Link to some pictures

http://www.rhone.fr/education_culture_loisirs/evenements/fete_des_lumieres/fete_des_lumieres_2009

So since I won't have time to post some pictures of the fete now, check these out - they are from a professional photographer...I think.

Quick Update

As I had mentioned before, I try to keep this thing updated as much as I can. But, with not having internet all the time, its a little hard to do...Actually, to tell you all the truth, its probably due to the fact that I do not want to spend my time in front of a computer when I can be walking around Villefranche trying to talk to people or sipping on a café au lait or chocolat chaud on the Rue Nationale.

December has been pretty hectic. With the holiday season approaching, there has been a lot to see and do here. It is good, however, that I have been busy because it has helped me ignore the fact that my grandma passed away. My family had just started to accept that fact that my grandpa was gone but now we have to start all over again. Its a terrible feeling to not be told what is going on and finding out. The distance didn't help either. It wasn't until last night that I was able to hear the full story. My mom was in Mexico for 2 weeks so I wasn't able to talk to her about it. Turns out that it wasn't a surprise to her because she knew something was wrong, but didn't think I had to worry about it. Still it hurt to find out that my grandma had a brain tumor. Yet; we're all happy that she didnt have to suffer for very long.

On a happier note, I was able to witness my first French soccer game (St: Etienne v. Sochaux) and the Fête des Lumières. The game was just as I had imagined - fanatic people and endless chants. It was pretty cool.

The Fete des Lumières was definitely something else. I had only heard of it from people. They described it as the one weekend when there are light shows around Lyon - woohoo.

But, in reality, it has got to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! There were light shows, yes, but they were projected on the buildings and churches...simply amazing. I will post pictures soon.

Christmas in France has been really enjoyable so far. I can't wait to celebrate it the French way with Guillaume's family.

But before then, I need to host some friends from Mexico for 4 days. I love guests!

Happy Holidays!

Finally Legal

I went to the mandatory medical visit this morning in Lyon. It was actually a very short process, but everything that went on during that hour and a half served as another reminder that I will never understand how the French way of doing things works.

I was able to find the office easily. I got off the train at Perrache and walked to the office in 5 minutes. I walk in and I'm directed to go to the 1st floor (2nd in the US). I get there and see some of the other assistants waiting in the lobby. I give my passport and paperwork to the lady at the desk and I take a seat. Its after I sat that I noticed that there was no electricity in the building. All the lights were off. How I didn't notice before, I dont know, but when I did, I was shocked. How is it possible that of all places, a medical center does not have a back up generator or something... I will probably never understand the logic behind that.

So, the secretary did a good job collecting the paperwork and making us wait in the lobby, worrying that we were not going to get our titre de sejour ( she told me that I was missing a document and therefore I wouldn't be able to get my titre de sejour - LIAR!), before we got called in. I got there at about 9:10 am and even though my appointment wasn't until 9:30am, I was back in the lobby again at 9:25am after being asked if I had ever had surgery, had been vaccinated for Hep B, Tetanus, and yellow fever, and if there were any health problems in the family.

According to the visit, I am 1m 71 cm tall and I wiegh 96 kgs (FUCK!). The nurse was very nice and told me that being overwieght was bad and that I should work on losing wieght. It was actually kinda funny to see her look at the scale not once, but twice, and then look at my feet to see if maybe my shoes were too heavy or something. She then proceeded by pricking my finger and checking my blood sugar since I said that my mom is diabetic. Blood sugar was normal (Thank God!).

So as I and all the other assistants sat in the lobby, we all laughed at the situation around us. The only reason we could not continue to the next step was because we needed to have an Xray taken before we could meet with the lady downstairs. Then, all the lights come on and they start calling out our names in order. They would take us to the back to at a time, put each person in a separate room, tell us to take our sweaters and shirts off (quickly, mind you), and then they would open the door at the other end of the room to take us into the xray room. The nurse taking the Xray was not nice at all! She told me to put my chest against the scanner and then told me how to position my arms, but as I was positioning them how she told me, she just grabs them and says "laissez-moi le faire, c'est plus vite comme ça" = Let me do it, its faster that way.

She then told me to take a deep breath, hold it in, and as soon as the xray was taken, told me to get dressed and go wait outside...without a please or thank you.

I get my xray 5 minutes later and then go downstairs where I reunited with the other assistants. As we waited downstairs, we laughed at the fact that there was only 1 lady who was seeing us individually when there were 4 other people with the same job sitting in one office, drinking coffee. WTF?!

But, c'est la France! We all laughed out loud when the man came out of the office with an empty coffee pot, refilled it with water, and made some more coffee.

I finally went in and walked out with my titre de sejour.

Next step in the process is sending a photo copy to the social security office so that I can get my French healthcare card.

What a day...

SUNDAY

Slept in this morning, despite going to bed around 10pm last night and feeling great. The only thing I need to take care of today is lesson planning for this week. The weeks go by faster and faster!

The tour with Gilles, Maggie and Megan was even better than I had expected. I still have no idea how to thank Gilles for taking the day to drive us around and stopping along the way to do some wine tasting. We left at about 9am and went to St. Gengoux le National, a small town in the Burgundy region of France. We walked along the streets of the medieval quarter and then went to the cave (winery). We did some wine tasting before deciding on which wine to buy. We must have tried at least 6 different wines and it wasn’t even 11 yet!

After buying a few bottles, we went to Cluny and saw what was left of the Abbey. According to Gilles, the abbey used to be the biggest building in France until it was torn down during the French Revolution to use the stone to build the house. Now, all you can see are the foundations and what is left of the pillars.

