I also now have a cell phone in France! The number is +33 06 12 71 80 40. So now you guys can call me and it won't cost me a thing... Of course, I still have skype and love getting voice messages from everyone.

Oh la vache!

A few pictures of the "plan d'eau Courtille" which is like Gueret's equivalent of Lake Calhoun. People running, walking, basking in the sun, picnicking... I walked all the way around it this morning and took some pictures of the stunning country side. The town is built in the hills and has tiny little pedestrian alley ways everywhere. People smile and welcome me wherever I go.

I feel the space of this spot in the world and it is a breath of fresh air. I woke up this morning to the sound of screaming French kids outside my bedroom window (since my apartment is upstairs from the school, I really do look out onto the playground!). I brought Grandma Nita's Hatha Yoga book and started reading it today. I wanted to share a paragraph that I especially connected with:

"We are constantly in a state of 'becoming,' and we make choices every day as to what we experience, as to our thoughts, our relationships with other people and the environment--even as to rest, exercise, and nutrition--which influence what we become. Be conscious of these choices as you make them. None of them are unimportant. All add up to what you are and will be."

-Nita Nickerson, Hatha Yoga: Class Notes

I liked it because, so often, when us young things go off to Europe or on other worldly expeditions, it is with the purpose of "finding ourselves, " and that hasn't resonated with me, because I know where I am, and where I've come from. Creating ourselves even with the food we choose to put inside our bodies, the people we surround ourselves with, and all other choices we make and then being aware of this can be a powerful, scary, and wonderful experience.

I also included a leftover picture from Florence... Rachel and I got creative in the hotel room.







Waking up for the second day in the Creuse, having spent my first day and night in Gueret! I went with my program director, Evelyne, to the inspection academique, where she works. We had a few visits to apartments and moved me into the apartment above a primary school annex.

Unfortunately, this is only for the month, but it is lovely and huge! The kitchen over looks a large garden and my bedroom has a view of the IUFM, and old building that houses conferences and teachers in training, and a view of the valley. I think the bathroom was made for about 16 people, and you can fit as many into the tub. There are four bedrooms set up with little twin beds... oh the things I could do with this space if it were mine!

I've already pulled out my African fabric duvet cover that Grandma Ann made for me, and Rachel bought me a scarf in Italy which I'm using to cover my desk. All my pictures are up and smiling at me... I miss you, home! Alas, I will move somewhere else at the end of the month, I am hoping that this will be enough time to get a feel for the city and find a darling apartment on the top floor of some building on the hill.

After d'avoir m'installee in my aparment, I accompanied Evelyne throughout her work day, though most of her work was helping me move in to Gueret, introducing me to everyone in the office and the teachers I will be working with, taking me to lunch with her and her colleagues.

We went to a restaurant called Le Moderne, right on Place Bonnyaud in the center of town. Everybody seems to know or at least recognize Evelyne, so spending the day with her was a little like walking into Cheers with Kirsty Allen.

Another woman, who is on the verge of retirement (and also being my adopted grandmother while living here), Catherine, asked me what I needed to get settled and promptly took me to her apartment to collect pillows, little bonne maman jams (she was excited to tell me she stole these), coffee pot and sheets. She took me to the grocery store and helped me pick out some food, letting me know which brand she thought was the best. It reminded me of shopping with Deanna, which put a smile on my face.

I spent a few hours making my space a little more homey, and then went about the task of reading the materials I had gathered from the office of tourism. There is indeed a giant labyrinthe outside of the city, as well as a wolf park. There are about a fafillion equestrian centers in this region alone. Not far from my apartment there is the Espace Fayolle, which is Gueret's community center. It has a pool and painting classes, salsa lessons, pottery, WiFi :), music lessons for little kids... and a lot more. We are at the foothills of the Massif Central here in Gueret, not far from skiing and mountain hiking, and mountain biking. The autoroute that passes through here is one that connects Switzerland to the sea, and is aptly named something like "Suissemer..."

Another assistant, Kendra from Michigan, arrived from the USA yesterday and is staying with me until her apartment in La Souterraine is ready. She and I immediately started chatting it up, decided to go find a pay phone and an open restaurant at 8pm on Monday night. Anywhere else in the world, something might be open, but Sundays AND Mondays are the days that Gueret closes up shop during the week. No matter, we found wood oven pizza with all the veggies we could want and a bottle of rose, both which we brought back to the apartment and savoured...

Kendra brought a guitar, which she started learning how to play in January. We shared some pictures and stories, and then started singing and playing together. We sang, and got through American Pie in its entirety. Some Beatles songs, of course, and then a few songs by bands I've not heard of. It was a lovely first evening in Gueret.

