Marvelous Mardi

As the first day back from a long vacation, I dreaded getting out of bed this morning. The one thing making me feel the slightest bit better was the beautiful sun rising into the cloudless blue sky.* After seeing all the statuses from back in Michigan talking about the white-out conditions and the gross snow-rain combination that the mitten is known for, I happily jumped out of bed and got ready to face the day of assisting.

My first class today was my best class I have had yet here in France. I took 12 students for an entire hour and they were attentive, curious and gushing to participate. It was so nice that my lesson, which involved describing people, kept their attention and evoked conversations of new vocabulary. I first had them describe various celebrities, like Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, etc. They had to each say one sentence about the stars, and say something that hadn't been said before. That was not a problem though, as they had so many opinions of these people that they could've talked for hours! After, we played Who Am I, the game where you pick another person in the class and describe them as if you were them, while the whole class guesses who you are based on the description. This proved to be a good review of vocabulary and they had fun describing their friends.

After a successful lesson, I walked out into the crisp air to the loge, or the front gate, and found a package from my parents! Although life in France is amazing, care packages from home make this place even better, as they sent things that I can not find here, like my acne face wipes, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (my favorite cereal), Buncha Crunch (my favorite candy), and Fantasy Bars made with love by my mother. AND, most importantly, they not only sent me pumpkin filling, but all the other necessary ingredients to make a pumpkin pie! Including pie pans and the recipe itself! As Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I have been a little blue that I will be missing it this year, I am so happy I can have a little piece of it here in France with me. However, we don't have an oven here at the apartment, so I am on the hunt for an oven to use and people to spend this Thanksgiving tradition with.**

EEK!

Even down to the spices pre-measured and mixed in a container, everything to make the delicious Thanksgiving dessert! I wonder where I get my organizational skills from...

Mom's famous Fantasy Bars (aka Seven Layer Bars, Crack Bars, etc)

Goodies! My parents are the best

Happy girl!

After lunch and basking in the sunshine a bit, I returned to class. Except, after waiting 5 minutes in front of my classroom, with neither the teacher or the class there, I was told by another English teacher I work with that they were at the cinema this hour. In Apt this week, there is a prestigious African film festival. As the school supports the town in its ventures, during this week, there are many classes going to see the films. I had already known one of my classes tomorrow was going to see one, but was unaware of this class. So I was free to go, but instead sat in on another class for the hour, where he worked me into the lesson talking about progress. Mostly, this just required me to answer questions about freedoms in America, and got into a heated debate about the right to bear arms. Never know quite what to expect during my days as an assistant, but today was definitely a good day, or as I am dubbing it, a marvelous mardi.

*I know I am constantly talking about the sunshine here, but I honestly don't think I will ever get sick of it! Or talking about it.
**FRENCH FRIENDS - Tradesies: I will give you an amazing, delicious, homemade pumpkin pie if you give me access to your oven and will put up with me as I exercise this Thanksgiving tradition. Deal?

Home Improvement

The past four days have been a lovely long weekend here in Provence. I am sitting in my kitchen looking out onto the sun setting over the hills. Although the blue skies and sunshine never seem to fade, there are some autumn traces starting to show, with the gusting chilly wind and the colors of the foliage starting to yellow.

View from my kitchen window this evening.

On Friday, Amy and I ventured into Avignon to try and figure out our phone situation. Originally, we had planned to just keep our pay as you go phones, as it seemed the cheapest option. However, rates changed and it made more sense for us to go to a different store and sign up for a monthly plan. When we got there though, we were told that we would have to buy a new phone entirely to take full advantage of the internet that comes with the plan. Not expecting the prices of the phones to be so high, and while re budgeting my entire month's allowance in my head, the salesperson ran back in telling us he had a solution: the Telib. Now, the velibs are quite popular here in France: they are public bikes you can pick up from their various stations along the street, after it reads your credit card of course. You can ride the bike around town as much as you please, just as long as you put it back in a marked velib spot once you are done. If you don't return it, that is when you get fined and your card gets charged. Besides this, it is entirely free!

