le temps

il fait froid!!!!!! Today I woke up and saw it was -6 degrees celcius...thats not very nice!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

       I am in the lovely town of Lille, where the beers are cold and delish and the people are warm and friendly.  Though it has been ages since I’ve felt the sun upon my face, my time here has been incredible so far!  I am living in vieux Lille, which is lined with small hole-in-the-wall bars and little expensive boutiques.  I have two female working roommates and unfortunately I don’t see them as much as I wish I could due to our completely different schedules.  However, after being so involved in the school 24/7 I can't tell you how nice it is to come home to friends who are outside of my EDHEC network!  I definitely value my girl talk time with them!

a rare sunny day in Grand Place, during xmas time : )

        Most of my time during the week is spent on the EDHEC campus.  I live a good hour away from school by metro, so going home in between classes is really not an option!  Yes, I was conscious that I would have this long commute to class when I found my apartment.  Living on campus in the town of Roubaix where a new grocery store is the most exciting thing the town has seen in years was also not an option!!  Classes are fun and exciting for the most part, especially now that my finance and cost accounting classes are over!  

           Socially, EDHEC is a very unique school.  Student associations run the student life, and if you are not in an association you will consequently be very poorly integrated into the school.  The majority of students are french and therefore all of the student association are run in french.  If you do not speak french, you are out of luck meaning that the vast majority of international students are excluded from these student associations.  When I first arrived at EDHEC I was unaware of the importance of the associations.  A french student nearly had a heart attack when I told him I was unsure if I would be applying to enter to an association.  "But you don't want to be a 'nobod' do you!?" The french term "nobod," like "nobody" is a what they call people who aren't part of an association aka social suicide.  So, with his reaction in mind and the desire to get the full EDHEC experience, I was decided to "rush" to join the association Schola Africa.  But it wasn't easy! 160 people originally applied and with a first round of interviews half were eliminated.  I passed a second interview with the remaining 80 people and was finally chosen among 18 other french students to become a part of Schola Africa! Very exciting!!! 

           In my second interview I found myself facing the entire association (15 others).  They asked me some serious questions about humanitarian projects and some questions about Africa and then moved on to some funnier questions.   In french, of course, they asked me what my favorite Disney character is etc.  Then they asked me if I was a drink, what would I be? In french the word drink is "boisson" which sounds dangerously like the word for fish, "poisson."  In my head I heard the word "poisson" so I responded to the question saying I would be a salmon.  I got the strangest looks back from all of them and a few burst out laughing when they figured out my mistake.  Thoroughly embarrassing, but it still gives me a good chuckle today.  Living abroad always keeps you on your toes and has taught me how fun it is to just throw yourself out there sometimes.  Its taught me how to laugh in these kinds of situations and to not take things so seriously. 

         Since being accepted into the association, I have fallen in love with our project and all of the members of the group have become family.  Most of our actions through out the year take place in Lille where we raise money to fund the construction of class rooms for elementary children in Burkina Faso. We work very closely with a burkinabé, Karim Gomina, who gives us great insight to the needs of the people and information about the locations of our future construction sights.v Since the creation of the association in 2000, we have constructed 12 class rooms in the rural areas of Bobo Dioulasso and we have also constructed a couture-center where young women are taught how to sew through a three year program.  At the end of this program, we have started providing them with micro-loans without interest in order for them to help start their career.   Even though the website is in french, I will post it here for you to look at the pictures.  www.schola-africa.com .  

holiday party with the whole association

We received our sweatshirts with our names on them making our initiation process official : )

holiday party with the ladies of the association

in the Alps with a few "scholeux" over new years and winter break

dans ma rue

So I recently stumbled upon this blog of a man named David Lebovitz who moved from the United States to France.  He adores France but like any foreigner, finds France's bureaucratic system IMPOSSIBLE. seriously France is a joke when it comes to customer service. it is seriously one of those things that you either have to laugh or cry about because its SOOO REDICULOUS. Did you know that in order to cancel any sort of monthly plan, such as a cellphone or cable plan, you have to send in a written letter explaining why you want to terminate your service!? And then its guaranteed that they will tell you that they never received your letter! And even if they do admit they received your letter, if they don't like your reason enough they can refuse to end your contract!? What is this!????!!!???!!!??

