car a bit longer before getting out just talking with a guy. So interesting. People said it would be difficult to hitch in Norway, but I dont think I waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. I also camped along the way at night. There is so much nature it is amazing. I mean the country is huge with only 4 million people!! It was extremely easy to find places to camp. The bad part: it rains. a lot. and all I had was a coupole of plastic bags and a rain poncho. I devised a nice little canopy though with my homemade walking sticks and was relatively dry both nights it rained. The last night was brilliant though and I enjoyed myself despite the mosquitos. The second night was the best shelter I build as I was more experienced in the matter, but I woke up to find tons of slugs all over the place. On my bag, in my shoes. That is how I found out slug slime is not water soluble. It is disgusting yes, but didnt kill me and I washed most of it out later. Uh oh, 5 more mins of internet left.
Well, ok so I made it to the ferry at Kristiansand and was trying to figure out how I was going to get back to Holland cheaply. It was then that I met the Germans. A group of German church groupers were on their way back to Dusseldorf. I thoght it couldnt hurt to ask, so I did and they said, "sure, come along" So that is how I rode 10hours on a tour bus with 43 christian german kids. Nice people. Ended up taking a train from Dusseldorf to Rotterdam for 30 euros because I was just too tired and wanted to just get there.
So now I am here. Enjoying the raw herring and coffeeshops ;) Looking forward to settling in a place for a while and having an address!! Ah, gotta go, but will post more about my Rotterdam adventures...Doei, Doei

Inhale...Exhale...Inhahle...Exhale

2008-06-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

The pictures are kind of a jumble...starts out with my camp area at Extreme sports week, then the couple I am hanging with in Haugesund right now. Some extreme events. Pictures of Bergen. The organic farm in Belgium and my vegetable peeling accident. Then more shots of Bergen with one from the airplane coming in. Last, the team I played with in Amsterdam. Such great ladies!!!

Right, so when I said I would post again in the week I really meant a month later. So much has happened in the last month! Went to Belgium to work on a farm which actually turned out to be a center for people who are into macrobiotic food and healing workshops, went to Paris for a couple days to hang with the rents, then went to Rotterdam for a couple days. Went to Amsterdam to play ultimate frisbee with a bunch of Dutch chicks. Went back to Rotterdam for a application workshop for a school I found. Then took the night train to Copenhagen. Got there at 10am, left my backpack at a hostel and walked around the city all day. Around 10pm headed to the airport to sleep (I put out my sleeping bag and had a pretty decent sleep actually). Left on a plane to Bergen, Norway at 6:55 and landed around 8 something. I was feeling pretty tired at this point, but the people at the information booth were very nice and told me about a hostel just outside the city that was very nice and relatively cheap. This describes Norway very well infact. Lots of nice things outside the city, very nice people and expensive as hell. Ive managed to get around a lot of expenses, but more on that later.

Ok, so to continue with the summup...went to the hostel which was 5km from town but just for one night took a very nice hike around there. Explored Bergen, especially the fresh fish market, ate some caviar, smoked salmon and fresh crab caught that morning. Trying to decide what to do next. Thought about hitch hiking south towards Stavanger, went into an outdoorstore to look at sleeping pads and the man there told me about extremem sports week in Voss (East of Bergen). Thought it sounded interesting and Voss is supposed to be one of the most Beautiful places in Norway, so caught the next train there. The weather was beautiful and the area amazing. Stashed my stuff and walked around town all afternoon. Around 10pm decided to find a camping place (the sun never really goes down here, it just stays twilight until it gets brighter again around 3am). Ended up finding a nice little spot under some kayakers shelter (see pic below and you will understand). Was just going to stay for a night, but ended up staying 3. Saw some cool paragliding, kayaking, long boarding, skydiving and great concerts at night too. Ok, so during the couple days I met a really great couple (Rebekka and Stieg) who let me hang with them to watch some of the sports then offered to let me ride with them because they live on the way to stavanger. THEN they offered to let me crash at their place, which is where I am right now. They are honestly some of the nicest people Ive met. Breathe

So, thats what Ive been up to. Off to Stavanger tomorrow to hook up with the guy with the organic farm, who coincidentally is on couchsurfing as well. Then there is a lot more after that but the details are being worked at the moment. Long term plans have changed and I am planning to go to school in the fall in Rotterdam. Just figuring out logistics now...

Just like Romeo and Juliette

2008-05-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Caio!
Made my way from Geneva to Verona alternating renegade camping and staying in hostels. The weather and the scenery was absolutely beautiful! My route took me to Martigny the first day, then over to Brig. Into Italy for an hour then back to Suisse. I spend a lovely night next to lake maggiore and walked across the boarder into Italy for good the next morning. I took the train to Milan from Luino and spent a rainy day in the city. The next day I made my way to Verona where I spent two nights in hostels before hooking up with the volunteer group.

The group is awsome! There are 10 of us staying in the house that Legambiente owns(the orgainization that I am volunteering for). I am building solar ovens along with a french man, a mexican man, three korean girls, a russian woman and two finish girls. I am having a great time and will be sad to leave i think. The work is pretty easy and we all share cooking-cleaning responsibilities every day. There is not too much choice for food though i.e. pasta, risoto, salad, pasta with oil, risoto with sauce, pasta with garlic, salad...

I will post pictures when I remember to bring my memory stick to the internet place. Alas, my time is running out again, so I will write more later in the week.

Everybody Let's Groove La La La!

2008-05-12T00:37:00.000-07:00

So, time to move on again! The family took off on a two week tour of Switzerland and my friend Amanda has been hanging out here since last Tuesday. I've loved having her here. I've been showing her around town and having little adventures. There is a small river that flows through the hiking trails close to Versoix and I've been thinking a float down it would be a good idea. Well the conditions were perfect Saturday and I had a partner in crime, so we set off to conquer the rapids. We came back with a few bruises on our knees from arguments with rocks, but other that that we were totally happy.

Today is my last day here though and I have mixed feelings of course. I've really enjoyed working for the Lary's. Yeah it really sucked when it rained and I couldn't be my normal running everywhere self all the time. But they are extremely generous and I really felt a part of the family. The two little ones have such funny personalities. Kellen is very independent and Devan can't sleep without something on his feet. I love the way he runs and dances (kind of a wobble/rocking back and forth) and he always has to have his sleeves rolled up. I've also really enjoyed meeting John and Maureen (the grandparents). They are all just good people and I will miss them. I am leaving a few things here (ski boots, winter clothes, etc.) so I will for sure see them again before I leave Europe. Right, so I'm off to wander for a couple days then off to Verona on Saturday. More about that next post. A bientot!

It's Springing!

2008-04-29T01:44:00.000-07:00

It constantly amazes me how efficiently destructive kids can be. I mean I will have picked up after them after breakfast, go do the dishes for maybe 10 minutes and come back to what looks like an explosion of toys. Ugh. And they always want to play tickle monster or run around the house. I wish there was some sort of giant hamster wheel that they can just run on for a while. Imagine the alternative energy possibilities! I mean all that untapped energy...

Today is the 5th and last day that I will have the kids to myself. As far as kids go, these two are pretty easy to take care of, but man, I am not ready for all this domestic stuff. Sometimes I just want to do things on the internet or read, but I can't because they want to do puzzles or play talent show (I'll explain some other time) or whatever else. The look Kellen gives me when he wants me to do something and I say no or say I'll be there in a second is really great. He tilts his head and scrunches up his face and says, "That's not a good choice." They can be such little nuts sometimes.

Luckily for me the weather has been brilliant and we've been able to play outside a lot. Saturday I took them to a frisbee tournament. They didn't really watch any frisbee, but they liked dancing to the music being played over the speakers and running around in the grass. I enjoyed it too because I did get to watch a little frisbee (even though it was very low level) and walking on the little beach next to the lake.

A bit more about Switzerland: I've sucumbed to the iced tea pressure. The Swiss have a strange relationship to iced tea and other alternative sweet drinks, which can be deduced by the walls and walls of them at the grocery store. They have this one drink called Rivella which is made from milk byproducts (i.e. lactose). It sounds disgusting, but is surprisingly refreshing. Also, I went away last weekend to Annecy and came back to spring! Everything is starting to bloom and blossom and it makes my little heart really happy. Though it didn't do much for allergies ;o( I returned my skis last week and am ready for a bit warmer weather! This week Dave's parents are coming and next week my good friend Amanda is coming. There is a lot of good stuff on the horizon and I'm looking forward to it.

More about speeding tickets and upcoming travels later...

More Plans...

2008-04-18T01:20:00.000-07:00

So I got my instructions for Italy! I have to be at the train station in Verona at 5:30 on the 18th. The organization is called CADIP (Canadian Alliance for Development Initiatives and Projects). The Description of the actual project is below...

"During the work camp, volunteers, will build solar oven, using recycled materials to be used by Legambiente for its future national work camps. Furthermore, olunteers will participate in a project related to can recycle and reuse and will work with disabled local volunteers. Specific and professional experience is not required, but volunteers must be strongly motivated to work with other people and be willing to meet new cultures. Volunteers will also attend evironmental education work shop about eco washing powder making or waste recycling, in order to improve environmental education and to learn values compatible with a sustainable way of living."

As for happenings in Geneva, the weather sucks. I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to warm weather. I stopped taking French classes because the term was over and I can't afford to pay for more. I enjoyed it a lot and miss the people and my instructor, though I did meet up with her a couple times for coffee outside of the course. This weekend I may go to Annecy to couchsurf with some guys that I met here or I may take the car and just check out more of Switzerland. I dunno. I have to work all next weekend because Dave and Kimberly are going to Portugal for 4 days. Yup, I'll have the little ones all to myself. I'm not worried though, I think we'll have a good time. I'm still in the midst of planning my after Italy adventures, but I talked to a guy whom I went to school with at OSU (who is Spanish and lives 30km outside of Madrid). He said he'll be there in June, so that'll probably be my next stop. That's it for now...

Parapente

2008-04-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post some picts of last weekend. A while ago when I was skiing at Chamonix I saw these people with parachutes just run off the side of the mountain and land at a spot just below. I thought it looked so cool and felt the need deep within me to experience that. So, I looked around the internet for places who do it and found one at Villars in the Suisse Alps who do it all the time. I convinced my friend Andrea to come with me (though she ended up bailing at the last minute) and went for it last Sunday. The experience was soooo cool! You really can't get any closer to flying. There was one time where the instructor did a swooping turn and stopped just for a second in mid air before the chute caught the up draft again. Such a cool feeling. I have to admit I did feel a bit queezy at times, but that could have been from not sleeping much the night before (another birthday party). As for upcoming plans, I am still waiting my instructions for Italy, but I don't have to be there until the 17th of May and my last day here will probably be the 8th. In between that just dunno yet, which is exactly how I like it ;)

Zurich

2008-04-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

I spent this past weekend Couchsurfing in Zurich. I wanted to see the city, but mostly because Iwanted to see a woman I met while here in Geneva that lives there and was throwing a birthday party for herself. I felt obligated to help celebrate.

So, I left Friday afternoon on the train from Geneva to Neuchatel to meet up with two other couchsurfers who were driving to Zurich for the CS meeting that night. Tookie (who is from Madagascar and I have no idea what his real name is) is one of the Neuchatel couchsurfers and is one of those people who knows everyone. He is an extremely engergetic person. I first met him in Paris actually because he organized the bicycle treasure hunt. I keep meeting up with him at events in Switzerland and of course again for this meeting. Anyway, so we all drove to Zurich Friday night and I went to Tanja’s house first and met up with them later on at the bar for the couchsurfing meeting. What exactly is a couchsurfing meeting you ask? Well, they are usually held at a meeting space like a bar or restaurant and people from the area as well as people visiting the town or who live just outside come to meet other people. Why do they do it? I dunno actually. I do it because I like to meet different types of people and drink beer. I have to say, it’s tough to meet people at bars and I have decided not to participate in those types of things any more unless I know more of the people. I get really tired of telling my story and find that I don’t really care what other people are doing either. Also some people who come are very insincere and I don’t enjoy that. I do enjoy connecting with people about different topics, whether it’s traveling, eating/cooking, books, philosophic concepts about the universe…whatever. I find people are in different moods at bars and I just have a really hard time connecting (though drinking a few helps with that).

Saturday night was different thought. It was Tanja’s birthday party and we mostly just stayed at her apartment drinking beer, listening to music and hanging out. There were probably about 25 people and I had a really great time. In fact, I didn’t go to sleep until 7am! This was partly because I was sleeping in the living room and people didn’t leave til really late, but also because it’s easy for me to stay up. In fact it’s easier now than when I was in college. However…it is much harder for me to recover the next day and actually takes quite a while for me to really feel like myself again.

I have to say I really dug Tanja’s apartment because it was right in the middle of the city, though I definitely didn’t care for the church or it’s f!@#ing bells every hour and especially at 7am. Also 15 minutes before the hour just to make sure you are ready for the hour. Oh and Saturday night they play for 15 minutes beginning at 7pm in order to welcome in the Sunday at a decibel level so loud you can’t have a conversation if your window is open (or if you’re walking by the church). Absurd really especially in a land where people propose and vote on laws every couple of weeks (really, I’m not kidding). Anyway, it was a good time and I hope to see both Tanja and Zurich again.

Le Guinness

2008-04-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

I found this in a book I read recently and thought it appropriate:

we shall not cease from exploration
and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time
-T.S. Elliot

I understand now why Ireland is associated with the color green. The whole country is covered in soft, damp layers of moss and clover! I didn't stay long and only ventured into a couple cities, but overall I enjoyed my time there and found the people to be really friendly. And yes, it is also true that the Guiness really does taste better there. I tried a bit of Beamish Irish Stout as well, but not as good as the Guiness. I forgot to have an Irish coffee, so I suppose I'm just going to have to go back sometime.

Traveling was pretty easy, but took a looooong time. What I mean is: all my connections and details worked out well, but every form of transport I took was late. For example: my trains to Basel (Switzerland) from Geneva worked perfectly into my schedule as did finding a place to stay in Basel, getting to the airport, etc. though my flight was an hour late. Not such a problem and when I got to Dublin all the information I needed was readily available, but then the bus took 5 hours to get to Cork instead of 4 and I missed the last bus to Castlemartyr. Hmm, so I went in search of a place to stay in Cork, which turned out to be a bit of a hassle because everyone was booked for St. Patty's Day. I ended up getting the last bed in a cool little (and cheap) hostel called Shiela’s about 5 minutes walk from the bus station. Next morning I took the bus to Castlemartyr and immediately found a ride to Mogeely (town where the farm is). A woman who was headed there to sing in the Sunday morning church service gave me a ride and even invited me to come sing as well, but I politely declined. Anyway, I finally arrived at the farm and was greeted with hot coffee, some gritty bread (I still don't know what she made it out of but was polite and didn’t ask), cheese, and good conversation.

The farm was great. Everything they built on the farm i.e. greenhouses, housing, woofer huts, the teepee, the yurt was made from recycled materials. Astrid is the woman who owns the place and Darius is a guy (American from Seattle actually) who lives there as well. He worked at the local junk yard (skip) and scrounged all the building materials (as well as other finds like music, thermarests, camelbacks and whateverelse). They do produce some garbage of course from things like packaged vegetables and food containers, but for the most part they use everything.

My jobs were mostly helping out in the garden. I sewed seeds and got both the indoor and outdoor garden beds ready. They had a three pile compost system. One for fresh stuff and two others that were “resting”. They also had a huge compost toilet (earth toilet) that they dumped in the compost as well. Some say its not safe to use human waste in the same compost that you use for the garden, but really by the time you use it all the stuff has been broken down enough. They also grow everything organically and use worms and frogs to control pests. To control weeds they put down sawdust which also controls the snails and slugs. Apparently it messes with their slime. Again, I loved being outdoors all the time even though it was wicked cold sometimes. There was no heat anywhere and a couple times my feet felt like they turned into ice chunks, but a few more blankets at night solved that problem. Astrid was a great cook and we ate by the campfire a couple of nights.

Ok, the main reason for going was I had a few days off and wanted to work on a farm again. Why a farm in Ireland you ask? Well...I am in Europe for St. Patty's Day, I got an airline ticket for 9 swiss francs there and 30 euros back. I had the opportunity and everything seemed to just work out. The parade was cool, but I ended up only spending the afternoon in the city. One, because I had an hour to get there and an hour back and two, I just liked being on the farm better, and three I was by myself so it was a bit boring. There weren't the parties that you would think for the celebration. I heard it was a bigger event in Dublin, but honestly I think it's all the English who come over to Ireland to party.

