grève grave?

so this past thursday was a grève generale in france. yes, france. it was nationwide. what that amounts to is that everyone who feels like it goes on strike. teachers, students, train/metro workers, but not - as we discovered - retail franchises. not during precious, precious soldes season. we were anticipating some major demonstrations or disturbances. aside from some shouting we could hear from our window, there wasn't much. we decided to check out bellecour, the main square, which is normally busy for any kind of event. in that square i have seen everything from native american musicians to acrobats and baby tigers. we went over in the middle of the afternoon expecting some sort of activity, but there was nothing. the only remnants of any activity were some spray-painted sheets with typical slogans (see above). i guess all that not working really takes it out of you.

so, basically all the strike amounted to was a day off of work. no complaints here. hello, 5-day weekend!

fashion à la français

given my recent experiences and observations in close proximity with lots of french people, i thought i would give my advice on how to look, and dress, french. should you find yourself in need of such a skill. and if you think it's all scarves and pointy shoes.. well, you're 80% right but i'll explain anyway.

so you want to look like...

...a young french woman in her 20s
the key here is dark colors and neutrals. you'll need skinny jeans, naturally, to showcase your cute flats or tuck into your boots. boots are an absolute necessity, but the style is flexible. tall or short; black, brown, tan or gray. don't forget your lonchamp bag which you can buy in a range of colors - just make sure they have the impractically short handles. you'll need a nice heavy wool coat (black) for winter and a ridiculously long, thick scarf - preferably in a neutral shade, like a grayish brown - that you'll wrap around several times and bury your face into when it's cold. your hat should be a neutral black or white (purple if you're feeling daring) and should complement your short hair and sideswept bangs. even though the top of you's all bundled up, feel free to wear skirts and dark tights all through winter.

...a middle schooler
there's a lot more freedom with color and pattern here. plaids are acceptable, and the color of your tights can range widely. on a night out, you might even be able to swing a bright pair of leg warmers. your sneakers can be any color though chucks are of course preferable. the key here is the heavy eyeliner and loud talking on the metro.

...you're tough
we'll go with the typical marseille-inspired fashion here. you'll need a track suit, black or white is best though you might be able to get away with red if you've got it in you. the key here is - and i cannot stress this enough - you must tuck your pants into your socks. so as to better display your narrow european sneakers. pumas or asics are preferable. baseball hats are acceptable but they don't naturally showcase your haircut, close-shaved on the sides and a little thicker on top. if you're in middle school consider getting a design shaved into it. for the total effect, be sure to listen to your music without headphones on any public transport system.

...an elderly woman
here it's all about the accessories. your actual clothes won't matter much because you'll be wearing a long, warm coat over them. as for footwear, boots are of course still your best bet. when it's a little warmer, you can opt for sensible yet still stylish flats. you should keep your hair short but if you feel like expressing yourself, why not try some unnaturally red hair dye? and of course no elderly european woman would feel like herself without her wacky european glasses. make sure the shape is nice and angular and that the frames are a noticeably bright color. try for red or purple.

...and elderly man
don't even bother. with all these characters, nobody's looking at you.

paris pas pareil

i just returned from a much-needed excursion to paris for the weekend. maybe it was something in the water, but it seemed like everyone's students have been getting crazy (you know, two whole weeks without a vacation..) and we were ready for a change of scenery.

i left for paris with two fellow assistants, jean and vince, who were lovely company. we managed to see a lot in one weekend: montmartre, the institute du monde arabe, the holocaust memorial, pompidou (bookstore..), the arc de triomphe, my favorite crêperie (probably worthy of a post in and of itself), the seine/eiffel tower by night (never seems to get old), the grande arche, and of course the big picasso exhibit, which was the impetus for our trip.

and now, a few other random highlights..

i'd like to describe for you our "hotel". somehow i stumbled across this online. i should have been tipped off by the questionable tripod website and the fact that there were no sort of online reservations, but it was less than 20 euro and in the middle of town, so we went for it. we arrived to find our hotel - that would be the "hotel bed & breakfast" - with no one there. after a phone call, someone came to let us in. the place was a mess of colors, patterns (from faux brick to giant flowers), tiles (fruits in heavy relief), and giant movie posters (the golden compass?). truly something for everyone. other fun surprises: the key cost 2 euro, as did the showers. and the included breakfast consisted of sliced white bread (already offensive, considering we're in the land of fresh-baked bread), a packet of butter and jam, and sludgey hot cocoa. it was an experience. luckily we made the most of it by annexing our own room (the 'family' room?) and making fun of the hideous decorations and very strange owners.

