I guess I have a thing for airports. Last month I set a new record for myself - 3 countries, 3 days. How many airports? 6! March 25th I went back to Sitka with one of my freshmen English classes and their teacher. It was fabulous to be home again, see the fam, friends, be in Alaska and on the ocean, eat salmon (real smoked salmon!) and all that jazz. Of course in addition I got to show my Frenchies my home! They saw plenty of whales and threw plenty of snowballs. Fabulous time in the Last Frontier, we could say...
On the 8th we left with our 26 students and started our 22-hr voyage home. Thankfully my in-flight movie screen was working this time. We arrived back in France mid-afternoon and I went home with another family (the Jarlauds deserted me and went to the Maldives!) However, I left the next morning for Rome!!! The flights went perfectly - until arriving in Rome, and here I've got to admit that Italians are not particularly gifted in the organization department. I should also add that I am not (as most of you know) gifted in the direction department, but by now I've walked around enough airports to know that signs pretty much can get you anywhere - and that is where I made my fatal mistake - following the signs and not the crowds. All I wanted to do was grab my bag and then meet Flaminia (Italian exchange student who lived in Sitka last year)!!! I ended up finding the baggage claim for one airline only, not my Lufthansa flight. Trying to exit this particular baggage claim, I walked through some doors.
And set off an alarm. The security guard came up to me with this exasperated look on his face and when he realized I didn't speak Italian he said "What do you want?" I explained I was looking for my bag. He told me to go upstairs and outside...so I went. And I found Flami! But not my bag...actually I ended up going OUT of security and having to pass through again to finally get to that bloody baggage claim. An hour later, we were in the car driving into Rome (with my bag, thank goodness).
The next 9 days were amazing...
Fabulous part # 1: The sights. Flami is in what would be like our "senior" year - except for her it's the 13th year of school, so the Italians finish high school when they're 19. She went to school during the day (although luckily they get out at 2:00 so we could hang out in the afternoon) and her mom was nice enough to take me around and show me Rome! I saw the Vatican, the museums, the Trevi Fountain, the Colloseum, St.Peter's, the Sistine Chapel, the Spanish steps, the Mouth of Truth (think that's the name in English) and the Castel St Angelo. It was pretty awesome walking on stones that the ancient Romans had laid down...
Fabulous part #2: The food. I think a miracle happened in Italy. How do you say no to homemade fettucini where the noodles are all rolled and cut individually???? It is incredible that I didn't gain 15 kilos (all right that is extreme I know, but still, miracles are happening...) Pasta. Pizza. Gelati. Red sauce. White sauce. Sausages. Artichokes. Meatballs. Big salads. 2nd helpings. 3rd helpings...anyway you get the idea. Ah, it took me back to my Italian roots. And Mom, props to you, your maccaroni is still tip-top!!!! (Send me that recipe!!!)
Fabulous part # 3: Friends. Flami's family was amazing. Her mom was sooo nice. She took me everywhere with her, showed me the little nooks and crannies of Rome. Her dad was the same - always excited to show me their world! They were amazing hosts and I felt so loved! Her friends welcomed this random stranger who didn't know any Italian and we had a BLAST speaking English/Italian and teaching the crazy Alaskan girl Italian! It was sooooo good to see Flami again after she left Sitka! I can't wait to go back and see her gorgeous face again!
My internet connection won't let me upload any photos, but I'll put them up soon!!!
Rome I miss you!!!!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Ok, this one is long overdue! But instead of wasting time talking about procrastination, how about I just start telling everyone about my amazing trip to Egypt?!
On Feb 15 I got back with the fam (the French one, the Jarlauds) from a ski trip to the Alps (see post and comment on Meghan's supreme picture taking talents below). So I packed my faithful backpack ( I love Gregory packs!) that night and left the morning of the 16th for the land of mummies. After a day of traveling (I had to go up north to Frankfurt to catch my Egyptair flight to Cairo) and waiting in possibly the longest passport line of my entire life when landing in Cairo (and by now I've been in a couple), I met Dan Langbauer - my old, I mean, previous - high school math teacher and Seth, his son. The Langbauers moved to Cairo to teach at an American school last August, and I jumped at the offer to visit them. Tickets to Cairo from France are (at least I'm telling myself this....) after all, cheaper than tickets from Sitka to Cairo. We took a cab (driven by the ever-so-nice Mr.Mostafa) back to the Langbauers apartment in Maadi and I got my first look at Cairo (by night, since it was around 8 or 9 when I finally got through customs).
Cairo was busy. Of course. I mean, it's Cairo, right? We're talking a lot of people. What did get me was the driving. Insane. I thought Mexico was crazy, but Cairo blows everyone out of the water. I think it's safe to say that their rules are:
There are no rules.
Who needs headlights at night anyway? And don't forget to honk your horn once a minute. At least. Makes for an exciting ride back home after sitting in an airplane for 10 hours and watching High School Musical 3 on the plane with a bunch of Egyptian men.
After a good night's sleep, the next day I spent with a guide, because the Langbauers do, after all, have to work. I had a guide and a driver all to myself, which was terrific, and my guide Nadia was incredibly nice. Her speeches went fast, and I had to ask her to slow down a couple times, but it was great learning the history while seeing the sights. That day we went to Giza and Saqqara...we went to Giza first (where the 3 pyramids are, each belonging to a grandfather, father, and son) then to Saqqara, where the first pyramid was built (it's also called the step pyramid). And of course, I was a typical tourist and rode a camel. It wasn't too bad...not incredibly exciting, but it did get a bit more fun when my 14-yr-old guide finally made it go fast. He is also the photographer behind the photo where I "hold" the pyramid and have a scarf on my head. It went like this:
"Get down." (I get down. He ties the scarf around my head). "Make hands like this. Down. Up. Up-Down. Smile. Cheese. You hold pyramid. See? Get back on camel."