  I have posted one of my favorite stories from his blog(I have heard millions of the same version from friends) and I also posted a satirical quiz about 28 questions to ask yourself before moving to France.  If you have never lived in France you may not understand all of the questions so I added some of my own commentary for a little explanation..enjoy!!

Today, I stood in the middle of my apartment and screamed.

It’s not something I normally do. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. Being fifty, I’d say my life is roughly half over and I hope to never have to do it again during my last half. (I’m sure my neighbors would be pleased if I never did it again as well.)

I’ve been dealing with my internet provider, who also provides—or is supposed to provide, phone service.

Since signing up with them last year, my service has been hit or miss. Since the beginning of August, it’s been all miss, and I’ve been missing phone service and internet access since then. I do remember the days before we have the internet, so while it’s a major inconvenience, it’s not the end of the world. (Unless you have a blog. Then it’s pretty close.) But not having phone service for nearly ten weeks is pretty crazy.

There’s a lot of grousing about French customer service. I’ve seen the good, and I’ve seen the bad. Usually the trick is to find someone who will help you and once you do, they’ll do what they can to help. And then the service is top-notch. You just need to find that person.

So far, I haven’t found that person at my cable company. And believe me, I’ve tried.

I’ve called them repeatedly, and when I finally get someone on the line (after paying 34 cents/minute, and being on hold for 20 minutes), they tell me they can’t hear me because of a bad connection. When I yell into the phone (so they can hear me), they fail to see the irony in the fact that they’re my telephone provider. When I ask them why they can’t hear me, they fail to see the same irony in it that I do. I may have lost my mind, but at least I haven’t lost my sense of humor.

Because I was going broke paying to tell them to fix the problem that they’re causing, last month I went into the the cable company office. It’s always a mob scene, so I got there fifteen minutes before they opened at 10am. Finally, at 10:20am, someone arrived to unlock the door and let us in. And I got a highly-coveted appointment with a service person.

The technician finally came, and the first thing he said was, “There’s a problem in the secteur.” Since they’ve been telling me that for the past ten months, I figured they’d had enough time to iron out any problems in mon secteur, so I wasn’t buying it.

The technician told me that I needed a different kind of technicien, which is the local lingo for, “I don’t want to deal with this.” But did offer some advice on the way out, “I wouldn’t pay anymore.”

And the last time I was without service, when I asked for a refund on my bill, I had to send a certified letter (recommandé), to request one. They did grant it, but the price of sending that letter was greater than the refund. So I’m not exactly inclined to do it again.

So if you’re wondering where I am, I’m trying to get out of l’enferNumericable. I sent them the required certified, signature-required letter that I wanted to end my service, which they told me that they’d never received, and I needed to send it again. (the hell) of

Of course, I was holding the receipt in my hand, with their signature on it.

The funny thing is, tomorrow I’m supposed to speak to a group of newly-arrived Americans about how to cope with life in a foreign country.

I’m thinking of standing in the middle of the room, and screaming.

(Lebovitz, David, "Living the Sweet Life in Paris" L'infer de Numericable, http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/10/lenfer/)

28  QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE MOVING TO FRANCE





1. You’re working as a guard in a museum filled with priceless treasures. The alarm in the museum has been broken for two months and thieves have stolen €500 million worth of art. Video monitors showed the entire robbery in progress but as one of the guards on patrol, like the others, you somehow missed the whole thing. Do you…

• A. Blame the mayor. (everyone does this)
• B. Blame the lock company that installed the crummy padlock which the thieves snipped off the gate, which was the only thing standing between them and one of the most exceptional collections of art in the world.
• C. Blame the anti-smoking law because you had to go outside to have a cigarette, along with all the other guards at the exact same time, and the people who came up with that law couldn’t possibly expect you to keep an eye on things.