 

We had lunch in Cluny and then went to a Chateau. It was closed, unfortunately, but it was still nice to see it from the outside and look out at the bare vineyards that surrounded the castle. From there, we stopped at the Roche du Solutré – a prehistoric site that many prehistory buffs like to visit. Archeologists are still able to find the bones of horses and other animals that primitive humans used to chase up to the cliff and over the edge to kill them. We could have gone to the top, but is was very windy and making the temperature feel colder than it really was.

We then started to head back to the Beaujolais area. I didn’t know that the Beaujolais region was divided into several different types of Beaujolais. Each section produces a different variety of Beaujolais wine – each with its own unique taste and composition. We stopped in Fleurie, Morgon, and St. Etienne d’Oul…something to try to the different Beaujolais. I had never done so much wine tasting in a day! At one point I thought that I wouldn’t be able to taste the difference anymore since we had already tried so many. But, I was able to taste the slight differences between one wine and another without any problems.

 

We then started to head back to the Beaujolais area. I didn’t know that the Beaujolais region was divided into several different types of Beaujolais. Each section produces a different variety of Beaujolais wine – each with its own unique taste and composition. We stopped in Fleurie, Morgon, and St. Etienne d’Oul…something to try to the different Beaujolais. I had never done so much wine tasting in a day! At one point I thought that I wouldn’t be able to taste the difference anymore since we had already tried so many. But, I was able to taste the slight differences between one wine and another without any problems.

 

"Wine is the most beautiful gift that God made for man." - Platon

 

We got back to Villefranche around 5pm. Gilles spent his entire Saturday taking us around. Maggie and Megan had a great time too. Had it not been for Gilles, I don’t think that it would have been possible to take a tour like the one he gave us.

We got dropped off at my apartment and I was able to show Maggie and Megan my new pad. (lol) We then walked along the Rue Nationale and then made our way to the train station. They went back to Lyon and I came back to my apartment, watched a movie, and then went to bed.

Now, I’m going to do some cleaning and then get started on lesson plans. Another week, and yet another month, is about to being.

The countdown to Christmas and New Year’s will start soon.

The Thanksgiving Aftermath

It’s Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and I am still recovering from all the food I ate yesterday. It’s almost 4 pm and I still feel full. I’m taking a little break from cooking – I invited the other assistants to my apartment tonight to celebrate my birthday and also to have a little housewarming for the studio. I’m preparing some Mexican food and hoping that everything will work out since I’m using the ingredients I could find. For example, I decided to make a salsa fresca instead of guacamole because there was no way I was going to pay almost $7 dollars for 3 avocados! But, I bought a Turkish pepper to substitute the jalapeno. I’m scared that it’ll be either too spicy or not spicy at all.

The Thanksgiving dinner was awesome. It made me feel like I was back at home! The turkey was great despite the fact that we all had to pitch in 5 euros each because it ended up costing 99 euro – almost $150!!!!

All the other dishes were great too! And all made with French ingredients. I expected them to taste different, but the traditional flavor was still there. Erin went all out and decorated the apartment for the event – she even made place cards!

Tomorrow, I’ll be going to Bourgogne (Burgundy), the neighboring region with Gilles, an English teacher at the lycée. He offered to take me to Cluny, a small town known for its abbey (or what’s left of it) and wine. He also mentioned that on the way back home, we would stop by several caves (wineries) and taste some of the wine. I’m really excited for this trip! I invited Maggie and Megan to come with me. They are coming to Villefranche tomorrow morning. We’re meeting up with Gilles at the gare (train station) and then we’ll spend the day visiting the Beaujolais region.

It’s going to be a good weekend.

Only the 4th time my birthday and Thanksgiving are on the same day!

Today is my 22nd birthday…DAMN.

I woke up this morning to a phone call from my mom and dad. They were getting ready to go to bed and I was getting ready to start my day. They usually call me at night, so I was expecting them to call me later on during the day. But, I didn’t mind that they woke me up to say happy birthday. I miss them a lot and hearing them on my birthday made me feel a little better.

It’s a strange feeling waking up on your birthday and being alone. I’m used to being at home, in my warm, comfortable bed and having my mom walk in to wake me with a hug and a kiss. This year, I woke up to the phone ringing, a little cold, and all alone in my studio in France. I know that I never imagined I would be in France for my 22nd.

But, it’s not the first time that I am not and home and missing both my birthday with family and Thanksgiving. The last birthday I spent in Europe was in 2007 – when I turned 20. I was studying in Siena, Italy. I celebrated my birthday there and then spent Thanksgiving in Amsterdam. What a trip! No pun intended ;)

22. I still can’t get over the fact that I am that old. I don’t feel any different from the way I did a few years ago and sometimes I wonder if I should start paying attention to more things. I mean, I’m 22 and still have no idea what I want to do in life. I have some ideas, but I can’t make up my mind. Right now, I’m just living day to day, enjoying my time in France, and trying to make the most of my experience. But, I know that once this is over I have to get going! I have the option of staying another year, but I don’t know how good of a decision that would be.

Anyways, on a less depressing note, Thanksgiving is today too! The last time that this happened was 11 years ago! I was a little bored and excited that my birthday was on the same day as Thanksgiving that I looked at the dates from previous years to see what the pattern was. Turns out that my birthday will be on Thanksgiving every 6-5-6-11 years! Meaning, in 1987, I was born on Thanksgiving and the 2nd time my birthday was on that same day was in 1992 (5 years later). The 3rd time happened in 1998 (6 years later), and then for the 4th time this year – 11 years later! Thanksgiving will fall on my birthday again in 6 years – 2015. Crazy!…and now, I feel a little pathetic.