Apparently my camel's name was 007. The guide said "Good name, no?" I said yes, of course, what a wonderful name for a camel...(????) After my little excursion on 007, we hit the Sphinx. It was funny thinking that I had just seen his beard in London a couple months ago.
The next day I spent touring again with Nadia, but this time we visited Coptic Cairo and Islamic Cairo. Coptic Cairo (if I remember right...although my memory tends to be spotty, so don't trust me too much) is Cairo starting around the 6th century...historic sites include: the Babylon Fortress, the Hanging Church, a Greek Church, and the Coptic Museum. The Holy Family supposedly stopped to stay there at one time also. After that tour, we went to Islamic Cairo, mainly the Mohammed Ali mosque (otherwise known as the Citadel). The mosque is huge, and really pretty. My favorite part was that they have 365 lanterns inside for each day of the year. After the mosque, we went to the Eyptian Museum which is incredible...so many artifacts!!!! Over 120,000 actually. I saw statues of pharoahs, coffins and sarcophaguses (or sarcophagi?) the golden mask of King Tut, and of course the mummies. Which are AMAZING for being SO. OLD. Queen Hatshepsut and I chatted (at least, I think it was her...the titles were a little confusing, and weren't actually above the glass cases the mummies are in).
Thursday I spent with Sandra in her first (I think?) grade class. It was very fun working with the kids and drawing sphinxes for them...although I think I disappointed them when they learned I couldn't speak Italian, and therefore couldn't read books in Italian to them. (The school has kids from very well-off/diplomatic etc families). I think I'll have to learn another 3 languages before they let me come back....that way I can keep up with the 8 yr-olds.
That night Dan and Sandra took me to the Khan, Egypt's 650-yr-old market. It was insane...I saw the "real" Egyptian district, and a bit of the tourist district. Apparently the market was practically deserted - it was really quiet that night, which was nice, since you didn't have to fight to get through crowds in the skinny streets.
One night (I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday...) we went to see a music/dance group called the Whirling Dervishes. A group of men plays music with drums, tambourines, flutes, a kind of trumpet, etc, and then a group of dancers comes onstage. They wear these amazing colored skirts that look extremely heavy...and they start turning. They turn literally for hours (We watched them do it for about an hour straight) with out stopping. They are supposed to enter some kind of religious trance as they do it.
Friday and Saturday we took a train along with Charlie and Carissa, good friends of the Langbauers who also teach at the school, to Alexandria. The train ride to Alex is about 2 hours long, and we got in Friday morning. After checking into our hotel,
we took a tour to see a Roman theatre, Roman and Egyptian catacombs, a fort (where the light house used to be, I believe???) and the Library. The theatre was really pretty...and the catacombs were really interesting, since you got to go down and walk around in them. Once our guide stopped next to a hole in the wall inside the catacomb, and asked "who will put her hand in?" Of course, Langbauer volunteered me, and of course, as I stuck my hand in to explore the mysterious hole in the catacombs, Langbauer freaked me out by grabbing my leg. Twice. After that we visited the fort, which is right on the the sea, and I loved. It was my first time being on a large body of water since I left Sitka. The air smelled soooo good. Especially compared to Cairo, haha. Our final stop that day was the Library, which is amazing. Apart from a beautiful library and the massive collection of books/texts,etc, they had an exhibition with things like letters written on leather by Mohammed Ali, and a replica of the only remaining piece of papyrus found at the library. The original piece is in Austria...right where it should be, right? It's insane how much of Egypt is somewhere besides Egypt...
We had half the day on Saturday to explore a bit before taking our train back to Cairo. We went to look for the Greek museum, but when we finally found it (after being rained on for about 20 minutes) we couldn't believe it...Langbauer thought it was a museum of Greek TRASH, because there was a big building titled "Greek Museum" and a bunch of rubble inside. Finally we asked a man working there, who laughed at us and said they were remodeling. Well, you never know in Egypt. A lot of grammar and spelling mistakes at the museums are fixed with sharpie.
Quick tangent - if you ever have a question about why something is done a certain way in Egypt, or find something a bit strange I'll give you the answer right now. This ancient knowledge has been handed down since the time of Osiris and Isis, and the wise tutor Charlie was the one to pass it on to me. Here is an example:
A woman sees an Egyptian guard working in a public place sitting on a bench with a sign above him marked "NO SMOKING." He is smoking. She goes up to him and says "Excuse me, but I think somking is forbidden here." He looks at her and says:
"Madaaame, this is Egypt."
So there you go. Always remember that, and you will never have a question again.
After our detour to the Greek Museum of Trash, we decided to visit the National Gallery. They had some really interesting and really hilarious stuff inside(see pics). And of course, explanations and titles all fixed with sharpies.
At 1:30 the Langbauers and I decided to make our way back to the train station since our train left at 2 (Charlie and Carissa left on a later train) so we flagged down a taxi to take the 5-min ride a little early, just in case. It was a good idea. The "taxi" that pulled over to take us was actually a van, with someone else already in the passenger seat. Dan asked if the man knew where the train station was and the driver answered with the usual "Yah, no problem, no problem," then started talking to his friend in the passanger seat. Sandra began to get mad at Dan since he hadn't asked what price they would charge for the ride (sometimes they'll really rip you off when they think you're tourists who don't know what the local prices really are), and none of us knew if we were actually going to the train station. Dan started to talk (in escalated tones) to the driver, because we did have a train to catch after all...and no progress was made except for more shouting. Finally Dan told him to stop and pull over, the driver continued to say "No, no problem no problem!" and get angry, then Dan made possibly the scariest face I've ever seen him make (except for one time in Pre-Calc when the girls in the class got a little sassy and excited, so he sprayed them all down with a water spritzer), say "LA!" (No!) we opened the moving van's door, and jumped out onto the street, taking our packs with us.