2. You’re in a café and just finished a €2 cup of coffee and you’re ready to pay. You suddenly realize that you only have a €50 note. Even though the waiter has a billfold bulging with euro notes, do you…

• A. Order twenty-four more coffees because he’ll swear he doesn’t have any change.
• B. Offer to buy a round of drinks for everyone in the room.
• C. Unbutton your blouse a few notches and lean over and give ‘em a good squeeze when handing the waiter the money. 

 (everyone always swears they dont have change, so it seriously will result to these extreme measures!!)
 
3. You’re stuck in traffic when you hear an ambulance coming up from behind. Cars start moving off to the side of the road to let the ambulance through. Do you…

• A. Move your car over to the side of the road, too, so the ambulance can pass and get quickly to the urgent medical emergency they’re going to. (of course not!)
• B. Grudgingly move your car off to the side because even though the ambulance is racing to take save someone’s life, complaining that you’re going to miss the start Star Academy. (the french are addicted to this show..its like their version of american idol)
• C. An opening in the road? What are you, crazy? Allez-y…!

4. You just bought a pricey new pair of trousers. When you get home, you realize the zipper is coming apart. Do you…

• A. Block off two days on your calendar to exchange the trousers at the store for another pair.
• B. Take the pants to the local tailor and pay the €32 out of your own pocket to have it fixed.
• C. Throw them away. (i would choose this one...not worth allll that trouble!!)

5. You’re visiting Paris and it’s time for dinner, but you’re a kosher, gluten-free vegan on a no-salt, low-fat diet. Do you…

• A. Go to a restaurant and politely request that your food be served nature, without accompaniments, because of your health condition. (baaaaad idea, the french would never understand this )
• B. Go for it, because if you’re going to go, why not do it on a fabulous French meal?
• C. Spend the night in your hotel room watching CNN, and eat an apple.

6. You’re tired of people walking right into you as if you weren’t even there. Do you…

• A. Move out of their way, realizing that they likely have far more important things to do than you.
• B. Aim the pointy baguette that you’re carrying at crotch level as a preemptive warning to get out of the way.
• C. Belt out a random song from Rent at full-volume so they think you’re nuts, and avoid you.

(my dad got to see the perfect example of this as i was walking through a narrow passage way in Paris. I kindly stepped to the side as this woman barged into me...i regret not threatening to throw her into the Seine river the next time she tried that!! grrrr)

7. Unfortunately, you’ve managed to get a €100 note in your possession. Do you…

• A. Cross the city because only the branch of your bank where you opened your account can make change for you.
• B. Cross the city because only that particular branch where you opened your account can take cash deposits from you. But they’re out of change so you have to deposit it into your account, then withdraw money from the ATM so you have smaller bills. . ( i cannot tell you how many times the banks have been out of change...umm am I in the twilight zone!?)
• C. Give it to a beggar on the métro, laughing to yourself as you walk away, because now it’s his problem.

8. You’re at the enormous hardware store, looking for a couple of screws. They don’t have the size you need, so you head for the exit. However the wary guards are already on you, thinking you might have swiped something from the store. Just as you’re about to exit, they stop you. Do you…

• A. Explain to them that you were just looking, but what you needed wasn’t on the shelf, and they let you go on your way.
• B. Open your mouth to prepare to be swabbed for a DNA sample.
• C. Thank God you wore clean underwear because you’re in for a strip search.

9. You’re hopelessly lost in the enormous 5-story underground shopping center at Les Halles. After walking around a few times, trying to find your way out and realizing that you’re about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, do you…

• A. Feel relieved when you find an information desk, only to find that it’s empty (always!)
• B. Feel relieved when you find an information desk, only to find that it’s manned by teenage girls who are too busy texting their friends or checking their watches in anticipation of their next cigarette break so they don’t have time to help you out. (always!)
• C. Curl up in a ball in a corner, stick your thumb in your mouth, and whimper that you want your mommy.

10. Can you figure out which one of these isn’t true? Your plumber shows up because you have a problem with your toilet. Does he…

• A. Offer up a hands-on—or otherwise, demonstration of how to use your new toilet.
• B. Offer up a recipe and a demonstration for puff pastry.
• C. Ask what flavors of ice cream you have in your freezer today.
• D. All of the above.

