Ever since my junior year of high school, I've dreamed of visiting Cinque Terre. This dream destination consist of five hill top villages on the Mediterranean coast of Italy, each with a different "personality". So, when my first mid semester break and the Toussaint (All Saint's Day) came around at the end of October, I immediatly booked my tickets to be able to hike Cinque Terre. Here is the story of what followed...
My housemate Jill, our friend Alex, and I borded a plane for Milan since it was the cheapest flight to Italy. All was great and dandy, the flight went smoothly, we were able to find the ticket booth for the shuttle from the airport to the train station, and we arrived at the station well before our train left. However, this is where things got complicated. Jill and I had bought all of our train tickets in advance but Alex was unable to. So, Alex tried to purchase a matching train ticket at the self operating ticket machines at the station. The machine said it was unable to complete the purchase. In a panic, we stand in the long line to buy a ticket from an actual Tentitalia employee. After some jumbled communication (Do we speak French or English? Do these hand gestures translate in the same sense?), the employee understood that we needed a matching ticket but, he would not sell Alex the ticket to the connecting train because he could not guarantee that the second train would actually run that day. He said, in English, there would be a possible cancellation due to the weather. After a 15 minute delay, we finally get on the train to Genova.
Heres where things start to get complicated: Since our first train was delayed, we were cutting it close to missing our second train to La Spezia (the train the employee wouldn't sell a ticket for). However, when we arrived, the time board said our train was cancelled. We saw that another train was scheduled for La Spezia not long after the original train was supposed to leave. So, Alex went to the self-operating machines to buy a ticket for the second La Spezia train while I went to the Information office to demand a replacement ticket at no charge (I think I get my confidence to complain and demand things from companies from my mother, i.e. complain at disneyland every time we go and get free tickets to come back again). I tell the employee in French that I want tickets for the new La Spezia train but he says that its not possible, the only option was to take a train to Parma and another to La Spezia that would arrive around midnight. Why couldn't he give me tickets to the direct train to La Spezia, it wasn't fully booked or cancelled? He didn't have an answer that he could communicate in French or English (time for me to learn Italian!). Since Alex had already bought tickets for the La Spezia train, there was no way that she could get on the train we were assigned. So, in a rush to catch our new train Jill and I separated from Alex. Let me just say that this was a terrible idea.
Before getting on the train, I gave Alex all of the information for the hostel I booked in Cinque Terre and told her that we would meet her there. On our separate trains we called each other a few times to check in. Everything seemed to be okay until Alex called us saying that La Spezia was closed and they made her get off at a stop called Lasagna (yumm) and take another train to some city called Lavanto. Jill and I were confused since, at that moment, we were on a train going to La Spezia. We figured that we would go as far as we could and then find a way to Lavanto even if we had to sell our souls to afford a taxi. Soon Jill receives a text from our friend who was planning on leaving Milan for Cinque Terre the next day. Her text asked us if we were okay because she had heard that there was a flood in Cinque Terre. WHAT!?!?!? A FLOOD?!? Why had we not heard about this? Why did the weather report say just a bit of rain? Why did all the Trentitalia employees say cancelled or late due to rain, not flooding? I internally began to get anxiety, but appeared calm because I know freaking out will not solve a problem. At that point we tried calling Alex again but her phone went directly to voice mail. Oh no, not good, is she okay? We decided to wait until the train reached La Spezia or whatever end destination they might change it to to find a pay phone and call her again. Contrary to Jill's belif that we would be kicked off the train at some random stop before La Spezia, we arrived at the supposidly "shut down" station and tried using a payphone to call Alex and the hostel we had a reservation at. No answer from Alex or the hostel. Since the last text we received from Alex said that she was in Lavanto we decided to find a way to get to her. We looked at a local train schedule and "oh perfect, a train that goes to Lavanto and it leaves in 8 minutes!". Jill and I go to the assigned platform and wait. And wait. And wait. Annnnd it never shows up. What to do next? Taxi? No, a group of drivers refuse to take us there because 1) its too far away and 2) the only way to get there is by boat because of the flood. Boat? It was just getting worse and worse.
