The next chapter...

As most of you know by now I have just started working with the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) as the director of student services, I will be replacing the current director (Natty, whom I love) as she moves to the US for a year with her husband, and while I wish them all the best, part of me really wants her to stay so we can continue working together.

This past week was my first week, although it wasn't a true week, I started on Wednesday and went to a wine tasting on Thursday night (for work might I add). There are a lot of things to go over, but the good news is I just lived through many of these things and have a good basis of knowledge coming into the position. This job is not unlike the job I had working with the private dorms the two years before I left for Paris. My main responsibilities will be the students and their well-being, not only will I place everyone in their homestay arrangements, as well as planning weekend and day trips, but I am also the person they go to when they have a problem (can you say RA)? In fact, my RA experience really helped me land this job.

Even though it was hard to say goodbye to family and friends, I am so looking forward to this next chapter in my life, I know it will not always be easy and eventually I will be working long hours during orientation week, but I am so grateful 1) to have a job during these tough times and 2) to have a job that I love. Please stay in touch, my new email address is: coban.sarah@gmail.com (yes Emily that is coban with a c!)

Love from Paris...

and then we were evacuated...

My mom always tells Emily and I to be prepared and have a plan B-Z because your plan A doesn't always work. The beginning of our trip to Poland and the Czech Republic is a perfect example of going all the way to plan Z!

Our flight was super early Monday morning, so we knew we needed to take the first metro out to the RER (the commuter train that takes you out to the airport). We get on the metro no problem, we get on the RER no problem, we are about to come to the last station in Paris when the train stops. This is a frequent occurrence in Paris so we thought nothing of it, normally they are just regulating traffic. Well, after about 5 minutes we started to get a little nervous, the conductor came on the PA, but was really vague about what was going on, so we continued to wait. After about 15 minutes we started to realize that we needed to plan for potentially rerouting our trip, after about 20 minutes we realized that all hope was lost of us getting to the airport on time to make our flight. At about 30 minutes into our situation we saw RATP (the Parisian railway compay) officers walking along side the train--this should never happen. It was then we knew it wasn't going to be good. After about 45 minutes of being stuck in the car the conductor came on the PA system again but his voice was so muffled no one could understand what he was saying. It became pretty obvious when the door opened and they evacuated us out onto the OLD wooden platform they probably haven't used since I don't know, 1930! We had to walk about a half mile to the nearest train station on these old wooden platforms and along the tracks. It was honestly frightening, I was scared that another train was going to wizz by at any second. When we finally emerged onto the platform at Gare du Nord everyone on the platform was looking at us in amazement (we honestly just seemed to appear out of thin air). We then had to head over to the Opera to take a bus out to the airport (which we needed to buy an additional ticket for). By the time we finally got to the airport it was around 10am (we would have already landed in Krakow if we made the flight). The people at EasyJet "let us" change our ticket (for 52 euros) to the next available flight...only catch it wasn't until Wednesday. So our vacation was already going to be cut short by two days.

When we left Wednesday morning we didnt take any chances, we took a cab to the RER station super early so that we could insure we were on the first train to the airport...needless to say lightning doesn't strike twice, we made it safely to Krakow, just two days late! Love from Paris...



PS...don't worry, I will add a entry about the trip itself

Adventures in Amsterdam

What a whirlwind trip this has turned out to be! I arrived in Amsterdam on Friday morning, I had a few hours to kill before my friend Tina was done with work. It was the first time I had really been on my own in an unfamiliar city so I decided to walk around and get to know Amsterdam. I was so surprised how beautiful the city was, Amsterdam is (of course) divided by the canals, sometimes I felt I was walking over bridges just as often as I was walking down streets. Everyone bikes in Amsterdam, everywhere you look all you were guaranteed to see someone on a bike or a bike chained up. I took a really great picture that my friend Katharine said I should submit to a travel book for Amsterdam of three bikes that were lined up so perfectly. By the time Tina had finished work I had walked across the city. She met me in one of the main squares and we walked to her apartment. That afternoon we walked around a little bit and went to this little Tapas restaurant, it was just locals and jam packed!

Saturday was our big day in Amsterdam. Vincent Van Gogh was from Amsterdam, thus there is a museum in his honor. Until June the museum is holding a special exhibition featuring paintings and drawings done at dusk or in the night. Starry Night (which is normally at the MET in New York) was brought in for this exhibition, so I had opportunity to see it much closer then I would have been able to see it at the MET. We ended up spending almost four hours in the Van Gogh museum, that afternoon we just walked around some more before our nightime canal cruise.