Virgin has taken this idea and applied it to phones: for 20 euro a month, I will get unlimited calls, texts, and 10 Go of internet on a smartphone with all apps provided. And the best part, I am in essence borrowing the phone, so I don't pay for it! When I am done using it at the end of this school year, all I have to do is return it to the store. Pretty awesome, right? Not so awesome: they were out of these phones when we were there, so we are returning Wednesday afternoon to officially get this plan.*

After the visit to the phone shop, Amy and I indulged a bit and went to IKEA. As I had never been to one before, it was quite overwhelming! But I was happy to get many things to make the apartment feel more like home. After sprucing this place up, I do have to say that it feels much better to spend time here.

New bedding, rug and blanket. And yes, the color theme was on purpose. Not pictured but also part of the home improvements: a new lamp, cinnamon candle and a new shower caddy!

Saturday morning was another typical day of wandering around the market. I happened to notice the amount of stares I was getting though - as since it was a beautiful day, I was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sandals. Passing by a vendor visibly shivering while bundled in a winter coat and scarf, hiding his hands underneath his legs for extra warmth, I thought only one thing - you think this is cold?! Come to Michigan, man! That morning we also spent some time at our favorite Bar l'Aptois, where I checked off another thing from my bucket list here: I tried a cafe au lait. I wouldn't say I liked the first sip, but as I kept drinking it, I did learn to enjoy the taste quite a bit.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent at home, reading, relaxing, cleaning** and watching movies. During these past few days, I have also been trying to plan many trips, which I will reveal later on. But there is one trip that I can't hold in, because I am so excited about it! I am so grateful that as my Christmas present this year, my family has helped me a buy a ticket back home for the holidays! Though I was not planning on going back to the States until next May, I cannot say how thrilled I am to be able to see family and friends, especially during the holiday season! I am enjoying my life here in France and traveling around Europe, but there is nothing like being home for the holidays.

Also part of the home improvement. Can you tell I am excited for Christmas??

Today, Amy and I decided to make a little hike to a nearby town called Gargas. After walking for an hour, we stopped for refreshment and a bit of discount shopping and then, having realized we didn't really know where we had to proceed to get to the town, we turned back to Apt. Either way, it was a nice way to get out of the apartment, enjoy the beautiful weather and exercise a bit. And we decided to practice our French on the way back, something we are going to try to push ourselves to do more often when we are around the apartment.

Tomorrow ends our long weekend of relaxation, with classes once again. I quite enjoy going back to teaching after the week end though - it gives me something extra to busy myself with. Until then, enjoying this lovely evening here in the South of France.

*Typical day here in France: don't ever expect for things to be done the same day you go out to take care of a certain task. You will almost always have to return.
**I see your face reading that, Mom. Yes, I know - it is hard to believe.

“Guinness is not beer for the Irish – it is strong tea!”

Luck of the Irish? I don’t believe this to always be true. Our Ireland adventure began VERY early Thursday morning, with an hour drive to our 7am flight to Dublin. Well, our plane sat on the runway for half an hour, getting us into the Emerald Isle around 9am. Luck was not in our favor.

Once we got in the city and checked in to the hostel (and got free breakfast, score!), we spent the morning exploring the Temple Bar area, the Medieval/Viking area, and the area around Trinity College, finding ourselves at the busy, pedestrian Grafton Street for lunch. We saw Dublin Castle, the Christ Church Cathedral, and lots of pubs during this morning walk and decided to get a bite to eat at Bewley’s, a tea room that Amy’s dad had recommended.

 During the afternoon, we decided to wander around Trinity College, the oldest college in Ireland. It is said to have inspired the architecture of Oxford and Cambridge – roaming around the old buildings was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. And, just like in Scotland, Ireland boasts wonderful colors of Fall foliage, adding to the magnificent look of the campus. This campus has been used in the Harry Potter movies as well as many other popular films, as it is quite a picturesque school. 
  

