Hi all,
Comment Cava? Or how are you? I'm doing pretty well. Just returned from my fulbright orienation in Paris where I got to hang out with mostly Americans for 3 days!!! Crazy. And it turns out that this other girl and I are truly the only ones who don't live in Paris. This other girl is actually a friend of Adrienne's (my best friend from high school for those of you who don't know) and we got along really well so that made it even more fun. With the fulbright we had lots of formal briefings my embassy people on security, a guy from CNN who lives here and people like that. We also had a reception Thursday night at the Palais Luxembourg, which is now the senate, and is pretty famous. The ambassador and minister of education were there as well as lots of really interesting old people and plenty of champagne so everyone had a great time. The next day all of us scientists got a briefing at the Institut Pasteur and learned all about the capital of infectious disease research. It was pretty awesome. We then went to this new museum in Paris called the Quai Branly where they take you on a trip around the world and don't just show you western european art. They managed miss Mongolia though. The audio guide, which the Fulbright provided for us (pretty swanky), also informed us that one of the jackets from asia was still being worn until 1997 when they purchased it, making it sound like they bought it off some poor hungry child's back or something. It was pretty funny, I thought. It was rainy in Paris but altogether a good experience.
I am currently using stolen internet from my neighbors and until about 2 seconds ago it had been working well since I returned last night. Now it is not, but what can you do?
However, I am very close to obtaining the final piece of paperwork needed for my carte de sejour which is the key to me getting internet. It is now necessary for all Fulbrighters who are doing research to register at the University so we are all scrambling a bit. For my university they were requiring me to produce the original copy of my diploma, which is already difficult but made all the more difficult by the fact that they just issued them last week. Luckily, Pitt is super nice and worked with my mom and I just received my diploma which means I can register tomorrow which is the first day of classes and then I can go to the prefecture (the mean carte de sejour people) and finish that up so that I can finally have my medical exam. This is a very strange and uninteresting post so I should add more to it. Well, I am going to see the american movie about Daniel Pearl's abduction (I don't know the name in English, but the movie might be in English). It's sunday here so movies are cheap and there isn't much to do. Hope all is well on the home front. I'll let you know what school in France is like sometime later this week.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Free wifi!!! Guess where!!!
McDonalds!!! That's right, there is a Macdonald pretty much across the street from my house. While I'm still trying to avoid eating here I have found that there is free wifi and that it is usually so crowded that I don't have to buy much. God Bless America. So I know that I posted recently but I thought this was worthy of another post because now I can use the internet for free close to my home. I've almost won the battle. Not really, there are still many hitches with my carte de sejour as they have changed the process for us fulbrighters this year and therefore can't have internet in my house but at least I don't have to pay for this internet. I am currently uploading photos onto snapfish because I can use my computer!!! This has truly made my day!!! Besides the new update there isn't too much new news. Things are crawling by as we wait for the rentree or beginning of the university semester and I have my Fulbright orientation in Paris next week. It is pretty cold here and after a lot of careful thought as to what clothes to bring, I was not prepared and will probably have to buy a few. Merde!!! Besides that it is a beautiful day. I have a slight cold or allergy problem but am maintaining thanks to the French pharmacy where they are so helpful, eager to give out drugs and have everything over the counter. Hope everyone is doing well and email me!!!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Oh la vache!!!
So I'm aware that it has been a while since I last posted anything but I have been very busy picking grapes and learning the intricacies of the French language for the past 2 weeks in Champagne. My new favorite phrase is "oh la vache" it means oh the cow but in France it is also a very commonly used vulgar phrase. And by commonly used I mean I heard it at least 5 times per hour from each person. I decided to repeat after everyone said and now they think that I'm hilarious, which is good since I'm incapable of joking in French; they just don't translate. I'm also incapable of complaining in French because Mrs. Wetsig never taught us the vocabulary therefore the French think that I'm some crazy American who is always happy and never whines. Those of you who know me are probably laughing pretty hard right now.
I was stronger then the majority of people there because we began with 20 people on our team and finished with 4. A lot of people just broke down toward the end both physically and emotionally. I always knew that harvesting was difficult but I now have an elevated respect for individuals who do it for more than 2 weeks a year. It is truly backbreaking work. I think the thing that saved me was my newfound and necessary positive attitude as well as the 2 girls on my team who became friends. We laughed a lot together!! And one was the daughter of they vineyard owners who had recently taken an English course and was just either to speak with me. She reminded me a lot of Maresa in some ways and I really enjoyed my time with her. We had a good dynamic where she helped me understand the leader or our team so I couldn't mess up too bad and she didn't hate me for all of my questions. We also had great discussions.
While I was in Champagne I experienced something I had never seen before in my life; Champagne is like bottled water! There the same thing. Obviously not for real, but people drank it during breaks, for lunch and they also would dump some out if they didn't want it all or were just tasting it. It was crazy. Every time someone went to dump some down the drain I cried a little inside. Overall, the whole experience was quite exhausting mentally for me because of the 24/7 French language in large groups. At night I would just stop listening unless someone addressed me directly, which was difficult at times as my name sounds like about 5 commonly used French words. But I persevered, had a great time and had an overall good cultural experience. I also think that I acted as a great cultural ambassador and am fulfilling my role as a Fulbrighter quite nicely.
And now I leave you with my favorite phrase "Oh la vache". It is always necessary to picture a cow when you see of hear this, preferably a large white one.
Ciao for now!
~Sarah
I was stronger then the majority of people there because we began with 20 people on our team and finished with 4. A lot of people just broke down toward the end both physically and emotionally. I always knew that harvesting was difficult but I now have an elevated respect for individuals who do it for more than 2 weeks a year. It is truly backbreaking work. I think the thing that saved me was my newfound and necessary positive attitude as well as the 2 girls on my team who became friends. We laughed a lot together!! And one was the daughter of they vineyard owners who had recently taken an English course and was just either to speak with me. She reminded me a lot of Maresa in some ways and I really enjoyed my time with her. We had a good dynamic where she helped me understand the leader or our team so I couldn't mess up too bad and she didn't hate me for all of my questions. We also had great discussions.
While I was in Champagne I experienced something I had never seen before in my life; Champagne is like bottled water! There the same thing. Obviously not for real, but people drank it during breaks, for lunch and they also would dump some out if they didn't want it all or were just tasting it. It was crazy. Every time someone went to dump some down the drain I cried a little inside. Overall, the whole experience was quite exhausting mentally for me because of the 24/7 French language in large groups. At night I would just stop listening unless someone addressed me directly, which was difficult at times as my name sounds like about 5 commonly used French words. But I persevered, had a great time and had an overall good cultural experience. I also think that I acted as a great cultural ambassador and am fulfilling my role as a Fulbrighter quite nicely.
And now I leave you with my favorite phrase "Oh la vache". It is always necessary to picture a cow when you see of hear this, preferably a large white one.
Ciao for now!
~Sarah
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