we were also surprised by the parisian metro. don't get me wrong, it's a great system and very easy to follow. but the metro cars themselves seemed more narrow and cramped than we remember. and the ride itself is very jerky! we're just spoiled in lyon i guess. i will say one thing for the parisian metro though. the manual doors make it easier to jump off while the train's still moving. we got in the habit of doing this and we got pretty good at it, though i think it may have also raised some eyebrows. i guess we have to give the parisians something to look down on us for.

solde out

today marked the beginning of one of the best french innovations: the SOLDES! this refers to the twice-yearly time period when french stores have ridiculous markdowns in order to get rid of last season's merchendise and make room for the new stuff. everywhere you look there are store fronts plastered with signs for sales (usually in many languages.. they try to be accessible).

i decided to go to the mall today at lunchtime (dangerous) to see all the madness for myself. even approaching the metro stop for the mall you could tell the crowds were bigger than usual. the mall itself was pretty crowded, which is no small feat. by american standards, it's a pretty big mall. but by european standards.. well it's said to be the biggest downtown shopping mall in europe.

i made my way through several stores all with giant signs in the windows showcasing 30, 50, or even 70 percent off. every store had long lines at the dressing rooms and cash register but it was worth it. i came away with shirts for 5 and 7 euro, a dress for 14, earrings for 2 and a hat and scarf for 10. things brings me to one of my favorite french words: profiter! i don't think there's a proper english equivalent. the closest would be to make the most of or take advantage of. i learned it when i asked a little old woman where the park was and she advised me to profiter the nice weather.

it looks like january's going to be an expensive month (with travel expenses, sales, and weekends) but oh well. only 29 days of soldes left. il faut en profiter!

home for the holidays

i've just returned from a wonderful 10 days back in the US. it was a blur of seeing friends, family and trying to eat everything remotely american i could get my hands on. it felt very comfortable being back but there were a few clear american/european disparities i couldn't help noticing. which i will now attempt to elucidate in my favorite form of communication, bullet points.

things i missed about france:

• velov'ing! i swear, it felt like i hardly moved. except, you know, in a car.
  
• generally beautiful surroundings. or, failing that, old.
• open container laws - what do you mean we can't have a bottle of wine in the street?
  
• speaking french (yes, it's true)
• smoke-free bars. let's get with the times, virginia
  

things i did not miss about france:

• our pitiful shower
• spending all my precious euros on groceries
• cold toilet seats and equally frigid water
  
• having to think all the time (about, you know, speaking)
• commonplace public urination
• the awful, awful music.. though much of that is contributed by america
  

american things i think the french would be mystified - or amused - by:

• driving over the speed limit. and just driving everywhere in general.
• not greeting everyone you see
• hugs
  
• cheese in a can
• football everywhere
• portion sizes. and the snacking.. all the snacking
  

i must admit it's a little strange to be back after a relatively short relapse into my american lifestyle. so for now i'm just trying to readjust and keep warm.

oh well.. only one month until the next vacation!

alsatiated

just got back from a lovely long weekend (though in this case a 3-day weekend is the norm) in strasbourg. we decided months ago to spend a weekend in the alsace and were rewarded with a good deal on train tickets and a lovely, albeit cold, weekend of christmas festivities.

on this trip we found out that strasbourg in december is full of two things: german food and christmas markets. we experienced both in massive quantities. as a collective foursome, we ate the following: pretzels (both plain and with cheese), spatzle (with cheese and ham), vin chaud, kougelhopf (sort of brioche-ish cake), tarte flambée (basically a pizza with crème fraîche in lieu of sauce), boules de neige (like peeps but huge and covered in chocolate), potato galettes (like latkes but super greasy), 'strasbourg' sausage with cheese, alsatian white wine, pizza/baguette, hot orange juice (sounds weird, doesn't it?), churros, crêpes, belgian beer, chocolate covered fruits, and hot chocolate. actually, listed altogether like that it sounds disgusting.