I don’t have any big plans to celebrate. I’m going to start mashing some potatoes that I boiled for tonight. Erin, an assistant from Boston, invited me and some other assistants to go to her apartment to have a Thanksgiving dinner. We are all pitching in for the turkey, which she was able to order from a butcher, and we all signed up to bring something to eat. I figured that there was no way I could mess up mashed potatoes. I just hope that I didn’t jinx myself.

It’s strange that I have to go to work on Thanksgiving, but it’s only for 2 hours. After class, I just have to come back home and pick up the mashed potatoes and then head over to the train station to get to Lyon. Guillaume is letting me stay at his place tonight so that I don’t have to worry about catching the last train back to Villefranche.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Volleyball 11/25/09

Tonight was fun and interesting. I went to the Centre Sportif St. Exupery with the other assistants to play volleyball. I don’t usually play volleyball, but when I did with my fraternity team, I wasn’t good at all…I don’t even think that good would even come to mind if you had to describe it.


The girls told me about and invited me to go with them. I don’t have anything to do in the afternoons, so it wouldn’t hurt to play and do a little exercise. Plus, it’s just more French practice.

I showed up about 20 minutes late because I couldn’t find the building, but eventually, I found the group. There were about 12 people total – 10 French people, the Spanish assistant, the German assistant, the other English assistant and I.

We must have played about 5 or 6 games in about 2 hours. It was fun to play and I didn’t do as bad I thought. Plus, everyone there was playing for fun, although at times it felt like it was a competition.

I learned some of the French lingo for volleyball/sports:

Good game = Bien joué

Your turn = C’est à toi/vous

Last one (meaning, the last hit or chance to get it over the net) = Le dernier

Behind you (let it go to the person behind you) = Derriere-toi


Overall, I had a good time and I think I might be going every week. I’m happy that I am starting to find things to keep me busy.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!!!

In the same way that Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November, the French cannot wait until the 3rd Thursday of November to taste the year’s new Beaujolais wine! Clink on the link for some quick facts on the wine if you haven't heard of it before.

 (In finish line in front of the Hotel de Ville)

In Villefranche, they hold a marathon every year to celebrate the new Beaujolais and block off the Rue Nationale to allow the wine makers in the area set up tents and tables to display their wines.

At each table, the wine makers pass out information on their wines and where their vineyards are located. Most importantly, they let everyone sample their wines…for FREE! I managed to collect some pamphlets so that I can order some before I go home. Or order some from home, if possible.

The streets were packed! I had never seen so many people out in Villefranche like this before. It was fun to walk from table to table and chitchat with the winemakers and the people tasting the wine. Some of the winemakers would ask me about the California wines, but I couldn’t really tell them anything since I know nothing about them. Guess I should start tasting some California wines!!! They are starting to become popular in France. I remember when I was living with my host family in Bordeaux that we started to talk about California wines during dinner and they mentioned how sometimes California wines would be a lot more expensive to buy and drink than the local Bordeaux in restaurants despite Bordeaux’s reputation!

I spent almost 4 hours just walking around the Rue Nationale checking out the wines, listening to the drums of the ‘bands’, laughing at French people singing karaoke songs, and just soaking in the tradition. I hope that there are things like this more often that I can go to. It definitely made the weekend go by a lot faster because it gave me something to do. Now all I have to look forward to is planning for Monday’s lessons with the students.

Yay for the Beaujolais Nouveau!

Small Town Life

Villefranche-sur-Saône is small. How small? Population = 34, 188 (2006)

Main streets? Only 1 – Rue Nationale

Places where I can do my Laundry – Only 1 that I have seen so far.

It doesn’t take very long to walk around and see the ‘major’ parts of the city. My studio is small and comfortable. Yet, I do feel lonely at times. But, I enjoy going out and looking to see if there is anything new out or if there is something going on. I enjoy going to the Marché couvert and buying fruits and vegetables without spending a lot of money. For example, I was able to buy 3 heads of lettuce, a kilo of tomatoes, a kilo of onions, some zucchini, a kilo of apples and some other stuff for roughly 10 Euro.

But, it still surprises me at times to think that I thought Riverside was small. It is definitely not! This town is about the size of UCR’s campus (I might be exaggerating, but it feels like that sometimes).


My first weekend here, I went out with Leigh, the other English assistant who lives at the school she teaches at (she had it easy), to get some drinks at a bar. We met at 9pm on the Rue Nationale. I got there a few minutes before her, which gave me plenty of time to realize how the night was going to be interesting. As I walked to the meeting place, there was nothing to that could possibly remind me that it was a Friday night. The streets were empty and everything was silent. No joke. I get to the Rue Nationale and it’s the same. All the stores and closed and there were only a few elderly couples making their way back home. Once Leigh got there, I hoped that she would be able to save Villefranche’s dignity – and she kinda did. We went to L’Inso. The funny thing was that when we first walked by, we thought that there was a private party going on since there were men and women inside wearing wigs, light up glasses, and feather boas. We walked in after asking someone outside if we could. They told us right away that we could go in without a problem since the bar was open to everyone. Odd.

The door hadn’t even shut behind us yet when out of nowhere, a French guy comes over to greet us shouting “Des Nouveau”= “Some new people/newbies”. I just remember thinking to myself: O M G. This can’t be all there is to do every weekend.