After the farm I flew back on another wicked cheap flight, but into Grenoble instead of Geneva. That’s the thing with cheap flights sometimes. Good deals, but you have to trek to get there. I couch searched one night with a couple who was from there. Took a lazy, snowy Sunday with them walking around the town and playing with their two month old puppy (and getting several holes in my clothes and hands…). I have to say, my travel experiences in France have completely countered the ones in Suisse concerning the hassel factor. I bought a ticket from Grenoble to Geneva, but ended up getting on the wrong train (it said Geneva, but really didn't go all the way and just stopped in Annecy). I thought that the train to Annemass, the French town on the outskirts of Geneva was my best bet home, so I took that one. While I did get much closer to my ultimate destination, I was still a ways away. All I had to do was get to Moillesulaz to take the tram into the city, but of course the buses and trains stopped running then. I was about to take a taxi when I guy saw me reading the bus times and offered me a ride! I was so tired at that point and wasn’t going far, so I took it. He was very nice though he didn’t speak English and after a bit of a hassel at the boarder because the guards were bored, I finally made it back to Geneva. All in all it was a good trip.

Oh, and just a note, I found it very strange to pass through towns with no English on the signs. I didn't expect so much gailic, but there are places that don't speak English still. Some places in Ireland are still really rural!

About the picts above: heads up about the traffic situation in Castlemartyr, the St. Patty's Parade in Cork, one of the two horses on the farm, one of the green houses (made with all used materials), and the wwoofer huts which I stayed in (and the mud I slopped around in the whole week).

Widdle Waddew

2008-03-14T02:21:00.000-07:00

Pictures: Tram at Chamonix when I went skiing two weekends ago (amazing view from the top!), snowshoeing with Glocals group: my friend Poli from Bulgaria with her dog Neo, Andrea from Germany and Christophe (also German), Devan the 2 almost 3 year old, and me eating a chocolate eclaire at the festival (just after eating a molten chocolate brownie ;))

So, life with the Larys is pretty good. Devan (see pic) cannot be seen without his pucho (pacifier) and can't pronounce his R's or L's (so he calls me wowen). He also recently developed a "I can't wear sleeves" disorder. They are both really loving kids and I enjoy playing with them (most of the time). They are relentless question askers though, Geesh! Sometimes ignoring works, but only persistent ignoring...and then only sometimes...It will be interesting to see how they grow I think.
So, a lot has been going on, but not a lot at the same time. What I mean is: I've been having fun playing in an all night frisbee tournament, going snowshoeing/skiing on the weekends, checking out the chocolate festival in Versoix (my town just outside Geneve), going to French class, etc. But during the week, I don't do much and it's starting to get to me a bit. Yeah I go to class Tuesday and Thursday morning. Of course I babysit but...
I love my teacher and I've met some great people in that class as well. In fact, this girl Andy from Germany and I have been hanging out quite a bit. She's really a solid person and loves being outdoors as much as me. The last two weeks I was in a bit of a funk not wanting to go out really or play with the kids. Just a basic lac of energy. The sun is back and the weather is turning to spring though now and I'm shaking the funk. I think going for a couple runs helped as well.

So, I'm heading to Ireland tomorrow for the week. I'll be working on an organic farm again, but of course one of my goals for the trip is to drink a guinness for St. Patty's Day. I think I'll manage, but will write about my adventures after. It's also been decided that I'll be in Geneva til the beginning of May and then I'm off to Italy to volunteer for a Canadian non profit. It's just a couple weeks, but I'm really looking forward to it. I'm starting to get the itch to move on again, and I hope this trip to Ireland will passify the itch just for a couple more months.

Vive le suburbs

2008-02-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

Some picts of skiing/snowshoeing and the little monster in my ski boots is Kellen (4years old this month)

I thought Paris was international, but Geneva is REALLY international. Chances are someone will be speaking with a perfect French accent, then turn around and speak to me in a perfect American or British accent. I met a teacher from Belgium at the playground the other day whose students spoke both fluent French and English. And I think I’m getting better at this nannying thing or maybe I’m just in a better situation. Probably a bit of both. Anyway, I made shadow puppets the other night and found that I wouldn’t want to spend my evening any other way. Sometimes I like to play with them, but sometimes I just would prefer the kids just watch TV, so that I don't have to expend any energy.

Other things I am pleased about: I can find cottege cheese here, I’m starting French lessons again, I got a library card, I am meeting tons of new people my age who like to go out and or be outdoors through Couchsurfing, another site called glocals, and through my class, I can be outdoors and in the mountains very quickly, The Larys are letting me use their car, the ski boots I rented for the winter are really comfortable, I now have a kitchen I can cook properly in, I can have clean and or hot water whenever I want, getting around is pretty easy, I am living in a 6 bedroom/4 bathroom house in the middle of Europe...

Things I'm not too pleased about: Everything is REALLY expensive, it is going to be difficult to find another job like I had hoped to do, feeling lonely sometimes and questioning my reasons for being here, really wanting to get experience doing other things, and constantly learning and re learning to be patient and not expect things to be just one way or the other...

I’m starting to realize that there are several layers to Geneva. When I first came, I just saw the side with lots of money and I thought there wasn’t much depth, but I’m finding that there are lots of young people here going to school, working for the UN, working for a bank, but who also love to do outdoor things and go to bars at night.

I realize that I’ve just been here for almost a month now (wow, the time has been going by really fast), but the more I stay, the more I feel pretty comfortable here. The Lary family has been really great also. The kids are pretty easy going care of compared to the last few places I’ve been. I’m having a great time just playing with them, though they definitely have more energy than I have and keep wanting to play long after I do.

I also realize about myself that I really need/unconsciously try to be in the middle of things whenever I go somewhere new because I really want to feel what those other people are going through. I also really want to just be apart of the place that I travel to. Anyway, a la prochaine fois...

Ach Gamoto!

2008-01-27T04:53:00.000-08:00

Ach Gamoto!

There is so much to say about the last two months in Greece, but really it’s the little things that I want to share. I spent 6 weeks at a farm in Argalasti with Anika who is German, Nikos (Greek) and their three kids: Yannis 9, Sophia 7, and Katerina 3 (going on 18). Katina is Nikos’ mother who lives down the path towards town. I intended to only spend two weeks there, then go on to another farm and travel, but stayed on because they needed help, then just until Christmas, and eventually ended up spending most of my time there then my last week on Crete. These memories are not in order, but really it doesn’t matter. siga siga (slowly, slowly)…

I want to remember things like walking down the path from the farm to pick Yannis and Sophia up from school at 1:15 and going to/eating a big grandma meal at Katina’s house, enjoying the silence of the generator being off while working in the garden (in the beginning when the weather was nice), the sound of 42 horses munching on their dinner as the sun is setting over the sea, waking up to snow one morning, having a hay fight with Yannis and Sophia, Katerina kicking her legs in the air and giggling every time I rolled the dice and tried to guess which number would come up and Nikos and Anika watching and laughing along with us, playing memory with Katerina and her ordering me to sit somewhere or asking me “could you pleas…” or “vhat is zis” in her little German/Greek accent, going fishing with Nikos and talking about life, Greek culture, etc…drinking cold instant coffee, trying to get the scorpion fish out of the nets, and getting shocked by the electric fish, going night spear fishing my last night, watching Nikos and Georgos play at the taverna then going to the “club” with Yannis and the other boys (ie Nikos and Yannis who are brothers, Apostoles, little Dimitris, Vasilniki and her brother (another time), working in the taverna Christmas eve because the server didn’t show and getting yelled at in Greek by Katina for clearing away the wine bottles before she could count them (though I counted them as I put them on the table and that seemed to make things OK), collecting woods with Katina and Nikos, the Nissan not making it up the muddy hill with a bed and trailer full of wood, so I sat on the hood of the car to weigh down the front, then just stayed up there because it was fun, the way Katina said laurA, the same hand gestures that all Greeks make, Anika constantly complaining about not being able to turn around in the small kitchen that is also the living room and sometimes bedroom, burning her popo on the woodstove (several times), making a quiche the first week that I was there and making Anika happy that I cleaned the kitchen, Anika Nikos and Katina all getting pissed that the cats get inside, but all of them picking them up, giving them love, and letting them inside at some point in time, Nikos starting to say Ach Lauren!, then Anika, then Katerina, Electrician Yannis (not little Yannis), and the rest, the tent, going to take the olives for pressing at the local place in town and Nikos telling me how they steal from everyone, helping Nikos paint the boat they later called the Lauren, helping Nikos fix the windows for the soon-to-be living room, cleaning fish in the taverna while Nikos gave bouzuki lessons, drinking Greek coffee and listening to Nikos practice bouzuki in the morning/afternoon/evening, Anika teasing me about saying "what's that" when I don't hear something and me teasing her about putting dishes away "upstairs", going horseback riding with Maya (another WWOOFer) and falling off, getting kicked by that same horse many weeks later and getting a bruise on my leg the size of a small child’s head, showing pictures and the movie of one of the farm cats giving one of the farm dogs a massage to the kids, going for walks with the kids and throwing them around/tickling them, working in Michalas’ coffe shop for ten days and all those experiences, i.e. meeting Zoe, the two Steffanoses, going to Lafocastro, all the old men drinking coffee/smoking cigarettes and playing cards all day, trying to understand their orders and make greek coffee, hitchhiking to Volos and getting picked up by Nikos and Anikas’ neighbor Dimitris who makes wine and talked a lot about his sons, realizing that every man is either named Nikos, Dimitris, Yannis, Costas, or Georgos (Yorgos) in Greece, going out for tsiporo and oers d’ouvers for 2.50 euros, lukaniko (spicy sausage), grilled octopus, rice and minced meat wrapped in grape leaves, minced meat and rice wrapped in cabbage with a lemon sauce, trying lamb that Nikos/Katina cooked in the oven for a whole day and night, the feta and fresh goat cheese!, Greek yogurt and honey, catching fish and eating it the next day with the family, Ankika’s soups!, Spending Christmas at Katina's (when everyone was sick, so I pretty much ate a chicken by myself) and New Years at the taverna with the family, getting used to throwing all paper in the basket and not the toilet, to make olives: soak them in vinegar for a week, then put them in salt water and cover with olive oil. You know the water is salty enough if a raw egg floats, remembering to keep my fire going all day if I wanted my room to be warm at night, trying to use the internet in the apartment above the taverna, but not being able to spend more than an hour there because my fingers would freeze off, coming to Greece to pick olives and ending up not picking a single one…

Crete:

Why Crete? Because I needed some sun and warmth. It wasn't tropical, but it was lovely. I took the ferry at 8pm from Pireaus (Athens Port) and got in at 7:30 in the morning. I will remember the ferry being cheaper than the buses, staying at the Rythmno Youth Hostel, renting a car and swimming naked on the south side of the island in the Lebennon sea (part of the Mediteranean) with Jeff and Ben (two gay guys studying architecture in Copenhagen) we intended to head to Palakis, but ended up in Agia Galina, not feeling my index finger for a half hour after swimming because it was cold, day tripping with Dimitris, Constanz from Argentina who just spent six months as a doctor in Africa for doctors without boarders, and Unsung from S. Korea, trying to see two caves, but having them both be closed for the winter, stopping for lunch with them at the perfect taverna in the sun eating a plate of meat, tzaziki, fried potatoes and drinking homemade wine, day tripping twice with a Philip and Julia from New Zealand. We rented a car in the morning, saw many ruins and realized we didn’t even introduce ourselves until half way through the first day. I guess we just forgot that part, driving in Greece/experiencing the fiat, buying a 20lbs sack of the best tasting oranges I’ve ever eaten along the roadside and eating a third of them by the end of the day, saying I was going to sleep early but rarely going to sleep before 3am (at the farm also), going out to see live music with Dimitris the first night. Heart to hearts with Dimitris, dinner and drinking raki the last night in Chania, going to Rene and Mario’s apartment for dinner/coffee. Ivan and Malena from Serbia who managed the hostel and made the place warm and friendly, they made it feel like a home away from home, Tito, the bitter French man trying to learn English, Steve the 50 something American man from LA who I named “the regergitator” from LA who would learn about something then try to impress everyone with what he knew and had endless pointless anecdotes to support it, feeling the sun after weeks of cold and clouds in Argalasti…

Shit, I forgot about spending a couple days in Athens. My favorite times were going to the island Agina for the day with an American girl who stayed at my hostel with me; Joanna from New York studying in Prague. We rented a vespa and toodled around for the afternoon. In the evening we stopped to eat octopus and feta at a restaurant next to the bay and both tried ouzo for the first time (me after spending 6 weeks in Greece and not trying it yet). We sat there, getting a bit tipsy, watching the fishing boats come in and the sun set, then realized that we had 2 minutes to return the vespa. I ran back to the place/where the vespa was parked to get my drivers license back, but it was closed. I thought I would have to take the vespa back on the ferry with me, but found the man down the street and all was well. While in Athens, I also saw the Acropolis and the National Acheological Museum. But to be honest, I only spent an hour at the Acropolis and a half hour at the museum. Those kinds of things are just not my deal. The rest of the time, I spent time sitting in the sun, people watching and just wandering the streets. I have to say, I was happy to be out of Athens, which by the way is the largest city in Europe actual size wise.

Greek words I learned: yasas/yasu (hello, good bye), eferisto (thank you/excuse me), psomi (bread), nero(water), paragalo(you’re welcome/please/what do you want), gamoto/malaka (fuck/jackass, but in a nice way), hellanicos(greek coffee), metreo(a little sugar), elico(lot of sugar), agape(love), ena/deo/trea (one, two, three), ella (come/go). And yeah, all of these are how I heard them, not the way they are spelled.

Cultural things I learned: Greeks are very proud of their history and being Greek. I found in general, they are very expressive and open. All Greek chairs are made the same way and Nikos said that they were made to play the bouzuki (like a cross between a guitar and a lira). At one time bouzuki was outlawed, so people made really small ones that they could hide/take to prison with them. Fishing and boats is very much a part of the culture and many men work/have worked on merchant ships. All Greek men are required to spend time in the Greek army where they learn to smoke, drink, and be dirty. Greeks are also very much into their cars and have many part shops everywhere. Greek drivers are crazy, and there are many little churches along the roadside to show where people died. Many men swing beads on a string between their fingers (I forget what they are called), it was explained to me that it is like tattoos in the US, it used to be that only tough people would do it, but now everyone does it and really it’s just something to keep a person distracted from smoking too much. Everyone smokes a lot in Greece. Everyone in Greek Orthodox and when they pass by a church, they will make the sign of the cross, though not everyone is religious. When you go to a club, you will find Greek dancing as well as normal club music. They will dance in the middle of restaurants between the tables if there is live music and no one thinks anything of it, sometimes break plates, etc.. Men dance with men and women dance with women, hold hands, shoulders, etc. They describe themselves as Hellinic not Greek because “Greek” is the slang term given to them when they were under rule (by whom I forget).

Ah, I think I got most of it out, but there is so much more. Anyway, I’m in Geneva now and on to the next part of my adventure. More to write soon. Now that I have better access to internet.

Yasas

On The Road Again

2007-11-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

I was going to post the Geneva and Farm picts, but it isn't working, so next time I guess hey...

I spent last night with a couple in Toulouse and am proud of my self for speaking French pretty much the whole time. The woman didn’t speak much English, so I did my best to follow and participate in the conversation. We actually had some good talks about French politics, the mentality of different cultures and other filysophy. I really enjoyed it. So, pourquoi in Toulouse? Well…it is definitely not the most efficient way to get back to Paris, but it was (I thought) more than half the price going Agen/Toulouse/Paris than going from Agen/Bordeaux/Paris instead. Turns out they didn’t have my supposed reservation when I went to retrieve my ticket even though I was armed with the reservation number car and seat number. I ended up buying a much more expensive ticket. I thought I was being smart and frugal, but it turns out it ended taking more time and more money. But I did get to couchsurf in Toulouse and the people were great! So incredibly nice, environmentally cognizant, generally sincere. But yeah, definitely sick of dealing with transportation (did I mention there was another strike which lasted a week?!) I have not had good luck with transportation in France. My journey to Paris ended up being Marmande, Agen, Toulouse, Bordeax, Paris, leaving Monday afternoon and getting in around 14:30 Tuesday afternoon. Ah, but I just put my headphones in and listened to music which definitely improved my mood and makes my soul happier.

So, about the farm…

Since it’s winter, there really was just basic farm stuff to do. I.e. take care of the animals (the picture below is of me cleaning out chez geese, clearing les herbs mauvais (weeds) away from the vines, scraping/painting shutters, etc. I also became the go-to mice catcher. I caught 4 mice during my stay. The first I caught with a bowl, but not before it peed in my room though. I was going to let it out, but it escaped from the bowl and I stepped on it accidentally (with my bare foot too). The second mouse was actually caught in the trap. I intended to set that one free too, but I put it outside because it was keeping me awake and it froze over night. So, the third one, which I caught with a toilet plunger, I was determined to set free. I put it in a little plastic container (see below), and made sure it had enough air and it was warm, but alas, it also died of fright (we think) during the night. But the 4^th! The fourth survived. That one I caught for Sandra in the grain bag just with my hands. I had the benefit of it being trapped in the bag already though. There actually was a fifth that showed itself the day before I left, but I couldn’t figure out how to get up into the attic to catch it. I feel like I have unfinished business with the mouse community there, but such is life.

I absolutely loved working outside. Yeah it got below zero in the mornings a couple days and it rained (really only one bad day), and the work itself was not the most mind expanding things, but it was good. It’s just a good quality of life. Quality not quantity, that’s my new motto. Perhaps I should rename my blog. Though it was fun competing to see if Philip could catch up to me pruning while I was weeding.