At this point, we felt conquered by our day of being lost in translation and just lost in general so, we decide to accept defeat and retire for the night in the hostel right across the road from the train station. The proprietor of Albergo Parma was such a nice old man, and very excited to use his excellent French and English skills with us. Before even going to our room, we sat in the lobby and tried to use the wifi on my iPod touch. We wanted to get ahold of Alex so we were hoping she would think to find wifi too. The only way I had to contact Alex was on facebook and, unfortunately, it wouldn't work on my iPod (I should really say yes to all those software updates!). The only thing I could think of doing was emailing my mom and Kevin and telling them the situation and my Facebook information so they could send a message to her. After Kevin sent a message for us, we waited for a response in the lobby while television images of the disaster flickered tauntingly across the screen. The anticipation and anxiety was tangible, like the slippery residue humidity leaves on everything. You can't do, touch, or think of anything without being reminded of it. The fact that we were tired and hungry did not help. So we took care of our food needs at the only open kebab place and then lay in our beds. Sleeping was impossible. I kept getting up to check for a response in the lobby however, my attempts proved worthless since she was probably asleep wherever she was. The next morning, the inn keeper took care of us. He called the hostel we originally booked in hopes of finding Alex and provided us with a free breakfast complete with a fantastic Italian cappuccino. I almost forgot we were Italy because I was too preoccupied with worrying! A few yards away from the hostel, Jill and I found an internet café to continue the chain of emails with with my mom and Alex's parents. When I logged on to my Facebook I found a response from Alex saying that she was safe and stayed in Lavanto for the night. It was a short message but enough to calm us down. We responded and waited again for her response with no luck. Eventually we decided to go to the port and see if we could find a boat to Lavanto. The walk there provided us with our first chance to actually see some of La Spezia. It was quiet charming once we left the one block radius we were confined to for our food, lodging, and computer needs.
When we arrived at the port, we found it bustling with people, rushing to get emergency non-perishable food onto a boat. People were running with arms full of groceries from the closest store to the boat. You could feel their sense of urgency. Jill and I sat on a bench and watched since we didn't know how to communicate to help. But we wanted to help so badly! Finally we decided to try to get tickets for the Cinque Terre ferry but the ticket seller said it was only for emergencies. Then we asked when other rescue boats would be arriving in La Spezia from Cinque Terre. She said 4PM, which wasn't for another 5 hours. Hoping that Alex would think to take that boat and hungry from the stress, we started to walk back towards the town to get lunch. However, as we were about to turn our backs on the port I saw a boat that resembled those of the company's coming in. I told Jill to hold on a few minutes, I just wanted to see if Alex might be on the boat. When it was docking, I could see people covered in mud from the flood and looking distressed. As people were finally beginning to get off, my eyes were locked on the boat and all I could hear was the loud steady beating of my heart. The rescued people walk down the ramp single file...a man... a few children... another few men... and ALEX! I run for the boat like I was ready for a race, screaming her name...like a crazy person.
RELIEF
All I could think about was how much luck we had being at the port the exact moment her boat came in... an unscheduled emergency boat. It just worked out. Out of all of my experiences, this was the most stressful event of my life. It even beat the college application process and my first college finals week. The idea of losing someone you care about, not knowing if they're okay, all of the possible things that could happen to a girl alone in a sketchy place at night, the flood... Really, how would this have worked out without the help of technology? My mother relaying email messages in the middle of the night for us, using whitepages.com to find Alex's parents' contact information and letting them know what happened and to let us know if they hear from her. Technology really helped us in this situation and I am internally grateful for my mother's help in this. Thank you mom, I don't know how this would have played out without you!