Sunday morning we woke up hoping to go to Anne Frank's house, but when we arrived the line just to buy tickets was over two hours long (the only thing I wanted to do that I didn't get the chace to do in Amsterdam). After a quick tea we met a girl Tina worked with to take the bus out to this traditional Dutch village. When we arrived all we could see were windmills! I can't even describe how cute this little village was, all the houses were situated around a lake, many had windmills. There were a couple of cute little shops where you could buy postcards and windmill magnets, all and all it was a great little side trip.

I am so glad I decided to go to Amsterdam, it was kind of last minute, but Tina and I had a great time. In just a few days I was really able to see a lot. I learned that there is a lot more to Amsterdam then the Red Light district and the legalization of pot. Well anyway, love from Paris...

Around Europe in 8 days...

Just a little update for everyone...I will be leaving tomorrow for Amsterdam to visit my friend Tina who worked with me at the Towers. She is working for KPMG, a big accounting firm, in their international department so she got stationed in Amsterdam. I am looking forward to seeing her and the city of Amsterdam. I have been doing some research and there is a lot of to do (plus it looks beautiful)!

I return from Amsterdam late Sunday night back to Paris, but only to leave early Monday morning for Krakow, Poland. We are spending about three days in Krakow. On Tuesday we will be going on a tour of Auschwitz which isn't too far from Krakow. From Krakow we train to Prague for another three days. I am really excited to finally be getting to Prague, I have a friend who lived in Prague for a year so he has given me some advice on great places to go.

I am excited to visit places I have never been before, I will update everyone about the trips when I get back next week. Love from Paris...

Chinese New Year-Paris style

The Chinatown of Paris is in the 13th arrondisement and was hoping the Saturday and Sunday after the Chinese New Year. Katharine and I looked up the information for the big parade to ring in the New Year after our crazy, but wonderful expression ecrite teacher, Delia told us all about how great it would be. Since we of course want to be Delia one day, we decided to check it out. When we showed up there were people everywhere (just as Delia had told us), it seemed that everyone from Paris came to this small little street to watch the parade. Thankfully, I had read on the website the route for the parade. Katharine and I walked down some side streets while everyone was fighting to see the start of the parade. We turned down a street that I knew eventually the parade would go down and just kind of parked there for a few minutes. Before we knew it the parade directors that go ahead to clear the way for all of the people started blowing their whistles signaling the start of the parade. Katharine and I got right in the action! I took tons of pictures, maybe a little too many (over 90 pictures for about a 20 minute parade). The colors were so beautiful! After the parade we met up with Daniel and Michael to get some lunch/dinner and ended up sitting in this little Chinese restaurant talking for like 4 hours, it was a really nice and relaxing afternoon.

This is just another reason why I love Paris, I feel like I am at the heart of it all! Not too many Chinese New Year parades in Madison...I am getting to experience so much culture (and not only French) that I would not have been able to take in without this study abroad experience. Ahh, life is so wonderful right now! Lots of love from Paris...

Jeudi noir...code for getting the day off

So yesterday was the big "jeudi noir" that everyone had been talking about. The French do their rioting and picketing a little differently from the Americans. It seems that the entire country got together and created this giant boycott. All across France people that work in the public sector (teachers, factory workers, etc.) didn't go to work and instead "rioted" in their respective cities. I was so excited for this big "jeudi noir," we had been getting emails all week about what to expect and how there would delays everywhere. There were signs in the metro warning about metro delays and closeings and the center even sent us emails telling us to make sure we had good walking shoes because we would be walking to class (luckily I don't have class on Thursday, oh yea by the way Jeudi means Thursday). Katharine had been up early scooping out the riots and called to tell me everyone was on the move. So I headed out to Republique to see what this jeudi noir was all about; but before I left Michele warned me to be careful and if it gets bad run to the nearest side street. So I am thinking this is going to be great, as I make my way out of the metro I can hear more people then usual; again, still thinking this thing is going to be great! I finally get out in the Place de la Republique and wouldn't you know, PEOPLE ARE JUST HANGING OUT! No big rioting, no one is taunting the police, they are just talking, some are eating pain au chocolats and drinking coffee. I thought this was supposed to be such a big French thing, speaking up for what you believe in and all that, but really they just wanted to day off.

I do understand the message of the whole thing, pain au chocolats and all...and for that I admire the French people. They have an incredible ability to stand up for what they feel is right; in fact, they "manifesting" is a huge part of French culture. You learn new things everyday I suppose! Love from Paris...

and then there were no toilet seats...