While there, I got to see the Book of Kells, a wonderfully ornate Bible from 800 AD. It was one of those things you just simply could not take your eyes off of, and to think how much time, talent, and dedication it took to make such an intricate document was mind-numbing. Also, got to see the Long Room, aka the most amazing library I might ever see in my life. I felt like Belle when Beast shows her the library in his castle, except 20 times more exaggerated.*

I was in heaven.

After all that walking around, we decided to go grab ourselves a Dublin staple, a Guinness. I was asked to take a survey about Ireland when leaving the country and one of the most important questions that was on it: Did you have a Guinness? Even though I do not generally like beer**, I felt that I had to try this beer, as it is so deeply rooted in the culture. It is different than other beers in the way it is made, with nitrogen gas rather than carbon dioxide. When they pour it, they pour part of it, let it settle and then fill the rest. It is a very delicate art. Although it was not really my cup of tea (though for the Irish it is, noting the title of this post), I am really glad I decided to give it a go in the birthplace of this beer.

Where we downed our Guinness

For dinner, Amy and I went to a restaurant called Elephant and Castle. Hearing mixed reviews from several people before going, we were not sure what we would be met with when we arrived. We decided to get hamburgers, as France’s burgers have generally shown to not be great quality. We were sourly disappointed with our overdone burgers, making us think that maybe Irish food is not one of the things that are lucky.

Friday morning, Amy and I set out for a day trip to the place I was most excited to visit during this whole vacation: the Cliffs of Moher. Although the forecast looked a little grim, we still woke up at 6am and were already fallen asleep on the bus by 7am. We awoke to the sun rising over the beautiful Irish countryside, as green as ever. The luck of the Irish continued to be in our favor, as we were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day driving to the West Coast of Ireland. We passed through Limerick on the way but reached the “Edge of the World” while the sun was at high noon.

Irish green.

Looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean from the cliffs, you truly did feel like you were on the edge of the world. With it being a little breezy and a few of the pathways being muddy (with no fence at the edge, mind you), it appeared extremely easy to fall to your death. As we all know how klutzy I am, it shouldn’t surprise you that I slipped once, but as I am still here to write this post, the fall was not to the depths of the cliffs. 

The view of the cliffs is again one of those things I can’t explain – you just have to see it for yourself. As I gazed out onto the horizon, washing the waves crash into the cliffs with such sheer force, combined with the natural beauty of the rock against grass… it is a sight that everyone should experience. Again, the sense of calm I found here was something one can’t find in a bustling city like Dublin. The hour and a half that we spent wandering around was simply not enough, I could have spent a whole day there!

A five minutes’ drive down the road from the cliffs, we stopped at the Burren national park. Completely different scenery in such a short distance away – the landscape was covered in split rock, making it hard to walk around on (especially as there was a sprinkling of rain by the time we reached this stop). Again, I may have tripped here, and landed on my ankle funny, but it was all worth it to see this interesting landscape. We also stopped at the abandoned 12^th century Corcomroe Abbey, in an isolated field in the countryside.

After getting back quite late, we met up with Katie to go get dinner and drinks. However, upon going out we found a huge cultural difference: pubs in Ireland don’t sell food past 9:30pm. So it was to the supermarket we went, although Katie soon found out another cultural difference: supermarkets don’t sell alcohol past 10pm. Seriously? This actually kind of shocked me about Dublin, which seemed so progressive in many ways.

Saturday, our final day in Dublin, Katie and I decided to the free walking tour provided by the hostel. The tour ended up becoming an all-day affair, linking up with a bigger group of people to go on a 4 hour walking tour. It helped that our guide was quite entertaining and knowledgeable about Dublin, making stories come alive as we roamed the city. However, about halfway through the tour, the heavens opened and it began to pour. As neither of us had an umbrella and I only had a flimsy raincoat, we ended up soaked from head to toe. I think my boots might still be wet. At the end of the dreadful tour, we made our way shivering to O’Neill’s Pub, where I finally got to have some traditional fish and chips and warm up a bit.