I laughed. Why not? Between all the shouting, the Arabic-English, Langbauer's face, and jumping out of the moving van, I couldn't help it...you're right Langbauer, I did get a good story out of it!
The rest of the evening was rather uneventful, and Sunday morning I left, since I had to go back to work here in Toulouse on Monday morning and it takes a good day to get back when you have 7 hour lay overs in the Munich airport.
After that, there's not too much else to recount. Someone offered to buy me for 2 million camels. The Langbauers said no, 6 million, but apparently that was too expensive.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing (if not the) trips I've ever taken - mostly because their culture is so incredible different from ours. Before this, I'd only been to see Western civilizations/cultures, etc. And while they have McDonald's in Sitka, Toulouse, London, and Cairo, that's about all there is in common. It was fantastic to see the Langbauers too. They were hilarious and fun to travel with, and an awesome family. Thank you guys!!!! I'm coming back to camp in the White Desert. ; )
On Feb 15 I got back with the fam (the French one, the Jarlauds) from a ski trip to the Alps (see post and comment on Meghan's supreme picture taking talents below). So I packed my faithful backpack ( I love Gregory packs!) that night and left the morning of the 16th for the land of mummies. After a day of traveling (I had to go up north to Frankfurt to catch my Egyptair flight to Cairo) and waiting in possibly the longest passport line of my entire life when landing in Cairo (and by now I've been in a couple), I met Dan Langbauer - my old, I mean, previous - high school math teacher and Seth, his son. The Langbauers moved to Cairo to teach at an American school last August, and I jumped at the offer to visit them. Tickets to Cairo from France are (at least I'm telling myself this....) after all, cheaper than tickets from Sitka to Cairo. We took a cab (driven by the ever-so-nice Mr.Mostafa) back to the Langbauers apartment in Maadi and I got my first look at Cairo (by night, since it was around 8 or 9 when I finally got through customs).
Cairo was busy. Of course. I mean, it's Cairo, right? We're talking a lot of people. What did get me was the driving. Insane. I thought Mexico was crazy, but Cairo blows everyone out of the water. I think it's safe to say that their rules are:
There are no rules.
Who needs headlights at night anyway? And don't forget to honk your horn once a minute. At least. Makes for an exciting ride back home after sitting in an airplane for 10 hours and watching High School Musical 3 on the plane with a bunch of Egyptian men.
After a good night's sleep, the next day I spent with a guide, because the Langbauers do, after all, have to work. I had a guide and a driver all to myself, which was terrific, and my guide Nadia was incredibly nice. Her speeches went fast, and I had to ask her to slow down a couple times, but it was great learning the history while seeing the sights. That day we went to Giza and Saqqara...we went to Giza first (where the 3 pyramids are, each belonging to a grandfather, father, and son) then to Saqqara, where the first pyramid was built (it's also called the step pyramid). And of course, I was a typical tourist and rode a camel. It wasn't too bad...not incredibly exciting, but it did get a bit more fun when my 14-yr-old guide finally made it go fast. He is also the photographer behind the photo where I "hold" the pyramid and have a scarf on my head. It went like this:
"Get down." (I get down. He ties the scarf around my head). "Make hands like this. Down. Up. Up-Down. Smile. Cheese. You hold pyramid. See? Get back on camel."
Apparently my camel's name was 007. The guide said "Good name, no?" I said yes, of course, what a wonderful name for a camel...(????) After my little excursion on 007, we hit the Sphinx. It was funny thinking that I had just seen his beard in London a couple months ago.
The next day I spent touring again with Nadia, but this time we visited Coptic Cairo and Islamic Cairo. Coptic Cairo (if I remember right...although my memory tends to be spotty, so don't trust me too much) is Cairo starting around the 6th century...historic sites include: the Babylon Fortress, the Hanging Church, a Greek Church, and the Coptic Museum. The Holy Family supposedly stopped to stay there at one time also. After that tour, we went to Islamic Cairo, mainly the Mohammed Ali mosque (otherwise known as the Citadel). The mosque is huge, and really pretty. My favorite part was that they have 365 lanterns inside for each day of the year. After the mosque, we went to the Eyptian Museum which is incredible...so many artifacts!!!! Over 120,000 actually. I saw statues of pharoahs, coffins and sarcophaguses (or sarcophagi?) the golden mask of King Tut, and of course the mummies. Which are AMAZING for being SO. OLD. Queen Hatshepsut and I chatted (at least, I think it was her...the titles were a little confusing, and weren't actually above the glass cases the mummies are in).
Thursday I spent with Sandra in her first (I think?) grade class. It was very fun working with the kids and drawing sphinxes for them...although I think I disappointed them when they learned I couldn't speak Italian, and therefore couldn't read books in Italian to them. (The school has kids from very well-off/diplomatic etc families). I think I'll have to learn another 3 languages before they let me come back....that way I can keep up with the 8 yr-olds.
That night Dan and Sandra took me to the Khan, Egypt's 650-yr-old market. It was insane...I saw the "real" Egyptian district, and a bit of the tourist district. Apparently the market was practically deserted - it was really quiet that night, which was nice, since you didn't have to fight to get through crowds in the skinny streets.
One night (I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday...) we went to see a music/dance group called the Whirling Dervishes. A group of men plays music with drums, tambourines, flutes, a kind of trumpet, etc, and then a group of dancers comes onstage. They wear these amazing colored skirts that look extremely heavy...and they start turning. They turn literally for hours (We watched them do it for about an hour straight) with out stopping. They are supposed to enter some kind of religious trance as they do it.