Yesterday, I took a tour of the "famous" Sorbonne, and oh my goodness was I surprised! We walk into the main area and there are two amphitheaters where they hold large lecture style classes. These amphitheaters have old wooden chairs, some are missing the desk portion, etc. I really didn't think anything of it until we continued our tour, as we passed the bathroom (a place that should not be a highlight on any university tour) the CS program director made sure we knew to bring our OWN TOILET PAPER! He explained that come February the supply of toilet paper payed for by the state will have run out and that the school doesn't buy any! Then he went on to say that there are no toilet seats because they had to remove them due to students using them as weapons in the student riots!! This is the famous Sorbonne?!?! The classes are of course not available on the internet, so you must go to the fac or department you are looking for in order to find classes, they are posted on a big peg board and sometimes if there is a change in the location or professor it it just crossed out in pen, like anyone could have done it. The classrooms resemble an elementary school classroom, just with no pictures. There are small desks and chairs and a bucket full of water up at the front. One student on our tour asked what in the world that could be for, Brent's (the director) response...to clean the blackboard! So everytime the teacher wants to erase something, they just have to reach their hand into the bucket and sponge off the blackboard! The Sorbonne needs to update and get dry erase boards!

Classes start on Monday, both of my classes are on Tuesday, so I will let you know how they go! This is going to be a very interesting semester! Love from Paris...

I can't believe I am back!

Well, I am safely back in Paris...but after a terrible flight! Everything started off great, the man I sat next to was really nice, and I paid to upgrade to economy plus (in addition, it was an exit row, so there was a ton of leg room). So we get into the air, and my reading light doesn't work, frustrating, but I can get past it. A little while later we check and one of the little televisions is out, now we are starting to become really irritated. We talk to the flight attendant and of course there is nothing they can do. Next, my meal comes and the fork is broken, there is no salt, pepper, or butter...by this time I have just had it. I was so mad and just thought about what I would say to United all the way to Paris. Well I called right away when I got back, but totally forgot about the time difference because the customer service office wasn't open until 8am Chicago time, so I had to wait four hours. By the time I finally reached someone, everyone at the office was really nice to me, and in the end I walked away with 20,000 frequent flyer miles, not too bad!

The new kids have arrived, they are all pretty nice. I am starting to become friends with two of them in particular, Leslie and Blake. We have a lot in common and they tend to want to travel to the same places I do, so hopefully this will work out perfectly! Well thats all for now, more to come as the semester gets started. Love from Paris...

The end is near...part 1

I can't believe there are only 5 days left until I go home for the holidays. The people who are only staying the semester are having a really hard time, everyone is getting pretty sad to leave, and while I am lucky that I get to come back next semester I have to say goodbye to 3 very special girls (Katharine is also staying the year). We have planned a fun filled last week here in Paris, and while I will be short on sleep, it will all be worth it!

Today, I went to the Bercy village with Laura. Bercy is a small park in Western Paris, and at the end of the park there is a small little "village." It really isn't a village as much as a little shopping center. There are some great cute little stores as well as nice restaurants, it was a nice place to walk around this afternoon and buy some Christmas gifts. Tomorrow Sara and I are going to get sushi for lunch then I have my last education class. After class I will babysit Alexandra and Thomas then head to city hall for ice skating with the girls. Wednesday is our Secret Santa holiday gift exchange, I picked Hillary so I got her a owl kitchen timer because she loves to bake and she is a Chi O, and the owl is their symbol. Thursday we are going out for a nice final dinner, there is a great restaurant (supposidly) that serves a four course meal for 37 euros, after dinner for our last send off we are going to throw Margaret's other shoe in the Seine.

Back story:
Earlier in the semester, Margaret was sitting
along the Seine and in an effort
to tell us something kicked her leg over the other
and her ballet flat flew into the
Seine. We, of course, thought this was just the
funniest thing and laughed about it all night!

According to Margaret, we have to give the other shoe a proper "funeral" to match its pair; even though it will be cold and I am sure people will think we are crazy. It is hard to believe that Friday will be our last night together, we are just going to go out for a drink and say goodbye. The shuttle picks me up at 9:15am Saturday morning to head to the airport to finally go home. I can't believe the first semester is already coming to an end! Love from Paris...

Soaring over the Alpes

I spent last weekend in Interlaken, Switzerland...potentially one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited! We left Paris really early Friday morning, I had to take a cab because the metro wasn't even open yet, that is how early it was! Our first train took us into Basel on the Swiss side of the France/Switzerland border, from there we took a local train right into Interlaken. Interlaken is this great little (really little) valley city, they are surrounded on all sides by the Swiss Alpes. We stayed at the Balmer's Herberage, it is the most famous hostel in Switzerland for sure and possible Europe. Margaret, Laura, and I called it the Balmer's campus. They have a restaurant, a game room, a store, a bar, an outdoor courtyard, tons of rooms, oh and a "relaxation room" full of hammocks! We stayed in the new guesthouse which was so nice. Since it took us about 5 hours by train to get there we were pretty exhausted, so Friday we had some lunch, walked around a bit, took a nap, then went out for the evening. Our friend Sara met up with us that later that night, her train left Paris after us.