Today, we're going to go buy cellphones, find an internet connection, and then go to the enormous "pond," Etang Courtille, and have a picnic with our leftover pizza. Wednesday will be another free day, and Thursday we start our classroom observations.

I'm just loving every minute of this experience, and in part because I have such wonderful support from home. Thank you for encouraging me to embark on such a great adventure.

Wow! This trip just keeps getting better! I spent the morning feeling dirty from the night train, and trying to catch up on all that is happening in the news. I haven't had a chance to watch the debate, but as soon as I have some down time, its on.

I committed sacrilege this morning: I went to Starbucks and had English breakfast tea and sat on my computer. Notre Dame was out the window, but I just had to indulge myself a little in preparation of actually starting my year here. Because, lets face it, up until now it has been a crazy vacation with one of my best girls.

My friend Mady, the girl I went to Africa with, is studying in Paris this semester and arrived there yesterday after spending two weeks in Cannes. Poor her. So, I met Mady at La Fontaine St. Michel, a place I always met up with friends when I was studying at the Sorbonne. She brought her roommate, Lauren, a cute girl from San Diego, and we all three went to lunch together.

Mady is away from her language and food for the first time ever, and it is pooping her out! She is living with Lauren in an apartment in the 5th arrondissement. It is a homestay situation and her famille d'acceuil is an older Jewish widower who keeps kosher, which means the girls have to, too. Ouch.

The girls accompanied me to fetch my luggage and to Gare Austerlitz. It was so great to witness Lauren's first viewing of the Eiffel Tower. We were walking down the street from the Pantheon, the Jardin Luxembourg in front of us and just the tip of the tower in sight, she gasps and says "Oh! I think I just died a little!" What a magical moment for her, Mady was slightly amused :)

Mady and I spent the rest of the afternoon together at a cafe outside of the station and caught up, talked and made plans to visit each other this semester. I'm looking forward to becoming familiar with this region so that I can properly introduce it to everyone who is planning on visiting me.

I took a train from Paris to a city that starts with a V but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it is. Honest to God, I would look at the ticket, close it, and immediately forget the city name. I kept saying viognier, or vazeer, or va va voom. I waiting on the platform and V-ville for an hour and caught another train to La Souterraine.

Evelyne, the program director picked me up and whisked me off to her house, introduced me to her husband and had dinner ready for me. There's a woodburning stove in the house, the kitchen reminds me of Grandma Nita's farm kitchen, and I immediately felt at home.

Tomorrow, I will go meet my "boss," get settled in a living situation that is for teachers in training, meet another assistant teacher and get to know Gueret! Wednesday, Kendra from Michigan (the other assistant) and I will do some tourism in Gueret and get to know each other, and Thursday I get to go to school!

I was talking about the job and the students with Evelyne tonight at dinner, and it just seems like the best situation I could think of. I will be with 7,8, and 9 year olds and spend the first week or so observing different schools and classrooms to get a feel for how the education system works here. After that I will be teaching on my own, though the French teacher will always be in the room with me. All I can say is bladow!

Another amendment to previously assumed information about my year abroad: according to Evylene, the city of Gueret is 30,000 in size, so not as small as originally thought, but it is the smallest prefecture in France. She has two daughters, one who teaches in Gueret and one who lives in Clermont-Ferrand (the city where all the music is happening). Apparently I can just hitch a ride there with her daughter, how cool is that?

I am obviously being well taken care of, and it feels nice to be winding down my traveling and on my way to settling into this great thing. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see my new home!

Mama Pajama

Oy! My week in Italy with Rachel has ended too quickly and with a few tears. Our time in Florence was full of adventure, including, but not limited to, theft, inebriation, "cultural experiences" (at least two a day!), shopping, dancing to Simon and Garfunkel in a Piazza at 9 in the morning AND at the train station, a carousel, Irish pub(s), funeral arrangements, and midnight mass. We made the glorious mistake of getting a hotel room all to ourselves and spent a good part of the day and night in it, drinking champagne, washing our undies in the sink, unpacking and repacking our stinky bags, and generally attempting to recover the previous three days.

We went to a restaurant on the other side of the River Arno, where Laura had spent some time when she was studying here in Florence. Ristorante Celestino was delicious and I think Britches and I barely made it home we were so full. I was surprised and intrigued to find horse meat and calf brains on the menu. Because Rachel and I were planning to share, and her face turned a pale shade of green at the thought of those particular dishes, I decided I'd have to come back for my gastronomical adventure.

We went to our "last supper" together where the waiter was a pro-McCain pro-Texas Italian man named Franco, and the restaurant was large enough to house the entire Italian mob. I had a dish with wild boar, and we finished our meal with a shot of Limoncello. We toasted our fathers and mothers, and in all forms.