The day I left, I thought the bus went to Agen around 16:40, but turns out the last bus actually left at 12:40. We discovered this around 11:30. So, I quickly got my stuff together and ate lunch, but we just took too long savoring the food (it really was good!) and I ended up missing the bus to Agen. So I took the bus to Marmande (which is not the same bus stop to Agen and is actually on the other street, by the way) and then a local train to Agen. No worries though, I had all day just to get to Toulouse, so I wasn’t that worried and it was about the same price. While on the bus listening to French accordion music, I was entertained watching the bus driver in the mirroir playing with his mustache. It occurred to me that the French mustache isn’t just a style. Really the men (mostly bus and train drivers I’ve found) grow it so that they have something to play with all day! It looks fun and kinda makes me wish I could grow a mustache. I ran into another amazing stache at the train station in Agen and documented it without the conductor knowing (he he he). He IS the cliché. See below.

I could write a blog post about things that happen to me every couple of hours so you have to realize that these are just little sum ups. My mood also varies every couple of hours, so I have to force myself to write these when I’m not to tired, hungry, or stressed (which can coincide only when I have time to write my blog). So, the loooong train ride seems ideal. Oh and as to other logistical matters, I’m planning to be in Geneva around the 15^th of January. Really not planning on searching out wireless or internet cafes much in Greece, so I’ll write again sometime…

Muesli in the Morning

2007-11-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Below this post is the post I wrote in Geneve, but never posted, so read on mon amie

I made it to the farm. So, so nice to be out in the countryside! When I got here there were two other woofers one girl from the US and a guy from Vietnam. Funny, the guy from Vietnam came here to improve his English. I came here to work on my French…since, as it turns out, both Philip and Saundra lived in England/Canada, looks like he is going to get more practice than me. Well, I can work on my French if I want. Both kids speak it as well as the adults, so I will just have to force myself to. The work hasn’t been too exciting so far; just clearing the weeds away from the vines so Philip can prune them, scraping paint off the shutters, and making apple pies. We start work at 8, work outside all day and usually eat dinner at 8 or so with lunch of course around 1pm. My back is incredibly sore, but my soul is happy. Did I mention how great it was to not be in the city? Wondering about the blog title? Well, that is all we get for breakfast. The woofers stay in a little house not attached to the main house. It has two bedrooms and an office. I am staying in the caravan because the other two rooms are taken. Tomorrow (Saturday) is my day off, both of the woofers are leaving and I will be left all to myself. This means that I won’t have anyone to talk to while pulling weeds, but it also means I get to move inside. So, c’est la vie. I dig the girl from the US, Caroline. She has been here for about 2 months and is going to Barcelona after this to teach English to kids. Philip and Saundra have a boy and a girl 7 and 9. They are really cool kids too. Despite the occasional upset, they are pretty chill and intelligent. I am really enjoying hanging with them. So, that’s what’s up for now. I don’t have internet access, so I can only check emails now when I go into town and I will only be able to go into town on my day off. Until next Saturday then…

Geneva

2007-11-10T02:10:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than traveling! I’ve met so many wonderful people. And when you couchsurf, you stay with people who are in their element. They know the town, they speak the language, they know the good and bad places to go. When I travel and stay at a When I meet other Americans though, sometimes I get the feeling that they are showing off where they have been or if they speak another language and look down on you and your experiences. It seems like they are competing and collecting experiences. I find that with some English too. I’ve never experienced that with an Australian. I’ve liked every Australian that I’ve met so far, no question. They are just more humble and laid back. Americans are so frickin insecure I think.

Today I played giant chess in the park, helped cook and ate a chicken that the woman's roommate’s parents grew on their farm. She has told me a lot about Geneva that there is no way I would know otherwise. For example, most people who live in geneve are not from there. The UN people pretty much stick to themselves. If someone decides to work for the UN as say a secretary or something, then you are marked as a secretary for life and can never move up in rank. But it’s worse than just that. If you take a certain position, not janitor or something, but work for the wrong office, that will mark you for your entire career. C’est bizzare. Also, the UN doesn’t pay taxes, so even though supposedly they are fighting for the rights of people all over the world, they are not contributing to the community that they are living in. hmm, a bit hypocritical perhaps??? There are also very different parts of town. There is the part with money and the part without. It is very difficult to find housing in Geneve because it is so expensive and it is full! There just aren’t places. Also in shared housing (ie apartments) each occupant has one day/half day in which they can do their laundry. She told me it is uniquely Swiss in this. There are many people who just find buildings to squat in for free, but they are starting to crack down on it more now. It’s stuff like this that you just can’t learn on a tour or staying in hostels. I didn’t ask what happens if you do laundry on a day that’s not yours . I just don’t think that’s done.

Anyway it feels great to be free and traveling again. I feel so much more myself when I am engaged and learning. There was just nothing for me in Paris and I felt like I was living someone else’s life. It is possible to live with the family, be learning things (about myself as well) and still have a social life. I think I felt stifiled in Paris because I felt that I couldn’t go out or do anything without being looked down upon. Maybe it was my mentality, but that is just how I felt. If I put the effort in, I could have gone out more, but honestly, it just didn’t inspire me to go out in Paris. I know they’re got to be people living there who I would love to hang out with, but I just can’t stay there long enough to find them. I also was experiencing many things for the first time and felt that what did I know, I was just experiencing instead of engaging. Hmm, not the first time I’ve approached something like that…

Halloween in Geneva: we had trick or treaters and they said thank you in English. At first, Caroline didn’t know what they wanted. Fortuneately, I had two lolies in my purse and gave it to them. What a strange experience.

Escape of the Snail

2007-10-23T01:00:00.000-07:00

I was walking in the market the other day and I passed by a man selling loads and loads of live crabs, lobsters, and snails. I was mesmerized (simple mind, simple pleasures I suppose) by the little snails all moving around, not going anywhere. Finally, one of them managed to climb up over the lip of the bowl and I watched it maintain poise for a moment then fall to the table. It kind of gave me a sense of admiration for it's tenacity, but I honestly don't think it's chances were that much better outside the bowl.

Anyway, back to my latest adventures. The metros, buses, and trains were all on strike last Thursday and Friday. They do these every once in a while to prove to everyone (the government) that they are crucial to the city and should not be treated unfairly. "Unfairly" in this case, was not wanting the retirement age to be increased to what everyone else's retirement age is. Appearantly, the government is trying to save a bit of money with pensions, but the workers think that they still should be able to retire early (though they don't really work much now). Regardless, this meant more aggravation for all the rest of us. Because no one can use public transportation, everyone drives in from the burbs, so there is absolutely no way to take a taxi or drive without being stuck in traffic for hours. The best way is bike, walk, or roller blade. We opted for roller blades to take the kids to school, but that meant that I had to run along side them and carry the rollers back. They ended up just keeping the rollers at school and all worked out, but still a pain in the ass.

On Friday, the strike was still in effect though some metros were working. I was supposed to go to Amsterdam to meet up with my friends Andy and Katie, but obviously no trains, so I took the bus instead. I ended up not being able to leave until about 11:30 due to delays and what not, so 8 hours later, I finally got to Amsterdam. Oh what a crazy city! It felt like the Las Vegas of Europe, but with cooler buildings and nicer people. I say that because everyone goes there to get drunk, high, or have sex. Amsterdam is famous for it's red light district, but we did not hang out there very much at all because we couldn't handle the vibes. I was there for just a short time, but managed to check out the Van Gogh Museum the Oude Kerk (church in the red light with a huge organ), and biked all around the canals and what not. I would be lying if I said I didn't check out a coffee shop or two though :)

I ended up couchsurfing with an American guy who owns a specialty beer store and his girlfriend. They live above the store and let me crash on their couch for the couple nights that I was there. I dug those guys so much! They were really friendly and nice and Jeff gave me all kinds of beer suggestions which I preceded to accept until about 5am at the bar across the street. Amsterdam was a great town, but I think a couple of days was just enough for me. Below are some pictures from Amsterdam and from the strike. The sandwitch is a local specialty: raw herring with pickles and onions. Mmmm, apart from crepes, I think it is my second favorite street food. There is also a picture of the bike parking situation in Amsterdam and one of the public toilets for the guys that I thought was kinda a funny/dirty, yet an efficient way of urinating on the street.

Plans

2007-10-13T03:49:00.000-07:00

Oh man just went to the Ani Difranco concert last night. It was AMAZING! She is so fricken talented it makes me want to cry. Concerts in France are a bit interesting. They start on time, go for a designated amount of time then have only one encore and it's over. Strange, but kinda nice too. I am posting some picts from it and also a couple picts from Normandy last weekend. The strange looking lamp is a piece that Marco (Anne's boyfriend) made himself out of wood and honey combs. Pretty sweet in my opinion. The two of them are standing in front of their dart board because we had a dart tournament (of sorts) Marco kicked both of our asses, but we all had fun trying to compete. Oh, and there is a picture of Pablo with my ipod for good measure just cause I thought he looked cute.

Ok, so today the kids are gone at their dad's place. I got to sleep late, have a leisurely breakfast and play on the internet all morning without being bothered. The internet can be a dangerous thing sometimes and right now my head feels like it's going to explode from all the information/travel planning I've been doing. I have a week in between leaving Paris and going to the farm in November, so I have to figure out where I will go. The plan right now is to go to Croatia. Why Croatia? Well, I've heard from several people that it is warm, friendly, cheap, and I need to go to a non European Union country if I want to renew my travel visa. Therefore, I am now looking at places for that as well. So the plan right now is: Farm outside Boardeaux in November, Greece in December, Corsica (maybe) in January or Spain, or the other way around, and then I don't know yet. Ah, so much planning, but it's a good problem to have I think.

Je suis d'accord

2007-10-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

Fluff: to some it invokes a vision of pillows and marshmallows. But according to Pablo, it's actually dental floss. I've recently introduced floss to Pablo mostly because he likes pretending that the container (when empty) is a cell phone. It is so hard for me to contain my laughter when he comes up to me proudly and says that he just fluffed. I keep correcting him, but it doesn't seem to make any difference to him. Speaking of teeth, I can always tell when Elliot doesn’t brush his for some reason. Like last night for example, I heard the electric toothbrush going, but knew intuitively that he didn’t when he came back to his room. I knew it the other night too when he told me he did, but actually didn’t. I must have a sixth sense about clean teeth. Thanks pop, it must be passed on from you.

Kids can be so manipulative. For example, Pablo wanting me to stay in his room last night when I put him to bed because he couldn’t get to sleep. There was no way I was going to, but it just pulls at you and he did get a couple of stories out of me. Then again, I can be pretty manipulative too and to my benefit, I don’t take everything literally and also have the benefit of experience to see their traps. They don’t know that I don’t always mean what I say. Example: "Pablo go brush your teeth. No. Oh man there is something cool in this box. What is it? If I show you, will you go brush your teeth? Ok… And the other day, I said to be nice to me otherwise I wouldn’t bring their rollers to school. Man, you should have seen Pablo. He got into his pyjamas right away and said please and thank you and everything all evening. It was great.

Yesterday AM left for work and isn't coming back till tonight (Thursday). In the morning I woke up to the table all set because Pablo and Elliot wanted to be helpful. I love when they are helpful. I've now started babysitting another little 4 year old on Wednesdays because his parents work and they want him to speak English during the day. His dad is Australian, but Ethan doesn't really like speaking English, so he ends up saying yes, no, right, and okay a lot. Oh well, maybe he will get into the more we hang out. But man, Chloe was being a little jerk yesterday when we were going to watch a video. I don’t really want to get into it, but I think she wanted to watch a particular movie, but I said no movies in French. Then she said that all the movies were in French and that we couldn’t change it cause we lost the remote. True the remote was lost, but I argued that the movies started out in English. She was adamant that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Eventually we ended up watching Saddle Club in English. Whatever, I really didn’t care, but was damn sure we weren’t watching a movie in French. She can be pretty stubborn, but I can be even more. It must be really frustrating to argue with me sometimes.

Welp, I had a great time in Normandy last weekend. I went to visit my friend Ian's cousin and her French boyfriend. Oh, I can't tell you what a great time I had! I forget how quiet things can be when not in the city and I saw stars! And the moon! (which was big and orange, but not quite full) We went for walks in the woods, ate some tasty vegi meals, and had some really great heart to heart talks. I also saw the WWII war memorial in Caen, but was so overwhelmed that I was happy to be on my way to their place in Flers (south of Caen). The clouds parted just as I got there and came back just as I was on my way back to Paris. Perfect. My last day in Paris is the 26th or 27th and have made plans for after, but will talk more about that on my next post.

Voila!

2007-09-21T04:30:00.001-07:00

Oh my new French class is sooo much better than any that I took before the summer. It was great taking individual lessons, but I like having others around too partly because it takes the pressure off, but mostly because I think I learn more from them than I do my teacher. It's funny how making mistakes with others feels so much better than making them alone. This class also only has maximum 8 people at a time, though most of the time it's 5 or 6. And my teacher is great too. He speaks very quickly, but I find I can understand most of what he says. We get a lot of talking time because he is constantly introducing concepts and then making us practice them or doing roll plays with each other. Even better is that it's about a 2 minute walk from the kids' school. Which means no taking the metro for 20 minutes to a chic part of town with no cool places to hang out. Now, I can walk and stay in the center of the city where there are a ton of people and coffee shops and what not. I've finally started to find "my hang outs" too. Like for expample, I've taken to going to Starbucks right after dropping the kids' off because they have the cheapest esspresso (imagine that huh) and are one of the only places to 1)be open at that time in the morning and 2)have comfy chairs you can sit in and watch the people for as long as your little hear desires. I've also found this little bagel place (yes, it's french) right around the corner that has a really great atmosphere, is also cheap, and has plug ins/internet. The French are really into hanging out, which I can completely appreciate. I've also joined a gym that is close to the kids' school. It is about a 1.5 minute walk and have taken to going there almost everyday. I've got a bit of a cold this week (as a result of being coughed and sneezed on by a little 5 year-old australian) and last week tweeked my knee a bit. I think this weekend I will be back on track though. Next weekend I'm heading to Normandy for a couple days I think. I can't wait to go for some walks in the countryside, meet some cows (and eat cheese of course) and hopefully see some WWII stuff. Welp, enough for now. I'll write more on my future plans soon. I'm digging Paris a bit more than I did before, but still can't wait to move on...

Voila!

2007-09-21T04:30:00.000-07:00

Back in Europe

2007-09-12T00:38:00.000-07:00

Well, back in g’dol paris. In a way it feels like I never left, but after the first week in the new house and taking the kids to school again, I have to say re-entry was a bit rough. After a ten hour flight across the atlantic, and a bit of pain in the ass in Frankfurt, I arrived just fine to find three blonde headed kids waiting for me. When I checked in for my flight in Portland both the woman at the desk and the man at the counter who gave me my paper tickets commented on what a great seat I had. I was extremely curious and when I got to my seat, sure enough it was the best one on the plane apart from business class. By the way, what’s the difference between business class and first class? Anyway, the seat was next to the window, infront of the wing, behind the bulkhead. Meaning, I had a great view, the TV screen right in front of me, tons of leg room AND no one sitting next to me. It was beautiful.

Why was it rough? I thought though that I could just breeze right through the first week, but it turns out I should have done a bit more mental preparation (ie knowing exactly where the bus stop was, etc.). I had to get back into discipline mode too. I had the kids alone a couple nights the last week and a half and I found that I had to re-assert my authority a couple times. Just as I get really frustrated though, something hilarious will happen or I will have a good talk with them about feelings and all of a sudden, all is well again. C'est la vie I suppose.

It was really great to be back in Portland. It wasn’t too bad sitting on the beach in sunny Santa Barbara either, but I have to say it’s even better being back in Paris, well, Europe. Yeah, I bitch and complain about Paris a lot, but there is just an awareness here that there isn’t back in the states. It’s not just the news or the TV that is US centered. It’s books and everyday conversations and everyone only speaking one language. It's a bit bizzare to one day be hanging with friends in Portland and the next taking rollerblading lessons in French and falling on my ass (several times actually). I've got a lot to write about Kyle's wedding and finding a new French course, but I'll do that next time. Above are a couple picts from my summer.

a la compagne

2007-08-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

I am definitely diggin being in the country. Last sunday I flew from Stuttgart to Paris then took a train Monday from Paris to a town just south of lyon with a nice little organic farm that has lots of good people, animals, fruit, vegetables, and beautiful scenery! I really wish I could post some pictures, but my pc is in Paris and well, itll just have to wait.