Despite the initial shock, it was fun to talk ad mingle with all the locals. Some of them were already very drunk and just liked to chat about random things. For example, there was a guy there that started speaking Spanish to me after Leigh told him that I knew how to. He told me about how he loved to speak Spanish and how he had learned from his wife’s family (obviously, Spanish). He also explained to me how everyone at the bar is part of the family because they all have a good time when they are there. It was very heartwarming to be told that we were part of the family despite it being our first night there.

After enjoying some drinks paid for by an old guy that was there, we stayed at the bar until after closing time. The owners just shut the door and rolled down the metal curtain and everyone continued to drink and smoke inside! Smoking inside has been illegal since 2008, so it was funny to see that it still happens…behind closed doors (lol).

It was only about a little after midnight when the bar ‘closed’ but Leigh and I were ready to go home. But, since Leigh gets a lot of attention from the guys (she is very pretty), there were 3 guys there that talked to us for most of the night and kept insisting on going with them to a discothèque. I didn’t say that I didn’t want to go but I also didn’t say that I would. I was neutral. I knew that the reason we were being invited was because one of them was interested in Leigh, but I let her decide. She wanted to go just to do something different and dance a little, but she knew what their intentions were. She said no and told them that maybe another time, but they still didn’t stop insisting. Then, as they discussed amongst themselves away from us, an older guy showed us the way of the bar through the back, since the front door was closed. It was funny to walk out through the side of the bar because when we walked into the alleyway, I saw an apartment that I had gone to visit. Had I picked to live at that apartment, I would be right next to a bar! But, I’m glad that I don’t live there because I’m sure it would be loud (and tempting/expensive lol).

We made our way back home through the empty streets of Villefranche, only to end up stopping in front of the school Leigh lives at after she heard her name shouted from a car. Turned out to be some of her students who were going home after being at a friend’s party.

That tends to happen in the small town setting. Whenever I go out with the other assistants (there’s 6 of us total (I’m the only guy) – 3 English assistants – all American, 2 Spanish assistants, one from Spain and the other from Costa Rica, and a German assistant, who is from Germany but of Syrian descent), we always have to scope out a place to make sure that there are no students present. Sucks, but oh well. I don’t really care but I don’t get much of a say because I’m the only guy.

I know that I can always go to Lyon on the weekends if I want to have some fun, so I don’t regret moving to the small town setting. It’s really pushing me to speak French since we speak only French between us (the assistants) and not a lot of people speak English.

I’m sure that Villefranche will be able to prove itself to me soon. (I hope)

Toussaint Vacation

So, like I said, I had nothing planned for the break since I was busy trying to find a place. But, since I found one and had some days to spare, I joined Maggie and Megan on their last minute trip to Geneva with Jillian, a girl from Boston that they had met while visiting the South of France. Jillian was flying back home from Geneva, so she needed to go either way.

It was like I was forced to go since the girls changed their hostel reservation to add me into their group - it was funny how that worked out because they had asked me if I wanted to go and proceeded to changing the booking without confirming. They really twisted my arm!

But, not really. I figured I should take advantage of the opportunity and decided to go with them.

We left Sunday morning from Part Dieu in Lyon. The ride took about 2 hours but was very scenic and worth very minute. Being able to see the mountains full of green, yellow, and red spots was incredible. Even crossing into Switzerland from France was exciting!( But it reminded me of the border between the US and Mexico in TJ....only a lot cleaner and without beggars.)

After the short bus ride, we walked around for a while to find out where we were so that we could figure out what direction we needed to go to find the hostel. We went to a Starbucks and Jillian (the girl from Boston that Megan and Maggie met in Nice) bought us all coffee for going to Geneva with her. As we sat and enjoyed our coffee and free Wifi to figure out where we were, we all found it fascinating how within this Starbucks (which was 2 floors by the way), we heard English, French, German, and Italian being spoken. It made me wonder if there was a language that the Swiss used to speak. I never found out, but I knew that Switzerland was divided into 3 parts – the German, French, and Italian areas. Weird – but I guess that’s why the Italians have the expression “Sei Svizzero?” = literally, Are you Swiss? but used to call someone a weirdo.

We eventually found a map, but had to make our way through the maze of bicycles.

We were expecting to walk a long time, but we got to the hostel in less than 20 minutes from the train station. But, since we got there around noon, we had to wait until 1 o’clock since they were closed for that hour. We didn’t go too far since we still had our bags with us, but wished we would have gone elsewhere to eat. There was an Internet café/ restaurant right next door. The guy was a little rude and the food wasn’t that great. Granted, I split a crepe with Maggie, so I didn’t taste the other stuff, but it was super salty and it took forever for him to make.

Beside the food not being great, it also made us really confused since we had to figure out the exchange rate every time we wanted to buy something and ask if they accepted Euros. Fortunately, we were able to use Euros everywhere we went, but we would get change back in Swiss Francs (Yes, Switzerland is part of the European Union, but it does not use the Euro).

Once we checked into the hostel, we left our bags in a locker (since we couldn’t get out room until 4) and set out to explore Geneva. FYI: the hostel we stayed at was called City Hostel Geneva – It’s very easy to find and close to the train station, very clean, gives you free transportation cards that are valid during your stay, and not very expensive, so if you ever go to Geneva you should check this place out for accommodation.

I didn’t have my guidebook with me, but by the end of the short 2-day trip, we were able to see just about everything.

The first thing we went to was the United Nations. It was so cool to be able to see the building were nations from all over the world come together to discuss global issues. It has always been a dream of mine to work for the UN. I don’t know if I will ever make it there, but I hope to at least be able to do something close to it.

Since it was a Sunday, it was closed, but it was cool just to see the building. Yet, it was also strange to see graffiti on the walls that didn’t really fit the Swiss stereotype of being neutral.

