When in Italy...

Peur du jour- 13 Avril 2012: Crossing the border

So this is another one of those peur du jours that isn't actually a fear I had to overcome. What anxieties could I possibly have about going to a huge market in Italy? Niente. Italian markets are just as wonderful as French markets

These strawberries smelled out of this world!

Well hello there, gorgeous

It's funny how you can take a thirty minute train ride and actually feel like you are in a different country. Tammy told me that since they have opened the borders, the contrasts are not as stark, but the signs and announcements are still in Italian, the market is full of pasta and parmasean cheese and foccacia, and the third color on the flag is green.

Scrumptious

Parmesan and Sausages 

Desserts, Italian Style

We also had a wonderful Italian lunch: pizza, wine, profiteroles, and a complimentary limoncello.

Italian Wine- I prefer French!

Delicious Pizza

Profiteroles (Cream puffs, normally in France they aren't slathered with chocolate mousse, but these were delicious!)

On the contrary, I prefer Italian coffee to French coffee!

Limoncello

But at the end of the day, it's nice to come back to a country where I speak the language. I could tell my "grazi"s and "bonjourno"s wouldn't get me much farther than the few hours I spent there.

Monaco, Au pif!

Peur du jour - 10 Avril 2012: Wandering in Monaco

Today, I took a solo-adventure to the principality of Monaco. Monaco is home to the Monte-Carol, the royal family of Monaco, and enough beautiful cars to give you a sore neck (from the head-turning, obviously). I went in the casino, walked through many beautiful gardens, saw the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace, counted dozens of sleek yachts, and even saw the beginning of the Grand Prix race track. Monaco is where you go when you want to show off how rich you are.

Now, since public displays of wealth are for me what public displays of affection are for others, Monaco wasn't exactly  my favorite cup of tea (spearmint, if you were wondering). But I definitely could appreciate the beauty and history behind it. And it was hard to not imagine yourself as a Bond Girl while walking the gardens of the casino. But I found my favorite spot in Monaco by just wandering around while searching for the Exotic Garden. I saw a trail that intrigued me, but I wasn't really sure where it led or if I should even be there.

And all of a sudden, I found myself in a grove of olive trees overlooking the city. In the country rated the most expensive place to live in the world, I was most content sitting in a bed of grass overlooking the sea.

There's something for everyone!

The Royal Palace- My view from the trail

PS) "Au pif" is a french phrase which translates to "by nose" and roughly translates to "off the cuff" especially when referring to cooking (as in, cooking without a recipe). I used it in this sense to describe my process of choosing roads/paths to walk down.

Dancin' in the streets

Peur du jour: 1 Avril 2012: Flash mob

First things first, FLASH MOB (this is how the French say it too!). I have always wanted to be in one (it's on my bucket list actually), and I can't believe I got the opportunity to do it in France. It wasn't exactly what I had always pictured in my head; in many ways it was better!
 

One of the girls from La Source choreographed it, we learned it, and then we taught it to the other aumôneries (church groups) at the Catholic Conference. We performed it after la messe de rameaux (Palm Sunday) as a surprise for the local parishioners. So, it was fairly private as flash mobs go, but it was still great. Once I get the video and pictures I will be sure to put it up!

Practicing for our flash mob

I think what I liked most about it was that it was a flash mob for the glory of God. I can't think of a better purpose to dance like a fool in broad daylight.

Suzanne and Colette jammin' on the keyboard

Another few dancing/music highlight of my week were:

1.  Being in a conga line between a nun and a monk. Catholics know how to party.
2. Kind of awkward slow-jam keyboard percussion beats during evening prayer.
3. Learning Senegalese hymns!  This link is maybe the cutest thing ever. The song basically says: "I praise you with my mouth. If I don't have a mouth, I praise you with my feet. If I don't have feet, I praise you with my heart. If I don't have a heart, it's because I'm praising you in heaven."
4. Holding back laughter with a friend during mass because of the formerly noted awkward slow-jam keyboard percussion beats.  

