More Pictures (Greece still)

Pictures

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Many adventures later...

Well, I am back, and I've been putting off updating this blog because the idea of it is kind of overwhelming. I just have so much to say. I'll see what I can do.

My adventures began in Barcelona, which is an incredible city. I fell completely in love with it. I found the culture there to be much more open than what I've experienced in France. I think it might have something to do with the weather, honestly. Southern cultures nearly always have the reputation of being more open and welcoming than northern cultures. Little bit of sunshine never hurt anyone.
I stayed in a really awesome youth hostel that was small and very community-oriented. There was a communal kitchen, so we did some cooking while we were there to save money. And everyone was always hanging out in the living room, and there was a rooftop terrace that overlooked the city and the mountains. I don't know whoever thought of youth hostels, but they are the best idea ever. A cheap, safe place to stay that is in the middle of the city or at least close to public transportation where you can meet people from all over the world. It's just great.
I made a list of things we did in Barcelona that were amazing, so if you're ever going there, I'll give it to you. And of course there are the small things that I will never forget...eating olives and drinking wine on the rooftop, wandering through the Gothic quarter, basking in the sun by the Mediterranean, happening upon a symphony orchestra playing in front of a cathedral with people doing a folk dance in the square...
My camera got stolen at the Picasso museum, so sadly I have no pictures of my own of this entire trip. I will borrow some from friends and put a few up here soon. You know, life.

After 6 days in Barcelona, I continued onward alone to Greece. I had a completely ridiculous day of travel from Barcelona to Athens (that's discount airlines for you...speaking of discount airlines, it appears to be a custom in many parts of Europe to applaud when the plane lands. When we landed in Barcelona, everyone on the plane clapped and went "Ole!"), and after all I finally made it. I met up with my friend, Madeleine, who is studying there. We poked around Athens a bit, and the next night we took a midnight ferry to Santorini. I don't even know if I can describe Santorini...it's so incredibly beautiful that I doubt its existence. We stayed in a little villa in Fira that was absurdly cheap and great, and we rented a car for the day so it would be easy to get around. and the first day we went to Kamari, one of the black beaches, and took a picnic of olives, feta cheese, bread, and sesame sweet things. It was so great...there were hardly any people, and the weather was perfect. The sand was awfully hot though. Needless to say. Then we drove to Oia. Oia is also indescribable, incidentally. We went to Ammoudi bay for a swim, but I didn't make it in past my ankles...it was freezing! It was beautiful and really nice nonetheless. We then hiked up to the top of Oia (a billion stairs) and back down to eat dinner at a taverna on the water and watch the sunset. Our waiter brought us some local wine for free and conveniently forgot to put some of the things we'd ordered on the bill. I guess he must have thought one of us was cute, but peu importe. The Greeks are so friendly. The next day, we wandered around Fira a bit, then took a boat to a volcano, hiked around the volcano, then swam in the hot springs. We had to swim through cold water to get to them, and they weren't exactly hot, but it was an experience for sure. Annnnnd then I rode a donkey back up the mountain. Yep.
When we were about to leave Santorini, I found out that my flight to Milan had been canceled because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland. I had no choice but to stay in Greece until things cleared up, which turned out to be four days later. Madeleine and all of her flat-mates were leaving on a week-long field trip in northern Greece, but she said I could stay in her apartment if I kept it on the down-low. They aren't technically allowed to have guests, but she figured my circumstances were a pretty good reason for breaking the rules. The next day I wandered alone around the Acropolis and explored Athens a bit. When I came back to the apartment, there was a note saying that if I didn't leave immediately, they would change the locks. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, an angry Greek woman barged in and told me I had to leave within the hour. I scrambled to find a hostel, miraculously found one, and went on my way. Heartless people. Oh well. It turned out to be alright in the end. I met several other people who'd been stranded by the volcano, and we bonded. On my last morning in Greece, I hiked up to the highest point in Athens with two people I met from Montreal. And after some more travel ridiculousness, I made it back to France. I wanted to applaud and cheer when the plane landed in Paris. It had been such an ordeal getting back.

So that is definitely a brief account, but more stories will come out when you talk to me about it. Also, pictures will come soon.

Vacances!

Tomorrow morning I am leaving on a crazy spring break adventure until the 25th, so needless to say, you won't be hearing from me for a while.

ciao!