That night, we had planned to go out and get drinks, as it was the second biggest party weekend of the year. I didn’t realize that Halloween is a celtic celebration, with its roots in Ireland. As we were there the weekend before Halloween, the city was as alive as it could be. However, after standing outside in the cold and rain all day, I was feeling quite ill and opted to buy tea from the supermarket and get a good night’s rest before leaving for France Sunday morning.

All in all, Ireland kind of disappointed me. I shouldn’t say that – Dublin disappointed me. It was actually quite ordinary with how it looked, reminding me of a suburb of Chicago. It had a hint of being extremely Americanized, with the shops and restaurants that were there. I had heard a lot about the Irish being the friendliest people so I was excited to be welcomed in this culture. However, I wasn’t overwhelmed with how nice the people were, and some were actually quite rude. Now, my experience in the Irish countryside was purely amazing. If I would give any advice for travelers wanting to go to the Emerald Isle, find more time to venture in the countryside, and less in the city of Dublin. I can still hear the swells of Danny Boy while looking at the rolling green hills and will never forget the feeling of standing on the Edge of the World.

*Fun fact: George Lucas copied this library exactly to use in Star Wars. He asked the college to use it first, they denied his request, then he did it anyway. Look for the Jedi library and you will see the Long Room from Trinity College.

**Yet another understatement in this blog.

“Everyone is Scottish, they just don’t know it yet!”

The travel extravaganza began on a Sunday, with a bus, train, shuttle bus, airplane and taxi which lead me, Amy and my friend Katie (who I met from Kalamazoo and lives in the Toulouse region) to York, England. I know what you are thinking – I thought you were going to Scotland? Well I did go there, but it was a cheaper way to go through this roundabout itinerary. Plus, Amy decided to go home for a few days instead of joining us in Edinburgh, so we were able to stay at her house that first night after so much travel (cannot be thankful enough to her and her parents for having us!).  

The following morning, Katie and I were off to Edinburgh via train. Once in the city, we checked into our hostel and set out to have some lunch and explore. As this was my first hostel experience, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Thankfully, this hostel’s staff was more than helpful and friendly, making the trip that much better! The staff told us to go to this great lunch place which serves traditional Scottish pig roasts with a choice of haggis or stuffing. Needless to say, our trip was off to a pretty amazing start with this meal. 

Yup, pretty delicious!

After this great meal, we walked around the heart of the city – The Royal Mile. This is the main road in the city and contains many of the best pubs and sights, including St. Giles Cathedral, Holyrood Palace (where the Queen stays when she’s in Edinburgh), and at the very top of the road, Edinburgh Castle. The castle is on a raised hill in the center of the city – in fact, the rest of the city was built around the castle, making for some fantastic sights of the city if you go into this breathtaking fortress. It was quite fun to wander around this expansive castle on a hill and to imagine the lives of the people that once lived there. The only downside was the rain that drove us to take cover a few times.

St Giles Cathedral

Edinburgh castle

Although I have been to Edinburgh before, this trip I saw it from a different perspective entirely. I couldn’t stop staring at the architecture of all the buildings, almost gothic. It was a great time to come to Scotland as well, as the trees where crisp with their autumnal colors, leaving traces with the leaves that fell to the ground. I had been feeling quite disappointed with Fall in Provence, as Fall is my favorite season back home. Scotland made up for the lack of seasonal change I had been experiencing – I am so glad I got to soak up all the Autumn shades while there. 

I mean really, look at this view!