between eating we somehow managed to see the city. the old town is called 'petite france' - the city is so german they actually have to label one part of it france. the canals, half-timbered houses and cobblestone streets make it thoroughly adorable. we walked through the old part of town, exploring christmas markets on the way. this means we stopped and shopped roughly every 50 meters. the markets put lyon's to shame; a wonderful mix of food and crafts from france, germany and beyond. particular specialties that kept cropping up: little ceramic half-timbered houses, christmas ornaments (from cheesy moose-reindeer in santa hats to intricate carved wood), and all types of gingerbread and other dense cakes.

we also took a brief sojourn into the small town of colmar, only 30 minutes by train. it's been called "little venice" or, more plausibly, "venice of the alsace". we weren't particularly impressed by its canals (i'd put the final count at two, and that's being generous) but rather by its overall cuteness. this compounded with the fact that we were in the midst of a giant christmas market on a saturday in december resulted in ridiculous crowds. still, we enjoyed the city and after dark we saw the city's famed fiber-optic lighting system (because we hadn't gotten enough of lights the previous weekend, evidently).

overall a good weekend. a nice introduction to the alsace region, which i'd like to explore further - either in spring or when i've invested in some warmer socks.

fête des lumières

well! this was a big weekend for lyon. the first weekend of december marks the annual fête des lumières, a fairly recent tradition. but, as this is france, it was not just any weekend celebration but four days of festivities. though considering that 4 million visitors are crammed into the city in that time, it's really not all that long at all.

we began our explorations on friday night, starting at parc de la tête d'or which is usually beautiful in and of itself. it turned out to be rather disappointing. this (see left) was the best shot i could come up with. some of the trees were lit, there were some scattered lights in the distance, and there appeared to be some boats very dimly (and slowly) coming into focus. we lost patience and gave up. later others confirmed that there wasn't much to see here.

we pressed on. eventually we made it to the opera where we were surprised to find that it had only its usual red lights. but when we crossed over into the adjacent place des terreaux, we were not to be disappointed. certainly a centerpiece of the festivities, two of the long buildings making up the square - the hotel de ville (below) and the musee des beaux arts (right) - were the backdrop for a light show. the lighting was intricate and aligned precisely with the contours of each building which made it pretty spectacular. the show, which ran on a continuous 5-minute loop, centered around the 'little giant' who plays with his toys after his parents have gone to a party. complete with music and sound effects. it was amusing overall except for the point at which the child/giant puts out a fire by peeing on it. the french seemed amused; i think this is what contributes to their lackadaisical stance on public urination. that aside, the spectacle was lovely.

from there we crossed over the saone into vieux lyon where we expected to find some fantastic displays. we saw a decent light show (peppered with ads to ride the train) on the tiny gare st. paul and some 'bats' flying around in the windows of a nearby reformation church. what held most of our attention was the masses of people (read: tourists) and dozens and dozens of stands selling crepes, gauffres, tartiflette, hot dogs and of course delicious vin chaud (if you haven't had it, it's mulled wine spiced with cinnamon, citrus, and sugar). eventually we made it to the main church, st. jean, which was absolutely stunning. not only did the variegated lights hit every angle and niche of the façade, they even projected sculptures that (i imagine) would have once been carved into it.

now, onto night two. we began on rue de la république, the main pedestrian street running from bellecour to places des terreaux. it had a number of smaller displays, beginning with the shallow fountains (left) and spring-y lights in the trees. at one smaller square there was a display of 'flying fish' circling a fountain and being projected onto the nearby buildings. near the rhone, inside the hotel dieu (old hospital) there was a covering of colored lights accompanied by organ grinder music that the pictures didn't quite do justice. continuing on, we arrived at hotel de ville to discover that there was a light display inside it as well (at right). walking through it seems as though you're inside, under a ceiling of twinkling lights. only when the lights fade out do you realize you're actually in an outdoor courtyard. it sounds silly but it really was like a blanket of stars.

we continued on the presqu'île where we discovered a church (that i never knew existed) with a small show of its own. from there we reached the quai, where we could see both st. jean and fourviere on the hill lit up. this may have been my favorite view. i thought both churches were beautifully lit and to see them both and the river? come on. as we crossed the bridge we were accompanied by (in addition to many, many people) a small group playing native american music. we're still not sure of the significance/origin of this but it seems to be a constant at the festival. after crossing the river we marveled once again at st. jean and decided to walk up the stairs for a better view. from there we could see the church façade as well as bellecour's ferris wheel in the background. (we never did discover anything else going on in bellecour - strange for the largest square in the city). we decided to go for it and climb up to fourvière. the view of the city was nice but the view of the church from below was even better. they lit it beautifully, alternating between blue, pink/orange, and blue/green. also atop the hill were giant letters spelling out 'merci marie'. the origin of the festival, incidentally, is to thank the virgin mary for saving the city from the plague. she can also be seen atop the church (the gold statue to the left).