(Tip: Answer D.)

11. You taste a chocolate that’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten in your life. You have friends coming to visit so you make plans to go to the chocolate shop and get more. Do you…

• A. Take 3 métros across town, only to find out that they happen to be closed that day for a Fermeture Exceptionelle.
• B. Kick yourself for not calling before you set out.
• C. Get to the shop and find out that that’s the only chocolate they don’t have in stock, because they only make them on the third Tuesday of each month, during months that end with a “y”…and only during leap years.

haha this was def one of my favorite questions
 
12. You’re at the supermarket register, and the cashier has just rung up your goods. However as you’re reaching for your wallet, in a panic, you can’t find it and fear you’ve been pickpocketed. Does she…

• A. Offer a bit of sympathy for your unfortunate predicament.
• B. Set aside your groceries for you to do a more complete search of your pants and jacket pockets.
• C. Start laughing at you.

(Tip: Answer C.)

13. You’re on a bus. Who gets priority seating?

• A. The man who lost both legs in the war.
• B. The frail, little old lady who could barely make it on the bus with those heavy bags weighing her down.
• C. The five year old kid in the Hermès jumpsuit.

14. You move to France with all your worldly possessions, which you’ve shipped by freighter. They arrive…

• A. Right on schedule.
• B. A few days late, but they call to let you know, so you can change plans.
• C. A day before they said they the delivery would arrive, when you have movers scheduled to help, and call from the street saying they’ve just left two rooms of your furniture on the sidewalk outside.

(Tip: Answer C.)

15. You’re in the neighborhood and pass by your favorite candy and chocolate shop to say hi. The proprietress is happy to see you. Does she…

• A. Have you sample a few new chocolates, including an amazing one filled the crushed bergamot macarons.
• B. Give you a bag of organic prunes.
• C. Invite you up to her apartment to see her bedroom.
• D. All of the above.

(Tip: Answer D.)

16. Under the threat of privatization, La Poste successfully implements new measures, including a guarantee that customers will be out in five minutes, which they make good on. They also modernize a host of their other operations, for the better. Do…

• A. Your French friends complain about the changes at the post office, even when they respond affirmatively when you ask them if the service and speed are improved.
• B. You and everyone else become pleased that the country is concerned enough about its citizens to improve one of its most fundamental, universally used services.
• C. You wonder why the communists stand there and open the door for each visitor in hopes that you’ll buy one of their flyers, which is pretty much antithetical to everything that communism stands for.

17. Which of these activities means that you’ve achieved a certain status in France, and you can say that you actually have completed, so now you finally have the right to say you live here?

• A. Got your visa at city hall approved.
• B. Set up an apartment, furnished it, and integrated into French society.
• C. Switched cable providers. (hahah as explained from the above story)

18. Answer this question: “Is foie gras inhumane?”

• A. No. It’s been made the same way since Egyptian times so it’s fine to eat.
• B. No. It’s part of French culinary heritage, and it wouldn’t be Christmas without it.
• C. No. Because my health food store carries it.

(Tip: Answer C.)

19. What thickness should towels be?

• A. Thick, soft, and water-absorbent.
• B. Big enough to get the job done.
• C. You should be able to read Le Monde through them(french towels are always SO THIN!)

20. Someone has sent you a gift from the states. Unfortunately they forgot to declare it as a gift, so you have to pay taxes on it. Are the taxes…

• A. Equivalent to the cost of the item.
• B. More than the cost of the item.
• C. You don’t know because you look at the bill and you can’t even see straight when you find out there’s actually a tax on the tax, too.

21. By mistake, you open the door and one of those fake chimney sweeps barges into your apartment, saying that “by law”, they have to clean your chimney. Do you…

• A. Realize you’ve made a big mistake, but let them clean your chimney out, and then your wallet.
• B. Knee him in the couilles and show him the way out.
• C. Realize that bad karma is a bitch when you hear him in the courtyard getting ripped a new one by the guardienne of your building.