For example,

“The G8 is the symptom of an illness called capitalism.”




But, you got to give it to whoever did this because it’s pretty creative. And, possibly true.

 
 
From the UN, we headed to the Lac Léman to see the famous water thing, which is actually called the Jet d’Eau (Water Jet). It turns out that the Jet d’Eau is Europe’s highest fountain!

 

 

 

After hanging out around the lake, we continued to walk around the lake until we got to the Vieille Ville (Old City). We walked around the Cathédrale de St-Pierre and enjoyed the cobble stone streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we saw the church, we walked to the other side only to find this:

We all hopped on and had a great time feeling like kids again despite almost wanting to throw up because of how dizzy we were. And what did we do after this??? We ate. I’m glad we found this thing before eating because had we done it the other way around, I’m sure I would have emptied my stomach, which I did not want to do!

We sat down in a small, Italian restaurant right below the church. We had walked by it on the way up. The place was actually a lot bigger than we expected. We took our seats and began to read all the different combinations of pasta and sauces. I made my decision quick – I wanted the arrabbiata (spicy in Italian, but literally means angry lol)! I miss spicy food. Luckily, I can satisfy the cravings with some Tabasco that I brought with me or by getting a kebab with Harissa sauce. The pasta was a great choice. It was hot and spicy and the sauce even had bits of chilies still left in it. We finished our meal by getting 2 boules of gelato.

By the time we left, it was already dark so we walked back to the hostel to get our bags, go to our room, and hang out there for a while. The small rest was good because it gave us the energy to get ready and go out to celebrate Jillian’s last night in Europe.

We ended up at the Brass…something across from the train station after walking around trying to find a bar that wasn’t too packed or too shady – I think we accidently ventured into Geneva’s red light district because found ourselves walking by women, obviously prostitutes and very sketchy shops.

The Brass...was a pretty big place and a great choice since they brewed their own beers. We each had a sampler and decided to get pints of the Lion beer after being let down by the cherry beer we were all excited to taste. The cherry beer ended up tasting like cough syrup. :/ But, I think the worst thing that happened was when we got hungry and ordered some nachos. I don’t know about you, but when I think of nachos, I think of cheese, sour cream, beans, meat, etc.

Nachos in Switzerland are not like that at all – we ended up with a small plate of tortilla chips with ketchup. WTF?! We all savored the moment and laughed at our mishap, continued drinking, got a little drunk, and went back to the hostel to sleep.



Jillian left early the next morning to get to the airport and the rest of us stayed in the room until check out. We left the hostel and made out way to the train station to catch the next train or bus to Lyon. That ended up being quite a feat because we had no idea where to find the ticket office. After asking an attendant, we got the tickets and got the train to Lyon Part Dieu. It ended us taking a lot longer than 2 hours to get back because the train had to stop several times on the tracks. But, we made it back eventually.

Déjà Novembre

Fall in France has been like nothing I have ever seen - the trees look amazing! I had never been able to experience the changes associated with Fall since there are not very many trees like this in SoCal. I don't think that I would have ever been able to imagine how possible it is for green to turn into red, orange, and gold.

6 weeks, and counting....

It's hard to believe that I left home 6 weeks ago - who am I kidding? I DO BELIEVE IT!

The reason I know it has been that long is because my life has been full of daily paperwork, planning, scheduling, and apartment hunting.

But I'm hoping that it will all start to change.

After only about 2 weeks of actual work, I found myself on my first school break for the Toussaint holiday in France. I had about a week and a half off, but that suddenly turned into 2 full weeks since the teacher I was supposed to work with yesterday, was out sick.

I didn't plan on going anywhere or doing anything since I needed to find a place to live. I did some apartment searching before I came to France, but I didn't do as much as I should have. I was thinking that it was going to be an easy task - definitely assumed wrong.

But alas, I found my home!

Getting this place was no easy task - it was like a soap opera...

I remember that I visited it only to have the lady tell me the next day that it was already rented out. Then, after about 2 weeks, I get a call from the lady saying that it was available again - what luck!

But, after meeting with the agent and the landlady, I had to wait until I got my checkbook (which I later found out had not been ordered by the lady at the bank) to get the keys.

I place the order for the checks only to have them tell me to come back on Tuesday - had to cancel my rendez vous and wait until the next day!

Finally, Wednesday: I get my checkbook and get the keys to the studio....what a relief!!

I will not be living in Lyon for the following reasons:

1. It's about an hour commute to Villefranche.
2. Transportation expenses would be insane (Lyon Metro + TER Train + Bus in Villefranche = €€€€)
3. This studio is furnished (futon, table, shelves, kitchen, dishes, blanket)
4. I can get the lease under my name and get help from the CAF (org that helps pay rent)

I am a little scared that I will be bored out of my mind since I am in the small town setting, but I will make the most of it. I ran into the other English assisntant who works at the other high school and  from her description....Let's just say that she is happy that I am here to keep her sane.

Plus, I want to use this opportunity to practice my French, since in Lyon I would almost always run into an English speaker, and get an idea as to how life is outside of the city in France. I don't think that very many people get a chance to experience this.

The studio does feel lonely since I was living with Guillaume, and then with Maggie and Megan for about a week, but I am in the process of decorating it and making it more of a "home". I'll also try to plan a housewarming of somekind and invite the assistants from the town to come over - I should probably check how many seats I have first :)

Things are starting to turn around and I think I might be done with paperwork soon - then I can finally assimilate the French way of life.