sunday was a day of rest. this is necessary in france as there is normally little open. we did, however, 'profiter' from the open-air markets. food, books, and crafts in the morning and christmas markets in the evening. as we tried to make our way up to croix rousse we were shocked to find that the number of tourists seemed to have multiplied. after bypassing three metro stops because of the lines, we were forced to squish our way past the overcrowded place des terreaux in order to make our way up the hill. we arrived at the rather small croix rousse christmas market which left us underwhelmed. though they did have a yurt, donkeys and sheep, and no shortage of chocolate. we decided to make our way down to perrache instead where we found a real marché de noël (above). the selection was bigger, with crafts ranging from africa to russia to south america and food from france and beyond (okay, mostly germany).

finally, monday night. traditionally this is the biggest night as the actual celebration is supposed to be on the 8th of december. according to the (free) local newspaper this is the night for the 'lyonnais'. this did not stop tourists from bombarding the train/metro stations, however. the people of the city are all supposed to light candles and put them in their windows in homage to the virgin mary. i bought my little candle and put it in the window like a good lyonnaise. nevermind that no one can see it way up on the 10th floor (i checked from the street).

the crowded streets and the cold made staying in very tempting but i decided to venture out for the last night of the fete. we began heading towards rue de la république, where we were led to believe there would be some kind of candle-lit display. there was, but it wasn't worth the walk back and forth across the bridge. this ended up being a mistake as there was something much better going on just across the river. by the time we made it to the lumière institute (fitting, i know) the firework/acrobatic show was just ending. it was probably the one disappointment in an overall exciting weekend. on the bike ride home, though, i did discover one more light display at one of the universities and saw candles in windows and balconies around the city.

overall i thought festival was wonderful and such a boon for the city (if a tad annoying at times). as for seeing all the light displays, i barely scratched the surface (there were over 50) but still i felt i fêted properly.

as i sit here in the candlelight with my tea and the window cracked open (don't worry, dad, i'm wearing a scarf) listening to the sounds of the city, it seems like a perfect end to a lovely little festival.

i live here.

plus de pensées

after spending a now substantial amount of time in the french schools (well, three of them) i've been able to note some more observations and idiosyncracies. maybe this just comes from spending quite a bit of time in american schools, but i find it rather fascinating.

the schools themselves are what i would consider small. each of my three schools has one class in each level (the equivalent of 1st-5th grade) and no more than 25 or 28 students per class. the other teachers seemed a little shocked when i told them we might have five or six classes in one grade. the schools are physically small as well. the library (if there is a library) often doubles as the teachers' lounge. the 'playground' is little more than a small blacktop that may or may not have two soccer goals/basketball hoops. there are no separate rooms for music or art.

as it turns out, this is because the general classroom teachers are responsible for teaching every part of the curriculum, including music, art plastique, and even p.e. (evidently all teachers have to be able to pass a swimming test.). oh, and incidentally, the only things french students seem to do for p.e. are things that american students likely never would: biking, swimming, and judo.

with all this extra work you would think french teachers would be even more burnt out than american teachers. not so. lunch, which i remember as being a blur of 15 minutes to make copies and scarf down a sandwich, is a relaxed affair. (obviously this has something to do with the two hours break they have.) teachers discuss complaints about students, problems with parents but overall don't seem too troubled by the demands of their job.

this is quite a contrast from the teachers' behavior in the classroom. routine disciplinary actions consist of shouting and shaming. teachers have no qualms about expressing their annoyance and calling students names ('baby' is quite common). this doesn't seem to be effective, as the loudest teachers tend to have the most boisterous classes. even the directeur (principal) often has trouble controlling his/her class. i was intrigued by the fact that the principals actually teach a class in addition to handling the burden of administrative details. it's a bit like the head of a department at a university. i'm not sure how effective it is, but it certainly makes for a different teacher-principal dynamic in the teachers' lounge.