Friday and Saturday we took a train along with Charlie and Carissa, good friends of the Langbauers who also teach at the school, to Alexandria. The train ride to Alex is about 2 hours long, and we got in Friday morning. After checking into our hotel,
we took a tour to see a Roman theatre, Roman and Egyptian catacombs, a fort (where the light house used to be, I believe???) and the Library. The theatre was really pretty...and the catacombs were really interesting, since you got to go down and walk around in them. Once our guide stopped next to a hole in the wall inside the catacomb, and asked "who will put her hand in?" Of course, Langbauer volunteered me, and of course, as I stuck my hand in to explore the mysterious hole in the catacombs, Langbauer freaked me out by grabbing my leg. Twice. After that we visited the fort, which is right on the the sea, and I loved. It was my first time being on a large body of water since I left Sitka. The air smelled soooo good. Especially compared to Cairo, haha. Our final stop that day was the Library, which is amazing. Apart from a beautiful library and the massive collection of books/texts,etc, they had an exhibition with things like letters written on leather by Mohammed Ali, and a replica of the only remaining piece of papyrus found at the library. The original piece is in Austria...right where it should be, right? It's insane how much of Egypt is somewhere besides Egypt...
We had half the day on Saturday to explore a bit before taking our train back to Cairo. We went to look for the Greek museum, but when we finally found it (after being rained on for about 20 minutes) we couldn't believe it...Langbauer thought it was a museum of Greek TRASH, because there was a big building titled "Greek Museum" and a bunch of rubble inside. Finally we asked a man working there, who laughed at us and said they were remodeling. Well, you never know in Egypt. A lot of grammar and spelling mistakes at the museums are fixed with sharpie.
Quick tangent - if you ever have a question about why something is done a certain way in Egypt, or find something a bit strange I'll give you the answer right now. This ancient knowledge has been handed down since the time of Osiris and Isis, and the wise tutor Charlie was the one to pass it on to me. Here is an example:
A woman sees an Egyptian guard working in a public place sitting on a bench with a sign above him marked "NO SMOKING." He is smoking. She goes up to him and says "Excuse me, but I think somking is forbidden here." He looks at her and says:
"Madaaame, this is Egypt."
So there you go. Always remember that, and you will never have a question again.
After our detour to the Greek Museum of Trash, we decided to visit the National Gallery. They had some really interesting and really hilarious stuff inside(see pics). And of course, explanations and titles all fixed with sharpies.
At 1:30 the Langbauers and I decided to make our way back to the train station since our train left at 2 (Charlie and Carissa left on a later train) so we flagged down a taxi to take the 5-min ride a little early, just in case. It was a good idea. The "taxi" that pulled over to take us was actually a van, with someone else already in the passenger seat. Dan asked if the man knew where the train station was and the driver answered with the usual "Yah, no problem, no problem," then started talking to his friend in the passanger seat. Sandra began to get mad at Dan since he hadn't asked what price they would charge for the ride (sometimes they'll really rip you off when they think you're tourists who don't know what the local prices really are), and none of us knew if we were actually going to the train station. Dan started to talk (in escalated tones) to the driver, because we did have a train to catch after all...and no progress was made except for more shouting. Finally Dan told him to stop and pull over, the driver continued to say "No, no problem no problem!" and get angry, then Dan made possibly the scariest face I've ever seen him make (except for one time in Pre-Calc when the girls in the class got a little sassy and excited, so he sprayed them all down with a water spritzer), say "LA!" (No!) we opened the moving van's door, and jumped out onto the street, taking our packs with us.
I laughed. Why not? Between all the shouting, the Arabic-English, Langbauer's face, and jumping out of the moving van, I couldn't help it...you're right Langbauer, I did get a good story out of it!
The rest of the evening was rather uneventful, and Sunday morning I left, since I had to go back to work here in Toulouse on Monday morning and it takes a good day to get back when you have 7 hour lay overs in the Munich airport.
After that, there's not too much else to recount. Someone offered to buy me for 2 million camels. The Langbauers said no, 6 million, but apparently that was too expensive.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing (if not the) trips I've ever taken - mostly because their culture is so incredible different from ours. Before this, I'd only been to see Western civilizations/cultures, etc. And while they have McDonald's in Sitka, Toulouse, London, and Cairo, that's about all there is in common. It was fantastic to see the Langbauers too. They were hilarious and fun to travel with, and an awesome family. Thank you guys!!!! I'm coming back to camp in the White Desert. ; )
Here's the pics.
Holding the pyramids.
A ride on 007.
The sphinx.
The step pyramid.
The Mohammed Ali Mosque.
In front of the Egyptian Museum.
My guide, Nadia, and I.
The Whirling Dervishes.
"Madaame, this is Egypt."
The Roman theatre in Alexandria.
The fort in Alexandria.
The Mediterranean from inside the fort.
The sea!
I found a statue of Dad...
In the National Gallery. Who knows.
Statue of Akhenaten.
And I'll end with...mummies! All right, he's not really in there anymore...but his coffin/sarcophagus is still cool to look at...
A ride on 007.
The sphinx.
The step pyramid.
The Mohammed Ali Mosque.
In front of the Egyptian Museum.
My guide, Nadia, and I.
The Whirling Dervishes.
"Madaame, this is Egypt."
The Roman theatre in Alexandria.
The fort in Alexandria.
The Mediterranean from inside the fort. 
The sea!
I found a statue of Dad...
In the National Gallery. Who knows.
Statue of Akhenaten.
And I'll end with...mummies! All right, he's not really in there anymore...but his coffin/sarcophagus is still cool to look at...Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Alps
The school I work at has (thankfully) 4 2-week vacations...and February's went by like a whirlwind. February 8th to 15th I spent with the Jarlauds in the French and Swiss Alps skiing. The weather was pretty unpredictable, white-outs and blue sky and sun all in the same day. So we went whenever we thought it was ski-able. The last day Thierry, Camille and I went out when the visibility was pretty low and it was snowing. We did a couple slopes, then went up to a restaurant at the top of a slope to warm our freezin arses with some hot chocolate. In general though, the snow was perfect - and I picked up skiing again fairly quickly, after not having skiied for 3 years. When I made it down a black slope (okay, I fell a couple times and went down about as fast as a snail) I rejoiced.