C'est La Fête

Well, I had a great weekend. Meredith came into town on Friday evening, and we ate galettes and caught up a bit. On Saturday we walked to the market and bought some bread, goat cheese, and fruit, and ate it in the park. It was sunny out! I couldn't believe it. I told Meredith she must have brought the Italian sun with her. We walked around a bit, went to my favorite yarn store, drank hot chocolate in my usual cafe, etc. I had invited some friends to come over for dinner because my host parents weren't going to be there, and they didn't mind if I had a few people over. My friends got there before my host parents left, and my host mom must have thought we were all very cute, and she brought out champagne and sat and talked with us for a while, which was really lovely and adorable. And I cooked a meal for everyone, which was really great because I do that a lot when I'm home, and I hadn't done it since being in France. The next day was Easter, and Meredith and I got up and took a bus to a tiny medieval town about 45 minutes away where there is literally nothing but bookstores. The town, Becherel, has about 1,200 inhabitants and like 18 bookstores. It's fantastic. They were having a book festival, so there were tons of people there, and even more books than usual. When we were on the bus, we were sitting right behind the bus driver, and I overheard a conversation between him and another woman. When we got to Becherel, he asked if there was a protest happening. The woman said no, that there was a book party happening. He asked, "what does one do at a book party?" and she answered, "you party...with books." And another woman chimed in, "yeah, it's better than just reading because you're not by yourself!"
When we came back to Rennes, my host family was busy preparing for the big Easter dinner/soiree they were having. The whole family came over, plus some friends, plus Meredith, Scottie, and myself. The whole evening was pretty hilarious. By now I've gotten used to the five-hour French meal, but it's still sort of a riot, especially when you're a foreigner. Adding to the hilarity was the fact that Meredith does not speak a word of French. Basically there was a lot of translation happening, as well as drunken attempts to communicate in English with us. We ate fondue and had crème brulée for dessert (which I watched my host mom make, so maybe I'll be able to attempt it one of these days). Fondue is so fun...it's like being allowed to play with your food. Food for people who get bored easily at the dinner table. It was supposed to be a musical soiree, so Scottie and I sang some songs, but everyone else who was going to play decided that they were too shy or they "forgot" their guitar. Boo. Except Antoine, near the end, asked us if we knew the song "Wonderwall" and that resulted in an all-inclusive sing-a-long. Hilarious.

Just now I had an interesting conversation with my host mom at the dinner table. I am inspiring her, somehow. I don't really know. She has started knitting a sweater for Loann, her grandson, because she saw me knitting one day and remembered that she liked to do it. And now she wants to bake more because I'm always baking (she doesn't even know...I don't bake half as much here as I do at home). Anyway, she said that I (and my other American friends here) have given her a new idea of what Americans are like. I guess she always thought we are all sort of boring and don't care about anything and just sit in front of the television and eat cheetos all day. But my lifestyle is nothing like that, and I bake and knit and sing songs all the time. I assured her that I'm not exactly normal, but Americans can be interesting people too, you know. At which point my host dad chimed in to remind her that there are "a lot of states" in America. Hehe. But it's true, the U.S. is completely enormous compared to France. In any case, I'm glad that I've won points for America in her eyes.

Reflections

Alright, so France isn't perfect. My mom read my last entry and remarked that the honeymoon is over. Well, the honeymoon was over a long time ago, but sometimes it comes back on sunny days when I feel competent with my language skills and really feel like I'm accomplishing something here. It really depends. My last entry touches on what is really THE thing that bothers me about France. The main thing. My diet is also lacking in vegetables and really anything that isn't bread or cheese, but that's another story.

Today I succeeded in getting my hair cut in France. I think I can say that is an accomplishment. Also, I feel like I look very French now. My host mom thought it was very funny that I wanted to get my hair cut in France. It wasn't necessarily that so much as I didn't really want to wait until I got back to the States because it was getting much too long. But anyway. Minus ten inches of hair and feeling good.

I realized earlier today that I forgot to write about the sign language workshop I went to. I went to this "introduction to sign language" (French sign language, mind you) workshop at La Vie Enchantiee, the co-op. They were playing this game called The Village, which I play with my friends at school all the time, so it was really funny to find out that it is universal and can also be played in sign language. Unfortunately, the only thing I remember how to say in French sign language is loup-garou, or werewolf. Hehe.

My dear friend Meredith is coming to visit this weekend from Italy. I am so excited! We are going to do a lot of French things, and I am going to do a lot of translating, which I think will be funny. On Sunday night the whole family is coming over for a musical soiree, kind of like an open mic night at my house, and my host mom is making fondue and crème brûlée, which will just be fantastic. Also, my host mom said she's going to hide Easter eggs all around the house, which I think is pretty funny too, especially since there aren't any kids around except Loann who is three months old. Apparently Easter egg hunts have no age limit.