well, that's all for now. perhaps this energy would have been better spent working on my grad school applications...

beaujolais! beaujolais! beaujolais!

last night marked the beginning of the new season of beaujolais wine. evidently it is one of few wines that actually tastes best when it's new. (i've also heard it's one of the worst wine regions in france). nevertheless, there are celebrations all over the beaujolais region, and lyon (being the biggest city in the region) was no exception. we arrived at 9:00 to find a small crowd and nothing happening. so we retired to a bar for a few hours and returned at about 11:30. the festivities began with the new wine being brought into town on a horse-drawn carriage. the barrel was adorned with a red cloth and some rather wimpy-looking tree branches. the horse/carriage were followed by people (rather wildly) waving lit torches, a huge marching band, and plenty of idiot tourists (such as myself) trying to snap pictures/not get trampled. it was a sight.

when they arrived at the clock tower they brought the new barrel of wine to join what i imagine was barrels of the old wine. then the spectacle began - showers of fireworks shooting out from behind the barrels, colored lights (and more fireworks) illuminating the clock tower, and of course terrible french techno music. they began a very snappy chant (see title) that fit in nicely with the music. then they count down and finally illuminate the giant '2008' at the stroke of midnight. it's a bit like new year's but about 10 months late. then the madness begins. they offer a 'degustation' of the new wine, gratuit, which evidently means everyone rushes forward and smashes into the person in front of them. some people were there for the wine, others just seemed to be there to encourage the madness. eventually, we got our samples and the crowd thinned out a bit.

and that was how we rang in the new year of wine.

gooooal(s)

just before i arrived in france i came up with a mental list of things i hoped to accomplish while i was here - improve my french, travel, etc. etc. pretty standard. after being here for about six weeks i've come up with a new set of goals. while they may not be as practical, they certainly seem more fun.

• be able to write with the handwriting of a french student. (i'm getting there!)
  
• finally get the whole 'celsius' thing down. and kilometers, if i'm feeling ambitious
  
• distinguish between regional english dialects
• be able to walk by (and smell!) a patisserie without staring in amazement/whimpering a little
• have some sort of understanding of french wines. or at least be able to fake it convincingly.
• be able to tell people off in french (i've had to do this twice now but it was not quite to my satisfaction)
  

more to come..

velo'v/hate

so lyon, being the wonderful city that it is, was one of the first to implement a city-wide biking system. there are bike stands all over the city and they cost next to nothing. in fact the first half-hour costs exactly that: nothing. this combined with lyon's rather flat terrain and ubiquitous bike paths and bike lanes make it ideally suited for velo'ing, or, i should say, velo'v-ing. (they found a cutesy name for it, naturally.) the one catch? you need a bank card with a 'puce' - a little chip that, for some reason, is only put in european cards.

and so the saga began..

i waited three weeks for my bank card (they forgot to order it), four weeks for my pin code (they had to send it twice), a week to recover my card (eaten by the atm) and, later, several days to find a bank that would 'unblock' the card so i could actually use it.

once i finally had a working bank card i assumed there was nothing standing in the way of my velo'ving. i went to one machine, it accepted my card, gave me a receipt, told me to wait and.. told me the machine could not give me a velo'v card. no reason. just couldn't. tried another machine.. it didn't work at all. tried a third machine, out of sheer masochism - same story as the first. i gave up, assuming there was something wrong with my card. or that maybe it was just france being france.

then today, on a whim, i tried a machine across town and, much to my surprise, it worked on the first try. it was wonderful! i biked down rue de la république, the major pedestrian streeet/commercial center of the city and then across the river to my apartment. it was absolutely delightful; i think i was actually grinning the entire time. when i wasn't dodging wheelchairs and small children, anyway.

we got off to a rocky start, but now i'm totally smitten.
i love velo'v!

looking to the future

as this vacation draws to a close my mind begins to turn to other things.. namely our next vacations.

i have lots of ideas but i (sadly) realize that i can't make them all happen.
here are the front-runners thus far:

france to croatia overland
hits up some exciting cities (venice? grenoble? zagreb?) as well as some new countries (hello, slovenia). and with the 169 € 15-day bus pass this seems like a brilliant plan. if only all the good cities in croatia weren't so far out of the way.