Thierry and Cecile in town.
Morning of departure.
The Alps are gorgeous, of course, and the small ski towns are really cool too. A lot of cabin-like buildings, good restaurants, and everyone there seems to be happy all the time. Fun place to be. Here's some pics...
View from our apartment.
On top of the mountain.
On top! Ski shoes make for awkward posing...
View from our apartment.
On top of the mountain.
On top! Ski shoes make for awkward posing...
Thierry and Cecile in town.
Morning of departure.Thursday, January 29, 2009
And Back Again to that Foggy Place.
I spent January 10th to 18th back in the London area with 17 7th-grade girls who did an exchange with a private girls school called Tormead. It was an extremely busy week, but we had great fun - the English teachers were amazing hosts and the girls had a great time in their families. The girls would go to classes in the morning with their exchange partners, an
d then usually we would have a planned activity to go on. We visited the Globe Theatre again, which was perfect for me, and then the girls got to do a workshop on Romeo and Juliet where they all got up and acted and played theatre games - great for them, since they don't really do much of that at Le Caousou. We walked along the Thames, across 
several of the bridges, saw St.Paul's Cathedral, and took a trip in the London Eye. They also went to Portsmouth to see the HMS Victory (Admiral Nelson's ship), but I was stuck in traffic that day and didn't make the bus. I think they really liked seeing the sights, although at times I think their favorite parts were things like seeing London taxis and of course all the SHOPPING (this word was always followed by squeals of excitement). We did wear them out walking though, walking back from the train station and taking the rear, I felt like I was herding obstinate sheep or something, I really wanted to just spread my arms out and push them up the hill, hahaha...they were very fun to go traveling with though. :)I stayed with an amazing family that I hope I won't lose contact with...Tina works at the girls school and is fluent in French, but works in the Special Education department. Isla is her daughter and she and I hit it right off. Hopefully I'll see them again if I ever pass through London! The pictures below are of Tina, Isla, and I, and a friend's property where Tina and a friend keep their horses. The house was amazing, classic, old, white-washed, perfect!
The English teachers and Tina and Isla introduced me to my new favorite form of a restaurant - pubs! Maybe I should start one in Alaska... I went to 3 in the time that I was there, each one with a different atmosphere - but more of the classic English touch. The first day we got into London it was absolutely freezing, and I'm telling you, a seat by the fire in a pub with mulled wine and a potatoe stuffed with veggies steaming hot, after you freeze your butt off outside and you have been up traveling with 17 very excited and loud French girls since 6:00 in the morning was -
Heaven!
The first weekend some of the English teachers, Odette (the English teacher I work with at Le Caousou) and I toured a brewery, which was really interesting. It was cool to see how all of the beer is made, and then the best part - free samples. They gave each of us on the tour (there were about 21 people all together, the English/French exchange group of us being about 5 or 6) a half pint glass, and we tasted 4 different beers. I managed my first half pint just fine, but then realized if I wanted to be able to walk out of the brewery without the support of my friends, I better just stick to a tasting a bit for the next 3 beers. There was a group of young travellers who had exactly the opposite mind set I did however, and it was hilarious watching them. Our guide gladly refilled our glasses each time, and they must have had 2 or 3 glasses for each beer...so in the end the must have had about 5 or 6 pints!!! "Anyone for a refill?" "Here, fill 'er up!" Gotta love it...
England definitely has some appeal. The people were fantastic, and honestly, why does everyone say that English food is awful? They tell me it's changed a lot, but I had no problem eating my fair share (of course, I've never really had a problem there...) Anyway, nice people, beautiful places, fun tourist sights, 17 crazy but lovable French girls, and some long lasting friends = good trip.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Rewind! (to two not-so-foggy days in London town).
Ok, I have a lot of catching-up to do!
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long, guys. So! I won't waste any time, and I'll just start writing.
In early December I took a weekend trip to London. I flew out on a Saturday morning and came back to Toulouse late Monday night, so I had about two and a half days to visit the city. Being a museum freak, I tried to hit as many as I could, and also see some London classics.
Saturday evening I went to Trafalgar Square and the the National Gallery. It was fantastic to finally see some Da Vinci up close, instead of in the pages of a book. All the greats were there - Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Manet, de la Croix, etc. I can't remember them all now, and it was a long list...Trafalgar square itself was really pretty with Christmas lights and trees.
On Sunday I went to the Natural History Museum, which was great - except I think it may have been a mistake to go on a Sunday. Maybe the museum is busy everyday, but Sunday, it was crazy! And talk about little kids...they were absolutely everywhere. It took me about 2 hours to get through the dinosaur exhibit. At the end of the tour around the dinosaurs, there
is a robotic replica of an adolescent T-Rex, which moves up and down, opens his mouth, and roars at you. I heard the little boy in front of me say, "It's ok Mum, I think I don't really need to see this," as if reassuring her that yes, it was OK if they left now, his feelings wouldn't be hurt. His mom looked down at him and said "No, honey, don't you want to see the T-Rex? He's right there, look, we're right next to him, sweetheart..." He sighed and said "Well, all right, I guess we'll just do it fast then." Like resigning himself for a shot...poor guy.
After the museum I headed off to check out Westminster Abbey. The weather was clear and cold, and the Houses of Parliament looked gorgeous and old against a cloudless blue sky. I took a picture the "Sovereign's Entrance." Obviously where I will go in next time I'm there.