After a relaxing glass of vino, our italian vacation actually began to to feel like one. Our next stop was Venice which was really wonderful; a city everyone needs to see! There, we stuffed our faces full of pizza, pasta, and tirimisu! Food pictures to come soon!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
A Weekend in Paris
This weekend Jill, Kyra, and I took a trip to Paris! I always love Paris everytime I visit but this time, being there made me miss Bordeaux. The entire weekend, there was no need to use French, everyone, EVERYONE spoke english. Just walking around each day I only heard English, not a lick of French! After considering the lack of the language that I’m trying to become fluent in, in the CAPITAL of the country of the language, I realized I would never learn French if I lived there! In Bordeaux I have to use French everyday and I prefer it that way. I don’t want to take the easy way out!
Friday/ Vendredi
We began our trip by catching the 6:10 AM direct train to Paris. This is the second time I've noticed that when I'm trying to catch an early tram somewhere, everyone is ending their nights out ad trying to catch the first tram home! That is something I definitely haven't seen before, but then again, I've never lived in a big city or had much of a night life to notice. Anyways, it was about a 3 hour trip where I slept almost the entire time. I needed that after only 2 hours of sleep the night before! However, I did wake up to pay a visit to the café car on the train where I bought a breakfast of espresso and a chocolatine (croissant with chocolate in it). When we arrived we went directly to our hostle in the Latin Quarter to put our bags in lockers. Next, we sat for awhile and planned out our weekend using a series of maps, tour books (thank Chris!), and scribbled down suggestions from blogs. First stop: Lunch. The restaurant we wanted to go to, called Le Petit Prince (like the book), was closed so we stopped at a corner café that had great prices. The three of us each got a different tartine with a good sized salad (not the wimpy two pieces of lettuce the French call a salad). Okay, I lied, I heard French at this café, only because it was a non-touristy area. And the waiter didn’t respond to us in English at all, that might be the first time that happened! Either our french is getting good or he didn’t know English, although I hope it's the first option! Afterwards we went to the Pantheon which is absolutely gorgeous. Anyone who likes classic architechture needs to check out the arches on this thing! Apparently it used to be a church but was later transformed into a “secular palace for famous men”. The tombs of many famous French people are there in the crypts under the breathtaking part of the building. And these crypts go on FOREVER. So many twists and turns, I think we got lost and missed a few wings of it. We saw the tombs of Rousseau, Voltaire, Military Heros, Zola, Marie Currie, and Victor Hugo to name a few. However, I was surprised to find that Victor Hugo’s tomb was nothing but a plain blank slab of concrete. Compared to some of the people I never heard of who had flags and wreaths, and lavish decor. It's strange considering that every French city has a Rue Victor Hugo (it's like the Main Street here), and that the country had a funeral for him and everyone mourned him like he was a family member....at least thats what the articles and movies make it seem like. Anyways, the Pantheon, check it out, it won't disappoint.
Next we went to the Notre Dame. This time, we hiked the 387 steps to the top! It was painful but the hike as well as the line we waited in was definitely worth the view from the top! My new favorite view of Paris, replacing the view from the top of the Pompidou. Oh and one thing great about being a student in France is that you get to do almost everything for free! We got into the tourists sites and museums for free with our Université de Bordeaux ID cards!
After that is was time for ice cream at Berthillon on Ile St. Louis. Raspberry, pear, and blood orange sorbet = SO GOOD. While we were enjoying our ice cream we met the real housewives of Orange County... not really, just a group of ladies from the OC in Paris for the weekend... just for fun. I even said “ thats quite an expensive weekend trip” and they laughed and agreed. We talked with them for quite a long time about the differences between the US and France and they seemed really interested. They wanted to know about the school system, families, government, French men, food, and shopping. I take note of these differences everyday so I was excited to talk about them. Jill chatting it up with them really intensely but I didn't notice, I was just excited that someone else was interested in the cultural differences. Yep, my true anthropology major nerd made an appearance. Before we continued on with our adventure, we had to teach one of them how to say “a coffee to go”, un café à emporter. She was really excited when that worked AND she got whipped cream on top.
