Hiking Nov. 8-9

Nathalie and Jean-Rémi, my couchsurfing hosts, invited me and Lucy to go hiking in the Alps for a weekend with a bunch of their friends (there were about 20 of us total, including Jean-Rémi's adorable 8 year-old brother, Paul-Hugo). I also spontaneously invited Viven, a guy who I had met up with for a drink through CS (and who is now my boyfriend :D). Since he has a car, he drove me and Lucy...it was about 2 1/2 hours to the small town of Bourg Saint-Maurice, not far from the Italian border. It was a beautiful drive with gorgeous mountains covered in autumn foliage.

We arrived slightly ahead of the other cars, who had to make stops in a few towns along the way to pick up friends, so we stopped at this cool abandoned building in the middle of nowhere to wait for them. We explored it for a bit, and after the others arrived they informed us that it had been a hotel, situated here because of its proximity to a thermal spring. Sure enough, next to the river we found a pool of hot water that fed into the stream.  

After lunching on sandwiches, we started hiking. We were all bundled up in the beginning, but after only five minutes of climbing we stripped down to one layer. 

Here's a view from early on in the hike...

Lucy and Viv...

Me and Viv...

It was only a two-hour hike up to the refuge, but we were at a pretty high altitude and there were some pretty steep passages.  There were patches of snow, enough for us to have a snowball fight and make snow angles.

We arrived at the Refuge Croix du Bonhomme late-afternoon. The refuge is a huge building that has several rooms, each with about 20 bunk-beds, but since it was off-season there were only two rooms open and we had the whole place to ourselves. There wasn't any heat, just a wood-burning stove, so we spent lots of time bundled up and huddled around the stove. There was also no running water in the building, so we had go to to a spigot outside.

Paul-Hugo helping to chop wood...

It was a pretty incredible sunset...

After watching the sunset, we went inside and had a huge fondue for dinner...

I ate way too much cheese, but it was soooo delicious.

We dragged mattresses into the main room to sleep because the dormitory upstairs was freezing. The next day was gray and cold...it even snowed a bit.  We had breakfast (tea, bread, jam, and the 8 pounds of clementines that Lucy and I had bought for everyone) and then most of the group went for a hike but a few of us opted to stay in where it was (somewhat) warm and hang out. We headed back down the mountain mid-afternoon and got back to Lyon around 8 pm. The hot shower I took when I got home was one of the most satisfying I've taken in awhile.  

Italia!! 10/28-11/2

French schools have off for a week over Toussaint (Nov. 1st, day of the dead) so I made some very last-minute plans to visit my friend Larina who is doing her grad studies at John Hopkins' SAIS (School for Advanced International Studies) program in Bologna. I took an 11 hr. night bus from Lyon, during which I managed to sleep a bit, and arrived in Bologna at around 10 am.  Most of that day was spent meeting her friends at school and taking a long recovery nap. 

  

Larina had class the next morning so I hiked up to San Luca, a church on a hill slightly outside of Bologna. The whole way up is porticoed with a total of 666 arches (left), and proved to be a rather strenuous climb, especially since I was slightly pressed for time and had to speed walk up what felt like hundreds of steps. In fact most of the streets in Bologna are porticoed which gives it a very different feel than any other city I've been in. These covered sidewalks are especially nice when it rains, as it apparently does often in Bologna. 

 

In the afternoon we wandered around the city, and climbed up one of the towers. There used to be a lot of towers in Bologna, each one built by the wealthy families of the city. The two most famous ones that remain are the Asinelli and the Garisenda (left, but I stole the pic from wikipedia), know as the Two Towers. They were built in the 12th century!! The shorter one (Garisenda) is leaning quite significantly, so you can only climb up the Asinelli. The way up was series of very narrow, winding steps, the structural integrity of which I questioned even before I knew when it was built. The views from the top, however, were well worth the climb and from there you could definitely see why they call it "Bologna the Rossa" (Reddish Bologna).  

That night we went to a wonderful little restaurant to celebrate her roommates birthday, and I had some delicious homemade pasta with mushrooms and sausage, and lots of red wine... :) Afterwards there was a party in a huge, gorgeous apartment.