We woke up Saturday and decided to go to the Christmas market in town. There were about 200 stalls selling almost anything you would need for Christmas. There was hot chocolate and hot wine galore! Laura bought a really pretty hand blown glass snowflake and I bought homemade caramels for us all to share. Sadly, it rained all day Saturday so that was a big bummer! But, when it rains in the valley it is either beautiful in the mountains or there is snow. Saturday night we went night sledding, so we left the rainy valley and drove up into the mountains for sledding. During the drive we had to stop and put chains on the vans so they would be able to make it up the mountain! Once we got to the base we had to take a gondola up higher into the Alpes, this was just beautiful because you could see the little village of Interlaken with all of the lights in the valley. Once we reached the top the guides gave us glow sticks to put behind us so that other sledders could see. The full sled run took about an hour, there were no lights along the trail so we just relied on each other, there were also no fences so that was a little scary! But it was incredible to sled down the Alpes, and especially at night. When we reached the bottom the company we went sledding with brought us to a traditional Swiss fondue dinner. By the time we had got back into Interlaken we were pretty exhausted, so we ended up staying in that night and talking.

On Sunday we took a train up into the mountains to visit a small mountain town, Grindewald, the people that lived in this town walked out of their houses, put on their skis, and skied down to the chair lift! We had a great lunch, took some pictures, and headed back to Interlaken to go to the chocolate show. The chocolate show was a short demonstration in a nice restaurant downtown Interlaken. By the end we were all sick of chocolate as there were chocolate samples everywhere! On our way back we stopped at Outdoor Interlaken for Sara and Laura to check prices for paragliding. I never was planning on doing it, but when the guy started telling the girls about it, I knew I had to! Sunday we went to the bar at Balmer's, we had a ton of fun dancing to the hilarious 80s music with the 40 year old DJ.

Monday morning we were up early to check out, Laura left at 10am for her jump, mine was at 11:45am. They drove us up the mountain and while we were in the van we had to pick our tandem partner. All of the guys were introducing themselves, they started teasing one guide (Coosie) asking how long he had been doing this. As soon as he said that he had in over 12,000 jumps, my hand shot up...I wanted to make sure he would be my tandem partner! I started getting nervous when we finally reached the top and I saw what I was about to do, Coosie and I went over all the safety rules and how it was going to work, then all of a sudden I was strapped in and we were ready to go. I literally, no joke, ran off a mountain. One second we were running and the next we were up in the air over all the mountains! There are not words for the feeling of being in the air, especially in such a beautiful place as Interlaken. We soared over the mountains, finally landing about 15 minutes after we took off in a field near the train station. I took all of the gear off, thanked Coosie and took off running for the train station! I missed the first train out of Interlaken to Basel, but luckly there was another one 20 minutes later. Once I arrived in Basel I met up with Laura and Margaret and we headed back into Paris.

Interlaken was a great trip to end on, it is so weird to me that I will be going home in just 8 days! The time has gone by so fast! Although, I am lucky I get to come back here, but I will really miss Margaret and Laura, I don't know who I will be traveling with next semester! Can't wait to see everyone soon! Love from Paris...

What I miss and what I am looking forward to!

Just a little list of the things I have been thinking about as my semester is coming to a close...I can't wait to be home for the holidays!

- Friends and Family
- Starbucks!!!
- Madison
- Snow
- Driving
- Ian's pizza
- My comfortable bed
- Not having my cell phone run out of minutes
- How cheap things will seem compared to Paris
- The mall
- Using a dryer to dry my clothes
- Taking a (long) shower whenever I want to
- J.Crew
- American TV
- A big closet
- Snugzing!!!
- Not being asked if I am American
- Target
- Popcorn

I know there are more, but these are just some things I have been thinking about, love from Paris...

Babysitting...in another language

So as some of you may or may not know, I have been babysitting for a family here in Paris since September. I wanted to find a babysitting job to make some extra money, so I went on a couple of interview but nothing was really a great fit. Well, on the way back from Tours in September I was sitting by myself in the quad seat on the train. A family ended up sitting in these seats as well. For a while I just watched the kids interact and laughed to myself at some of the things they were doing. The little girl asked her mom for train tickets to play with (in Paris the metro tickets are really small so kids like to play with them) the mom only had a couple. I knew that I had some in my wallet, so I took them out and gave them to the little girl. She politely said "merci" and happily played with the tickets. Her little brother was getting fussy so they gave him sunglasses to play with. I had my sunglasses on and he was sitting across from me so he kept on looking at me with my sunglasses. The parents and I started talking and the next thing I knew I was starting the next day. My friends laughed so hard when we got off the train.