Germany was great! I didnt really go in with any expectations because really i just wanted to see my friends while experiencing another culture. I got to do much more than that I think. Steffi and I decided the first day that we were going to try to do as many free things as possible. those included: getting a free soda, one of the mawe (wall) museums, another exhibit on the holocost, getting a grand tour of the Reighstag (German Parliment), and hooking up with a pub crawl Friday night. I dug Steffis roomate Laura too who took me up to the roof of an abandoned warehouse one rainy day while steffi had to work to see the view of Berlin. We had some good life philisophy talks too. Steffis other friend Lena was the one who gave us the tour. she was working as an intern in the parliment and had access to places where normal tourists cant go. my favorite part was getting caught using the microphones (which had been left on) in one of the main political party rooms. i was just in my first line of the corus to billy jean when another group of people walked in. nobody cared, they just went on with whatever they were doing. I could go on and on about Berlin, but I cant handle this french keyboard, so just a bit about the rest of the trip so far and then more later.

Basically, I got to see not just Timo, but Hannes and Connie too, who I had also worked with in Oregon. They had just got back from Corvallis last month. I had so much fun hanging with them! They are just really good people. We bummed around Berlin another day then stayed with Hannes family in Liepsigh. After we went to Stuttgart and I stayed with Timo the rest of the time. Such a great place! Came back to Paris then hung out with steffi again because she was visiting her old family. Finally after getting to bed at 4, i had to catch at train at 7. Basically missed my train because I didnt hear my alarm obviously, but made it to the farm where I am happily picking plums, seeding lettuce, weeding, eating fresh bread and vegetables, and hanging with the dogs, cats, and chickens. More on that later. Cheers!

Ich möchte eine bier bitte

2007-07-28T04:45:00.000-07:00

Last Minute Lauren strikes again...

Last week it was raining (again!) in Paris. My trip to Normandy slowly was dwindling down to a day at Paris Plage (they put an oversized sandbox next to the siene and call it a beach for a month in the summer), and I really needed to get out of the city, so I decided to come to Germany last Wednesday instead of Friday like I planned. Despite maybe paying a bit more than I should have to come here on top of a 6 hour car trip from Stuttgart to Berlin, I am totally glad that I came early! In Germany they have a ride share deal where you can hook up with travelers going your way for really cheap. I ended up riding with a woman called Barbel and two other random passengers in an old beat up German car with no airconditioning for 25 euros. She was a bit stuck up and told me that she didn't really like Americans. Can you believe that! My response was something to the effect of I wouldn't generalize just from California and Wyoming (which is where she was filming documenaries or something). Very diplomatic, but I kinda wish I would have said something more snide now because it still earks me when I think about it even though it was three days ago. I slept most of the ride anyway since I only had about two hours of sleep the night before, so I didn't talk to her much anyway. It actually sounds worse than the way she said it, but I don't think I'll be staying in touch with her. For the most part in my travels so far, I haven't come into too much contact with people who flat out don't like Americans. I can't count the number of conversations I've had about Bush and where in the US Oregon is. No one realizes that we have good beer in America. Bummer for them.

So, I'm staying with my friend Steffi in Berlin, whom I met while in Paris. It's a bit of a long explaination how we met, but basically she was the au pair for a woman that I took French lessons with. Hm, ok, not that complicated. Anyway, she's back in Berlin now trying to find work before going to University next fall and is just hanging out in the mean time. I dig this city a lot! The people are friendly and more relaxed, there are places to just chill in the sunshine and on the grass, their fake beaches are much nicer, and everyone walks around drinking beer at all hours of the day. Seriously, the beer here is cheaper than buying vegetables. We went to the store to buy stuff for dinner last night and a 1 liter bottle of beer was 25 cents three tomatoes and a cucumber were 70 cents. What a great country! The weather isn't actually that great right now, but that's ok cause we all went out last night and aren't really in the mood to do much anyway. I'll be in Berlin until Monday and then my friend Timo is driving up from Stuttgart. We will probably hang in the city a bit then drive back there. Perhaps a trip to Prague may be in the future, but it is far to early to plan these things...

Route du Vin

2007-07-22T03:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent picts of my adventures with the rents. I would love to run down the itinerary, but we packed so much into the two weeks that they were here, it would take me far too long, and I just don't have the attention span. The highlights for me were visiting the little wineries in the Loire Valley, taking the train to Strasbourg then renting a car and driving all over Alsace. We at tons of great food and shared a bottle of lovely French wine almost every night. I don't know what I'm going to eat when I leave this country. It's definitely going to be a bummer. The pictures above are not in chronological order, but give a good sum up of what went on. They are of a cave we visited, the February weather in front of St. Michel fountain, one of the many little French towns along the route du vin in Alsace (Riquire I think). Funny, most of the towns had German names and a German feeling to them. Probably because they used to be part of Germany. Anyway, back to the pictures...there's one of the Tower Eiffel during Bastille Day, a winery, me in front of the Chateau Saumur, the rents and I at Monet's garden, one of the many sunflower fields, and a picture of the different parts of la vache for good measure.

As for future plans, I am going camping in Normandy next week, then visiting friends in Germany, going back to the US for Kyle's wedding for a couple weeks in August, coming back to Paris for September to Nanny (just for the month) and then not sure. I will see as it comes...

qu'est-ce que ce?

2007-07-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent picts of other kids I've been babysitting (Miles who is American and Minkey who is Austrailian), my bouldering adventure at Fontainbleu, the organic farm in Italy, and some friends in Paris...

Alright, it's been way too long since I last wrote. I'm not a big fan of long, drawn out explanations, so I'll just give a sum up of all that has gone on in the last month...

I went to Italy on the 25th to check out a master's program I was thinking about applying to. I ended up staying with my old neighbors here in Paris on an organic farm and then we all went over to explore the school together. The school is just outside of Parma and sponsored by SLOW foods. For those who don't know SLOW foods, it's basically an organization that supports using whole, organic, sustainably grown food instead of food produced with shelf-stable/non-sustainable products. It seemed like a perfect program to compliment my education, but when I went to check it out, I realized that it was a bunch of great information, but nothing that would increase the experience that I want and help me get a job after. I enjoyed speaking to all the students, but all of them said that they weren't getting the education that they were expecting, they didn't know what they were going to do when they graduated and the school was run really erratically (well it is in Italy!). Anyway, long story short, I'm really glad I went to visit, but I'm not going to apply.

This then leaves another question...Am I going to stay in Paris and work for the same family for the next school year? The answer is "no." I really like Paris and the family, but I can't stand living in the city any longer. It would be one thing if I was making a ton of money or if I really loved the city, but I can't honestly say either. I've already told Anne-Marie and we agreed that I will stay on until the end of September, but after that, I've got to leave. I also feel like, though this has been an amazing experience in ways that I can't eloquently describe, I feel like I need to move on and get experience doing other things. It comes down to a question of what is best for me and what I really want and living in Paris working as a nanny doesn't fall into any of those categories. I feel confident in my French enough to get around and have very basic conversations and would like to continue to improve. I have been doing a hell of a lot of thinking about what it is that I really want and (for now) I really want to learn more about organic farming and sustainable agriculture. So, I've decided to do WWOOFing (willing workers on organic farms) in France for a while. I don't know for how long as I don't have a working visa any longer, but learning about sustainable agriculture while improving my French sounds like something I would like to try. Where I will go and what exactly I will be doing is still up in the air, but in France there are 332 organic farms that are members of the program, so I'm sure I will find something. And hey, if it doesn't work out my alternative options don't look too bad either. So, that's where I'm at now.

My immediate future includes going to Alsace tomorrow with my parents (Dad and Pam) who are visiting me this week and last. I love having them here and it gives me an opportunity to experience foods and cultural activities that I couldn't afford to do on my own. Plus, it's great to experience those things with them. Oh man, we've been eating well! They got in last Friday and we have been going and going ever since. No major arguments yet, but I really notice how slow people in Portland walk. I'm also coming to terms with being the tour guide. I know I've just got to let it go sometimes, but when I know that there are better things ahead and we are dallying someplace, it's really hard to maintain patience. Whatever, I'm glad they're here and will be incredibly sad when they leave. I am coming back to Ptown for two weeks in August for Kyle's wedding (13th to the 27th), so whoever is around, I would love to hang out. Back to Paris... for the last week it has felt like February here. We were walking around the other day and could actually see our breath! Yesterday and today made up for it though and finally, I think summer has come! Yesterday was Bastille day, which is the French Independence day and there was fireworks by the Eiffle Tower. I've never seen more people in one place in my life! Next time I blog (which will be sooner than a month) I will post pictures. Cheers!

I spy with my little eye something that starts with "S"

2007-06-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Some think that a quiche is egg with some cream/veggis/meat, etc. I am here to let you know, that the egg surves only as a means to keep the cream together and in the crust...the flour is there soley to hold the butter in. Such a wonderful thing.

This week and next the grandparents are staying with us. AM is in Prague for work and didn't want to leave me alone with all three kids for two solid weeks. It's great because the grandma is a great cook and they love to take care of the kids. This means I eat well, and finally after being here since February, I am able to go do things with friends in the evenings. Yeah, I could a bit before too, but I couldn't plan anything because I didn't know if I would be needed to get them ready for bed, take showers, etc.

Last weekend and this week were pretty non eventful. I went for runs and hung out with the little ones. Tuesday evening I went to a conversation exchange and hope to keep doing that every week because I really like the people and it's close to my house.

Today I went to the forest with some people that I met through the meet up group. We had a picnic and climbed boulders and played frisbee all afternoon. It was so wonderful to get out of the city again. It took about an hour to get there and it rained a bit, but I didn't care. I wish we would have stayed the night, but alas, there are things to do and places to be. Tomorrow (Sunday) I don't have too much planned. My back is feeling better after tweeking it last week, so I might go for a little run. Cleaning the house and meeting my friend from Germany for a crepe is also on the list. Not too eventful. I went out for drinks the last two nights, so I think a night/day to chill is a good idea.

Next weekend I'm going to Italy again. I'll be staying with the neighbors that used to be here in Paris. Now they are living in a converted barn on an organic farm outside of Bologna. They've written me about it and it sounds wonderful! They are not the reason I'm going, but I'll write more about that after I get back. Soon the kids will be finished with school and I have yet to make solid plans about August. I would like to stay and work and practice my French. I still have a place to stay at the new apartment, I just have to work out the details. I'm sure something will turn up, it always does....

de temps en temps

2007-06-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm going to write this really quickly because I have to finish my homework for tomorrow and then go to bed.

So, AM and Chloe went to the doctor this afternoon, which meant that I had the two boys all to myself. It wasn't so bad and I enjoyed hanging out with them, though sometimes when the two of them are together they love to hit and fight and jump on each other until either one of them cries or I have had enough and give them timeouts and/or both. I don't mind if they roughhouse, but they always start doing it when I want them to clean their room or get dressed. Well, today it was the timeout. In the past, I put Elliot in his mom's room and Pablo downstairs on the bed. Today was going to be the same thing, but it turned out better than I could have hoped. Elliot did what I asked before it got to the timeout because he said he didn't want one and Pablo sat quietly for 5 minutes and also did what I asked after the timeout instead of crying and being angry like he had been in the past. I couldn't believe it. It was only a little victory, but it felt really good. Later on in the afternoon I could tell they needed to run around outside for a bit, so I sent them out with waterguns. A bit of a bold move I know, but I figured it was warm out, they didn't have anything else going on this afternoon, and hell, they needed to take a shower tonight anyway. The guns kept them occupied for a while until they needed to refill. Long story short, the hose was discovered. I was being attacked. Since they were mostly drenched anyway, I decided to finish the job. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever until Anne-Marie came home. She wasn't happy because appearanly we're not supposed to use the hose. I was dry (mostly), but the kids were drenched. As soon as they saw that she wasn't happy, they both started crying trying to make it look like I made them cry. I couldn't believe it! Such little punks! They can blame me for it, I'm not sorry, I thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, I had a good time and I know they did too.

I finally feel more confident in my role here. It only took 4 months! I am feeling more relaxed these days partly because I am more confident in what I can and can't do and partly because I don't invest myself in the outcomes as much. What I mean is, I realize that yes, I am living with the family which means I have to dicipline more than the average babysitter, but I also don't put all my energy and emotions into having things go my way. I am also feeling a bit better about picking up more babysitting hours. I started babysitting for an Australian family a couple times a week. She has 4 kids: 18months, 4, 5, and 7 years old. I only sit for her for a couple hours and usually only have the two youngest to look after. It's a nice change of pace and it's nice to get a few extra euros too! We'll see how long this somewhat more relaxed feeling lasts though!

Yesterday I taught the kids how to make duct tape wallets. Tonight we did friendship bracelates. Pretty soon I'm going to run out of arts and crafts. Nah, probably not, I love doing that kind of stuff and I'm sure we'll find some new stuff to play with. Next project is making communicating devices with tin cans and string. I rescued the olive can from the trash today and now I just have to find another one.

Oh, I forgot to write about the school fete and Mother's day. The fete (party) was last Saturday and Mother's Day was Sunday. The fete was great because I got to see the kids sing and dance. Oh, they were so cute. I have to say that getting to do family things like these and things like getting to be the tooth fairy just make this gig totally worth it. I really enjoyed hanging out with them for Mother's day too and going to the science museum. Despite Elliot's behavior issues and Chloe's constant need to have everything perfect, I think things are progressing well. Pablo specifically I think is acting older than when I first met him and they can all be really sweet sometimes. It warms my little heart. Alright, enough rambling. On to the next adventure...

In the Merde

2007-05-31T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted. The longer I wait, the more I don't want to post because I have too much to write. So, finally my procrastinating self is getting back on top of things.

Since I last wrote, I have changed language courses again. I am now taking private lessons for 4 hours a week for the same price that I was taking a grammar class that I wasn't getting much out of. Katia, my teacher for the grammar class was good except we would bounce around topics all the time instead of practicing the same thing until we got good at it. This means that we knew a frustratingly little bit about a lot of things. She also would repeat her question over or explain things in the exact same way thinking that maybe if we keep hearing the same thing we will eventually get it. Well, it doesn't work that way. My new teacher is great because he understands why I am making mistakes, I feel accountable for doing my homework and I get a private conversation/grammar class all in one. It's great! Now I just need more people to practice speaking/listening with and I'll be set.

As far as friends and dating goes...I have several friends who come and go. A German friend who moved back to Germany is now coming back to Paris for a couple months. My Islandic friend was supposed to leave, but may stay now for the summer to improver her French, though really to hang with her "boyfriend" (whom she says she's not together with). My American neighbors, who I would hang out with at least once or twice a week in the evenings drinking wine and shooting the shit with are leaving today to go to Italy then back to the states. I may go visit them in Italy next month, but for reasons that I'm not ready to divulge yet. I met another woman from BC, but she will also be leaving soon to go travel the world with her French boyfriend then move back to Canada. Arg, as soon as I make friends they all leave. Yes, they are friends, but actually I'm not that sad about it, I kind of look at it as part of the Paris experience I guess. It seems to me that if you're French, you're in Paris because you can't find a job anywhere else and if you're not, you're only here for a short time. If you're lucky enough to have a visa, you are either teaching English, working as a nanny, or being a student. The other catergory is working for an international large company with offices in France.

As to dating: I met a guy named Leo who I was dating for a bit. He is French, but speaks English very well. I really enjoyed going on pique niques, going out to dinner, etc. but I just don't think we have that much in common and I can't really see it going anywhere. It's really nice to date a French guy with the respect that they don't play any initial games. If he likes you, he'll tell you so and he'll call the next day. They are also very affectionate and actually somewhat feminine. Not in a metrosexual way, but more apt to share their feelings. That part is really nice. So far though, I haven't really enjoyed the French sense of humor, but I'm still on the lookout. For me a sense of humor is extremely important for my mental happiness. On the contrary, the British sense of humor I think is terrific. I've often said that sarcasm and irony are my favorite modes of operation and hopefully I'll be able to go visit some friends in England to get a good dose of both soon. Plus, Leo doesn't like wine or cheese, and you just can't trust a person like that.

Lastly, a bit about my recent travels...

Last weekend I went to Arbois in the Jura region to visit Lisbeth, my former prof. at OSU. She has been on a year sabatical working with a school and learning more about cheese production. I am so glad I went to visit! For one thing, it was wonderful to get out of the city again. Being in a big city is really waring on me and it was so nice to go for a hike in the hills with no real time limit, and no cars! I saw a fox on the trail and large nests of some kind of spiders that sounded like running water when you walked by. Dangereaux? je ne sais pas. Not only did I get to see the facilities where she's been working (which are amazingly up to date and functional), but I got to meet her family and stay with them for a couple days. She has a 10, 12, and 14 year old and they all lived in a really big house in the middle of a town that with about 200 inhabitants. So, hike on Friday, then out to dinner accross the street. Oh, but first went to the cheese museum in Pupillon and learned all about comte. Saturday I went to the wine museum in town then to her 14 yo's basket ball game. He was playing in the regional semi-finals and their team won! This means that instead of leaving for Denmark with the rest of the family, he and his dad (who is French by the way) are staying behind so he can play in the finals next Saturday. Saturday night Lisbeth had a going away party for the family. Her year sabatical is over and they are packing up and moving out. The party was great because I got to practice my French with her guests (though my conversation is still extremely limited) and once again got to eat fantastic food, which was catered again by the restaurant accross the street. Sunday, instead of taking the TGV back to Paris, I drove 5 hours with the 5 of them. The first half hour was filled with a lot of bickering, but then I made up an enormous dot game (where you try to make boxes) and played that with the girls for the majority of the ride. I think Lisbeth was greatful for the silence and I had a really good time getting to know them as well.

