just an ordinary day

I am on my way home.  Well, not literally just yet, but since I have finished my last week of language school and am now making my roundabout way to Brussels for my flight back on December 10, it feels like I am going home.  However, I have decided that is a rather emotionally heavy way to look at the next week and a half, so the new goal is to try to look at it as just more adventuring and seeing friends and places.  Most of you missed the bit where I occasionally freaked out over not knowing what I would be doing these last 12 days between Nice and Brussels.  Many of you know that I like to plan things, so not knowing what city (or country) I would be in Monday posed a small point of stress on Thursday… But all has been essentially figured out, so I am not too stressed.  I am becoming more capable of actually taking to heart the mentality I advocate: chilax, God has it under control, if you just keep on keeping on it’ll all work out in the end (caveat of course being that the end might be when you die and go to heaven, but that’s only in extreme cases ).

In other cheery news, whenever I move I always have the unpleasant experience of piling my clothes on the bed and wondering how I will possibly be able to fit it all in my suitcase.  And now as my flight is approaching, I am also considering the 50 pound weight limit.  While I have bought things, I have also left things behind, and I am planning to wear as much as possible on the plane.  But at any rate, it all did fit and I am even optimistic that I won’t have to convert my carry on into a checked bag to compensate for weight!

Oh, and if you’re wondering where I am going until I get home…

Yesterday (Friday) I left Nice and arrived at Aix En Provence, where I am staying with a friend from Whitworth.  On Monday I am heading to Switzerland to stay with another friend I met at Whitworth (but who is Swiss).  Wednesday I go to Strasbourg where I am staying with a couchsurfer and in a hostel (she wasn’t able to host me for the whole time, but hey, any time is better than none!), then to Paris on Saturday, Monday morning to Brussels (couch surfing again!) and Wednesday the 10, as you are in bed asleep, I will be boarding a plane.

Lots of travelling time…I am currently reading The Decameron, which yes, I got for the length… didn’t want to have to buy another book.  Is rather interesting thus far, although I am hoping to finish it before the flight, so I can leave it behind.  I figure two books in French + inflight movies + journaling… should be golden for the 14 or so hours of travel.

Oh, and it snowed in Antibes (which is just between Nice and Cannes).  I have (not very good) photos I took when I was on the train to Cannes.  Crazy!

another not-very-sunny day

Coherency is becoming less of a stong-suit with me, at least when it comes to writing.  In two and a half weeks I will be (almost) on a plane headed to Chicago (where, after 2 hours *crosses fingers*, I will catch a flight to Seattle).  Even my journaling has drifted into the more fragmented…but that’s okay.  I’ll piece it together later.

Today is not very warm and there’s a bit of wind…I might go to Ventimiglia (or Ventimille if you’re French), since it’s less than an hour by train, just across the border into Italy.  And if it’s not nice thre, I can just come back (yay for train passes). 

Currently am in the state which entails oh,-next-week-I-probably-need-to-have-places-to-stay.  Which means I should figure out where I am going.  You can decide whether to be impressed that the former seven year old, who knew she loved reading and wanted to be a writer when she grew up, is now looking at a week in Europe with very very fluid plans (I know I am going back to Paris for a few days…but which days they are? not so sure).  Also, I oh-so-conveniently forgot that Christmas is actually a busy time in Europe, what with all the Christmas festivals etc.  Couchsurfing here I come (that or I’ll just go back to places where I can stay with people I know).

On the more psychological side…as I have mentioned before (or if not here, to people individually), I am excited to come home.  However of late have also been realizing that the return to home also includes leaving Europe.  Obvious, I know, but I just kind of take living here for granted right now, because it’s the way things are.  Everyone I hang out with is, shockingly, also living in Europe.