We didn't go see the David, but we did take a lewd picture or two in front of the replica which stands in the original place of the real thing; outside in a piazza. We made it inside the beautiful Duomo, which is almost more impressive from the outside. Inside, there were votive trees where we each lit some candles: one for us, one for all the people who have helped us to be who we are, and one for our future. On our way out we heard drums and a canon going off and, as Rachel calls them, "mount-me's," or mounted officers. We stumbled smack dab in to the middle of a funky little parade. The men were wearing tights and cute shoes and funny hats, and they kept shooting a canon in the air.


Perhaps its because Rachel comes from the Dougherty funeral family, and my man is a mortician, but all day every day we would remember something that we wanted to have happen at our funerals and tell each other. It started with our processional song: The Body Electric from Fame for Rachel, and, of course, Me and Julio by Simon and Garfunkel for me. This conversation turned into what we would be buried with, what would be consumed at our services... I suppose when you're so blissfully happy with everything in your life, the idea of dying isn't so terrifying.

Traveling with a friend is a true testament to the strength of the relationship, as anyone knows you can not just travel with ANYONE. I have been blessed with a friend I can not only travel with, but have a damn good time with too!

What a day! Rachel and I have been having a great time in Rome. We saw the Colosseum, Pantheon, and even got ourselves onto an open bus/boat tour of the city. Note to would-be travelers SKIP THE BOAT. The river is so much lower than the city that all we could see was the bottom of bridges through the cracked windows of the tour boat, and the smell of old Italian biddies was less than appetizing at 9 in the morning. We spent all of 15 minutes inside of the Colosseum before deciding that having a snack on the outside watching tourists was way more worth our time and money. We met a boy from Oregon in our hostel who turned out to be our entertainment for the day, and in the end our demise. The three of us started the day at an Irish pub... It had free WiFi, and we had to do some travel planning. Unfortunately we ended back at this Irish pub two more times, and it progressively got worse. At 3 in the morning it was like walking into any college campus bar, the theme to Ghost Busters blaring, and all the study abroad kids humping each other or trying not to vomit in the streets. Honestly, we just wanted an Irish coffee to warm us up on the way home...

We arrived in Florence yesterday and spent about an hour finding our charming hostel that we decided to vacate as soon as we woke up. We literally put our jackets on over our pajamas and left. The plan is to stay at a hotel tonight to avoid having hard feelings towards the beautiful Firenze. Tonight is our last night together, and tomorrow I head to Paris. Time flies with Little Britches. Arrivaderci à Roma!

Today was definitely the day to go out exploring. Chatelet is one of the metro stops in Paris and often has live music playing in the tunnels. This video is a little taste of what I saw, though I promise, it sounded better in person:


After emerging from the metro, passing the Fontaine de St. Michel, I ran into a few dudes bustin' some moves







I went to Shakespeare & Co., an English language bookstore that is a fairy tale tree house fort. There was a table of Americans outside the store will all the information necessary for citizens abroad to register and vote. So cool!












After all of this, I went to the Centre Georges Pompidou which rises 7 stories high and has one gorgeous view of Paris. Montmartre is just out of the picture to the right, and the Eiffel Tower is likewise to the left.

Tomorrow, Roma!

A continuation of pictures from my Louvre experience yesterday.

I left my hotel this morning and have since moved on to a hostel in the 20e arrondissement of Paris. I walked into the lobby this morning and realized that this is the same hostel that I (didn't) stay in on my first night in Paris, two years ago! The reason I say "didn't" is that I checked in after flying from London, went to the Eiffel Tower, and woke up on the grass there the next morning. Let's just say that my trip to Paris this time is starting off very differently than last time...

I'm bubbling with excitement to go see Rachel in Rome, which won't be until Tuesday morning, but my fury of travel begins tomorrow night when I'll share a sleeping cabin with 5 other people on the night train, and will be staying with Rachel in a hostel right behind the Vatican, also bunking with 4 other people.

Today, it's the Centre Pompidou, the famous Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore back in zee kar-tee-yay lah-ten, and perhaps a visit to La Cimitiere du Pere Lachaise where one can pay homage to Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Moliere, Proust, Chopin, and Oscar Wilde, to name a few.

I couldn't sleep last night, so I went to the reception of my hotel and spoke with the concierge for about an hour - in FRENCH! It really is amazing to me that I can hold a conversation, make jokes, and for the most part not butcher the beautiful language that I've been trying to learn all these years. The concierge, Cederic, just happens to be from Limoges, not far from where I'll be living for the year and he told me that I'll be bored to tears and that a weekend is more than enough time to spend there. He also told me that he thought that the population of Gueret was 50,000, and not 15,000 like I've found. I'm going to prove him wrong at least on the former because, hey, it's me, I can dig up some fun anywhere right? On verra...