The next day we went to Ravenna, a small town near the east coast of Italy that is known for its Byzantine mosaics. We arrived around noon and found a cute little restaurant for lunch. The menu of the day (three courses) was only 15 so we decided to spring for it. We should have checked the portion sizes before making this decision. The first course alone was a huge plate of pasta with meat sauce for me and a risotto for Larina. We didn't really know exactly what we had ordered for the second dish. Larina had chosen something with mozzarella and prosciutto, and I picked something that I thought translated to scallops. Given our minimal knowledge of Italian, of course we were slightly off. Well, Larina's was indeed mozzarella and prosciutto. Literally, two giant slabs of mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto and cooked. Amazingly delicious. But also quite filling, especially since it came with a side of mashed potatoes (I know...wtf??) and after a plateful of risotto. As it turns out, I was WAAY off and ended up with what I think was a thin piece of veal, with capers and olives in a pizza oil sauce and roasted potatoes on the side. Even if it wasn't what I was expecting it was delicious, and we wandered off in search of the mosaics with painfully full stomachs.  

There are several different churches/museums where you can see 6th-7th century Byzantine mosaics, and it only takes a few hours to visit them all. They were incredibly gorgeous, and it was amazing to see them in person after having learned about them in my Medieval Art and Architecture class at BU. The picture below (wikipedia, again) is of the inside of the Mausoleo.

    

We even found a mosaic-ed bicycle, made by the red, curly-haired owner of little art/jewelry shop, who could have uncannily passed as an Italian version of my friend Becca Segal's mom.

On Friday night there was a pumpkin carving contest at the school, with ten pumpkins to be carved by different teams. We stuck with a traditional goofy-faced pumpkin, but many teams got creative, although pumpkin-gut vomit seemed to be an over-used theme. The Sarah Palin pumpkin, finished several hours after the deadline once we had all left, was undoubtedly the best and, political message non-withstanding, one of the most impressive pumpkin carving feats I've ever seen. She's a bit thick around the jowls, but then again pit-bulls tend to be, right?  It's even better now that its message has come true!

***Side note; my friend Lucy slept over (on my new [used] 10 euro convertible chair/bed that I loooooveee) the night of the election. We stayed up pretty late watching the results online, and arranged for her mom to call us when the results were in. So at 5 a.m. we rolled out of bed to the TV and half ecstatically/half sleepily watched his acceptance speech, which was unfortunately dubbed in French. (Sarah wanted to know what the French Obama sounded like. The answer: a woman.) In any case, we watched it again the next morning. Needless to say the French are very happy with the outcome and I'm glad I no longer have to rehash the same old Obama-or-McCain question with every French person I meet.***

Sooo back to Italy:  After pumpkin carving we went to a huge dinner party at yet another large, beautiful apartment, this one with a balcony overlooking all of Bologna. Since it was my b-day they all sang to me, and we consumed lots of chili, delicious cheeses, and, of course, more red wine. I didn't really stay out to celebrate my birthday since we had plans to leave for Venice early the next morning, and unfortunately I was going to miss their big Halloween costume party because they were having it the night I was leaving. But just being in Italy and going to Venice was enough of a celebration for me, though I was a bit homesick for all the past Halloween/birthday celebrations spent with family and friends in the States.

  

I was blown away by Venice. I expected it to be pretty, but I think I was so amazed by the fact that I could hop on a train and be in Venice in less than two hours that I didn't really consider what it would be like. The only unfortunate thing was that even though it was no longer tourist season there were still plenty of us, and also that many parts of Venice were flooded. This is apparently a regular occurrence, due to heavy rainfalls, groundwater, and the tides. Not to mention global warming. Anyone who is apathetic about the effects of global warming should take a trip to Venice, which will be rendered uninhabitable in 75-100 because of the rising ocean levels. I tried not to think about that too much, though, and it was funny to see the prepared locals wading around in their knee-high rubber boots while all the tourists navigated the raised walkways that are put out in the event of flooding. 

There was about a foot of water in Piazza San Marco, and the infamous Venetian pigeons were forced to perch on statues, railings, and pretty much anywhere else they could. But by the time we had gone into the church the water had receded and most of the Piazza was water-free. The Basilica di San Marco was probably the most impressive church I've ever been in, with it's ceiling entirely mosaicked in gold (pictured below, once again from wikipedia).   

Pictures of the city don't really do justice, but here are a few...

Of course, the food in Italy was delicious, and I consumed lots of pizza, pasta, and gelato. Less Italian, but equally delicious, were the pumpkin seeds that we roasted after the pumpkin-carving contest. We made one batch with cinnamon and sugar, and the other, for an Italian twist, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. We also went to an informal wine/cheese tasting party at one of the student's apartments. At the request of my roommates (not that I needed any prompting) I brought back a big brick of parmesan, which made my backpack smell just lovely!  

All in all, it was a lovely week, filled with good food, great people, and beautiful sights. And it didn't hurt that the barman at their university cafe was a young Johnny-Depp look-alike. :)

More to come (hopefully soon) about my weekend hiking in the Alps, and perhaps a tirade on French bureaucracy!  Hooray!