The sun was starting to set so we headed over to Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur to watch the sky change colors over Paris. On the way up the steps, I heard someone playing and singing one of my favorite songs and it made me so happy to have perfect mood music. That night we originally were planning to go to the special Night at the Louvre event but we ended up eating dinner in Montmartre and I'm glad we did! I found the restaurant Refuge des Fondus on a blog a few months ago and ever since I've wanted to go! Luckily we found it and it was such a fun night! For 21€ you get an yummy sweet aperitif, a plater of appetizers, a savory fondue of your choice, tons of bread for dipping, and wine in a baby bottle. Yes, thats right, a baby bottle filled with your choice of white or red wine. I definitely think this silly drink is the reason this restaurant is so popular... for Americans. Seriously, the restaurant was overflowing with people from the united states. The table to the right of us was a group from Ohio and the table to the left of us were some girls from New York. Oh, and the tables are all right next to each other with no space in between so the waiters have to help you step on a chair and climb over the table to get to the seats against the wall. The closeness really encourages you to talk to your neighbors and make friends. We ended up spending the rest of our night with the girls from New York, and they were a lot of fun.
Saturday/ Samedi
Our second day in Paris started bring and early with the hostel's free breakfast at 7:00am. A bowl of black coffee, a cup of OJ, and baguette with butter and jam = simply perfect. We went to an open air market and collected food for our lunch picnic later. Then we went in search of cupcakes and we found them nestled in a little hidden neighborhood. Even though I have heard from multiple French people that cupcakes are dégoutant, I still didn't understand after tasting theses! At Synie's I had a cinnamon apple cupcake and it was amazing! But eating it on the Champs de Mars in front of la Tour Eiffel made it that much better. After our picnic, we were cleaning up and getting ready to go to the Rodin museum when I heard a familiar voice behind me...in English. I turn around and it's Selene! I hadn't seen her since my senior year in high school and suddenly there we were, reuniting in Paris. After the Rodin Museum we met back up with Selene and her friend visiting from London at Ladurée for tea and macarrons. We all had a nice chat then went our separate ways with the intention of meeting again. Next, we went to meet up with one of Kyra's friends from UCLA. We sat at le Palais du Trocadéro until la tour Eiffel sparked for the first time of the night and then enjoyed sone warm paninis in the cold air. Jill, Kyra and I were so exhausted from walking around that we went to sleep early that night to rest our feet!
Sunday/ Dimanche
Our last day in Paris was spent at le Musée d'Orsay and the Catacombs. It was my first time back at the museum since I had taken my 19th century art and civilization class so I was able to identify works of art and understand them. I was really excited that I knew the story behind paintings from Jean-François Millet, sculptures from Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, and of corse anything in the category of orientalisme. Later we went to the Catacombs and it was SO FUN. I had visited it before but this time, after having taken an anatomy class, it was so much more interesting. I was able to identify so many bones and I had so much fun quizzing myself on if I remembered the names and details of bones. The security guard noticed how interested I was by the bones and he came over and asked if I study them. I told him kind of and then he was excited to show me certain bones. He guided us over to little areas and pointed things out, taught us the names of bones in French, and quizzed me on weather certain bones were male or female. It was so much fun! I loved seeing all the femoral heads, cracked open skulls with all the foramen exposed, open sinuses, sphenoids, the ethmoid plates, sacrums, clavicles, scapulas... I loved it! I was able to tell the age of certain skulls and I even found two skulls next to each other that were incredibly different in every way. I love when I get to apply what I learn... and anatomy! Afterwards we made a quick stop at l'arc de Triomphe then we were on our way back to Bordeaux!