tunisia!
i would love to get to tunisia somehow. they have a) the obvious appeal of being a muslim country with (naturally) beautiful artwork b) the charm of being on the mediterranean and c) very close proximity.. as the crow flies.. to france and moderately inexpensive plane tickets. plus i hear their doors are pretty gorgeous.

iberian peninsula
beautiful beaches, moorish architecture, a little español, and the ever-elusive tapas. not to mention the one and only annie mchale.

turkey
while i have already been to turkey i am more than sure that it's worthy of a more in-depth visit. i've found some gorgeous regions as well as fabulous architectural masterpieces. now if i could just get around that $45 visa business.

thoughts? comments? relatives who'd like to feed/house me?
send 'em my way.

not so nice Nice

nice
from aix we took a train (for some reason cheaper than the bus) to nice during which it began to rain. by the time we got to nice it was pouring (see fig. 1). we got out and after a quick stop at the tourist office (extremely helpful!) and an internet cafe, happened upon a nearby hostel. we got a 'suite' with a kitchenette for 17€/night, which we thought was decent. against our better judgment, we decided to go out and attempt to explore the city despite the rain. we walked all the way down to the water and back only to discover that even the french riviera doesn't look great when it's dark and rainy.

back at the hostel our struggles with cooking continued. we discovered our kitchenette had: no knives (the woman running the hostel lamented, "they always take the knives.."), many small bugs, few and sticky cooking utensils, no soap, and forgotten nutella (this we weren't too upset about). with much difficulty, including an incredibly slow stove and a brief power outage, we eventually made some delicious and very welcome soup.

the following days were spent trying to keep dry (usually in museums and wherever else we could find cover) and trying to see what we could of nice. after a day we met up with our rather miserable and sick-looking friends who did not look excited at the prospect of more rain. we got lucky one day when the sun (gasp) almost came out and we were actually able to see how pretty the water normally is. other highlights: watching a tour bus knock over a huge lamppost - it broke in about 6 places and the driver promptly came out to check the damage.. to the bus.

the other highlight, just as with the first half of the trip, was not in nice at all. we hopped on a bus to vence (for a paltry 1 euro) where we were greeted by rain and could not find a dry place to have our typical makeshift lunch. we eventually found a small park where we sat on the ground under a bridge.. but that wasn't the highlight. after our less than comfortable lunch we walked on to the matisse chapel (excuse me. the chapelle de la rosaire.. by matisse) which, at 3 euro, was the highest admission price we paid on the entirety of the trip. the chapel was small and simple - the only colors were the yellow, green and blue of the stained glass and the black lines of the paintings on the wall - but masterfully executed. we were able to listen in on what i suppose was a docent's explanation of the chapel; it seems matisse chose nearly everything in the chapel (down to the altar stone that looked like bread) and very methodically. he called it his masterpiece, and with good reason. we spent quite a while there but probably could have stayed longer and been very content. unfortunately taking pictures was (like so many things in france) interdit, so i can't post a picture, but it's worth googling.

and that was our vacation in brief. it was wonderful, we saw some beautiful things, but we were eager to get back to lyon.

vacances en partance

as i mentioned already, the french calendar is very liberal with vacations. this is why, after two arduous weeks of actual teaching, we had a two-week vacation. most of us (assistants) were too busy settling in to make plans in advance. this turned out to be a mistake, since train prices tend to go up and not down. shocking. we ended up making a quick trip south to provence and the côte d'azur. i'll attempt to summarize the best of each.

aix-en-provence
after leaving a cold, foggy lyon we were happy to arrive an hour and a half later in a warm, sunny aix-en-provence. as we walked out of the train station we were greeted by the lion king song playing from someone's car radio. strange, but we took it as a good omen.

the town of aix-en-provence was lovely, with sunlit trees lining the streets and picturesque yellow and peach colored buildings. i particularly enjoyed their markets (crafts/soaps one day, clothes another day). one day a nice older gentleman personally escorted us to the 'best' bakery in town. regrettably we missed cézanne's studio and presumably a good view of mont st victoire. other than that our stay in aix-en-provence was short but enjoyable. the best, however, was our trip that took us an hour and half away.

cassis
we took a bus ride down to the tiny town of cassis, where we were dropped at a random bus stop halfway down to the waterfront. it was a very cute little town of small shops, bakeries and restaurants leading up to the boat-lined harbor. a bit like annapolis except that you're on the mediterranean rather than the chesapeake bay.