C'est tue (that's all). Some picts of of my little ones are above. Why they like to dress up all the time, I don't know, but it seems like more people should really. The others are of the day we made castles (chateauxs). It's amazing how far a little cardboard box can go...

Oh, also I read a really great book called "A year in the Merde." Holy crap it's funny (no pun intended)! It's a partly true story of an English guy living and working in Paris. He makes some great observations about the French. Even if you're not living it, it's funny, but if you are, it makes the book that much better!

Manifestation

2007-05-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

France has a new President. It was such a contested race that over 80% of the population voted. Unbelievable. Nicholas Sarkozy won by 53% of the vote over Segolene Royal. I talked to many people about who they were going to vote for and what they thought of the candidates. The majority answered that they really didn't like either of them and that they were voting for the lesser of two evils. Sound familiar?? Royal was too soft and wishy washy and Sarkozy was too conservative. Well, it looks like the conservatives won again, now maybe Bush will find a friend in France. People vote with their hearts, not with their heads. It seems like if a candidate is strong and clear, then people will follow, even if he is firmly guiding them in the wrong direction.

The next night I went to Bastille (the monument that used to be a prison and is the symbol of French Independance) to see what was going on. There were a lot of people protesting (manifestations in French). I couldn't believe how many cops were in riot gear as well. They kept forming lines and breaking the crowd up. Those who didn't move got put in the paddy wagon. I actually felt like I was back in the states for a bit. Below are some pictures I took of it. They were with my cell phone though, so they're not very clear...

Energetique

2007-05-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Holy crap the kids have a lot of energy! Tuesday was a bank holiday and AM had to work, so that means all day babysitting (about 8am til 9pm) then all day again on Wednesday and this evening too because AM came home late. I know I've said this already, but thank the lord the weather is nice! At least I can let them run free at the park for a few hours, though that actually seemed to give them more energy. We played at the park for over 4 hours on Tuesday and I swear they came home with more energy than they started with. Yesterday, we were going to go to the Natural History Museum, but got sidetracked by the zoo that is there and ended up spending the afternoon with real animals instead of prehistoric ones. Tonight was not so different than any other night, other than the kids seemed especially rambunctious. They definitely behave better when their mom is around, but jeesh! every other phrase out of my mouth was telling them to sit back down or lower their voices, etc. Elliot especially jumps up every few minutes. I swear he has springs in his bum or something! Oh, and get this, last night Chloe was kidding around and lightly punched me on the arm. Without thinking, I said something to the effect of, "ah, that's nice, you don't hit as hard as Elliot." So what does she do?? she pulls back her arm and punches me really hard in my shoulder! I couldn't believe she did that! I wasn't really angry, but I was definitely not happy, and I told her so! She just giggled and went back to her dinner. Anyway, the point is I am worn out! I spent half my energy playing with them, and the other half trying to make them settle down. Perhaps I shouldn't egg them on, but why should they get to have all the fun? plus they're going to be rambunctious anyway because that's what they do.

There are few things that I regret. One of them, however, is teaching them a little poem after burping. It was cute the first couple times; now that they burp on purpose just to say the poem, it's not as cute. And, I suppose I can't write this without writing the poem, so read on mon amis, it's at the bottom, below the pictures. I can't believe what I remember from childhood. There are songs, poems, games, and arts and crafts that I haven't even thought of since I was 6! I guess my memory isn't as bad as I thought it was. Well long term memory anyway, my short term one is well occupied with French vocabulary at the moment and we will see in a couple months how well that is working...

Here's some picts from this week:

Poem:
Excuse me that was very rude, it was not me, it was my food. It got so lonely down below, it just came up to say "Hello".

See Blog Title

2007-04-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

Je suis retournee a paris semaine dernier pour travaille. Je voudrais continue mon vacance, mais je ne peux pas.

Last week was a bit rough. My feelings of relaxation from the holiday disappeared very quickly. I was stressed out about which language classes I was going to continue with, I was stressed out about my money situation and I was getting a bit homesick also. In addition to that, I had to take care of the kids and I felt like something was off between Anne-Marie and I. I know that she is very busy and sometimes I think I take things too personally/seriously. I just had an overall feeling of, I guess the best way to put it is discontentment. It's not exactly it, but I just can't put my finger on it. I kept asking myself why I am here and can I really keep doing this...blah blah blah. Then Saturday came and the kids were with their dad. My foot was feeling better, so I went for a run in the park. Then Saturday night I helped AM clean the house then we had a nice dinner of pasta with pesto (what I brought back from Italy) and wine. Running is always good for clearing the head and it was nice to spend time with just Anne-Marie without the kids around. I also went out with some friends from class Saturday night. All in all, it was a good mental health weekend. Today is Monday again, and I've gotten my class situation handled and have decided not to worry about money and just go with the experience (though we'll see how long that lasts). I've worked it out with Anne-Marie to stay on for the next school year also. So, I will be working until the end of June then have July and August off and start work again (in the new house) next September. This means I will be coming back to the states in August for Kyle's (my stepbrother) wedding, but probably won't be back in Portland until Christmas time to visit (maybe). That also means that gives you all more time to come visit me, so get on it! Despite all this, the kids and I do have some pretty fun times. Below are some more pictures of the kids that I took the day we all came back from vacation...

Adventures in Italy

2007-04-24T01:46:00.000-07:00

This is going to be difficult to write everything that went on for the last two weeks, so I’m going to write about the tournament and then about the rest of the trip. Warning, it is really, really long…

Below are my favorite picts from the trip and the links to albums below:

Paga Picts: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/lauren.gross
/album/576460762398699500

Italy Picts: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/lauren.gross
/album/576460762398716830

Rimini:

The actual traveling part of my trip turned out to be very frustrating on all accounts. Some advice: make sure you do a cost/benefit analysis on buying the cheapest possible airline flights before purchasing. Yes, I got a flight for 18 euros to Milan, but I had to wake up at 4am, then missed the bus to take me to the other bus, which would then take me to the coach that takes an hour to get to the airport. Luckily, I left myself plenty of time to get to the airport (as my flight didn’t really leave til 8:30) and caught the plane to Milan (Bergamo actually). I met a couple Frisbee players on the way; one guy, Seth, who plays for Sockeye in Seattle and some other German players once I got to Bergamo. After the tourney, I took a train to Florence, which wasn’t too bad, but as you can see from my last post, the trains were on strike one day and I couldn’t go anywhere that day. From Florence I went to La Spetzia then to Genova then I spent my last night in Milan (and took several little train trips in between). Coming home to Paris, I missed my flight and ended up paying another 100 euros to catch a train from Milan to Paris (and by the way the statzione centrale is about an hour and 10 euros from the airport). So, instead of getting home at 1pm, I got in around 11:15pm. Ah, the joys of travel…

Apart from the minor frustrations, the trip itself was absolutely wonderful. I got into Rimini in the late afternoon, checked in at the registration/hostel and hung out until the welcoming party. The party was at the beach of course and they served loads of spaghetti with freshly barbequed anchovies and were constantly bringing out vats of red wine from some unseen location. This isn’t any tiny feat either. Paganello is one of the largest tournaments in the world and there were probably around 500 people the first night. Something like 50 teams play and each team has at least 10-20 people. This is the 17^th year of Paga though and they have it down pretty well. So, I spent the night drinking wine and throwing the L.E.D. Frisbee. Also, I ran into my friend Jimmy Lee that I used to play with at OSU! Oh, such a small frickin world, then when you add ultimate on top, it gets even smaller. Later that night, I was walking around the party and saw someone wearing a cool hat. When I passed by him, I told him that I liked it and introduced myself. He asked what team I was playing for. When I told him he got all excited and said “no way, I’m captaining that team!” So, that’s how I met my first teammate.

Play: it’s always difficult to pick up with a team. There are so many different personalities and levels of play. It is hard to get everyone of the same page and even harder to strike a balance between just having fun, but being competitive enough to win some games. Still, I think our team did a pretty good job of hanging together. For me, I hadn’t really been playing and it was difficult to find a rhythm. I mostly played handler and didn’t really find my game until the second day. Still, even though it was a bit hard to get going (and exhausting running in sand) it was amazing playing in 80 degree weather on the beach next to the sea for 5 days. Our team was called Chili, Soy and MSG and though we were the “Greater China Ultimate Team,” only one person was actually a native from China. The others all just lived there or were just picking up like me. Countries represented: New Zealand, Brazil, Venezuela, America, Italy, France and of course China. The New Zealand girl was hilarious. She was about 4’11” and every other phrase was “you know what I mean?” but in a Kiwi accent. For example: “So, I was walking down the street, you know what I mean, and there was another gelato place, you know what I mean”…etc. After the first day we all were staying, “NO, WE DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!” by the end of the tourney, though we all got used to it and it became a running joke.

Oh the parties! There were two big parties one Saturday night and one Sunday and they were both dress up/theme parties. The one was a Hollywood theme and my team went as Austin Powers characters. I went as Frau Farbissina (founded the militant wing of the Salvation Army). There were some really great costumes! And everyone danced in a tent on the beach to a live band until the wee hours of the morning. I had a little wand with me for my costume and my friend and I started a limbo competition with it. Pretty soon there were more and more people lined up to go, then someone grabbed a broom handle and it became a even bigger limbo competition. Everywhere you looked there was something or someone doing something funny. The next night was the 20’s party and my team all wore red feather boas and sequin headbands. It was at some local dance club though and the feeling wasn’t as fun as the previous party, though still went into the wee hours. Thank goodness our games didn’t start until 11 am because I don’t think anyone would have been functioning properly if they started earlier. The games were nice too because there were a couple hour breaks in between each one so we could watch some other games being played. The breaks weren’t so good because your muscles got a bit cold, but whatever it was warm out and I wanted to watch freestyle and some ulti games.

Oh the Italian food! I ate so much great pizza, pasta, and gelato, I can’t even go into it. Just having a plain ol’ margharita pizza (mozzarella and sauce) was amazing. My favorite pasta was the tortellini with cream sauce and I tried to taste as many different kinds of tiramisu gelato as possible. In Italy, there is a gelateria on just about every corner and with the weather being so warm, a nice cool gelati in your tummy is a wonderful thing.

After playing hard, eating well, drinking a lot of chianti and sangeovese, and getting my fill of ultimate, I eventually took the train from Rimini to Florence to start the rest of my trip.

Florence (Firenze):
I left for Florence at 2pm from Rimini and stayed at a hostel the first two nights (actually two different hostels). My foot was a bit sore from playing in the sand and what else do you do when you are a tourist but walk everywhere? So, I tried to take it a bit easy, meaning I spent quite a lot of time sitting, drinking cappuccinos and reading. Florence is such a great city full of art and culture (and a ton of American tourists). The first day I went to the Leonardo de Vinci museum and to the Galleria Acedamia to see the original David. I had to wait in line to get into the museum for about 2 hours, but no worries, I just read my book and listened to/laughed at the American and Canadian tourist conversations around me. My first night, I stayed in a really nice hostel room that had three beds and a private bath, but no one else was staying there, so I had it all to my self. The next night I stayed in a cheaper one with more people, but it was good because I got to meet a lot of other women who were traveling (again, mostly Americans). At night, I went to see the sunset in a local park that overlooks the city with a girl I met at the hostel who is from California. It is so interesting meeting other travelers and to see what they are up to. Several of the girls who were staying there were actually living in France also, but they were doing their own thing and were friendly, but seemed to only want conversation. Ah, screw em, they were boring anyway J.

The next day was Thursday and during the day I hiked to the top of the Duomo and got a great view of the city and just kind of bumbled about the city to see what I could see. Of course I went to Ponte Vecchio several times, but didn’t buy anything because it is way too expensive there. At night I ended up staying with a guy named Massimo who lived about a half hour north of Firenze in a town called Pistoia. He lives in a huge house overlooking several vineyards with his animals. First he met me in Florence though and we went out for a really nice dinner with appetizers and a second course and expensive wine and dessert and grappe (Italian liquor) oh, it was good. He knows a lot about art and is a semollier, so we chatted a lot about food and wine, etc.

Speaking of wine, I went into a local wine store with Salina and the guy working came over to us and started telling us about the different wines. (all the people I met in Italy were so friendly!) Anyway, he told us the story of the Chianti Classico region and why there is a black rooster on the label. Chianti Classico is made in this specific area between Florence and Sienna and there is a black rooster because the people needed to determine the boarder between Florence and Sienna. So, the story goes that one rooster was let loose from Sienna and one from Florence and where they met is where they drew the boarder. And, I guess the Sienna area is larger because that rooster apparently didn’t have any thing to eat and was more motivated to look for food. Kind of a silly story, but none the less, I bought a bottle of Chianti Classico, which turned out to be very tasty!

Like I said earlier, on Friday I wanted to visit Pisa, but the trains were on strike. My foot was still sore and I didn’t want to spend much money, so I just kind of walked around and looked in shops, ate some tiramisu, etc. For lunch I ordered spaghetti and all I wanted was a class of wine, but they sell it by the liter/centi liter. I didn’t know how much to get so I got what the waiter asked if I wanted. Next thing I know, he’s bringing out a half liter of red wine. Yeah, so the afternoon was pretty fun, though I don’t remember a whole lot of what I did J. Massimo met me in Firenze at night and we went to a couchsurfing meeting at a local bar. The meeting was a “Mad Hatter Party” where everyone had to where a crazy hat. I had so much fun meeting everyone! There were Germans, Italians, Americans, a guy from Israel…and they serve free food at the bars in Italy. Not just chips and popcorn though, like gourmet pizza, couscous, salad, and whatever else. Good times.

Florence is a great city, but three days was enough for me and the need to move was strong, so I headed to Cinque Terre which is on the Ligurian Sea. A guy from my team (the only Chinese one) told me about the town and how he couldn’t spend enough time there. Then after that, I kept hearing about it and how it was so great, so I decided to go check it out. The day before I left, I found a guy on Couchsurfing who lives in La Spetzia, which is on the sea as well, but not as touristy and only 10 mins by train away. He works three jobs, so I was pretty much left to my own devices to explore. I spent a lot of time lounging on the beach or rocks or going for hikes on the many trails around the area. Cinque Terre is made up of 5 little towns (hence the name). Each one is very charming, but there is not a whole lot to do. No worries though, I was very happy just soaking up the sun and whatnot.

I ended up staying in Cinque Terre for a couple nights. The first night we met up with some of Sergio’s friends, who happened to also be hosting couch surfers. All in all, there were about 15 of us who stuffed ourselves with pasta and ham and potatoes and an amazing desert made of ricotta cheese and chocolate. Of course we had coffee after dinner and some homemade ice cream. Ugh, I couldn’t eat again until dinner the next day I was so full! The second day I spent hiking from Manarola to Corniglia and then bought a bit of cheese and wine and bread and hiked up just past Riomaggori on the bluff to watch the Sunset.

The next day it was time to hit the road again, so I hopped on the back of Sergio’s scooter again (which is absolutely the best way to get around, especially on beautiful, sunny coastal roads) and he took me to the train station. The plan was to go to Genova then catch a train to Milan. I wish I could have spent more time in Genova. I guess there is the biggest aquarium in Italy there. It is also where pesto is originally from (yes, of course I bought some there from a local store). I also saw a specialty beers store that was selling American beer. You know what the microbrew was?? Rogue! They had maybe 4 or 5 different kinds too! I was so excited that I went into the store and tried to explain that the beer was from where I was from. The sales woman was not as thrilled as I was and just kind of looked at me with a distant expression, but I didn’t care.

So, next it was off to Milan to stay for one night, then back to Paris. I met another couchsurfer, Elena, who let me stay with her. Elena is an Italian teacher and also works for a computer company. I really enjoyed staying with her and it made me want to stay in Milan a bit longer and check out the city. I didn’t get into Milan til about 7pm, so we went right to meet her friend for a pizza. I’m so glad she made me order one because it was the best pizza I had had in Italy. After dinner, we just went back to her place and chatted until late into the night. It was so great meeting her and I hope that she comes to visit me in Paris or possibly the US because she said she might plan a trip there.