22. The government is considering a ban on €500 notes. This is being done…

• A. To make it harder for people to smuggle large sums of money.
• B. To thwart drug dealers.
• C. Because even that’s too much money to hand over to a beggar.

23. You’ve decided to make the big move abroad. Since you live in Chicago, you check the consulate branch’s website in Chicago for what requirements you need and note the list of documents you need to provide. Then, on a lark, you check the consulate websites for Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, you find they say that you need completely different things. Do you…

• A. Assume that there’s obviously a mistake somewhere.
• B. Call to make sure, since this is for official, important government business and you want to make sure you get it right.
• C. Scratch your head when they ask, “Well, what city are you from?”, which is akin to someone from Spain moving to America, and a resident of Madrid having to provide completely different documents than someone hailing from Barcelona.

hahah i def asked myself this question during my visa process!!soo bizarre!

24. You finally move and realize that the apartment you found on the internet is actually a 3 x 9-foot room, an 8th floor walkup, and the bathroom is actually in a hallway which you share with five neighbors, one of who inevitably mistakes your door for his in the middle of the night when he gets up to do his business. Do you…

• A. Call a locksmith to make sure your door is secure.
• B. Wear earplugs.
• C. Let him in. French dudes are hot.

25. How much should it cost to go to the bathroom?

• A. Free.
• B. 20 centimes.
• C. €1-1.5. And if you don’t like it, find a spot outside. (yuppp!)

26. Food should be served…

• A. Using the freshest ingredients, in convivial surroundings.
• B. Chopped fine, layered in tiny shot glasses (never understood why they do this!)
• C. On square plates, sprinkled with cumin.

27. What is the most confounding thing about learning French?

• A. The fourteen verb tenses.
• B. The fact that you don’t pronounce the last third of words.
• C. Realizing that the French are just as confused as we are.

28. Who is the most important person in France?

• A. President Nicolas Sarkozy (Um…)
• B. Past Presidential Contender François Bayrou (Er…)
• C. Pierre Hermé.

...continued from my vacation at the end of February...

Alex and I hopped on the train early in the morning from Lisbon, and made sure to make a pit stop at the beautiful town of Lagos on our way to Albufeira.  We arrived at the train station with our heavy bags, ran into the bathrooms to change into our bathing suits, headed strait to the only hostel open (called the Rising Cock haha) and proceeded to beg them to hold onto our bags while we hit the beach...SUCCESS...and this is what we stumbled upon!

our own private beach in Lagos!!!

it was stunning!!

the following day in Albufeira

our lovely Brazilian hosts in Faro, Portugal

Portugal...I will see you again; this I know for sure : )

         After dancing the night away the night before, we got up at Joao's apartment at a decent hour and hopped in the car with him.  He told us he had to drive to Sintra (about 45 mins outside of Lisbon) to visit his uncle.  The drive was amazing and we stopped along the cliffs for some great pictures!

the gorgeous coast- reminded me of half-moon bay a bit

Joao's uncle's house is the house with the blue shudders (top left), kind of hard to see

On the balcony of Joao's uncle's house.

On the drive on the way back we stopped at Cabo da Roca- the most western point of Europe

Also on the way back to lisbon we stopped in a city called Bleim for these AMAZING pasteries...Pastéis de Belém- a creamy eggy custard with a crispy flaky crust, sprinkled with powerdered sugar and cinimmon... YUMMMMM

That night Joao dropped us off at a tram stop where we were to meet yet another host- who's name still remains somewhat of a mystery.  This really nice mystery man named something like "Muchacho" lol picked us up and walked us back to his appartment.  Due to the raging the night before and the long day at Sintra, Alex and I were exhausted and explained that we were planning to go strait to bed.  He showed us to our rooms and we instantly passed out!  We woke up early with plans to explore Lisbon!  We walked around the whole city and then decided to walk (for more than an hour due to a little mis-calculation of distance) in order to see this famed "Belem Tower."  After this treacherous walk...we finally found this cool but super tiny castle...I thought it was a joke...