After that I headed to the British Museum. Which is amazing. Who knew the Brits had so much loot? It's insane! Honest, they have half of the Parthenon and Egypt there...most of you probably knew that already, but I was astounded...I thought it was a bit sad that all of these old artifiacts and pieces of history weren't in their home country, but on the other hand, the Brits say that in the Museum, they are kept from being vandalized, and the world can see them easily. Who knows which one is best? Seing pieces of th
e Parthenon and statues of Akhenaten and Amhenhotep was pretty incredible. I saw the Rosetta Stone also, but never got a chance to go up close - it was constantly mobbed by Japanese tourists.
On Monday morning I took off to see the London Bridge and the London Tower. I didn't take a tour in the tower, since you have to pay, but I did get a look at the outside. When I go back to London on the 10th as a chaperone, I'm definitely going inside. The history of the tower is gruesome, and fascinating. Heads on stakes on the bridges, corpses dropped into the Thames. I decided to eat lunch at one of the fish and chips stands nearby, before going off to look for the Globe Theatre. So I bought my fish and chips, grabbed some ketchup for my fries, and sat down, ready to dig in and enjoy watching the school kids terrorize the sea gulls and the sea gulls terrorize the school kids in front of the Tower. I look down at my fish, and that's exactly what they gave me - not fish fingers, or pieces of fish fried and battered - but a whole fi
sh. As in, entire fish, minus the tail fins and maybe the head (it was really hard to tell through the batter). So they bought this fish, possibly took the head off, dropped it in the batter, slapped it on some fries, and, in the immortal words of Emmeril, BAM! Fish and chips! Well, I'm a brave girl. I ate it. Until I realized that they only took of one side of the skin before frying up the little fishy. The other side was still nice and scaly.
The chips were good though.
After that I set off on my quest for the globe theatre. Which took about an hour to find, but I got there eventually. This time I paid for the tour to get inside the theatre, and it was glorious! A dream come true! I'm not going to launch into the whole history of the theatre, I'll suffice it to say that it is a really pretty, old theatre, and you better hope that if you lived in that day and age, you were not one of the people who payed one penny to get in, because if you did, you stood on the floor (it's an open theatre, so you were subjected to the weather), peed in the corner, and most likely stank incredibly.
After my tour, I high-tailed it to the train station, barely catching the train to the airport in time to get on my flight back to Toulouse.
What can I say? Willy S. and I could spend eons together.
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in so long, guys. So! I won't waste any time, and I'll just start writing.
In early December I took a weekend trip to London. I flew out on a Saturday morning and came back to Toulouse late Monday night, so I had about two and a half days to visit the city. Being a museum freak, I tried to hit as many as I could, and also see some London classics.
Saturday evening I went to Trafalgar Square and the the National Gallery. It was fantastic to finally see some Da Vinci up close, instead of in the pages of a book. All the greats were there - Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Manet, de la Croix, etc. I can't remember them all now, and it was a long list...Trafalgar square itself was really pretty with Christmas lights and trees.
On Sunday I went to the Natural History Museum, which was great - except I think it may have been a mistake to go on a Sunday. Maybe the museum is busy everyday, but Sunday, it was crazy! And talk about little kids...they were absolutely everywhere. It took me about 2 hours to get through the dinosaur exhibit. At the end of the tour around the dinosaurs, there
is a robotic replica of an adolescent T-Rex, which moves up and down, opens his mouth, and roars at you. I heard the little boy in front of me say, "It's ok Mum, I think I don't really need to see this," as if reassuring her that yes, it was OK if they left now, his feelings wouldn't be hurt. His mom looked down at him and said "No, honey, don't you want to see the T-Rex? He's right there, look, we're right next to him, sweetheart..." He sighed and said "Well, all right, I guess we'll just do it fast then." Like resigning himself for a shot...poor guy.
After the museum I headed off to check out Westminster Abbey. The weather was clear and cold, and the Houses of Parliament looked gorgeous and old against a cloudless blue sky. I took a picture the "Sovereign's Entrance." Obviously where I will go in next time I'm there.
After that I headed to the British Museum. Which is amazing. Who knew the Brits had so much loot? It's insane! Honest, they have half of the Parthenon and Egypt there...most of you probably knew that already, but I was astounded...I thought it was a bit sad that all of these old artifiacts and pieces of history weren't in their home country, but on the other hand, the Brits say that in the Museum, they are kept from being vandalized, and the world can see them easily. Who knows which one is best? Seing pieces of th
e Parthenon and statues of Akhenaten and Amhenhotep was pretty incredible. I saw the Rosetta Stone also, but never got a chance to go up close - it was constantly mobbed by Japanese tourists.On Monday morning I took off to see the London Bridge and the London Tower. I didn't take a tour in the tower, since you have to pay, but I did get a look at the outside. When I go back to London on the 10th as a chaperone, I'm definitely going inside. The history of the tower is gruesome, and fascinating. Heads on stakes on the bridges, corpses dropped into the Thames. I decided to eat lunch at one of the fish and chips stands nearby, before going off to look for the Globe Theatre. So I bought my fish and chips, grabbed some ketchup for my fries, and sat down, ready to dig in and enjoy watching the school kids terrorize the sea gulls and the sea gulls terrorize the school kids in front of the Tower. I look down at my fish, and that's exactly what they gave me - not fish fingers, or pieces of fish fried and battered - but a whole fi
sh. As in, entire fish, minus the tail fins and maybe the head (it was really hard to tell through the batter). So they bought this fish, possibly took the head off, dropped it in the batter, slapped it on some fries, and, in the immortal words of Emmeril, BAM! Fish and chips! Well, I'm a brave girl. I ate it. Until I realized that they only took of one side of the skin before frying up the little fishy. The other side was still nice and scaly.The chips were good though.
After that I set off on my quest for the globe theatre. Which took about an hour to find, but I got there eventually. This time I paid for the tour to get inside the theatre, and it was glorious! A dream come true! I'm not going to launch into the whole history of the theatre, I'll suffice it to say that it is a really pretty, old theatre, and you better hope that if you lived in that day and age, you were not one of the people who payed one penny to get in, because if you did, you stood on the floor (it's an open theatre, so you were subjected to the weather), peed in the corner, and most likely stank incredibly.