from the downtown we walked about 30 minutes until we reached the starting point of our hike through the calanques, which are "a geologic formation in the form of a deep valley with steep sides, typically of limestone in part submerged by the sea. it can be considered a mediterranean fjord." we hiked up for about half an hour before we stopped for our typical lunch (comprised of grocery store, bakery and hostel breakfast goodies. total cost: 2.08 €) on a rock overlooking the sea.

we continued on until we reached the bottom of one calanques where we found families swimming and playing in shallow green water. we hiked up (there was a lot of up and down) where we had beautiful views of the white cliffs, blue-green water and little boats below. it was pretty amazing. we even made it to the 'calanque d'en vau' (though one man adamantly explained that we wouldn't reach it) which seems to be one of the most oft-photographed.

we got incredibly lucky with the weather - apparently the next day it started raining and didn't stop for several days - which was a perfect mix of sun and clouds. and now we can officially say we've been calanque-ing. after we got back into town we capped off the day by watching some boules (pétanques, here) in the park before we caught our bus home.

that's all for now, more on the other half of our trip next time --

écoles, élèves, et écriture

well after spending all of two weeks in the schools i have some (very deep i'm sure) insights and observations on the french school system.

first, the teachers are all addressed as 'teacher' (maître or maîtresse, which incidentally also means 'mistress'). kind of endearing, but it can get a little confusing. also, many of the rooms do not have clocks. the teachers tend to rely on students with watches, which seems like it could be a dangerous policy.

as you probably already know, the french take their relaxation very seriously. the french calendar, and school day, are no exception. the students have a half-hour recess in the morning and afternoon as well as a two-hour lunch break during which the students all go home and eat with their mothers. who are apparently all at home. what year is this?

it would be a long two hours if the teachers' lounges weren't so nice. there always seems to be tea and fresh coffee. several were also well-stocked with wine. go figure.

the final hurdle in bridging the american-french school system gap was communication. obviously the language barrier (read: my pitiable french) poses a problem. what i did not expect to pose a problem, however, was my handwriting. i feel obliged to mention that my handwriting, on the chalkboard or otherwise, has never been a problem in the US. but when i wrote in print on the board, i got blank stares and puzzled expressions. when i looked at their notebooks, i realized why. first of all, their notebook paper is actually paper that's probably designed for quantum physicists or architects; it's graph paper that's divided into millimeters (or something equally tiny), which is then grouped into lines. their handwriting (which they begin learning in cursive) is impeccable. (not an easy task considering they all write with fountain pens.) i tried to find a font it most resembled, but i couldn't find one fancy enough. i actually had to learn how to write in 'french' cursive.

not only are their notes impeccably well-written but they're incredibly well-organized. students always have a ruler at their desk (you know, for underlining, connecting the dots..) and several types of pens (fountain or ballpoint?) at their immediate disposal. when i ask them to write the date, i inevitably get 10 students who ask me where it should be in relation to the margin and another 10 who want to know "is this okay?"

i've yet to discover the ultimate goal of this extreme anal-retentiveness but the french have certainly got them well-trained.

pictures!!

pictures are up.

israel

jordan

lyon

miscellaneous france

this post was made possible by our newfound internet. that's right. no more borrowing mcdonalds wifi (here, pronounced like 'beefy' except much less masculine)

in theory, this would mean that posts and emails would be more frequent. in theory.

tout neuf

just some observations and new experiences since i've been here..

food.

naturally, groceries are generally more expensive. the one exception is wine, which can run from as little as 1.96 € for a bottle. and it's french, so i figure it must be pretty good. (but then, who knows. i mean, i saw bottle shock) also hard cider (or, here, just cider), made from real bretagne apples. delightfully cheap.

the outdoor markets are more fun but the prices (as compared to the supermarché) seem to vary pretty widely. a nice gentleman also taught us about french milk. should you ever desire un-pasteurized milk, i can tell you where to go.

toilet paper.

for some reason toilet paper here comes in both white and pink varieties. they seem to be the same in every other respect, including price. yet for some reason everyone seems to opt for the pink. even young single men. i've yet to figure this one out.

music.

as you may imagine, only the worst american music gets imported here (currently topping the charts: that pink song and katy perry's delightful musings). and they apparently take only the worst from other countries as well. i've heard some pretty abysmal german and brit pop too. adding to the annoyance, the music videos seem to run in cycles of about 6, so you're sure to hear the songs again and again.