Now that I have been with the kids for a while I am really starting to learn their ins and outs. The family lived in London for about a year and just moved back to Paris a couple of months ago. Alexandra (4 1/2) is the oldest so she started to learn a little English, but I am trying to work with her so that she can pick it up easier when she starts in school. Thomas (2) can be my troublemaker. He of course doesn't speak any English, so I end up speaking mostly French with both kids. It is hard to understand babies in English, you can only imagine how hard it was for me at first to figure out what he is saying. Now, I have a pretty good idea, but there are still some times when I turn to Alexandra and ask her to help me figure out what he is saying.

This is such a great experience for me, first of all because I always loved babysitting and secondly, I am getting a chance to practice my French and learn new vocab words I would have never learned otherwise. Even though both of them have their naughty days (Thomas is a spitter and Alexandra doesn't want to speak English because she knows that I speak French) they are great kids. I could make the sequel to Adventures in Babysitting, just in another language! Love from Paris...

Teaching in Bondy

So for my education seminar class, there is a four week out of class section where we are placed in a school to teach English. Today was my third lesson with my class. The school is in Bondy, which is outside of Paris in "banlieue" (literally meaning suburb in French) about 20 minutes outside Paris, but in total the commute is an hour and a half. We are teaching in the banlieue for a couple of reasons, our teacher wants us to get out of Paris and see how "the everyday French live"and because these are the kids who really need a native English speaker. Their English class is taught by a French woman named...are you ready for this...France (I swear)! She is a great woman and I am sure a great teacher, but in their English class they speak mostly French. The kids in this class are in a special program called Bac Pro. What this means is that since they were around 11 or 12 years old they were picked out as being the weak students who had no chance of making it into the French University system, so they were put on the Bac Pro track. This program starts when they are around 15 years old and is a four year training program, it is like a trade school for high school students. For the most part the kids in my class want to be nurses, and in fact, at Bondy on the third floor there is a full service clinic for the students to practice.

It is very difficult to teach them English, all of the students have been studying English since they were 9, I started French when I was around 13. There are students in my class who can't even form basic sentences "my name is..." etc. I am currently in the position of rewording all my lesson plans so that the majority of the class can understand what I am saying, but that is almost impossible. There are a few students who have a great understanding of English and they help the rest of the class by translating what I am saying into French, and since I can speak French if they translate something wrong I can help them understand something they maybe didn't understand. As tough as it is to teach them totally in English, it is great because they are so interested in American culture and a lot of them want to visit or live in the States one day. The teacher was telling me that they ask her questions all the time, they think that I am not going to come back week after week. This is another thing I find so frustrating, for an early age, these kids have thought they could not succeed, that no one cared about their ability to learn. One student was telling me it is an honor to be taught by a native English speaker, and an American on top of that. I never realized that I took for granted the access to some of the best teacher that I have at UW. I am able to (almost) fully communicate in a language they have been speaking since birth, while they are hardly able to say hello and goodbye in a language I have been speaking since birth.

I have learned so much from this experience, I really like the class I am working with so I decided that I will stay on for a volunteer basis next semester as well to continue working with the class. When I was talking to France to see if that was possible she almost jumped up and down, her and I are working together to form a English club where the students can come and practice their English. So next semester I am looking forward to getting that off the ground while still teaching a couple lessons a month to my class, it should be an interesting semester! Love from Paris...

Graduation

Exciting news...I will be graduating in December! I just got all the details figured out this afternoon. I was looking around on the UW website and I noticed that the Letters & Sciences graduation date was December 21st, the day after I get home. I, of course, missed the deadline; but after calling a bunch of people from UW I am able to walk in the ceremony! So, I ordered my cap and gown and I am now all ready to go. I am going back to Paris next semester so technically I will not be done until the spring, but I will miss the spring graduation so this is the only time I am able to walk in a graduation ceremony. Just wanted to let everyone know the exciting news! Love from Paris...

Spanish Experience: Barcelona

We ended our whirlwind Spanish tour in Barcelona. Barcelona is such an interesting city because it is in Cataluyna, a primarily Catalan region. Many true Catalans want to actually secede from Spain and become their own country. They have their own constitution, although Spanish law still rules supreme, as well as their own flag. One more interesting fact about Barcelona before I go into details about my trip, they are actually trying to outlaw bull fighting, and they are very close. This year is supposed to be the last season of bull fighting in Barcelona, so we will see what happens.