That night, we decided to go on a ghost tour, which ended up being really cool. Edinburgh is a city with a pretty dark past, including witch hunts in which many women died for unjust reasons, vaults filled with homeless and crime beneath the city, etc. Even the town’s nickname “Auld Reekie”* shows its disgusting nature: as the whole town is lead up to the castle, all of the roads are on a slant downward. In the old days before modern plumbing, at 10pm every night everyone would open their windows, call out to make sure no one was below, and throw their sewage out their window. Pretty disgusting, right? The best part is that sometimes people would be walking back from the pubs and would miss this warning… and that is where the term “shitfaced” comes from. The tour that we went on took us down to the vaults themselves and we got to hear some of the darker Edinburgh tales. This town definitely got me in the Halloween mood, with all the dark stories, gothic buildings and even quite a bit of decorations – a good change of pace from the non-existent decorations in France!

The second day in Scotland we decided to take a day trip to the highlands in the North, with the main goal to see Loch Ness. Leaving at a very early 7am, we ventured through the rolling hills of the highlands, being told tale after tale by our amazingly energetic and proud Scottish tour guide. He is the one that said the quote that is the title of this post, and he went on to prove that everything we know to be from our own countries was truly of Scottish descent. Again, a very proud man. In general, I have noticed that the Scottish are incredibly proud people AND incredibly friendly. Even more so than the Irish.**

Just an example of one of the beautiful views of the highlands

I was so enthralled by the highlands, I don’t know if I can quite put it into words. This area is definitely one of the most breathtaking natural wonders I have seen, you simply must go to see them yourself as the pictures don’t show how massive they are. During the tour up to visit Nessy, we visited Ian Fleming’s*** estate, saw where they filmed a scene of Skyfall, saw the bridge used in the filming of Harry Potter, saw Glencoe and the Three Sisters (where they superimposed Hogwart’s Castle for the movies), and saw a lot of Lochs. That’s right, not lakes, but lochs. Look it up. 

Home of James Bond

Where they filmed Skyfall!

Hogwarts castle is right here. I know you can't see it, you just have to use your imagination.

Then, we finally arrived at Loch Ness. Although we did not see Nessy, it was wonderful just to relax by the bonnie banks of this huge, deep loch, where known flesh-eating fish reside. The calm that I felt here as well as during the rest of the trip to the highlands was nice and a refreshing contrast to the big city atmosphere of Edinburgh. The sun even decided to come out for a bit, something that rarely occurs in Scotland. 

It is so black due to the level of peat in the water.

Just kidding, we totally did run into Nessy! We are best friends now.

After returning to Edinburgh after our long day, we decided to get some traditional Scottish food at a nearby pub called Fiddler’s Arms. Although I had tried it the last time I was in Scotland, I decided to give haggis a second go. I wouldn’t say I hated it… but I will say that it was the last time I will be eating it. But hey, when in Rome!

Wednesday morning, we went on a walking tour of the city provided by the hostel. It was great to walk around and see a few of the sights we had not seen before, and to hear even more history of this incredibly dark city. We visited Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is a graveyard that is known for the old graveyard keeper John Gray and his dog. After the keeper died, his dog continued to roam the graveyard, protecting it from grave robbers. The dog, known as Greyfriars Bobby, became a national symbol, and even had a right to vote (before women mind you…). The statue and his grave are the most visited in Scotland.

Greyfriar's Kirkyard

Look at that little dog!

Also, in this graveyard were graves which were inspirations for J.K. Rowling as she wrote Harry Potter. You will find graves holding the names of prominent characters in the books, including McGonnagal, Moodie and of course Lord Voldemort himself. The private school right outside of the graveyard, is also said to have been the inspiration for Hogwarts. And, a five minutes walk from the cemetery, you will find the now-famous Elephant House, where Rowling spent hours writing the first draft of Harry Potter on paper. So basically, I just went on a Harry Potter tour without knowing it. And of course, I loved every minute of it.

LORD VOLDEMORT

Hogwarts in real life?