Another day in Paris and my boots have put on the miles! I started out by going to the Gare de Lyon to book my ticket to Rome. I won't be leaving here until Monday night but it will be a whirlwind adventure with Little Britches! Most of my day was spent inside the Louvre gawking at 14th century French and Italian sculptures, as well as the most touristy attractions: Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and La Jaconde (Monna Lisa).

I feel a little dorky walking into a packed room with a tiny painting on the wall, having my picture taken in front of it, and leaving. What about this painting is so great? I have a theory that it may just be one of those psychological experiments where you stand outside, staring up into the sky until a crowd of people has gathered around you, looking up and trying to figure out what it is that has your attention.

Oh the tourists! Me being one of them, we follow each other around like ants through the gargantuan maze that the Louvre is, snapping pictures of each other in front of priceless pieces of art, taking home digital proof that we were in this amazing place in front of amazing masterpieces in an amazing city, never spending the time to experience but only to capture.

I've definitely enjoyed myself so much more in a deserted wing of the Chicago Institute of Arts or the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, or even the Met in NYC. No pressure to see what needs to be seen, not feeling like I'm pressed up against thousands of frantic people trying to get as close as possible to whatever it is they've come to see.

Don't get me wrong, this museum is amazing. Just the building itself it a piece of art, not to mention the fairly recent addition of the glass pyramids. After battling claustrophobia and scurrying through the puzzle to find a "sortie," I took my lunch sitting up against one of the many fountains that surrounds the pyramid, in the center of the courtyard.

I then made my way through the Jardin de Tuileries to a bistro that serves hot chocolate that one woman said she'd sell her kidney for, and Laura has described as "better than sex." We'll see about that, ladies.

Ok, so there was a line out the door and down the Rue de Rivoli at Angelina, but I didn't feel like waiting and was beginning to think it was not worth my time for hot chocolate. I skipped around the side and asked a woman if I could have it to go, a emporter. Indeed, I could and it was cheaper than sitting in the restaurant. Voila!

I took my chocolat chaud, and made my way into the Jardin de Tuileries where I enjoyed traditional African hot chocolate and a good book, and lots of people watching. I wouldn't sell my kidney for it but it would definitely satisfy me as a replacement for sex...

One more thing:

I read next week's New Yorker on the plane and I wanted to share what I thought was an absolutely hilarious and spot on article about our Republican VP hopeful.

After 24 hours of travel, no sleep, and the always delightful airplane food, I've arrived in Paris and am so relieved to be enjoying myself! My going away party at Maxwell's was great, all the right people were there and Tia and I christened the new bar with some fresh dance moves...

Boarding my plane from Minneapolis to Chicago was pretty difficult, I am sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful place and such fantastic people for almost a year. I found myself hoping that my passport was expired or that the plane needed to be fixed, trying to find any way to squeeze a few more moments in at home.

The flight to Copenhagen was even more heart wrenching, but upon arrival to Paris I felt so at home! I knew exactly where to go and French just fell out of my mouth. Stepping onto the train, I remember how much I love the smell of stations: dirt, gasoline and a little bit of b.o., the sweet smell of public transportation!

I woke up this afternoon rested and ready for some Parisian food. I was so hungry I was shaking. I walked through the Latin Quarter, past Notre Dame and found myself an empty patio at a bistro overlooking the Seine. After 5 minutes the place had filled up and I was elbow to elbow with people taking their afternoon espresso/cigarette breaks.

I notice that the French have a little secret about smoking and eating in such close proximity to each other: they neither rush nor do they apologize for their presence. Tiny beautiful women eating enormous plates of food, endless glasses of wine, and cigarettes for days. Never is there a race to finish the beautiful meal in front of them, and I rarely caught a draft of cigarette smoke. Nice.

Another observation, if I may be frank: Last time I checked the French were well known for their intimate apparel. Never have I seen so many panty lines as I have today! I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't so prevalent...

Cool, swanky looking European men in suits with sweaters tied around their shoulders and no helmets biking around in Paris traffic - either they don't sweat, don't care about sweating, or they just don't go as fast. I think it is probably a combination of the last two.

I'm going to my "favorite bar" in Paris tonight to listen to some music and catch some night life in the Latin Quarter. Sunday, I'm taking a night train to Rome to meet up with Little Britches for the week, and then its off to work already! This year will be filled with so many wonderful things, and then it will be over in the blink of an eye. C'est la vie!