Anyways, we again bused from Valencia to Barcelona. The ride was absolutely beautiful, it was almost completely along the Mediterranean coast of Spain with beautiful views of the sea. When we arrived in Barcelona we found our hostel and settled in. Our hostel was right off of Las Rambla, one of the main drags in Barcelona. We did a little bit of exploring in our area the first day but nothing too exciting.

Friday we woke up and split into two groups; Laura, Margaret, and I headed to Sagrada Familia. Okay another quick history lesson...Sagrada Familia was started by Gaudi (known for his mosaic works) in 1882, and the construction is still going on today. Gaudi designed the church knowing it would be not finished in his lifetime. Towards the end of his life, he donated all of his money to Sagrada to continue constuction (during the Spanish Civil War and WWI the money was not always readily available for construction). Gaudi in turn moved to a small shack right outside Sagrada Familia. When he died in 1926 the church was not near complete, right now there are 8 main spires, when Sagrada Familia is complete there will be 18, each representing one figure important in the Catholic Church. Construction has been able to continue through private donations from those who want to see it finished as well as admission to enter the church. The goal is to have Sagrada Familia finished by 2026 to mark the 100 year anniversary of Gaudi's death, although most believe that will be impossible as there is still so much work to be done. Interesting huh?

After Sagrada Familia we met up with the other girls to head up to Olympic Park. Since Barcelona had the Olympics in 1992 they have kept most of the Olympic structures and created a museum. The Olympic Park is on one of the three main "mountains" (really bona fide hills) surrounding Barcelona on all sides. We were able to take the metro most of the way, and there is a cable car to take you to the very top but it was 12 euro, we decided to walk! The Olympic Park was really nothing special, the views were nice though. We also visited the former German Pavilion during the Worlds Fair in Barcelona in 1888. One of the friends Katharine worked at home designed by the same architect in Illinois so that is how she knew to visit this Pavilion in Barcelona.

Saturday was a great day, we woke up and headed out to the Gaudi park. On another hill in Barcelona this park was amazing! Tucked away was this little mosaic village that Gaudi had created, the colors were incredible! I took a ton of pictures of the mosaics close up because I just thought they were so beautiful. Late Saturday afternoon we set out on a great adventure: a guided bike tour of Barcelona! Let me tell you, the saying its as easy as riding a bike, not true! Try riding through the streets of Barcelona next to the crazy European drivers! The tour was three and a half hours and took throughout the city. Our guide was from San Francisco and really knew a lot of interesting things about the places we stopped to check out. It wasn't just the usual facts which was a nice change. All and all it was a great tour and well worth the money.

Sunday we finally left Barcelona to head back to Paris, but not before stopping at the Contemporary Art Museum near our hostel. There was a really powerful photographic exhibit about the WTO riots in Seattle, very interesting. After 10 days of traveling throughout 3 cities we were all exhausted and happy to be returning to our own rooms! It was an incredible trip that I will remember forever! Love from Paris...

Spanish Experience: Valencia

After our three days in Madrid, we headed by bus four hours to Valencia. The city of Valencia is considerably smaller than Madrid and Barcelona and right on the Mediterranean Sea. Our hostel was right off of one of the main plazas, although when we first arrived we went a round about way of getting there so when we realized how close we really were it made for a good laugh. Hillary has a good friend studying in Valencia so after we arrived and settled into the hostel we met her for dinner and to show us around.

She had heard there was a great little bar that had paella parties for international students on Tuesdays, it ended up being right by the hostel. The deal was if you bought a drink you could get a plate of paella for 3 euro. The woman who worked there must have really liked us, because she brought out huge plates of Valencia paella, it was out of this world (Amy, you have to learn how to make this, I really think you would love it)! Since it was a long day of traveling we called it an early night because we knew we wanted to wake up early and go to the tourism office.

Valencia has two big attractions, the first is the Bioparc that we visited on Wednesday. The Bioparc was great because it is a free range zoo, this meaning that all animals enclosures are natural and they co-habitate as they would in nature (with the exception of the lions and leopards). If it was allowed we would have been able to touch the animals, that is how close we were to them. We of course chose the day to go that must have been the Spanish kindergarten day to go to the zoo, because there were school groups everywhere! All in all even with screaming Spanish children it was a really fun time. That night we had read some reviews about a great tapas restaurant.