As I said above, I missed my flight back to Paris and had to take the train, but if I hadn’t taken the train, I wouldn’t have seen the sunset in the Alps, which really made it all worth it. Now I’m back in Paris and the little ones are as rambunctious as ever. Chloe gave me a big hug when I saw her and the other two are constantly making me laugh. If only I could get Pablo to get dressed in the morning without a struggle, life would be wonderful. On to the next adventure…

Update

2007-04-13T02:15:00.000-07:00

ciao bella!
i am having such a great time in italy. rimini was amazing. i guess it rained the couple days before the tourny, but was blue skys and sun the whole time we played. the hostel i stayed in was about 8 blocks from the beach and fields. i stayed in a room with three of my other teammates and we had our own bathroom with a shower. the schedule for the games was sweet too. games were friday, saturday, sunday, and one game monday then everyone watched the finals in a make shift stadium. it really was like watching a professional sport! each day the earliest the games started was 11am and we only had to play three games a day, which meant a lot of watching other games and freestylers. it was also wonderful because the party everynight went to at least 4am and there was no way i was going to get up and play at 8am, which is normal tourni game time in the states, and still function.

right now this is my third day in florence. i am writing this in the middle of my trip because i was headed to pisa as a day trip today, but all trains are cancelled due to a worker strike. hmf, i guess it wasnt meant to be. i am also not using any capital letters or punctuation in this entry because those too are making my life more difficult than it has to be. anyway, i dig florence, but there are so many frickin tourists and im kind of tired of being in cities. last night and tonight i am staying with a couchsurfer named massimo. he is extremely nice and has a huge, beautiful house about 30 minutes north of florence. he has 3 dogs and 2 cats and is crazy about his animals. last night we went for dinner in florence, which was amazing by the way, and he couldnt stop talking about them. anyway, tonight we are going to a couch surfing meet up with a bunch of the local surfurs in florence and tomorrow i am off to cinque terre. cinque terre is a beach town northwest of florence and is supposed to be absolutely amazing. ill write more about the tourny, my other travels and of course the food later. i still dont have a ticket back to paris, but that will all come in time...

ciao!

Goodies vs. Baddies

2007-04-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Not only am I learning French, but I'm also learning some Australian slang as well. Did you know that robbers, thieves, and all around mean people are called baddies? Yup, they are. Oh, and just a little comment on how Australians/New Zealandars say oui. Ugh, it's like dragging a fork across a plate. They do this nasely wayyy noise that's really obnoxious.

Anyway, Thursday was AM's birthday, so the kids and I put our collective energies to the task of making her a cake, card and filling the whole living room with balloons. The cake tasted great; the frosting could have used a bit more planning and the kids did a great job on the card. I let them stay up late until Anne-Marie came home and then they surprised her with it. It was really great. Friday was Pablo's birthday and he had a party yesterday, but I wasn't around for it because I went to Versailles with some German friends that I met through class.

Versailles was alright. It was a really rainy, cold day and there was a lot of restoration construction going on. None of us wanted to pay the entrance fee, so we just walked around the gardens. It was a bit disappointing, but I will go back again when the weather is better and their are more flowers.

It has been harder to meet people here than I thought it would be. I mean, I've "met" several people in my classes, through ultimate, etc, but 1) it's hard to make plans because I babysit in the evenings and 2) people just aren't as willing to just go for rally people for get togethers it seems. Last night I went out with the German girls (the ones I went to Versailles with) and some others who organized a pub crawl around St. Michel. Ah, it was so fun to just cut loose a bit and to have everyone speak English too! I was surprised at how organized the pub crawl was; everyone got a name tag and we all stayed together the whole night. Though, now that I think about it, I think we only went to two bars. Hmm, not that's not really a crawl is it? Or maybe it's more like a lope. Anyway, it was fun hanging with such an international group (Australia, Germany, India, Ireland, Costa Rica, England) and everyone spoke English. Good times.

Speaking of good times, I haven't really written about going to Italy yet. I think it's because I'm having a really hard time getting my shit together about the trip. I have my plane ticket to Milan for Thursday and my train ticket to Rimini and that's about as far as I've gotten. As far as I know, the tournament is supplying the housing (at cost of course), but I will find out details when I arrive. I don't know who my teammates are and will also find out upon arrival. Yes, I do know which team I'm playing for. I didn't reserve a return ticket yet cause I don't know when I'm coming back, but I don't think it will be too hard to do last minute (knock on wood). There is a guy on my team whose family lives around Lake Como. He offered to let anyone stay there after the tournament and I think I will take him up on it. After that, I might try to stay in Florence for the weekend, but we will have to see. If you want to know more about the tournament, go to www.paganello.com. Cheers!

That's Interesting Man...

2007-03-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Elliot's missing tooth

Sum up for this post: Getting my hair cut, running into an old professor at the Louvre the other day, and going to see Pink Martini last Sunday.

So, my adventure for the day: getting my hair cut (finally). I had some time this afternoon, so I went in to this little place close to my appartment; 18euros for a shampooing and cut (shampoo is also called shampooing). Obviously this activity normally wouldn't be a big deal, but it was a bit difficult when there is a language barrier. The hairdresser (who was very cute) was very nice when I tried to describe what I wanted in French. I felt like a cave woman who might just as well have grunted what she wanted. Les chauveux beacoup boucle and then resorted to oui and bien and ca va . Uhg, I really need to stop speaking English, so my French will improve.

Last Thursday I had a lot of energy in the afternoon, so I decided to take on the Louvre. I've been wanting to go since coming here, but just haven't made the effort. So, I got my ticket, got my little headset and set out. I felt obligated to see the Mona Lisa, then went to Venus de Milo. After that, I just bimbled about because my philosophy for museums such as these is that if you try to make too many plans, you end up trying to get somewhere the whole time and never really enjoy where you are. After bimbling through the French paintings and the Italian ones, I came to the Greek ones. I was standing in front of a large one and turned to see my old professor coming out of the adjoining room! I knew she was in France, but she lives about two hours away AND of all the days in all the rooms in the Louvre we met in the same spot. CRAZY! Such a small frickin world eh? She said she will be in France until June and I hope to visit sometime next month.

Ok, so the best part of my week last week was definitely going to see Pink Martini play with the Orchestra National Ile de France on Sunday. PM is a band from Portland who play a bit of classical/salsa/rock/... Their singer, China Forbes, has an amazing voice and sings in 10 or 11 different languages. Thomas Lauderdale is the pianist and band leader. They also have an amazing horn section. They played at the Salle Payel which actually is only a couple blocks from my language school and is where the symphony normally plays. I tried to get tickets last week, but the concert was sold out, so I decided to try to go right before the show. I showed up an hour before the concert and my patience paid off! I got a ticket which was normally 35euros for 10 and my seat was front and center 1st balcony. The concert was absolutely amazing! They played three encores and I was incredibly sad when it was over. I wanted them to keep going! They are such amazing musicians and with the symphony playing behind them, it is such a grand thing. Below is a link to their website and a picture at the concert. I also took a short video, but I'm not sure if I can post it. I will try. Their new album is coming out early May. www.pinkmartini.com

Oh ya, and I had a crepe with grand marnier and nutella the other day. Oh soooo good!

The Fairy Tooth

2007-03-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

Those crazy French and their verb/adjective order. This morning we discovered that Elliot lost his front tooth during the night. It was the first one that didn't have to be pulled out and he lost on his own. It was very exciting and tonight the fairy tooth is coming to leave one euro under his pillow. I'll have to take a picture and post it.

Last week was pretty good over all. Anne-Marie was freaking out Friday because she lost her passport, but it turned out she dropped it at the metro station and will have it back by next week. The weather has been incredibly shitty and cold, which makes for lots of indoor activities. These indoor activities include: using Lauren as a jungle gym, yelling, playing the new shoe game, which is one boy on each foot and I walk around (my legs are going to be so strong after this), playing Uno, playing teacher, and generally running a muck. Actually, it isn't that bad and the little ones are pretty fun to play with (when they're not fighting). Next week AM is going out of town for 4 days! I will be taking care of them on my own for the whole time. I'm not too worried about it though. It's not going to be much different than what I'm already doing. And, in two weeks, it will be school holiday and I will be off to Italy!

Oh, I forgot to mention what I had them call me when we play school. So I am the professor of course and they are the students. When they asked what they should call me, the first thing that came to my mind was Mrs. Intelligent. So, that's my name when we play school. I have to say, it's really hard not to bust out laughing every time one of them says, "ooh, ooh Mrs. Intelligent!" with their hands raised. Ah, this job does have some perks. Like the other night, Elliot was eager to help, so I showed him how to wash the dishes that can't go in the dish washer. He's happy, I'm happy, everyone wins. Then there was Chloe in the back ground walking around with her hand on her forehead making chirping sounds saying, "look I'm an emu". Ah, if only we could get away with walking around like emus everywhere we go.

Je ne sais pa...

2007-03-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't really written much about my language classes. So, here's the latest... Finally I feel like I understand what is going on in class. The time line is a bit confusing, but basically, I started in one class that had been going for four weeks already. Then, switched into another class that was faster, but had just begun. While the first class was on holiday, I continued in the second class. After that month, the second class was over and I went back to the first class AND joined a conversation class. Several of the concepts have been overlapping and I feel like I'm starting to catch on. This is not the case still when I try to use French in the real world, though I have to say it is really nice to not dread going to class everyday for fear of not knowing what the heck is going on. We will see how I feel tomorrow or the next day though...

So today we (Denis and I) took the kids to the public library. It was pretty fun, but we didn't stay long. They have books in English for adults and kids, which is great because I was running out of bedtime stories for them. After the library, Denis had to go to work, so we ate lunch then went to the local pool. In Paris, there are several pools for pretty cheap, and one is only a couple blocks from the house. We had a great time playing cat and marco polo then came home and had afternoon tea (which really means eating some sort of freshly made pastry).

Oh, and I'm going to Italy next month. I'm playing in an ultimate frisbee tournament on the Adriatic Sea. Yes, the family has holiday for another two weeks and so do I. Buhahaha. I fly out the 5th because flying was actually cheaper than taking the train (40euros roundtrip!) and will be playing/partying for 5 days in Rimini. After, I hope to check out Florence, or I think one of my team members lives next to lake Como. We shall see. So, I'm playing with an Asian team that I found out about through a woman I met here in Paris who is from California. Crazy.
A tout a l'heur...

Sometimes...

2007-03-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

Overall I had a pretty good week this week. It's getting harder for me to write every couple days like I planned to. It's jut so hard to write after a long day. I know...call the whaambulence. :) Today is Sunday and everyone else is off doing something. Pablo is off with Denis, the others are at the movies and I am doing laundry, catching up on homework, and hanging out in my jamies. It's extremely cold and crappy outside and I am fully taking advantage of it by just chiliing. The weather has been beautiful, but winter is not ready to release its grasp and this week is going to be very cold and rainy. I may go out a bit later, but it's too early to say at this point.

I had the kids alone from Tuesday and Wednesday. Anne Marie flew to England for work and came back very late Wednesday night. They were pretty well behaved except for Pablo who refused to unset the table, but all in all not too bad. After raising my voice and being stern, then explaining that everyone has to do their part to help out, you know what I told him to finally get him to help with the dishes? I leaned over and whispered to him that if he helped, then he can be the first one to brush his teeth that night. He then said that he would after he was done reading his comics (though he is 4 and can't read). I said alright and maybe 5 seconds later he started helping. I think I got the better end of that deal.

Wednesday afternoon we went to play in the park (chateau de vincenne) with Denis. Chloe and I climbed the “Eiffle tower” which was really a red rope tower about 30 feet tall and went on the slides. It was actually kind of fun, but I was most definitely the biggest one on both the tower and the slides. After making dinner of penne, pine nuts and spinache we all worked together to make some little origami flowers for Anne Marie when she came home. It was fun more because everyone worked together than the actual making of the flowers, though that was fun also. It's been a bit difficult to put the boys to bed because they seem really calm then all of a sudden get bursts of energy right before sleep. There aren't too many books that I can read to them because all of their books are in French, so I'm getting pretty good at telling stories. I'm considering not giving them anything to eat at night so that they won't have any energy before bed, but I don't think that will go over too well.

Chloe is a bit hard to figure out. Fridays we have to get to school early and last Friday we forgot. We all got ready in time and made it out the door. I knew we had plenty of time, but Chloe kept saying, "we’re going to be late" the whole trip to school (which actually isn't that unusual on other days as well). Then after getting there early and hanging around in the playground for a bit, on her way up to the classroom she goes by me and says, “see, we’re early.” I don’t get that girl yet. I think her way of dealing with stress is to be the boss and have everything in order. The problem with this is that no one likes to be told all the time that they are wrong. She is also always worried that she’s going to get into trouble is something is not done properly; for example, she I let Pablo play in the schoolyard after school while waiting for Elliot to get out of his class and she told me that he wasn't supposed to be doing that, which I found out later that it's true, but was worried that she was going to get into trouble for it. She also tells everyone in the family (including her mom) that they are not doing things the right way, even though sometimes they are doing it or saying it just fine, just a different way. She can definitely stress me out sometimes and I feel like she doesn’t say what’s really bothering her so she takes it out on other people at inappropriate times. I feel like she is going to learn the hard way that she can’t get her way all the time. Don't get me wrong, she can be really sweet, but usually it's when she's getting her way.

As far as my role goes in the family, I feel like I’m settling in a bit more. The first month was definitely rough. With the kids not really listening to me and one or more of them crying by the time we got home, I have to say I was not satisfied with my job performance. It came to a head when I got yelled at for not keeping the kids quiet while Anne Marie was on the phone. I did not like being yelled at and was at first worried that she thought I wasn’t doing my job, then a bit hurt then kind of pissed, then really pissed. I went for a run and came to the conclusion that this is a job. My job is not to worry about if I hurt the kids feelings or try to anticipate what Anne Marie wants. My job is to take care of the kids and be an authority. After the holidays I was much more strict with them and they actually are doing better because of it.

It’s just difficult to determine when the situation requires being caring and gentle or if yelling is the right approach. Obviously this is the eternal dilemma, but I feel like I’m learning and that’s why I’m here right. I think I do have to stay a bit more removed from the family, but it's really hard since I'm living in the house with them. I guess that's also part of setting boundaries.

Rodin

2007-03-12T14:20:00.000-07:00

Finally after living in Paris for over a month, I went to my first museum. Since it was such a beautiful day on Saturday, I decided to go to the Rodin Museum because part of it has a garden where one can walk amongst the sculptures. The Rodin Museum is one of the smaller ones, but even still, you can spend days there. The sculptures are absolutely amazing. He is so good at making them look like they are in motion and tells a story with each one. The muscle detail and the way he positions body parts is incredible. You can spend days there because it takes so long just to figure one statue out and you don't really have time to give all the pieces enough attention in one outing. Anyway, I posted a couple pictures of some of his sculptures (and a pretty one of the Tower Eiffel ;*p)...

Late Night Escapade

2007-03-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I learned that the metros stop running at 1am, but I thought that they stopped running at 2. I ended up getting home at 4:30 am then got up at 8:30 to go on an all day bike ride/treasure hunt around the city in teams of 3-5 people. Details below...

So, a couple of girls from my French class and I decided to go have a night on the town last Saturday. Nichole (from Colorado) heard of a place close to our school that had good music and cheap(er) drinks, so we decided to check it out. Note, my school is almost all the way across town from where I live. We had a good time, tried a couple of different bars in the area, had some drinks and a bit of creme brule w/ nutella, then decided to call it a night. Gunna and I have to take the same metro home, where Nichole has to head the opposite direction and is a lot closer. Nichole got on the train no problem. Gunna and I got to the station at 1:30 thinking we had plenty of time to catch the train home. After sitting for a half hour and realizing that everyone had left, we realized that the metro was no longer running. Shit. So, we tried another line and the same termine announcement came over the intercom just as we arrived. Hmm, how about a taxi then.

The taxis here are a bit expensive, but it was a lot better than walking home, which probably would have taken a good 1.5/2hours. In every other large city in the world all you have to do is raise your hand and a taxi will eventually come. In Paris, however, there are designated taxi stations and, especially at 2am all are either full or not running. We waited at the transit station (with a lot of other people by the way) for about 30 minutes until we realized that all the people waiting in the taxi que either spoke English or Spanish. Not a good sign. Final options: late night bus or walk. There was one bus headed in our general direction, so as soon as we saw it we jumped on. It wasn't til after we started moving that we realized it was the right line going the wrong direction. So, we got off at the next stop actually farther away than where we needed to be. Eventually the right bus came full of tired drunk people and we took it to Bastille and walked from Bastille. I eventually got home around 4/4:30 exhausted. I can't believe the metros stop running so early here!! It is so incredibly stupid. The bars don't close until after 2! Lessons learned: go to bars within walking distance, or plan your bus route ahead of time.

Just a bit about Sunday: I joined the Paris group through the Couchsurfing website. There are all kinds of people who propose different events and everyone who is a member (over 1000 people) are from all kinds of backgrounds. One of the events that was organized was a bike treasure hunt around the city. Like I said above, teams were composed of 3-5 people; each having to have at least one English speaker and one French speaker. The game was to answer as many questions about the different districts as possible in 5 hours, each question being worth a certain number of points, and the team with the most points at the end wins a prize of some sort. Our team was much more focused on stopping at parks and getting coffee in the afternoon than answering questions about the name of the church where such and such a king was beheaded and getting the most points. We also didn't really plan for efficiency either. At the end though, we still managed to not come in last and I had a blast all day (we came in second to last). I also know now where I can rent bicycles. Bike is a great way to get around Paris, but the weekends are really the only good times to do it as most everyone doesn't work and doesn't drive. There were probably about 60 people who participated in the event and of course we all met up at a bar afterwards for some beers and socializing. I met some really great people from Paris of course, but also from Mexico, the US, Canada, Italy, and England. I had a really great time, but had to make it home because the grandparents were in town last weekend, and there was no way I was going to miss out on grandma's apple tart.

salon du l'agriculture

2007-03-07T12:49:00.000-08:00

I think the photo link was cut off again, so here the address for my alps photos below and the actual like above. Good luck...