A + ( French way of saying "see you later" = a plus )

Weekend In Paris

Kyle is here! Its so cool to have someone come visit from back home. Ok, well he wasn’t really back in Cali, but he is from there. When he called me, I was surprised he really was coming since I thought that he had only said that and that he wasn’t really going to go through with it. Either way, I knew that it we would have a good time.

I figured out a housing situation for him so that he wouldn’t have to pay for a place to stay. Maggie and Megan found an apartment together and I asked them if I could have Kyle stay with them. They had no problem with doing that for me.

So as soon as I picked up Kyle from the airport, we took the bus back into the city. From there we dropped off his bag at Guillaume’s and started to make our way to Bellecour to buy our tickets to Paris. There was no way that Kyle would come to France without going to the city of lights! I knew that it was going to be expensive, but I tried to use my traveling expertise as much as I could.

After buying our tickets for the next day (Friday) we went to an internet place to book our hostel for 2 nights. Everything is sooo expensive in Paris. For 2 nights at Aloha hostel, we both paid about 50 euro for two nights! I paid half of that when I went to Portugal and stayed at a hotel for 2 nights and had breakfast included! But I was just happy that we were able to find a place on such a short notice.

Then, night fell and after preparing dinner at Guillaume’s we started our journey over to Megan and Maggie’s place in Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon about 20 mins by metro. But, it took us a little longer to get there because they wanted us to bring over some beer. Since I wasn’t too familiar with the area at night, we stopped at the stop after Jean Macé (our starting point) and I left Kyle waiting in the metro while I walked out to find any store open that sold beer. So after almost 10 mins of searching I finally found a place in a very shady alleyway – not a surprise! I don’t know why I didn’t look there before…

So after getting beer finally, we made it to Maggie and Megan’s and I made my way back to Guillaume’s. We had our train the next morning at 7:46am.

The next morning I woke up early to have enough time to get to Villeurbanne and then come back to Lyon to catch out train. I made it there in less than 15 minutes. But, when I got there, I woke up Kyle! His alarm had not gone off because it was still on UK time – which is an hour behind. When he finally came out, I tried to be as optimistic as possible and kept thinking that we would make our train. We made it to the train station a minute after the train had left! We missed our train! I had never missed a train before so I had no idea what to do. But, I was able to ask the people working at the station and they were able to exchange our tickets for the next train an hour later. But, we had to pay a little bit more in order to make the difference since the prices change from one hour to the next. Despite the fact that we were already an hour behind schedule, we made it to Paris in no time! It takes only 2 hours on the TGV, the high speed trains.

At the train station, we were able to get city maps, our metro passes, and our museum pass. With that in hand, we made our way to the hostel and hoped to make it there safely and quickly as to not loose anymore time. For being my second time in Paris, I felt pretty comfortable. Yet, I was still in shock when I opened the metro map to see…


It looks intimidating but its relatively easy to navigate

Once we stepped out of the metro, I immediately looked up and was able to see the top of the Eiffel Tower. I looked over at Kyle and pointed it out – he was amazed! I remember feeling the same feeling of shock and disbelief. He could not believe that he was in Paris. His face was priceless. After checking into the hostel, we went to a grocery store to buy some food to carry with us so that we could avoid buying expensive food at the tourist locations.

I asked Kyle what he wanted to do first – his response: Walk to the Eiffel Tower. So we started our trek over. It didn’t seem far at the map, which it wasn’t, but the map failed to mention how many forks we could encounter on the way and we almost started going in the wrong direction but we were able to catch our mistake and eventually made it to the tower.

We walked along the Champs de Mars and had lunch on the grass below the tower. It was great! We made sandwiches with some cheese and Bayonne ham – cheap and filling! After taking 100s of pictures of the tower, we continued to Trocadero, a square from which you can see the tower and then headed over to the Arc de Triomphe. The view from the top was awesome! Since we had the pass, we went back later that night to see the city at night. From there, we went to Place de la Concorde and walked through the Tuileries Garden before ending up at the Louvre. I think we set a record since we went to the Louvre on a mission – to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo and whatever else I thought was worthy. It still took us about an hour or two because of how huge this place is, but we did it!

Like I said earlier, we went back to the Arc and saw the city by night. After taking some pictures, we went back to the hostel to call it a night.

We got back pretty late, about 11pm. We were hoping that our dorm mates would still be awake – but they were knocked out! Thank goodness for cheap cell phone with a built in flashlight (lol) because without it, we would have had to walk around in the dark. Granted, we could have turned on the light, but we didn’t want to be assholes.

Day 2 in Paris

We went down to breakfast and headed out for the Eiffel Tower. Our goal was to go the top! We had to wait in line for about an hour and while we were waiting, the top floor was closed. So we made do, and went to the second floor and waited in line again to go to the top. But, our luck with the weather hit its highest point when we were up there. It had been drizzling before, but only in 5 minute intervals. But, at the top, it started to rain and it felt much colder and harder since we were up soo high. The sad thing was that as soon as we came back to the ground, the sun was out and shining. Oh well. At least we made it to the top.

Since that took almost half of the day, we decided to see as much as we could in what time was left. So we decided to head towards the Rodin museum to see the statue of The Thinker. We literally walked in to see it and walked out – why not? The museum was included in our pass so we took advantage of the fact that we had already paid to get in and could do what we want. After checking it out and the Gates of Hell, we walked over to the Invalides – the place that has the Army Museum and Napoleon’s tomb.