Valencia's other main attraction is the Arts and Sciences campus near the beach. A famous Spanish architect designed these five really modern and cutting edge buildings to house different things in the arts and sciences. We went to the Oceanographico (pretty much a bonified aquarium). It was a pretty standard aquarium but the architecture was awesome! We ended up sending a long time at the Oceanographico, my friend Margaret got a huge grasshopper in her hair, getting it out was quite memorable. After the campus of Arts and Sciences we went to the beach, for five girls from states with no access to the ocean we went crazy. We were jumping up and down in the sand, taking pictures, and walking barefoot into the freezing cold water. The Spanish I am sure thought we were insane for wanting to go into the water. Katharine thought she might bring her bathing suit and go all the way in, but after how cold it was, that quickly changed.

All in all Valencia was great, it was the most laid back of the three cities, mostly because it was the smallest and quaint. I would definitely consider going back to Valencia. Love from Paris...

Spanish Experience: Madrid

This is the first week back after our fall break, it is a little difficult to get back in the swing of things! During this fall break my friends and I took at 10 day trip across Spain, we started in Madrid then traveled to Valencia and ended our time in Barcelona. I think I will blog about the trip in parts because if I just did one big entry it would be long and I am sure everyone would get bored!

We flew to Madrid on Halloween, there were tons of people in the airport dressed up in costumes (a little strange I am not going to lie). We arrived in Madrid late and took the metro to our hostel. The area was great, it was right off a main plaza with great shops, restaurants, and things to see. Finding the hostel was the hard part! The sign was so hidden and small none of us could really figure out where we were supposed to be. Finally Margaret spotted the sign and we got to our room. Since it was such a long day of traveling we decided to call it a night and rest up for the next day. At around 3am our roommate came in after a night out. The room we stayed in had six beds so we knew there would be someone else staying with us. Wouldn't you know, it was a guy; and even stranger one of my friends Katharine knew him, however strangest of all...he is from Palatine! Thankfully he was really nice and patient (I can't imagine being a 20something guy and having to room with 5 girls and one bathroom)!

Saturday we got up and went to the Prado, the grounds were very impressive. I wasn't the biggest fan of the museum, they housed a lot of religious art which is not my favorite, but there is also a botanical garden on the grounds that we explored. We also did a lot of walking around and exploring the city. Madrid was a bit disappointing, it is just a big dirty city (with not nearly the charm of Paris). Although Saturday night was one of our better nights in Spain. We were walking into the hostel when a British man stopped us. He explained that every night local Spanish people take foreigners out from all the big hostels around the city. We decided it would be a great thing to try. So the 5 of us met this great Spanish girl named Hilda who took us out around Madrid, there were other people in the group as well including people from Manchester, Canada, and Brazil. It ended up being a great time, we danced the night away!

Sunday was another museum filled day, there was a really interesting temporary art exhibit about WWI going on, it was one of my favorite exhibits from our trip. The way they set it up was great, there were not only pictures and paintings but quotes and poems in 5 languages painted on the walls of the exhibit.

There really isn't much else to say about Madrid, I don't think it was as great as we were thinking. Stayed tuned for Valencia and Barcelona! Love from Paris...

The Dublin Weekend!

I just got back from a long weekend in Dublin with my friends Laura and Margaret. We had such a great time! We left Paris late Friday night, when we got to Dublin we checked into our hostel...that was interesting! We stayed in a dorm style room with 7 other girls from around the world, there were two girls from Australia, another three from Italy, and two from Germany. The first night was the worst because by the time we arrived everyone was asleep so we had to find our beds in the dark! The second day we all started talking, it was really interesting to get to know people from all over the world.

On Saturday we walked all over Dublin. We stopped at Saint Steven's Green, this is such a beautiful park, there is a little pond in the middle with ducks and geese! It rained off and on but we took some great pictures and had a great time walking around. We also visited the Guinness Storehouse, the lease on the building is for 9000 years! We had a great dinner at a traditional Irish restaurant, I ordered Shepard's pie, not my favorite but a must for being in Ireland!

Sunday we visited the Cliffs of Moher...we thought it would be pronounced "Moore" but in fact it is pronounced "Mo-Hair" every time our guide said it we would break out laughing. Our guide was Eric, he was born and raised in Dublin...he was so funny, he told us that if you couldn't understand him sorry but he was talking as slow as possible. He ended up giving us some interesting Irish history lessons while we were driving to and from. The Cliffs are on the other side of the island from Dublin, so the drive took about 3 1/2 hours, although it was nice because we were able to see the country side...something non-existent in large European cities. He stopped off at the Burren Code as well, this area sits right on the North Sea and has rock formations everywhere. It was so cold, but we got off the bus to take a few pictures then continue on our way to the Cliffs. When we reached the Cliffs of Moher Eric told us how lucky we were because it wasn't raining, he said it rains almost everyday at the cliffs. It may not have rained, but it was windy! There were times where you felt you could be lifted up and blown away by the wind! It was so worth it, the view was out of this world! The pictures I took actually look like the postcards I bought, which never happens! Everyone was kind of laughing at us because we were all taking what we called "grandma pictures" (pictures that you could frame and give to your grandma). While it was an exhausting trip, it was an incredible one, Ireland is a place that I have wanted to visit, I am glad I can now say I have been there.