After my tour, I high-tailed it to the train station, barely catching the train to the airport in time to get on my flight back to Toulouse.
What can I say? Willy S. and I could spend eons together.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
When Jazz and Fleece Collide
Wednesday night I went to the first jazz concert I've been to since Fine Arts Camp and Jazz Fest. Cecile, Celine and I drove out to a theatre/casino complex near town where the concert was taking place, and ended up an hour early, so we got a chance to check out the casino (I realized, surprisingly, I could totally blow all of my savings if I wanted to, you can gamble at 18 in France. Don't worry Mom and Dad, I didn't feel an insane need to. Celine, on the other hand, could have played all night long if someone gave her the chance. About half an hour before the show, we met friends who came to watch also, and went to the restaurant next to the casino to have drinks and kill some time. As we walked in and headed towards the bar, Cecile turned to me and said "Listen, Meghan, they're speaking English behind us! You'll have to tell us what they're saying." She was right - there was a table of middle-aged men speaking English with American accents right behind our seats at the bar, laughing loudly. I stopped listening after a little while, since I can't listen to English and speak French at the same time. Right after I sat down, however, someone spoke behind me.
"Excuse me, miss, your coat fell."
I turned around to see one of the American men standing a little awkwardly with my fleece coat in his hands, accepted it, and said, "Oh! Thank you!" In English back to him. He gave me a nod and a smile, and then I turned back to my family.
After talking a bit, I found out that the jazz we were going to listen to tonight was actually a really famous player - Monty Alexander! Pretty cool, he's been to Lionel Hampton (jazz festival Sitka bands go to) before (for those of you who've been), played with Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillaspie, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, and Natalie Cole.
About 15 minutes before the concert, the group of Americans behind us got up to leave. Before walking out of the restaurant though, the man who picked up my jacket turned to me again. He bent over and said, "Hello, are you going to the concert tonight?"
- This is where suspicious who-are-you-and-why-are-you-talking-to-me-again-Meghan begins to wonder what exactly this guy wants. Why would a 40-year-old man want to know if I'm going to the concert? He can't be that desperate to speak English - he's got friends. While this analysis is running in my head, I decide it really won't hurt if I talk to the guy. It is a jazz concert and I'm with my family, after all.
"Yes, yes, I am." I say back to him.
He smiles at me again, and says "And what is your name?"
"Meghan." He sticks out his hand to shake it (which I've done probably a total of 3 times since I came to France - no one shakes hands here) and says with another smile, "Well, Meghan, I really hope you enjoy the concert tonight!"
"Thanks!" I say back, smiling, and then he walked away.
My family was staring at me.
"Don't ask me - I have no clue!" I said. They laughed, asked me what he said, and I translated it for them. They teased me a little, we finished our drinks (my mango juice was really good), and then headed into the concert. Our seats were in the 20th row in the auditorium (which was super classy, red velvet and all that) so we had a really good view of the stage - pretty close up. The stage hands set up, tweaked cords, etc, and then the drummer of the Monty Alexander trio walked out to put his sticks out.
I laughed when I saw him, suddenly understanding, and turned around to Celine and Cecile.
"That's him!" I said. "That's the guy who picked up my coat and was talking to me earlier!"
He set his sticks down, and then started to survey the crowd. Celine said to me, "Fais coucou! Fais coucou!" (Wave hi! Wave hi!). She picked up my hand and made me wave. He saw me, laughed and waved back.
The rest of the concert was amazing - everyone should definitely check out Monty Alexander if you haven't yet. He's an amazing pianist, and he played great music the whole night. It was a hommage to Bob Marley, and he had a Jamaican trio and his regular trio both on stage - playing at the same time, trading 4s, the music was fantastic. My attempts at explaining it are failing, I think, so go look him up on iTunes. That will work better.
All in all - good night!
"Excuse me, miss, your coat fell."
I turned around to see one of the American men standing a little awkwardly with my fleece coat in his hands, accepted it, and said, "Oh! Thank you!" In English back to him. He gave me a nod and a smile, and then I turned back to my family.
After talking a bit, I found out that the jazz we were going to listen to tonight was actually a really famous player - Monty Alexander! Pretty cool, he's been to Lionel Hampton (jazz festival Sitka bands go to) before (for those of you who've been), played with Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillaspie, Clark Terry, Sonny Rollins, and Natalie Cole.
About 15 minutes before the concert, the group of Americans behind us got up to leave. Before walking out of the restaurant though, the man who picked up my jacket turned to me again. He bent over and said, "Hello, are you going to the concert tonight?"
- This is where suspicious who-are-you-and-why-are-you-talking-to-me-again-Meghan begins to wonder what exactly this guy wants. Why would a 40-year-old man want to know if I'm going to the concert? He can't be that desperate to speak English - he's got friends. While this analysis is running in my head, I decide it really won't hurt if I talk to the guy. It is a jazz concert and I'm with my family, after all.
"Yes, yes, I am." I say back to him.
He smiles at me again, and says "And what is your name?"
"Meghan." He sticks out his hand to shake it (which I've done probably a total of 3 times since I came to France - no one shakes hands here) and says with another smile, "Well, Meghan, I really hope you enjoy the concert tonight!"
"Thanks!" I say back, smiling, and then he walked away.
My family was staring at me.
"Don't ask me - I have no clue!" I said. They laughed, asked me what he said, and I translated it for them. They teased me a little, we finished our drinks (my mango juice was really good), and then headed into the concert. Our seats were in the 20th row in the auditorium (which was super classy, red velvet and all that) so we had a really good view of the stage - pretty close up. The stage hands set up, tweaked cords, etc, and then the drummer of the Monty Alexander trio walked out to put his sticks out.