Today I took the kids to the Salon du l'agriculture, which is a huge expo that goes on for three weeks in which the countryside basically comes to Paris. It was my first outing with just the kids and no one else and I had a great time! It is Wednesday, so no school and we had to take two different metros for about 20mins each to get there. We all got along fine, no one had any huge breakdowns (only tiny, normal ones) and no one got lost! We also spent probably about 4 hours there. The expo is kind of a combination state fair/farmers market and it is HUGE. The kids loved all the horses, pigs, cows, etc. and I loved the specialty food part. For lunch we ate up in the food pavillion and had thai actually (the kids all put the kabash on any of the local stuff). For dessert we had lemon and strawberry Italian gelato. mmmm. Anyway, not too eventful and tomorrow everyone has to go back to school.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=lauren.gross&aid=
576460762391742412&pid=&wtok=ION0B0uUV
1pBjAiO0SpIxQ--&ts=1172763025&.src=ph

The Latest

2007-03-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a bit long, so read on mon amie...

OR Just Check out my Photos:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=lauren.gross&aid=5764607
62391742412&pid=&wtok=ION0B0uUV1pBjAiO0SpIxQ--&ts=1172763025&.src=ph

Though I had some really great times on my little adventure, the whole time I had this constant feeling like I arrived at a party before everyone else showed up and I didn't know anyone. You know, like I really want to have a good time and get to know people, but just feel awkward and out of place instead. I realize that I keep putting myself in situations where I feel like that and keep asking myself what the hell I'm doing, but I just can’t help myself. I have to say it was a bit of a reality check to leave my little English bubble here in Paris and venture out into the country. Yes, many people speak English, but many people also don't. For example, it is a very unnerving feeling when the train ticket taker looks at your ticket (20 minutes into the ride) and gives you a concerned look back. The first thought is, "crap, I'm on the wrong train." When actually, I was just supposed to get it punched before I got on and didn't know. Stuff like that happened to me all weekend. And, even when I did try to say a few things in French, it's a 50/50 chance the intended person will understand my pronunciation anyway. Some people are understanding and gracious and some definitely give a bit of attitude. And now a bit about my adventure...

Well, first, I almost missed my train to get there. I left for the train station right after French class. I got there 20 mins ahead of time (which is usually enough here). I couldn't print my ticket however because I don't have a French credit card. yada, yada, I got my billet (ticket), found the terminal and jumped on the train with two minutes to spare.

Three hours later, I arrived in Annecy (Friday around 6pm). Guilliume, the snowboard/ski instructor that I was staying with picked me up from the train station and we went to the restaurant where he and his friend/fellow instructors Matieu and Ava gave out awards for the week to their students (and parents). The restaurant was this little family owned place on the way up to the mountain and the whole place was filled. We ate raclette and drank wine and danced with the tourists to the sound of the restaurant owner’s son playing the accordion well into the night. Afterwards we went to a bar to hang out then went to another local bar/night club to dance, but didn’t stay long because Guilliume had to work in the morning. Raclette is a local cheese/dish where they melt the cheese on a hot plate until just toasty on the top then pour it over potatoes and cured meat. Hooooly crap it’s good. I love this country. It was actually sunny when I arrived in town, but the rain soon started and didn’t stop until it started snowing Sunday evening.

How did I meet this person and stay at his place in the Alps for free you ask? www.couchsurfing.com. It’s a really great website that connects travelers all over the world. You of course have to sign up, but it’s free and your level of commitment is up to you. I’ve hosted a couple people while living in Portland. One from England and the other from Bend, who was moving to town. I have to say they were some of the best experiences. I wanted to stay in the Alps, but didn’t have a place to stay, so I went on the website and emailed him about a week before leaving. He emailed back (through the website, so no personal info is given) and away I went. The other website I learned about is called Hospitality Club: www.hospitalityclub.com. Good stuff! Anyway, Guilliume is an instructor at Manigod, which is one of 4 main areas to ski in the area. He has been an instructor for 10 years (started when he was 19) and he and his cousin Oliver live/own a little house 10 minutes from the ski resort and about 40 minutes from Annecy. La Cluza is the town and is the main access to the ski lifts, though a skier can traverse back and forth to all four mountains if one wishes. He also hooked me up with some rental boots and skis for three days.

Saturday I was going to go skiing, but it was raining, so I read and slept most of the day. I was actually pretty OK with that since I had the whole place to myself. I did venture out to explore the area a bit, but he lives close to the highway in a neighborhood on the mountain and there isn’t really anyway to get to a hiking spot without transportation. Sat evening G’s friend picked me up to go to a restaurant with a lot of his friends. We went to his other friend Denis’ (Chez Denis in French) house for apertifs, meaning cheese balls, chips, sausage and wine/beer before heading to the restaurant. There was a couple from N. Carolina who were there for the weekend visiting friends. Though I'm trying not to hang with too many English speakers, it was really nice to be able to communicate! After apertifs, we all went to a restaurant in La Cluza (about 10 of us). Oh, the food was amazing! I can’t remember the name of my dish, but it had some green vegetables, three different kinds of cheese, and of course, cured meat and potatoes. I’ve never really eaten ham in the states, but I eat it all the time here. When we divided the bill all up, I think we paid about 30euros each, but that includes 4 courses and wine. They also drink this alcohol after dinner called chartruse. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a bit sweet and kind of has a plant/herb taste to it. I will do some more research, so I can describe it better. J By the time we were finished and ready to leave it was after midnight, so everyone went just went home. It was still raining outside when we went to sleep.

Sunday I was going to ski no matter what. I made it to about 2:30/3 and had to bail. The mountains are open til 5 here, but the snow was so wet and my legs were tired, so I busted out. I was in a crappy mood cause the weather sucked, I was tired, bummed that the snow wasn't very good, and my feet hurt from the rental boots. So, I went to the bar at the base of the chair to have a drink and change shoes. After drinking the best irish coffee I've ever had and getting warm and dry, I felt much better and was ready to face how I was going to get back to Guilliume's house. I ended up taking a bus headed to Annecy for 10 euros. I didn't know that I was supposed to get up before my stop so the driver would know. I just thought he stopped at every stop (plus, I wasn't exactly sure where it was). After passing my street, I went up to the driver, who eventually stopped about 2km away from where I was supposed to be. Ugh. No worries, though. I hitched a ride back up the hill and got inside the house right before it started to downpour. Guilliume got back later in the evening and we were both so tired, we watched the movie Big Fish in English (yeah for giving my brain a vacation) and then went to sleep. It started to snow Sunday night and continued on into Monday.

Monday: Unfortunately, though there was fresh snow, the whole mountain was enrobed in clouds. I went to La Cluza anyway, just in case, but the clouds didn't part and eventually I gave up and went home. La Cluza is a really cute town with a bunch of shops and I did walk around town for a bit though before taking off. There was a little open air market with people selling all kinds of artisan meats and cheese and soap and honey, etc... I would have bought one of each if I could have afforded it, but I settled on some Tomme cheese, which is one of the local cheeses in the area.

Tuesday the clouds parted and I skied all day. What a great day! I spent the better part of the day on Balme which is on the back side and the highest part of La Cluza. I just put my headphones on, turned on some Beastie Boys and rocked it down the mountain. Whatever rain and crap I had to go through up til now, it was all worth it for this. I ended up taking the little bus for 3,60 euros to the other little town down the hill called St. Jean and hitched a ride back to the house. It was much easier and cheaper to do it this way. Plus, it’s fun to meet people. I hitched a couple times up and down the mountain and every single time, though not everyone spoke English, the people were extremely nice and friendly.

Wednesday was my last day there. My train out of Annecy didn’t leave until 17:00, so I had a leisurely breakfast then made my way to town around 1 pm. Annecy is absolutely beautiful and has a lot of cute little streets with restaurants and shops. The lake is amazingly clear and with the Alps lining it, everywhere looks like a postcard. I stopped for lunch about 2:00 and ate tarteflette, which is another local dish. As you can probably guess it contained pomme de terre (potatoes), cream, cheese, and little pieces of ham. I also had a salade and some wine. I just sat and read my book and ate and had coffee for about an hour and a half while it rained outside. It was great. You’d think that I’d have gained 20 pounds by now, but in Paris I walk everywhere and though they eat a lot of fatty foods, all the food is fresh and the portions are not that big. They also don’t really eat a very big dinner, which makes a lot of sense to me. So, eventually I made my way to Gare d’Annecy (the train station) and headed back to Paris. I have to say, I was glad to leave the city and get some fresh air and mountains, but I was very glad to be back home again!! On to planning the next trip… J

Trip to the Alps!

2007-02-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

Yup, that's right. I take the train to Annecy tomorrow afternoon (Vendredi) and am coming back to Paris Mecredi nuit. Buhahahaha.

What about my French classes? Hmm, conjugate verbs or ski in the alps...
Actually today was a pretty good day in class. We went over possessing objects and imparatifs (how to order/tell someone to do something). My teacher is different this week because our other one is on holiday. This guy is pretty funny. To practice imparatif (imparative) tenses, he had us get in groups and come up with things that annoy people. Some of the examples people came up with were hilarious. Like the guy from Russia, Tigram, said, "chante dans la salle de bains" (sing in the bathroom). Mine was prends ses affaires (take one's things). For mine he came over to me and tried to take something off my desk, but I protected my stuff before he could. The other American, Nichole, said being obscene. Our teacher didn't know what she meant by obscene and asked if she meant porn. Which is even funnier if you picture him saying it in a French accent. When she said no, he asked if she meant flipping someone off and made the gesture. Eventually we managed to get across that she meant impolite. There are several Koreans in my class and a couple Japanese. One guy is from Ireland, a woman from Nigeria, a woman from Finland, one from Australia and a couple others. Everyone is pretty patient with each other, because we are all struggling together. Today though, it was really great to laugh together.

This is a picture of a couple of girls in my French class in front of the Louvre. We went there to study and walk around after class the other day. The one in the red jacket is Gunna, from Iceland, who lives in my arrondesment (district) actually. The other girl is Nichole from Colorado. I haven't actually been inside the Louvre, or any other musee` for that matter, since arriving here, but I will soon.

The mixture which is not stirred decomposes

2007-02-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Bonjour Mon Cherie,

I found some ultimate players to hang with! Saturday night there was a mini winter tourni at the local university with 6 teams playing 3 half hour games. It felt sooo good to run around and throw the disc a bit! I picked up with a team called Revolution Air, which is a pretty good team with solid players. They appreciated having another competent women on the team and we all went for pizza after at one of the guy's apartments. There are a couple Canadians, one Englishmen, and a woman from Columbia who were nice enough to translate what was being said on the field. Man, it's hard enough to remember to call out directions in English on the field. Now I have to remember to say a gauche and a doite, etc. instead. Going to Laurent's house after was pretty fun too. Though there are definitely cultural differences (like eating yogurt for dessert after pizza) ultimate players are pretty much the same here as in the states. Even though I couldn't understand what was being said most of the time (though Andrea, from Calgary was nice enough to translate) I still had a great time.

Last night (Tuesday) I went to practice with another team called Ah Ouh Puc. They are even more international, but maybe a bit less experienced. It was still fun though and I may go to their practice again on Thursday.

I'm finding that there are a lot of foreigners in Paris. I discovered that my next door neighbors in fact are from NY. I couldn't get into the apartment the other day and they were nice enough to let me stay at their place until I got a hold of Anne-Marie. They are a couple who has a one year old and are working in Paris for a couple months. It's nice to run into people I have something in common with, but at the same time, I'm not here to speak English and I'm trying not to hang out with too many English speakers (though that is what my family hired me for...)

Speaking of learning French, I'm trying not take it too seriously. I really want to learn, but it's a really slow process. I feel like I'm learning the grammar, but it's becoming more and more apparent that I need a conversation course. The plan is to finish out this course that I paid for and then re-evaluate the situation. There is no sense in staying in a course that I'm not getting the most out of.

Anyway, more about this weekend: Holy crap it was beautiful day on Sunday! It was about 65 degrees and Sunny. There were a TON of people out walking and shopping and seeing the sights. It was really great. I can't wait until spring and summer when it's like this more often! I decided just to bimble about in the Latin Quarter because I haven't really spent any time there yet. I went to St. Sulpice and roamed around the Pantheon. I also walked to the park around Luxemburg and down this street that started with an M that was only for pedestrians with lots of little shops and people eating glace and crepes all over the place. I finally ended up at Hotel de Ville (city hall) which is on my metro line. There is a full time ice skating there in the winter and it was really bizzare to see so many people ice skating in 65 degree weather. There were a ton of people gathered for a Chinese New Year celebration, but by that time I was very tired and headed home.

Since the kids are gone this week, Anne-Marie has pretty much left me up to my own devices. I think she is really enjoying her time alone to do her work and go house hunting (more on that later), which has given me a chance to do whatever. So, since I didn't have any chilins to pick up from school, I decided to go on a walking chocolate tour of Paris Monday. It's through this company called Paris Walks and they do all kinds of tours every month in English. This one happened to be a Chocolate tour and I have to say it was definitely worth the money! The guide took us to 4 different chocolatiers in the area around the Louvre (which isn't that far from my place by the way) and we tried 7 different tarts and truffles. We began the tour with a ganache w/ mousse and creme brulee in the center, then moved on to candied oranges dipped in chocolate, chocolate truffles with a hint of grande marnier, and dark chocolate covered pralines. In addition to the gastronomic entertainment, we also got some history about places and chocolate in Paris. So, if any of you out there come to visit, I have all the names and addresses of the places we went to... (yes, that's a chocolate stelletto above)

The Chilins

2007-02-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

It 's been a few days since I wrote last, but I needed those days to get a bit of perspective...
So, last Wednesday a bunch of things that have been just under the surface came boiling over the pot. The kids have Wednesdays off from school and I am expected to watch them/play with them while the mom works from home until their dad comes to get them around 1 or 2pm. This is how it went:
No TV unless it's on Tuesday or Friday night, so we (meaning the kids and I) decided to make up a game. It was a pretty cool game and elaborate too where we made the living room the game board and we were the game pieces. We were all going along fine until Chloe cheated. I knew exactly what she did, but she wouldn't admit it. I told her to just roll again, but she wouldn't. Then the other two started to get involved. This of course caused enough commotion to bring the mom down and yell at all of us. Chloe then left the game and the three of us continued. We got almost to the end of the game (which would be the first time since I've been here that we finished one) then Elliot didn't get his way (ie win), so he started to pitch a fit. Blah blah blah, we didn't finish the game and I told him to go get dressed. blah blah blah he wanted to do crafts instead. blah blah blah he wouldn't change from his pjs to his clothes so he threw a temper tantrum. The whole morning was a battle and this was supposed to be there day off! My nerves were a bit frayed. Not because I was pissed, but because I knew that my job was to watch the kids and control them and I couldn't. I also had to deal with waiting out a temper tantrum. I've never had to put my will against a kid's like that before. Even though he eventually did what I wanted and we hugged when he was calm, I still felt a bit shakey after.

After all of this, eventually Anne-Marie called Denis to come early and sit down with all the kids to have a family discussion. Basically, the whole family talked a bit about what has been going on (tantrums and arguments, etc.) and laid down a few rules. We also talked about setting and sticking to a schedule. This was all in French and after the dad left with the kids. AM and I talked probably for about an hour about schedule and what we think we should do with the kids, etc. I feel pretty good about it, though the kids will be on vacation the next couple weeks and the schedule is kaput, but I really think it will help them to have more structure when it is implemented. And, even more so, I feel good that AM and I talked. I feel like I know what is expected of me and I think the kids needed a bit of that too. I don't think it will be the last discussion by far, but I think it was a very good start.

A bit of background: Before today (Friday), there was not a single day this past week when one or two of them didn't throw a fit before we got home. Over what you ask? Who fucking knows. One minute Elliot is describing how he had the best day in the whole world and the next minute he is crying and whimpering and doesn't want to do anything anymore. I ask what's wrong and he says, "you're not listening to me!" Ah, ha yes, good that's something that I can fix. Is that really what's going on though? No. Granted with three kids all vying for your attention at once, I can see why he gets frustrated, but it's really hard to please a kid who wants your attention all the time. What I mean is, he starts talking about something then keeps going and going and going sometimes not making any sense and of course during this time one of the other kids will chime in with something or I don't understand something and Elliot gets pissed off. Done. Can't console him can't distract him. Can't cheer him up. We just have to wait it out. And, if he gets pissed he sometimes kicks or hits his brother or sister which pisses them off and you can guess the rest. There were a couple days where we almost got all the way home without incident, but alas today was the only one where everyone came home happy. The difference was that we set some rules before getting on the metro. Today we had a little discussion about interrupting each other. It seemed to work because we made it home with out any tantrums!!! After we came home, we had a bit of daylight left so we went to the park to play. We also made it there and back without too much of a problem too!! All in all I consider this a very good day.