The wonderful South-African choir that performed all weekend!

Sur la route! (On the road!)

Peur du jour- 31 Mars 2012: Orienteering

This weekend I went to Perpignan with some of my fellow Catholic students from La Source. The weekend was great, but our journey was not without its detours and scenic routes.

We traveled en voiture (by car) from Montpellier to Baixas, France (about 2 hours). All together we had four cars; I traveled with two people with whom I have fostered great friendships, Clément and Judith. Since we left at around 11:30, of course we (the whole group of about 20 people) stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest area (oh, France). It was also there that we practiced for the flashmob (more about that later!).

Clément, Judith, et moi!

After the picnic was where things started to get wonky. Because suddenly, we were no longer traveling in a caravan and I turned into the navigator. Now, normally I feel pretty confident as the navigator (my summer working as a canvasser helped with this), but there's just something different about navigating in a foreign country. Things aren't QUITE the same.

So I made two mistakes:

1) we missed an exit because the number on the paper and the number on the sign didn't match up (silly, Kathleen, expecting things like that to line up). In France, you more follow the town names on the signs than the exit numbers or route numbers. Il n'y avait pas mort d'homme (it wasn't the end of the world), but we did have to drive around for a little bit before we could get back on the same direction

2) I had us get off too early (trying to compensate for my previous blunder). This one was slightly more problematic, because after we got back in the right direction, we were completely turned around. Roundabouts are quite disorienting. We soon found ourselves pulled over on the side of the road with the tank nearly empty. After a quick phone call, we got some directions for the backgrounds and were on our way. But there were a few stressful moments thrown in there.

But sometimes the scenic route is better. Especially with views like this:

My view of the Pyrénées while walking through vineyards at sunrise the next morning

And we decided that you can never go wrong when you're being guided by the Saint Esprit.

Another awesome weekend

Okay, so je suis crevée after this weekend and I cannot bring myself to stay awake to blog about it. I promise blog posts in the days to come! I went to Perpignan for a Catholic conference for the youth of the region and it was just fantastic. Two things:

1) This weekend I had a lot of people say "I just love your accent" or "I find your accent so endearing" which kind of broke my heart. I was so hoping to not have an accent.. Ca arrive... (it happens...)

2)  Sneak peak!

Baixas, France by sunrise

This is what to expect from "une grillade" (a cookout) in France: grilled sausages on baguettes and muscat wine.

A tout!

PS) It can't seriously already be April, right? Is that the April fools joke? That it's not actually April yet?

Flamingos and horses and beaches, oh my!

Peur du jour- 17 Mars 2012: Solo Adventure

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! I'm positive this day means absolutely nothing in France (except for people who just want an excuse to do something festive at an Irish Pub). The past few years I've spent Saint Patrick's day in Chicago, so it's kind of a big change for me to not be walking next to a green river and weaving through the green waves of people who have been drinking since 8 AM.

I decided to celebrate Saint Patrick's day by biking to Palavas-Les-Flots, a little beach town just south of Montpellier. I sprained my foot last week and have had to take a forced hiatus from running, so a nice long bike ride was just what my body had been craving. After packing my lunch and a few calls to some of the girls in my group who were familiar with the Velomagg system, I was ready to go! Vélomagg (vélo = bike, magasin = store) is like Bikeshare in the US. I got the bike for four hours for 1€, which is not bad at all! The bike itself was not very fancy, but it served its purpose. It only had three gears, but it did have a bell (which I could never convince my mom to let me have on my bike)!