I laughed when I saw him, suddenly understanding, and turned around to Celine and Cecile.
"That's him!" I said. "That's the guy who picked up my coat and was talking to me earlier!"
He set his sticks down, and then started to survey the crowd. Celine said to me, "Fais coucou! Fais coucou!" (Wave hi! Wave hi!). She picked up my hand and made me wave. He saw me, laughed and waved back.
The rest of the concert was amazing - everyone should definitely check out Monty Alexander if you haven't yet. He's an amazing pianist, and he played great music the whole night. It was a hommage to Bob Marley, and he had a Jamaican trio and his regular trio both on stage - playing at the same time, trading 4s, the music was fantastic. My attempts at explaining it are failing, I think, so go look him up on iTunes. That will work better.
All in all - good night!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Postcards from Alaska
For a project in my 6th grade English class, I had the kids write postcards to their families while pretending they were in Alaska. They wrote about their stories from Alaska, and drew pictures of whales, boats, fish, etc. They were so cute and funny, I thought I'd post a couple.
"Hi, Yesterday, I went to the sea-side and I saw a whale; it was very big and fantastic. We went on a boat and I wore a lifejacket. I saw salmon and millions of crab. Here the weather is very cold can you send me gloves please?"
The picture was of an igloo in the snow with an American flag flying next to it, and the words "Alaska, USA, Obama, President!" written to the side.
"Dear mother,
I'm here in Alaska. I live in a little house alone in the forest. Everyday I get up and go hunt deer or other animals to eat. One day I saw a bear. He was big and he scared me a bit. Yesterday I bought a raincoat because it rains nearly everyday. Sometimes when I'm sick of going hunting, I go to the lake and try to fish for something. I come back to France next week, see you soon!"
"Hello, it is me!! I am writing a postcard for you. So I am having fun, I have met a bear!!! It was very big and scary so I ran away. I hope I won't meet any more in the forest. Did you know that bears are very big? It is very cold There is snow everywhere. See you all."
"Thanks for the life jacket! Dear Saskia, I'm going to tell you a strange story. I was in a lovely boat to see whales, salmon and halibut. Suddenly, the captain screamed, "Jump! Jump!' I answered, "Are you crazy? There are sharks!" "JUUUUUMMMMP!" And I jumped. My life jacket saved me. I caught a crab who brought me to the beach! I called it "Jack the Crab!" It's a real story! Kiss from Alaska!"
This picture was also great - a girl swimming with her life jacket on, with a large red crab next to her. In the background, there is a large sinking boat labelled "Titanic 2" and people falling off of the boat, crying and screaming. There are several large cloads in the sky with mean faces spitting lightning. I love it.
And, my favorite:
"Hi mum...
I'm sorry to say it to you, but by the time you receive this post card, I might be dead...I fell down from a boat and broke my back. A shark ate my arm (the left one) and half my right leg, which means that even if I survive, I won't walk ever again. Oh no, my hart is stopping now. Good-bye...aaaaaaaargh aie help! aaaaaah...."
And the picture...A boy on a gurney, with one leg and a bloody stump, of course. His arm has also been bitten, but the bone is visible, and he is hooked up to some sort of IV machine with a red bag labelled "blood". His T-shirt has "In Peace" written on it.
Lol...well, I couldn't stop laughing. Gotta love the imagination! I think I'll have them write more postcards, just in case I ever need a pick-me-up. This has definitely been my favorite project so far. :)
"Hi, Yesterday, I went to the sea-side and I saw a whale; it was very big and fantastic. We went on a boat and I wore a lifejacket. I saw salmon and millions of crab. Here the weather is very cold can you send me gloves please?"
The picture was of an igloo in the snow with an American flag flying next to it, and the words "Alaska, USA, Obama, President!" written to the side.
"Dear mother,
I'm here in Alaska. I live in a little house alone in the forest. Everyday I get up and go hunt deer or other animals to eat. One day I saw a bear. He was big and he scared me a bit. Yesterday I bought a raincoat because it rains nearly everyday. Sometimes when I'm sick of going hunting, I go to the lake and try to fish for something. I come back to France next week, see you soon!"
"Hello, it is me!! I am writing a postcard for you. So I am having fun, I have met a bear!!! It was very big and scary so I ran away. I hope I won't meet any more in the forest. Did you know that bears are very big? It is very cold There is snow everywhere. See you all."
"Thanks for the life jacket! Dear Saskia, I'm going to tell you a strange story. I was in a lovely boat to see whales, salmon and halibut. Suddenly, the captain screamed, "Jump! Jump!' I answered, "Are you crazy? There are sharks!" "JUUUUUMMMMP!" And I jumped. My life jacket saved me. I caught a crab who brought me to the beach! I called it "Jack the Crab!" It's a real story! Kiss from Alaska!"
This picture was also great - a girl swimming with her life jacket on, with a large red crab next to her. In the background, there is a large sinking boat labelled "Titanic 2" and people falling off of the boat, crying and screaming. There are several large cloads in the sky with mean faces spitting lightning. I love it.
And, my favorite:
"Hi mum...
I'm sorry to say it to you, but by the time you receive this post card, I might be dead...I fell down from a boat and broke my back. A shark ate my arm (the left one) and half my right leg, which means that even if I survive, I won't walk ever again. Oh no, my hart is stopping now. Good-bye...aaaaaaaargh aie help! aaaaaah...."
And the picture...A boy on a gurney, with one leg and a bloody stump, of course. His arm has also been bitten, but the bone is visible, and he is hooked up to some sort of IV machine with a red bag labelled "blood". His T-shirt has "In Peace" written on it.
Lol...well, I couldn't stop laughing. Gotta love the imagination! I think I'll have them write more postcards, just in case I ever need a pick-me-up. This has definitely been my favorite project so far. :)
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