From there, we went over to Notre Dame. The line to walk in was ridiculous. So, we went around and sat at the park behind it. After doing that, we decided to walk about a block over to see Sainte Chapelle – an old Gothic church from the 1300’s and the Conciergerie – a prison where Marie Antoinette and other French people were held. When we finished with that, we went back to Notre Dame and were able to go in and walk around despite the fact that a mass was taking place. I loved being able to witness a mass going on while tourists are going around snapping pictures. At first, I didn’t want to, since I wanted to be a little respectful, but I couldn’t resist. It was cool that the mass was also being said in Spanish because for the most part, I could understand what was being said.

Since it was already late and most of the museums were closed, we headed to Montmartre and the Basilique de Sacre Coeur, one of my favorite places to go to. The church is amazing and the view from it is captivating. The decorations inside the church are also impressive but you can’t take pictures- so you’ll just have to go to see it yourself!

Since it was our last night, we went back to Trocadero Square to eat a crepe and watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle on the hour. It was great way to end out trip to Paris. It was cold out but we managed to suck it up and enjoy the view. Even with the guys selling the keychains and plastic Eiffel Towers, the feeling of being in Paris was a surprise to me again. It was also at this moment that I realized, yet again, that I was back in France even though I had just been here a year before!

Sunday

Our lazy day, we slept in, had breakfast and then headed back to the train station. This time we made it to our train on time and made it back to Lyon by 1pm. We left our stuff at Guillaume’s again and then went over to the Parc de la Tête d’Or to walk around for a bit. We sat by the lake an admired the park – its too bad that there isn’t anything like that in the States. Yes, we do have national parks, but city parks are soo small and have really nothing to offer. People here enjoy the parks because they do not have yards of there own so they feel free at these places – or at least that is why I think parks are so important to people here.

Since I had work Monday through Thursday, I had to leave Kyle alone, but by the time I got back to Lyon, we would manage to do some sight seeing. Overall, I think that he had a great time….or at least I hope he did. It was too bad that our breaks didn’t coincide because we would have been able to do much more. The day that he left, I started my break.

I don’t have any plans for the break since I need to focus on finding a place to live. I hope I can find one before I start classes again so that I can finally settle in. I’ve felt more homesick this time because I still don’t feel at ease knowing that my bags are still full of clothes. I appreciate everything that Guillaume has done for me, letting me stay at his place, taking me with him to his parents’ house, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome and start to bother him.

While I was with Kyle just before leaving for Paris, I got a call from the lady who had shown me a studio in Villefranche – the town I work at. It is fully furnished and only about 350 euros. The day after she showed me, it was already taken by someone that the landlord had found. So, I gave up.

But when she called me back, she told me that it was available again because the person who was set to move in had lost their job and could no longer take it. Too bad for that person, but yay for me! I signed my lease and can move in on the 1st or before if I would like. Now, I just need to fill out some paperwork and then I’ll be set. I’m glad that I will be able to finally finish unpacking and be in my own “home”.

Plus, it will be a lot cheaper and more convenient. Living in Lyon would have been awesome, but I need to think about what I came here to do. I came to work and earn some money so that I can save up. I’m out of school now so I need to start thinking about the future. I didn’t want this day to come, but no one can stop time. I’m out in the real world and need to take advantage of all the opportunities that I have. Just the idea that I am in a different country and working in a field that corresponds to my studies is more than enough. But, with the money I am saving by living in the small town will help out a lot. I will be able to pay my parents back and pay my own bills, and maybe even pocket some money to use for traveling. I know that I will need to spend money on going out and buying some clothes, but I hope to do so responsibly.

Life is a learning experience and I am ready for it to take me along for the ride. I think I am in the right mindset and that I am ready for anything. But, only time will tell. My life is great right now and I want to savor the moment.

From the 9th to the 15th

Just a quick recap:

Continued with my introduction through the 2^nd week of classes (for me). Now, I guess I just have to start preparing for my lessons for after the 2-week break that is coming up- got to love the French school system calendar. For every 6 to 7 weeks of class, we get 2 weeks off!

Spent the weekend at Guillaume’s place in the countryside. Went out with some of his friends and made a fool of myself – threw up in his parents’ car on the way to the club. I have no idea how it happened – well, besides the fact that I had drank too much hard liquor too fast – by the time I realized I was going to throw up it was too late to give any warning. I felt ashamed for the rest of the weekend and embarrassed, but its not like it’s the first time something like that has happened to me. I felt bad for putting Guillaume in that situation since he was pretty pissed off at the fact that I had done that. No matter how many times I said sorry, I know there was a little bit of fury lingering. But, it happens to everyone…I hope. Tant pis!

Saw some motorbike races out in the fields – France was the last place I would think of seeing something like this. I know France is a big country but I’m still surprised by what goes on here – It’s really not that different from the US! Lol

Got a call from Kyle, who is studying in London with EAP. Turns out he really is coming to visit! And, I don’t have any place to host him…. Need to find out what to do!

October 5th to the 9th

So after showing up my first day for work on Thursday, I was told that I did not have to go back until Monday since I have Fridays off. Sweet!

This week was pretty interesting. It was my week of observation and introduction. I noticed right away how different the French high school system is from the US. I learned more about at the orientation we had on the 9th, but even before then, I knew that there was almost nothing similar between the two.

The students and teacher follow a completely different code of conduct. There is a lot more politeness in French school. For example, the students greet the teacher when they come in and always say goodbye before leaving. But, unlike high school the US, there seems to be no relationships established. I know that sometimes it’s difficult to befriend a teacher, but at my high school, it felt like the teachers were our friends. We respected them, but they were a little more laid back.