What I have learned this week:
1)If you are going to play a game, read the rules before starting if there are some, or if not, make sure everyone knows them all and agrees on them. Perhaps even writing them down.
2) It's ok to make rules for things that are not games, like riding the metro. If we all agree on them before hand there will hopefully be no desputes (And the rules have to be made BEFORE)
3) No matter how many times they are told to share, sometimes it's just not possible and either I do it myself (like pushing the code to get into the building) or the game/activity needs to stop.
4) Yelling at screaming kids does nothing.
5) Make sure to close the shower curtain when they have control of the shower head.

One thing I have to say that is pretty cute...The first or second day I was here I asked the boys to brush their teeth. When they came back, I didn't believe them so I asked to smell their breath. Even though I had a cold and couldn't smell anything, I told them I didn't think they brushed. They then ran back to the bathroom and really did brush their teeth. Ever since then when I ask if they've brushed their teeth they say, "yes I did, smell them!" and I do, and they did. Ah, the little uns can be very cute.

Tomorrow the kids are off to the country to visit their grandparents for two weeks. I still have class every day, but no chilins to take care of. So, the plan is to explore Paris the first week and hopefully go skiing the second. I don't know how or where yet, but I think I can make it happen.

National Anthem

2007-02-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to describe the kids' personalities a bit.
First, Pablo, the 4-year old. It never fails that during dinner time, he has to use the toilet. The rest of us are peacefully eating when we hear strange sounds coming from upstairs. At first, it sounds a bit like crying, but when you listen closely, it is actually the Australian national anthem. Yes, Pablo sings the Australian national anthem when sitting on the pot. It is frickin hilarious. I keep telling his mom that we need to record it for when he's older. After he comes back to the table, we ask him to sing it for us, but he always refuses and says, "not until after dinnah" in a cute whiny Australian accent. The kid can be really entertaining, but then the next minute a kicking, screaming drama queen. He's pretty jolly most of the time though.

Elliot, the 7-year old is very sensitive. The slightest thing can set him in a crying, bad mood. The good thing about that though is that he gets over it quickly and can be the happiest, bubbliest kid in the world. It seems that every night (at least last week and this) he has a tempertantrum before dinner and then is fine the rest of the night. I really don't know what's going on with him. He is a pretty sweet kid overall though.

Chloe is a bit bossy. She can be very loving, but everything has to be a certain way. She makes sure her brothers and everyone else follow the rules, except doesn't quite hold the same standards to herself. She means well most of the time, but can be a bit moody.

I'm really curious to see how my relationships with all the kids develops. So far, I feel like I've integrated into the family pretty quickly. The kids all seem to be fine with me being here. I have to remind myself that I've only been here 2 and a half weeks.

So, just a bit about my school. I've once again changed classes. I swear, I've never had to deal with administrative ignorance like this before. I found out that there is another beginner class that I could have gone into that started last week. It's not for au pairs because it's everyday (the kids are off wendesdays), but it's so much better than my other class. This one seems to be following a logical grammatical path, where as the other one just bounced from topic to topic. It doesn't matter how much the teacher speaks to me in French, if I don't understand why things are the way they are, then I will never get it. Anyway, I'm going to try this class and hope that it works out better. I think it will...

Lessons...

2007-02-10T04:05:00.000-08:00

Do not do any activity that could remotely be confrontational right before bedtime (basically everything)
Do not do or say anything yourself that you want the kids to repeat over and over and over
Do not laugh at anything you don't want the kids to repeat over and over and over
"No" does not equal compliance and re-direction does not always work on the committed
TV is not necessarily all bad

Loza Lives!

2007-02-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that it snowed! I woke up to big flakes landing on my skylight. The ground was too warm for it to stick, but I don't think fresh snow will ever get old for me. Today it rained in the afternoon and a rainbow came out. Not the most novel thing in the world, but I really enjoyed it especially with the old Parisian buildings in the foreground. Ah, I have a picture, I will post it.

Today was a pretty good day. In my French class, we learned how to describe physical features. If you call someone noir, you are referring to their skin. If you want to say they have black hair, you have to say chauveux first. It was good because everyone in the class was learning it for the first time, so we all struggled together (not just me). It was pretty funny when we made mistakes and it felt good to laugh.

Let's see...Oh, I found an ultimate team to play with! Well, at least I found out where they practice. Tomorrow (Friday) I am going to check it out. If that doesn't work out, it's still OK. I might pick up with a team from Paris for a beach tournament in Spain at the end of the month. Ooooh, I hope that works out!!!!

Viola!

2007-02-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

Today was my second Macrede (Wednesday) in Paris. Meaning, the kids didn't have school. It was a pretty good day overall. Denis (their dad) came over around 13:00 then we took the bus to one of the many local swimming pools. I hadn't been swimming in a pool in a long time and I have to say, I had a lot of fun. Also, no major temper tantrums or crying episodes. I had to scold Chloe for not clearing the table when she said she would, but other than that, everyone seemed to get a long pretty well (and my scolding probably doesn't have the bite that some others may have).

I feel like I'm finally starting to get better because I realized that some of the food I've been eating actually has a different taste than I originally thought. Now that my nose is less stuffy, everything has much more flavor! It's funny though, I found when doing my homework that some of the French words were easier to pronounce with a stuffy nose.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I have 2hrs of class then the rest of the afternoon free. I think I'm going to give my brain a bit of a rest and go see Babel at the theater close to my school. I guess the American movies are all in English with French subtitles. There are a lot of marketing for American movies here! Everywhere on the metro there is either a poster for Nuit en le Musee (Night at the Museum) or Hannibal or something. It's pretty obnoxious. Anne-Marie told me that the French government actually had to pass a law forcing French TV stations to show a certain percentage of French TV shows because all they were showing were American ones. Speaking of which I haven't talked at all about French TV. Pretty much all I've watched to far are cartoons, but they are pretty cool. There is one that the kids watch all the time that, from what I can tell, is about history. From what I gather, there are French explorers that travel to different historical periods/events and interact with the characters there. This morning the cartoon was about people going from Oklahoma to Oregon on the Oregon Trail!! How cool is that? Of course there is still all the marketing to kids during the breaks and I swear after every one Chloe says, "I want that!" How many little pocket ponies or whatever do you need? I guess it's not about need eh. I haven't watched too much TV otherwise, but I'm curious to see the differences. There is so much else to do though, I'll get around to it later. Ah, I can ramble on for quite a while, but I need to stop... Oh, totally off the subject, I found out today that France runs on about 85% nuclear energy. Interesting huh? In the 60's they made a decision not to depend on petroleum and sell their energy to surrounding countries. Where do they put the waste you ask?? Hmm, good question.

Alright enough, I'll write more later. Keep in touch!!!

PS: Above is a link to a French news website that Denis sent me. There don't seem to be too many stories, but it is very worldly and best of all, UN-SENSATIONAL. I frickin hate when the news tries to entertain. Just tell us what frickin happened. Anyway, if you can't see the link, you can still click on the box and it will take you there (same goes for the link to my pictures as well).

Adventures in Babysitting

2007-02-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

Apparently, the picture link didn't work. Try this one...
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/album?c=lauren.gross&aid=576460762388442820&pid=&wtok=hClHu5i56iRJAVNMD4F4Yw--&ts=1170799925&.src=ph

La Petit Explorer

2007-02-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, a lot has happened since I last wrote in this here blog. I continue to swing from good feelings to bad to good to bad, etc.. I have only a bit of time to write as I have some homework to do before bed and before my brain starts to seize up entirely. I will write a bit about my exploration adventures, my visa and school bureaucracy and learning adventures, the kids, and bitching about being sick.

And, if you don't want to read this long story, here is a link to some pictures:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/lauren.gross/album/576460762388442820

First, my exploration adventures:
Some time last week, after dropping the kids off at school, I didn't have class so I decided to just walk around. You really can't get too lost in Paris. Even without a map, all you have to do is find a metro station and you can find your way from there. So from their school, I took a bridge across La Seine and just walked through the little alleys. I turn a corner and voila! Notre-Dame. It was great being there at 9am because no one else was around and they were having a church service. Listening to the chanting and singing in that great big church was absolutely amazing! I didn't stay long, but really enjoyed myself.
Last Saturday I was still a bit sick, but it was such a nice day that I had to get out in the sunshine and fresh air. I went up to Sacre-Coeur, which is another famous church on to of the highest hill (?) in Paris. It was beautiful and you have a view of the whole city from there. That minor excursion took so much energy, I went home and slept until pretty much the next morning. (sorry, not to the bitching part yet).
Sunday, Anne-Marie, Pablo and I went to the local open air market to get groceries for the week. There are markets like this all over Paris, all selling cheese and meat and bread and fruit, and vegetables and fish and ahhh...

On to the Visa and School:
Briefly on the visa: went to get my card. Did all the paper work, talked to the people, got everything in order, waited in line...then they tell me, "well, we have to wait 6 weeks to "make a decision about your visa" then at the end of the 6 weeks you have to take a medical examination. What?! Fine, I know, it's not the worst thing, but hey, it's a pain in the ass and I can bitch about it because it's my blog.
Briefly on the School: I have to say it is a really strange experience sitting in class not knowing what the hell is going on. Yeah, I can pick up on some things and try to answer the way the teacher wants me to when it's my turn to answer, but I usually pronounce it wrong or have no idea what the exercise is about. It sounds funny now, but it really sucks and it's frustrating. Yes, it was only my second day of class, but patience was never a virtue of mine when it comes to things like this. And with the kids and class it's a bit difficult to find time for homework. Ok, in addition to walking more, and saying what's in my head (eloquently if possible), my other new year's resolution is to plan and prioritize my time.

Ah, the kids:
I don't think I have enough time now to give this topic justice (really not the other topics either). The kids are both great and aggravating. Which, I have to say, I prefer. At least they are being themselves. There is a lot going on in this family now with the whole family moving back to Paris and with the parents splitting up and of course a new person taking care of them. It was my first time giving the two boys a bath the other night and I might as well have gotten in the shower with them because I was pretty wet by the end as well. And, tonight I was very proud of myself for getting them to eat all of their lettuce by pretending that they were sharks and the lettuce was little fish that they were gobbling up. Hey, if it works, I'm gonna ride it out as long as possible. The mom works pretty late some nights and I can tell the kids really don't like it. It's good for them to cry and let it out, but it's hard to see them sad. Anyway, that's the jist, I'll write more next time.

Last, being sick:
This probably won't be a very interesting bit, but it feels good to bitch into the internet void so here it goes...
I have been sick now for going on three weeks! First, it started as a cough then moved into my sinuses and last week/weekend I had a headache for 3 days!!!! It is amazing how much we take being healthy for granted! I have never ever experienced that! Holy shit it sucked. From Friday night until just this morning I had to turn my head very slowly for fear of what felt like a sharp whap to the back of the head feeling. I'm pretty sure it had to do with pressure from my sinuses, a bit of dehydration, and a bit of jet lag still. Thank the lord for making me put 3 little Advils in my toiletry bag before I left the states! Saturday I woke up around 9, had breakfast, went back to sleep, woke up around noon and went out to explore. I came home around 3:30 and slept pretty much until 8:30 the next morning. Luckily, Anne-Marie and the kids were at a birthday party all afternoon and evening, so I didn't feel bad about not being around. I do feel better today, but definitely not all better. Speaking of sleep it's now 10:30 and time to go to bed. I will do my homework before class tomorrow since I drop the kids off at 9 and my class is not until 11. Ah, this will be interesting...

Thanks for reading, Bon Nuit.

But I am le tired

2007-02-01T10:42:00.000-08:00

It is only my 4th day on the job and I am exhausted! I am still sick and I am expending a lot more energy than I thought. The kids don't have school on Wednesdays so we (the grandparents and I) took them to the science museum in the afternoon. It seemed like it would have been a really interesting exposition on space if only I could have understood what was being said. We got home and had crepes for dinner with a variety of toppings (creme fresh, jam and nutella) for the second night in a row and soup. Tonight we ate waffles. I asked Chloe if this was normal and she said yes. Seriously, what a great country.

I had a good and bad day today. First the bad: I had my first day of French today and had to deal with the school bureaucracy. Apparently I need a paper saying that I need 10hours of French per week to qualify for my temporary visa. The paper the school gave me previously said that I only have 6hours. They were supposed to put 6hours of class and 4 of homework. Because they didn't do this (and after arguing with them for about 40minutes), I had to cough up another 100 euros and register for the 10hour class. This means that I will have 10 hours of class plus homework. That doesn't sound too bad initially, but I am extremely pissed as this. There is a huge difference between 6 and 10 hours and the normal hours for au pair is the 6 hour class. The good thing is that I will have more practice than the other au pairs, the bad is that it is coming after the term is already 3 weeks in.

The good: I asked some people where the post office was in French and understood enough of the answer to actually find it all on my lonesome. I also managed to maneuver my way to my school and back home using two different metro lines. Did I mention that my language school is about 5 blocks from the Arc d' Triumph?

Well, tomorrow I don't have class, but I do have to deal with more bureaucracy when applying for my temporary visa. Arrg, I don't want to think about it...

Getting On

2007-01-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

I met Denis, the children's father this morning. We all took the kids to school and I met their teachers. I am about to go with the grandparents to pick them up. After dropping them off, Anne-Marie and I went to take care of my school registration and my temporary visa stuff. What a bureaucratic mess! So, the school that I was originally supposed to be going to won't actually let me start until April because all the beginner classes have been going since September and I would not be able to catch up. The agency sent me to another school who's classes have started three weeks ago. It will also be hard to catch up, but that was the only option. I start Thursday, so tomorrow I will relish my last day of having no homework! I really like Anne-Marie and think that this placement is going to be a very good one.

Connexion

2007-01-29T05:05:00.000-08:00

After a very long couple of days I finally arrived in Paris yesterday. I received the documents from the French Department of Labor, then made my way to San Fran to get my visa. After staying the night in SF, I flew back to Portland, then left that night to fly to New York. I got to NY at 8am and hung out with my aunt and uncle and kate for the day already starting to feel a bit jet lagged. I took the red eye to Paris that night and arrived in Paris yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. It is amazingly easy to go through customes here. All you do is give them your entry ticket and they tell you to go ahead in. Perhaps it's harder to leave. I am already starting to get over my jet lag I think. It really sucks being sick and feeling like you have constant car sickness.

Pablo is helping me type this part. In his perfect Australian accent, he is telling me to write about the wasp eating the spider. Referring to the picture I showed him from Peru yesterday. The wasp was smaller, but was still eating the spider anyway.

My goal for this blog is to write what is going on with me as I am experiencing living and working in another culture. It is already pretty confronting and I find myself feeling very awkward and not confident. Anne-Marie seems very willing to help get things set up for me, but she is working and I am working for her. I feel like I should be able to do things for myself, unfortunatley though I don't speak French.

On that note, apparently the school I am supposed to attend does not have a spot available for me until April. I'm being called away to play, so more later...

Game On!!

2007-01-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Here we go kids. I got my papers in the mail last Monday and am set to fly down to San Fran on Thursday to get my visa. I fly to New York on Friday and on to Paris Saturday night! Holy crap, I am really going! I know this is a bit cliche', but one of my dreams (to live in Europe) is coming true. I've been working on this project for at 6 months easy and changed my plans several times. I mean, I started out thinking I was going to go be a ski instructor in the Alps and ended up in Paris. Anyway, I am filled with both excitement and anxiety. Right now I'll just focus on moving all my stuff out of my apartment by tomorrow afternoon cause it still hasn't sunk in all the way yet.

Holding Pattern

2007-01-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

So, I'm still waiting to hear back from the French authorities about my visa status. Man, they know how to take vacations over there. I know that nothing really gets done over the holiday season, but that still does not keep me from my impatience. I guess I'll just have to find some way to keep myself occupied in the mean time. Somehow, I don't think this will be a problem. Any ideas?

French Family

2006-12-24T00:11:00.000-08:00

These are the kids I will be looking after. It's amazing how things work out. I was all set to live with a family in Bordeaux, but then this came up. Living in the city might be a bit confronting, but man, there will be so many adventures to be had! Holy crap, I'm leaving in less than a month!

That's Just Like, You're Opinion Man

2006-12-23T23:44:00.000-08:00

Bonjour,

Welcome to my very first blog post! I have never been diligent enough good to keep a journal in the past, but I will try my best to keep this one updated. I'm hoping that this will be the best way to stay connected to all my friends and family when I'm abroad and share pictures. Please comment if the mood strikes you. So here is the latest...

After several months of ideas and plans, I have finally found a family to live with! I will be nannying for a single mom and her three kids in the middle of Pairs from the end of January to the end of July. The children are 10, 7, and 4 named Chloe, Elliot, and Pablo respectively. They just moved back to Paris after living in Australia for three years, so speaking English won't be a problem. Now that I have a family, I am on to completing the rest of the visa requirements. Ah, can't wait to experience both French and American bureaucracy.

More to come soon...