Where Rowling made magic

That afternoon, since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to walk up to Arthur’s Seat, a large hill which promises amazing panoramic views of the city. I had read that it took about an hour and with the weather as beautiful as it was, I was anticipating a great hike. Although the sights were beautiful, an easy hike it was not. The strong gusts of wind were pushing against me the entire way up, nearly taking me over the edge of the hill a few times. But the view at the top was worth it, even if I had to sit down for pictures because I could not hold my balance due to the strength of the wind. And oh yeah, it was a bit muddy too. So true to my klutzy nature, on the way back down the hill, I fell and slid, making quite a mess on an unfortunate area of my body. I guess you could have called me “Auld Reekie” after that incident.

See that hill there? Yeah, I climbed that.

Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

That evening, we took the train back to York and stayed with Amy and her family (once again, a million thanks!). On the way back, we couldn’t help being a little sad about leaving Scotland, as it was such a wonderful few days. But very early the next morning (with a 3:45am wake-up call to be exact), we were off to our next country already, with the bonnie banks of Scotland a distant memory in our minds. 

*Translation: Old Smelly. Yum.

**Sorry, Guinness.

***Writer/Creator of James Bond.

"You sound like the voice actor for My Little Pony!"

Autumn has truly arrived in Provence. Today, from my view at the nearest cafe with Wifi, you can see the leaves changing in the trees and beginning to fall to the ground. It is nothing like the burning reds, firey oranges and bright yellows that I am used to, but the tan-brown color of the foliage almost seems to fit the nature of this small town at this time of year. Things already move slowly in Provence, but with the change of seasons, things are moving at an even gentler pace in the countryside. Stores and restaurants are never guaranteed to be open*, people bundled up in bulky jackets, scarves and boots take their time walking slowly about town (when they do decide to leave home) and the only time you see this town bustling with people is on the Tuesday and Saturday market. Or maybe at a local cafe, having a café noisette or une verre du vin with friends.

The past few days, I have been acclimating myself to this change of pace as well. Monday, I had one class which was full of more introductions and hilarious questions or comments. The title of this post was said by one of my students, telling me how much she loves My Little Pony. You really can't make this stuff up. This morning I already had one class** and will have only one more this afternoon, as one of the classes is cancelled since the teacher is gone. That's right: when the teacher isn't there, class just gets cancelled. No substitutes.

Yesterday, I got to spend some time with Amy's friend Georgia, who came to Cannes for Amy's birthday and then came to visit in Apt. She is a teaching assistant as well but right now she is placed in Germany, but also speaks French. I can't even imagine being trilingual - I have enough trouble with just two languages! It was nice to be able to get to know her more, and to hear about life in Germany as well as what assisting is like there. Always great to meet another English person as well, I feel like I am always learning so much about English life!

While we were grabbing some Wifi yesterday, we also had a lovely chat in French with the woman who always serves me at the restaurant I go to. I can still never get over the fact that people here in Provence just automatically make you feel at home. It was getting breezy so she closed the door to keep us warm, she asked if she could sit down next to us to watch her favorite soap opera, les feux d'amour, which I guess is an American soap that is just dubbed in French, and proceeded to just chat with us like we were old friends. Southern hospitality truly exists, in the United States as well as here in France.

For these next few days, time well be spent planning a few more lessons, teaching and enjoying a little more of Apt before we depart for the two week vacation (post forthcoming). But for right now, on this eery, cloudy, misty day in Provence***, I might just snuggle up and watch Harry Potter in French. I just couldn't help but buy the third one to have a small piece of Fall on this mid-October Tuesday.

*This posed quite a problem yesterday and today: I left my American to French adapter in a restaurant that I use for Wifi yesterday (named Pizz' Burger. Again, can't make this stuff up). When I realized and went back during dinner hours last night, they were closed. I was going to go back for lunch today to grab it, but Georgia said she saw a sign on their door saying that they were closed today. No reason, just randomly closed on both accounts when they should have been open. I don't understand France.
**Where the students proceeded to say "l'américaine!" when they first saw me and said to the teacher when I wasn't in the room that they had so much fun with me today and are excited for this year! Awesome.
*** By the way, this weather never happens. This region is known to get 300 days of sunshine a year, and when it does rain, it normally pours. Kind of anomaly, today is.