That was our weekend Paris! I am so excited to come back and visit with Kevin! I feel like I can be a tour guide for him!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Going to the country
le 2 octobre
Today Jill and I were invited to go to the “country” with our host family. I had been waiting for this invitation for a long time so as soon as it came I said “OUI! I would love to go!”. Their country house is in a village called Libourne which is basically a giant vineyard. Our host family spends every weekend here and i’ve always wondered why and after seeing this place I understood well. The house is huge with a room for almost every member of the extended family. It is decorated very rustic with French country charm and the exposed ceiling beams. If I understood my host mom’s mom correctly, then the house has belonged to the family since the year 210! I swear I heared two-hundred! There is a patio shaded perfectly for afternoon reading and relaxing. Across from the house is the “Chateau” where our host family’s son and wife make their own brand of wine. Patrick gave us a tour and I found it very interesting even though I still seemed asleep from that after-lunch nap. The whole place smelled like fermenting grapes fittingly! we learned about the machines used to shake the grapes off the vines, how they press the juice out of the grapes, saw the piles of left over seeds and grape skins, saw all the vats filled with the juice and how they rotate them, saw the bottleing station and it was wonderful! I think its very interesting how you go to college to learn how to make alcohol. I mean college is known for being a time with sloppy alcohol so i guess once you get your diploma you graduate to classy ones like wine. i obviously don’t understand the science behind it all but it is a huge industry. I’m planning on taking some wine classes here in Bordeaux so hopefully i will have a better understaning after that! Jill and I played with the family dogs, one of which was named cookie, in the vineyard and it was funny watching the dogs eat left over grapes on the ground!
Fluency Update: Month 1
I knew taking my classes in French would be hard, and I accepted that challenge, but it is turning out to be more difficult than I expected. My notes for the anthropology classes that I’m taking with French students are just a series of words I identified. I’m having a hard time understanding full sentences and the main ideas. Sometimes I’m not even sure when the professor is lecturing or just talking about administrative stuff... so those classes are definitely a problem. Unfortunatley none of the anthropology classes have any required reading so I have to find reading material on my own and that isn’t always easy when a teacher has their own agenda. Not to be negative, but this is how it has been. Luckily my French classes with other foreign students are easier. The professors speak slowly for us so we can follow. This definitely helps me better understand pronunciation so I can use those words myself.
Overall, my use of French and understanding of it has improved. I can understand more than I did before and I can carry on a conversation longer. I noticed that after speaking English all day, then speaking French at dinner with the family, I take more time to figure out how to say something. However, on days where I only speak French (which is really hard to do when I’m surrounded by Americans all day) sentences come to me much more quickly. Obviously I need to speak the French all day every day but when Jill and I can’t figure out how to say something in French to each other, we resort to English and its all downhill from there. However, we’ve gotten much better at returning to French.
Recently, I’ve had a few moments where I could notice my improvement. First, two weeks ago on a train I was listening to a French song on my iPod and I understood EVERY SINGLE WORD. Not only did I understand the words, but I also understood the ideas...and thats a big deal! Secondly, I went to go see two films: the first was in Spanish with French subtitles (tangled language speghetti!) and the second was entirely in French. Surprisingly I felt that I understood the majority of both! Even though the waiter at the restaurant we went to afterwards said we misunderstood the relationship between two characters, I am convinced that that waiter was wrong! Also, this weekend my host dad said that my French has improved since I first arrived at their house. I definitely believe it because, looking back, Jill and I were so silent at dinner with them at the beginning, but now, if we get a chance to talk among all the people, we have full length conversations.
I only have 10 months left to achieve fluency! I hope I can do it!
Le Mont St. Michel
This weekend a group of 8 of us took a long voyage across the country (so weird to say that!) to visit le Mont St. Michel in the Normandy region of France. It was GORGEOUS. To begin or trip we had to leave our house at 5:30 am on Friday to catch our 6:27 train. We had so many trains to catch! Luckily we had a 3 hour break in Paris so we used that time to enjoy a walk around the city...and switch train stations according to our tickets. We finally arrived around 4:30 PM which makes sense because we went to the opposite end of the country. Still so weird to me, we can’t really do that in the US, its strange to cross the country for the weekend! Anyway, we went to this cute little hostle that was actually more like a bed and breakfast. It was run by this adorable British couple that were nice enough to pick us up from and drop us off at the train station and Mont St. Michel. Without their help we would have had to spend so much more money to get places! Thank you British couple and thank you Dano for finding this adorable place! The hostel was located in a tiny town with barely any businesses. As far as we knew, there was only the bar across the road and two restaurants up the hill a ways. The rest, was green green green beautiful farm land. There were fluffy sheep sitting in the tall grass: they almost looked like clouds in a green sky! Horses too! And apple trees and corn fields! Oh it was so pretty!