My trusty steed

The ride there was really nice. The trail, which follows the river, is in great condition in most sections. I did get a little confused when I had to take a detour which was not super obvious. I was riding along and then came around a blind turn and nearly ran into a barrier announcing construction. Luckily I found the yellow arrows pointing me to Palavas. The detour lead through an area with a bunch of condos, and not a lot of sidewalk space. I was trying to keep my promise to my dad that I would stay off the roads (and away from the crazy Medi drivers), but the narrow sidewalks were not kind to me. At one point I had to choose between a thorn bush and a street sign and in my inability to make a decision, I ran into both. Graceful. But I kept my promise, dad! Suffice it to say, I was happy to find the bike trail again. Throughout the rest of the ride, I saw a lot of horses (and even made friends with a few of them!). 

This guy walked right up to me when I made my horse-clicking noises, but wanted nothing to do with the carrots I brought especially for him!

Where the Lez River meets the Mediterranean Sea, it feeds into many marshes and bogs. It was very similar to the Camargue region that I saw when I visisted Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer. This type of terrain is, of course, abundant with wildlife. In addition to seeing a lot of herons and cranes, I even saw some wild flamingos!

Not something that I see everyday!

Flamingos in flight!

I finally made it to the beach and basically had it to myself. My host mother told me that she loves to go to the beach in May and June, but avoids it at all costs in July and August because that's when the "Northerners" come. She complains about how the Parisians fill the beach just like they fill the metro and leave no personal space for anyone. I can't wait to come back to the beach when it gets a little warmer to lay out in the sun and treat myself to some ice cream from one of the dozens of glaceries I saw!

Just me, my vélomagg, and la mer méditerrané

Make a wish in Arles and Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer

Peur du jour: 21 Janvier 2012- Eating lots of new French things

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Arles and Saintes-Marie-De-La-Mer (can we just talk about how I saw the Mediterranean sea for the first time in my life and I loved it and it was just as beautiful as I had ever dreamed it would be?). Arles is a town full of Roman Ruins, a beautiful market, and was an area in which Van Gough painted many of his works. Arles is also the town where I fell in love with French food.

My first encounter with the food in Arles was at the enormous market where they had everything from produce and olives,

Des courges muscads (a pumpkin like gourd)

 to exotic spices and honey,

Easily my favorite stand-- it's so nice to see and smell such beautiful spices!

 to baked confections and mounds of baguettes,

The Famous French Macarons

to sausages, cheeses, and different cuts of meat.

Unidentified animal leg-- any guesses?

 I tried many samples (olives, cheese, bread, macarons, sausage, honey) and even learned from an olive vendor that when one tries a new food, one is supposed to make a wish. I made so many wishes in Arles!

For lunch, I had my first traditional French meal since being here.  Our tour guide Jean-Paul invited those who were so inclined to join him to déjeuner at his favorite restaurant in Arles L'escaladou to experience la cuisine Provençale. I decided that the time had arrived to have a meal worth more than my normal under-one-euro-American-style-sandwhich (which remained isolated in my lunch bag all day).  Dining with a native (Jean-Paul is Occitan) really enhanced the cultural experience! A friend and I shared our meals so we got to try a lot of different things:

 Les Escargots de la Mer

La soupe du possoin: fish soup with crusty bread topped with Rouille (saffron and mayonaise) and Parmesan cheese
(Photo Credit to Maggie Grossman!)

Le Lapin aux herbes provençales: Rabbit with provencial herbs (this sauce was so good!)

La Boeuf Guardian: a traditional dish made with beef from the bulls which are raised in the Camargue (the delta region of the Rhone River) , olives, and rice which is grown in the Camargue

Photo Credit: Michelle Lewis

Ile Flottant: Crème Anglaise topped with meringue (whipped egg whites)- really very good

 Nougat Glace: a sort of ice cream dish with honey and whipped cream

 As you can see, I am going quite hungry in France. We all left the restaurant with stupid grins on our faces. Trying new foods that you immensely enjoy is just such a metaphor for life (it's about to get cheesy).  In a broader sense, I realize that there is so much out there in the world that I haven't even discovered and which will bring me immense joy (people, places, cultures, vocations, ministries). It's a really liberating experience and I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to experience so many new things.



One of my wishes came true (I'll keep you posted on the others):