hospitality.

i couchsurfed! finally! this made the prospect of mundane errands in the very sleepy town of st. étienne all the more exciting. after a long day in the rain and cold we found mary paul's apartment. her apartment was very cozy and full of trinkets from her travels. she gave us slippers and fed us fish soup and pasta. it was heavenly! she topped herself by offering us spanish chocolates and tolerating our silly questions and broken french. (we spent about 10 minutes trying to pronounce 'chirurgie'). perhaps a 50 year old nurse from st. étienne was not the most dramatic of ways to begin my couchsurfing career. but she was very sweet. she probably didn't even know she was my first.

lyong update

well, this promises be quite a post.

actually i’ve been in lyon for about a week now. i’m getting by on my decent, if broken, french and there have been small victories…getting a cell phone, buying train passes, opening a bank account, and most importantly securing an apartment. there were a few days in limbo, one of which i spent with fellow assistants at the hostel who were/are also homeless for the time being. it’s a strange sensation, not having a place to go back to or just to put all your belongings. i don’t think i’ve ever felt quite so accomplished as when i removed my luggage from the train station locker and unpacked/arranged all my stuff (with its 3-week old wrinkles and faint smell of salt).

view from the window over my desk

the apartment i ended up in (the first one we looked at, in fact) is actually a student residence so it’s mostly filled with students at the university of lyon. it’s a two-room studio with a little kitchenette and a surprisingly nice view of the city (9th floor..). the location is pretty fabulous, right in front of metro and tram stops, one block from the river and a 10 minute walk from place bellecour, the central meeting spot/commercial center of the city. from there it’s only another 10 minutes to vieux lyon, the historic/touristy section, which happens to be where a lot of the bars are. handy when the metro stops running at midnight. there are also a lot of north african men who just seem to mill around the building selling things on blankets (yard sale??) during the day, so hopefully I’ll pick up some arabic along the way. i counted two arabic bookstores and two indian clothing stores. also a ton of “kebap” places and a few hookah bars.

i don’t actually start teaching until.. well, actually i don’t begin teaching in earnest until november. the area i’m working in (st. etienne, tiny little town renowned for its complete boring-ness) seems way behind the curve.. most other assistants have already begun teaching or have at least been to their schools. we have two meetings next week (where we will likely at least find out what/how many schools we’re at) followed by observations the next week, followed by a week and a half of vacation. ha! so.. no teaching until november.

in the meantime i’ve been exploring the city a bit (i got a nice tour yesterday from a french woman my roommate knows) and marveling that i get to live here. it’s really very pretty. and it has not one, but TWO rivers. which are not only charming but make it nearly impossible to get lost. if you find one, you know exactly where you are. for being a ‘big city’ lyon is actually very small. the rest of my time has been spent with other assistants at irish pubs (i know, i know). we don’t meet many french, but we have gathered a nice assortment of english, scottish, canadian and various others (polish? german?). i hear there’s another canadian who’s fluent in french and arabic…

(by the way my blogger account is still in hebrew and i can't figure out how to change it.. anyone..?)

speaking of death..

i can now die a little bit happier. after years of anticipation, i finally visited the dome of the rock. it was quite a process, winding through the old city, getting in through the western wall (security check), finding the bridge to the temple mount (security check), and then there it was, big shiny gold dome and all. honestly, what would the jerusalem skyline be without it? i ask you.
what can i say? it was exquisite. the tiles were all beautiful (blues, yellows, and teals). i took many pictures in attempts of proving just that (see above) but i know they can only do so much. the one disappointment was that we could not go inside. we knew this was a possibility yet it was still upsetting. (really, how can you have a monopoly on a site that's integral to all three abrahamic religions?) however, i managed to linger around and look pitiful enough that the guard offered to let me peek inside. gold mosaics and red carpets were all i could see. not even the famous rock. though i noted, with some satisfaction, that the interior of the dome was obscured by scaffolding.

also of note, there were very few tour groups on the temple mount when we were there. (though in fairness it was rather early.) i mention this only because tour groups (usually of a religious nature) are ubiquitous throughout the city. normally you can't turn around without bumping into a large mass of people with matching hats taking up an entire alleyway. it makes me wonder if there are people who come to jerusalem without visiting the dome of the rock.
blasphemy!