We start our fall break on Friday, I am leaving for Spain with my friends. We will be spending the first three days in Madrid, the second three in Valencia, and the last three in Barcelona. During this time I will not have internet access, so if you need to reach me I will get back to you when I get back to Paris. Love from Paris...

I told you I would blog a lot...

So just wanted to add a funny antidote that would happen to me!

I just got home, it is around 2am here in Paris. I spent an enjoyable evening roaming around the Bastille neighborhood, it is an "up-and-coming" area for the young Parisians. Margaret, Hillary, and I found a great little Spanish bar that served sangria, it was really nice to sit down and chat for a few hours. Anyway, that is really not what I am writing about...

I went home as usual, no problems with the metro, the walk was just fine...tons of people around. When I got into the building I went up to my floor and put my key in the door. IT DIDN'T WORK!!! Parisian doors can be tricky, because their padlocks are so thick and the keys can often be hard to turn...so at first I thought it was just me. Naturally I tried again, still no luck! I kept trying for about fifteen minutes then really started to panic! I couldn't figure out why this was happening, I have come home around this time all semester (only on the weekends, don't worry Gram)! Even if Michele's key is in the door, it should open. Finally after being outside for about 20 mins, I called Michele. She didn't answer, so I left a message explaining that I was sorry but my key wasn't working. She is really good about answering her phone, she even keeps it by her bedside when she has American girls living with her; but this weekend her grandson is in town visiting, and he sleeps in her room. I am sure she turned down the volume so he would not be woken up, thinking she would still hear it. I sat outside for about another 7 mins going over all my options. I decided that I would call Michele again if I didn't hear from her in the next couple of minutes. So there I was sitting in the dark outside my apartment in Paris. Finally after what seemed like hours, she called me back. I could hear her from inside the apartment talking to me. I was whispering "I am out here, it is my key...see hear it, it won't open" (all in french of course). When she let me in the apartment, she explained that her son (also visiting) went outside to smoke and locked the padlock when he came back in not thinking. She kept apologizing and thought I had been outside for hours waiting. It was actually a great bonding moment for us, because she isn't very affectionate, but she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the forehead to told me to have sweet dreams.

Anyways, thought you might get a kick out of that! Love from Paris...

The wifi has arrived!

Well hello everyone,

I finally have wifi!!! One of the students from the university that Michele used to teach at came to the apartment to look at the wireless box. Of course, the fix was so easy! Michele was frustrated that the fix was so easy and that it couldn't be done sooner. This past 6 weeks have really shown me how dependent my generation is on the internet.

Things have been going great here. I have started to do some traveling, at the end of September my friends and I took a trip to wine country. We visited Chenonceau, I learned about this castle in high school so it was really great to actually visit. It is sometimes called the ladies castle because the castle was predominantly designed by women. Chenonceau also has its own winery and wine cellar. We went to a wine tasting down in the old wine cellar, for only 1 euro we were able to taste the Chateau's 2002 wine. It was delicious, and normally I am not a red wine person. I bought a bottle for Michele, I figured she would like it because it was similar to the wine she likes. We stayed in Tours, which was about an hour and a half from Paris by high speed train. This was my first experience staying in a hostel...it was very interesting! We had our own room, which was nice from a privacy point of view, but the bathrooms were down the hall. I never lived in that style of dorm when I was at Madison, it took a little getting used to!

We got back from Tours on a Sunday and left for Strasbourg on that Friday. Strasbourg is in North-Eastern France, about two hours from Paris by high speed train. This area was originally controlled by Germany, and only went back into French control after WWII. I heard more German than French spoken! This trip was organized by CIEE, so we toured an old castle/fortress and visited this crazy park: Monkey Mountain. This park has 245 monkeys who are given free range of the park. When you enter the park, they give you the rules and hand you some popcorn. The monkeys come right up to you and take the popcorn! We all decided that it was one of the craziest places we had ever been!
(The first picture is from Monkey Mountain and the second is in front of Chenonceau)

Now that I have internet, you can all expect more updates! Love from Paris...