Friday night we went to the Oystercatcher bar, run by another British guy who was hilarious! I had curry and chips (fries) and it made me so happy to have spiced foods! They dont seem to put much seasoning or spices on food in France. We all talked and laughed about the 90’s and embarrassing trends we were glad to have been too young to participate in! That night we stayed up in our 6 person room and laughed even more. Laughing really is the best exercise :)
Friday night we went to the Oystercatcher bar, run by another British guy who was hilarious! I had curry and chips (fries) and it made me so happy to have spiced foods! They dont seem to put much seasoning or spices on food in France. We all talked and laughed about the 90’s and embarrassing trends we were glad to have been too young to participate in! That night we stayed up in our 6 person room and laughed even more. Laughing really is the best exercise :)
Sunday was a day of traveling, but I really enjoyed it. I did a lot of writing, reading, and music listening in addition to soaking in the scenery that the train passed by. I love traveling, as in I love the actual action of being in motion. Of course I love the end result of being in a new place, too, but being in motion puts me in a different state of mind and I can think much more clearly. This is probably why I have an urge to drive whenever I have some thinking to do!
Overall: GREAT weekend. I highly recommend visiting the Mont St. Michel if you're ever in France!
Overall: GREAT weekend. I highly recommend visiting the Mont St. Michel if you're ever in France!
Le Jurade de St. Emilion
le 18 septembre dimanche
St. Emilion is a tiny tiny village outside of Bordeaux which is basically the French capital of wine. This village, which one can walk across in 5 minutes, is entirely composed of cave à vins (wine cellars) and restaurants. Outside of the village are all of the vineyards where they make the wines that the city is so famous for. Anyways, a big group of us Californians went for the festival celebrating the first harvest of wine season. The event, called the Jurade de St. Emilion is a BIG deal. Important people in the wine industry from all over the world come and have to wear garb which resembles that of a king’s cape or the pope. First there is a religious ceremony in the church. Then everyone is lead by a band of bagpipe players to the monolithic church for some sort of fancy public conference. Later, all the important people go to the top of the village’s tower and release bunches of black balloons that resemble grapes to symbolize the beginning of the harvest. Pretty cool celebration just for some fruit that will soon ferment, if you ask me! :) It was a really great day and I hope to visit St. Emilion again in the future!
Le jour de patrimoine
le 17 septembre: samdi
The weekend of September 17th and 18th was the “Jours de Patrimoines”, which translates into heritage days. In celebration of their culture and their history, France allowed people to visit any of the public attractions in the country for free! So, Jill, myself and our friend Joe from Ohio visited Le Grand Theatre, le Musée de Beaux-Arts, and two historical hotels.
We also saw a demonstration on barrel making, in honor of the wine culture in Bordeaux. I never even thought about how barrels were made but it turns out that its a lot of work! Theres fire, wood bending, and intense hammering involved. Who knew the life of a barrel maker was so dangerous!
At one of the hotels we saw a musical performance where the singers and musicians dressed in 19th century costumes and performed beautiful songs in multiple languages. Among the instruments was a harpsichord which is the specialty of my friend Alexander. The harpsichord is common in 19th century music but one rarely sees one these days so I had to take a picture!
At one of the hotels we saw a musical performance where the singers and musicians dressed in 19th century costumes and performed beautiful songs in multiple languages. Among the instruments was a harpsichord which is the specialty of my friend Alexander. The harpsichord is common in 19th century music but one rarely sees one these days so I had to take a picture!
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