Also, the way that things are done in France is a little funny. For example, the paper looks like graph paper but with lines going in every direction. If you ever need to underline something or just draw any line, make sure you take out your ruler from your pencil pouch because doing it freehand is a big no no! When finishing a test, don’t forget to glue your prompt to the end of your exam. I didn’t really understand what the purpose of that was, but it was interesting nonetheless.

During the first class I went to, I was terrified to have to go up to the front of the class and introduce myself to all these high school students. For some reason, the fact that the students were in high school had always scared me because I think of how bad some high school students can be. But, I sucked it up and went to the front. It could not have been any easier. After the first class, I realized that it was going to be an easy week because I pretty took the whole class period just explaining to the students where I came from, why I had a Spanish name, and answering questions that they had.

Some of the questions they asked me were pretty memorable. At one point, I was asked if I was in a gang or if I knew anyone who has been in a gang since that’s the first thing they though of when I mentioned LA. I liked to see or hear there reaction when I told them that I could get to the beach in an hour and how hot it gets over the summer. It was also fun to ask them what cities where in California – they knew of LA and SF for the most part, but I also got a lot of wrong answers – like Seattle, Washington, DC and Las Vegas.

After our orientation, I understood the how the school system works. My high school is a lycée professionel, meaning that students go there to prepare for and take their BAC, kind of like the high school exit exam, or to learn a specific trade. I asked the student what they wanted to do after high school but many of them had no idea.

I also took the time to explain to them how different high school was in the States and showed them my high school yearbook from senior year. I loved seeing how excited they were to be able to go through the book and see it firsthand instead of on TV or in a movie.

Overall, I have a feeling that it will be easy to find subjects to discuss with the students. I’m hoping that I will not only help them with their English, but also give them an idea as to how different the American culture is.

Saturday, October 3rd

I woke up early despite the late night before to meet up with Sam, Lesley, Megan, Erin, and Dan at Bellecour at 10 am.

Once we all got there, we started our journey to the Parc de la Tête d’Or (Park of the Golden Head). We managed to find our way there with the metro. The park is huge! It has a zoo, lake, and botanical gardens! The 1st animals we saw were some deer – which were only separated from us by a ditch and a high wall.

At first, I thought that the deer would be the most interesting thing there, but I was wrong. As we kept walking, we saw lemurs, monkeys, and giraffes, some buffalo looking things, a lion, and even a crocodile! And elephants too! The zoo was nothing like the San Diego Zoo, but it was still pretty cool – and free!


After seeing the animals and walking through one of the green houses at the botanical gardens, Dan and Erin headed off and the rest of us went to a small kebab place nearby – I really missed kebabs in the States.

Friday, October 2nd

Not much happened during the day. I pretty much just worked on making to-do lists and waited for it to be 8pm. Thanks to Facebook, all of the English assistants, even some Spanish, German, and Arabic assistants, have been able to communicate with each other. Since the majority of us had our first day on Thursday, October 1^st, someone planned a get together for that night.

The common meeting place for the Lyonnais (the Lyon natives) is under the horse’s tail (statue in the center) at Place Bellecour. And, since it’s pretty easy to locate, the group decided to meet there. By the time I arrived to the statue, there was already a group of about 20-25 people! Besides the size of the group, it was also easy to recognize that I had found the group because of all the English that I could hear coming from it.

I met a lot of the assistants but only remember a few names. I knew I was bad with names, but for some reason, it was worse! I do recall some people: Megan, from Canada, Maggie, from California, Zara, also from California and friends with a friend from high school (SMALL WORLD), Dan, facebook acquaintance from Illinois, Sam, from England, Albert, from England and studying at Oxford, Jack from England, Fiona and Catherine from New Zealand….and the list could have gone on, but I forgot. But, you can see how diverse the group is – crazy!

After waiting for some stragglers, we walked from Bellecour towards Vieux Lyon (the Old quarter of Lyon – known for being one of the most preserved Renaissance areas in Europe). We all sat down at a bar right next to the Cathedral St. Jean. It was an ideal spot, despite the cold, because we had St. Jean looming over us, and the Basilique de Fourvière above us overlooking the square.

After being there for about an hour, the bartender decided to put Lesley, another assistant, in charge of collecting the money from everyone that was there. She was a little annoyed and upset because the bartender was being so difficult so I decided to help her by holding the coins and helping her with change. At one point I had about 50 euros in 1, 2, .50, and .20 euro coins. After collecting the money (we ended up with more that we needed instead of being short) one of the Australian assistants suggested we go to an Australian bar/club.

He led us all to Ayers Rock about a 15/20 minute walk from where we were. At this time, I thought that I was pretty close to Guillaume’s, so I wasn’t worried about being home late.

The club was packed! We eventually were able to get in and have a drink. All of us (Dan, Jack, Matt, Megan, Maggie and I) just stood in a small circle since we couldn’t really move, but enjoyed ourselves by listening to the music (which consisted of Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Nirvana…etc) and the French people singing along to the songs without knowing what they were saying (probably). I’m guilty of doing the same since I don’t always understand what is being said when I listen to Italian or French music. Plus, I now know that I need to know what it is that I am listening to or what I am told to say because it can get me into to trouble, or can be embarrassing – 2 weeks ago at the soirée Guillaume’s friend, Maxime, told me to start singing “Bois tes regles” which I later found out meant, “drink your periods”…Opps!

Since the transportation strike was still going on, most of the group had to leave early. But, as we were saying goodbye, Jack bought another beer because he didn’t think that everyone was leaving. I wanted to go home, but I would have felt bad for leaving him there alone. So, I bought another beer and drank it with him. Once we finished, we started our journey back – which ended up taking me almost an hour!