 After a very long day, we returned to Munchindo's house to cook dinner and went out for a little bit.  We ended up meeting with our previous host Joao again! fun fun!  Our last day in Lisbon was spent in Sintra, the same city Joao drove us through.  We weren't able to see the famous Pena Palace which was def worth the trip back to the city- Alex and I like to call it the technicolored castle

Its hard to tell but the castle is seriously on the very tipy-top of this forest-y city

 

pretty sweet

 After spending all day in Sintra, we returned back to Muchasa's (yes I'm changing his name every time).  We packed up our stuff and planned our day trip to Lagos on our way to Albufeira! 

Super cool looking train station in Lisbon- the next pic is Alex giving me a funny look because we are of course over an hour early for our train...but HEY we had time to eat breakfast and chase around some ugly pigeons lol

Goodbye Lisbon...hello BEACHES and TAN LINES!!! : )

LISBON!

Alex and I hopped aboard our train after saying fare well to Ricardo and we were off to Lisbon.  We arrived at around 21h and Joao, our next host was quick to find us at the train station! He drove us back to his apartment where we met two of his friends.  They were eager to prove to us that Lisbon was much better than Porto haha it was funny.  We all sat around talking and sharing Youtube videos and music.  Alex and I had bought Joao a bottle of Porto wine from the Sandeman winery and which we all shared.  At around midnight we all piled into his friend's car and headed out to a lively part of Lisbon called Birra Alto.

The crowded small streets of Birra Alto lined with cool smaller bars

 At around 2h they decided it was time to go to the club for some dancing! : )

In line at club LUX, one of the best in Lisbon

Alex, Joao, and I inside the club

 

In the parking lot of the club at around 6h...yes that is the sun rising hahaha

And that concludes our first hours of Lisbon...I'm running off to teach, but the tale of Lisbon has just begun so stay tuned!! : )

xoxoxo to my friends and family!!

Porto

Alex and I decided to couch surf for our entire stay in Portgual... a genius idea if I do say so myself.  She organized our hosts for Porto and Lisbon and I organized our hosts for Albufeira.  Alex tells me our host Mike offered to pick us up from the airport, the only catch is we don't have his phone number and he doesn't have ours either...ya woops! We land in Porto at 23:55 and head out to the street level after seeing no signs of our host in the arrival section.  With an hour already gone by, and still no signs of our host, we are thinking something went wrong. 

Plan B is looking very intriguing - the Porto soccer team had just landed dressed in suits and their tour bus was waiting for them directly across from us ; ) 

In the end Mike, our host, found us and our first night/wee hours of the morning were not spent sleeping in the airport!  He took us on a little drive through the city and pointed out all the "must-sees," from the car windows.  We got back to his lovely apartment and shared some great conversations over a bottle of port-wine. It had to have been about 5am before we finally went to sleep. We slept in a little the next morning and he offered to drive us to our next host's house.  Mike was only able to host us for our first night because he was taking off to Lisbon. 

Mike dropped us off at Ricardo's house(our next host). He was really nice but apologized that he couldn't spend the day with us because he was busy with work.  However, he gave us the phone number of Fernando- another couch surfing host who was currently hosting 4 Russian women.  We all met up in the center of Porto and Fernando gave us a tour of the city, while cracking sexest women jokes...i laughed at them all...he was silly. 

 

Cool markets on our walking tour- it was rainy so we took cover here for a moment

a beautiful church with the typical blue tile seen through out Portugal

Fernando then invited us over for dinner to cook with the other women.

alex, me, the four russians, and Fernando!...ricardo joined in soon after!

Ricardo then took Alex and I dancing allll night/ morning at a very cool club!

We woke up the next day with the sun shining and decided to head out to see more of the town and of course go wine tasting to Porto's famous wineries. 

kind of hard to tell but this is a tiny famous book store.  The winding staircase was an inspiration for the Harry Potter book/ film.

The different wineries all lined up along the water

gorgeous view!

First stop- Sandeman Winery : )

Second stop- Croft winery

Port sure is strong stuff..and with a little buzz going we happily sauntered the streets back to Ricardo's  apartment in order to pack our stuff and take a train that evening to our next destination- Lisbon!

Porto je t'aime : )