And I have actually posted some pictures (keep in mind the lack of chronology…in fact reverse chronology…).  Also, Heather is way more fabulous about posting her pictures while abroad (she does have a computer though)…so here are her pics from Italy.  Yay facebook.  Or if you wait three weeks I’ll (hypothetically) have the chronological albums up

a little of this and that

I found some biscuits at Carrefours that taste like cinnamon graham crackers.  This was quite a happy discovery because crackers like we have a home are few and far between in France.

You should all learn French so I can blog in français.  There would be many grammaical errors, but you could probably get te gist.  I met Lizette in Monaco this weekend sans pre-arranged meeting and we managed to communicate over the phone in French.  I was impressed.

So “they” are right, again.  I am thanking you now, parents, for making me go to TRA and learn Latin and grammar.  Turns out learning another language (at least a romance language) is way easier when you understand the equivalent in your native language, and already understanding the Latin tenses makes the transition to imparfait (imperfect), plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) and futur antérieur (future perfect) much easier.

Europe is good for the saunté.  While I bought more sugar at Carrefours than was probably necessary, I think the fact that I had to walk a mile there and two back compensates.

And to conclude this random collection…here are a few things I thought about yesterday.
 - Why does promod (a clothing store) not exist in the US? (or if it does, where is it!?)
 - I love boulangeries (and patisseries)!
 - The sun is amazing. While I won’t come home as tan as KP will be if she goes tanning, I might have a little color, woot!
 - The new people I meet are pretty cool, but somehow I have managed to be ridiculously blessed in the community and friends I have back home.  Pretty much don’t think I could ask for a better group of people to return to.

je suis ici

Alora…il y a beaucoup des choses dans ma tête.  J’ai visité Italie; je suis venu à Nice.  And I am allowed to write in French should I so desire…it is, after all, the point of this venture, no?

My week in Italy was constituted of/by (oh dear, the English is going) Florence, Rome and brief encounters with Pisa and Salerno.  It turns out that what you have heard and told me is true…the Italians really are crazier drivers than the French, Italy is cheaper than France, gelato is amazing, I fell in love with Italy, and maybe a few Italians fell in love with me haha (I think I was only asked out by two waiters?).  I soo desperately wished I could buy pasta and wine and cheese and olive oil to bring home with me…but that wasn’t really possible…so I bought some tartuffe (chocolate covered stuff) which was 25€/kg (but I only bought 3€30) and quite a bit remains…I prefer to enjoy these things for as long as possible.  I made sure to try the pasta in Italy…really enjoyed the percorara (sp!), which is a specialty of Rome, and a Salerno specialty (I’ll google more thoroughly for the name some other time).

Il faisait très beau toujours quand j’était en Italie (sauf un jour à Florence quand il y avait la pluie). (en anglais: good weather; save a bit of rain in Florence).

This feels a very insufficient post about Italy, but I am coming to the opinion that much of my trip will not sink in until after I return.  I didn’t really have an omg! I am in Italy moment…as I had in London and Paris.  Europe is normal now (altough today I concluded that Ashley is right…it really is just a setting on the dryer) and not so exotic.  Not to say I don’t appreciate or enjoy what I am seeing, but it’s just another part of this continent where I have been living and travelling and learning for the last few months.  After I am home for a while, I imagine the quixotic vision I had will return.  Also, meeting people and hearing random stories from their lives is fast becoming my favorite part of this adventure (thus the superfluity of the word ‘normal’).

Finalement, rest assured…the French really is getting into my head.  When in Italy I seemed to be aware that it was a foreign country…people might not speak English (though many did..seemingly more than in France).  Somehow this was translated into therefore I should speak French.  Heather can attest to the fact that I repeatedly started to pose questions in French or replied to a question with ‘oui.’  Additionally, while Italy is amazing and one week is hardly enough to satisfy one for life, the whole moving around bit has gotten tiresome for me.  I am excited for the prospect of returning home in a month, but I also found in myself an excitement at returning to France…where I could understand what people were saying!  So while I don’t fully know where France stands in my estimation, I don’t think I’ll be able to escape it.  After staying here for so long it has taken up a small residence and returning now contains some small element of a homecoming.