As promised, here are some pics of my 'collocation' thanks to my roommate Lucy who took pictures last Thursday night at our first official roommate dinner. It was the first time all eight of us were together at the same time and place, and it was good fun. We had a huge chicken and veggie curry, rice, heaps of naan bread, and lots of ice cream for dessert.

We're quite the well-balanced apartment with 4 guys and 4 girls...

Roberto, Olivier, Germain, and William

Me, Stephanie, Marta, and Lucy

We only have a few sharp knives so we used scissors to cut up the chicken...

The fish on the window (and on the walls, and ceiling...) are left over from some nautical-themed party that happened before I got here, as is the pirate flag we have hanging over the breakfast bar. I pretty much knew I wanted to live here when I saw the pirate flag.  

I wouldn't say that I live in a 'nice' apartment but is spacious, well-equipped (washer AND dryer, which is almost unheard of in France), and has a very laid-back, 'college' atmosphere. It isn't without it's imperfections: in places it looks like a bowling ball has been dropped on our tile floor; there's a mouse that eats our food- the other morning I woke up to find that she had nibbled a tunnel into my baguette; we have to sit by the window in the living room to steal the internet from our neighbors; and our windows sorely need washing. And as you can imagine with eight of us living here the dishes are never-ending...and for some reason our garbage bag is ALWAYS full.  

Despite all this, I love it, and couldn't be happier. I feel so extremely lucky to have found it, considering some people have had to get studios, have unfurnished apartments, or had lots of trouble even finding an apartment. I love exploring my neighborhood, and it's filled with cute cafes, boulangeries, and one of the best markets in Lyon takes place every morning until noon right down the street from me.  This morning I got a zucchini, a bunch of spinach, and a mother-load of green beans for €2.25.

Cookie baking is also quickly becoming a regular apartment occurrence.  On Sunday we made them again, and got experimental by adding bits of dried apricots and honey.

In other news, I'm already on vacation!  We have a week off for Toussaint (Nov. 1st) and I'm going to ITALY!  My friend Larina, whom I went to Costa Rica with, is studying in Bologna and I'm going to visit her for 6ish days over Halloween/my birthday. Since my plans were made so last minute I had to opt for only available mode of transport within my budget- an 11 hour bus ride!! I should really know better than to take a bus, considering my history with them (aka getting the 24-hour flu on the 24-hour bus ride from Berlin to Grenoble, and the more recent blown-tire incident on the Megabus on the way to Minneapolis) but I'm keeping my fingers crosses (and maybe a few Tylenol PMs) and am hoping it won't be so bad. It's a night bus, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep a bit, but even if I don't I return on the 3rd and don't work until the 6th so I'll have plenty of time to recuperate.  

Ciao for now!

This past weekend the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I spent it going to the market, cooking with friends, lolling around (snoozing on the pelouze (grass), as I like to say) in the park near my house, and wandering around the city. This is a picture of the main street/hill that I take to get from the center of the city up to my neighborhood. The two girls in the foreground are my friends Lucy and Linsey.   

 

I also met up with a bunch of assistants in the Parc de la Tête d'Or (literally, Golden Head Park) which is essentially Lyon's Central Park, complete with a large pond, a zoo, and lots of walking trails and cafés. Originally we were going to see an orchid exhibit at the greenhouse but someone had misread the signage and it wasn't actually even taking place in Lyon. But we had a good time wandering around and having coffees at a café next to the pond. I also ended up feeling even more lucky about my living situation because there were two girls there that are still without housing.      

On Sunday morning my French roommate Germain and I set off to find ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies.  This wasn't easy considering almost everything in France is closed on Sunday, but we did manage to find an open grocery store. We had to cut up chocolate bars with scissors because they don't have chocolate chips, and I didn't think they tasted quite as good as ones made in the States, but they were a huge success with the flatmates and of course with eight of us living here they were gone by the next day. Germain had insisted on making chocolate chip cookies because I had told him that I was going to make them with one of my classes on Monday.   

Which brings me to what I'm really here to do- teaching. Very part-time teaching, as it turns out. I work on Mondays and Thursdays, and will eventually find something to occupy myself for at least two other days a week. I technically only work twelve hours a week but if you include the commute, recesses, and lunch (2 hours!) I work about 24 hours total. My commute is a bit ridiculous; I have to wake up at 6:15, take the metro (15 min. with one switch), catch either the 7:10 or 7:24 train which takes 35 minutes to Villfranche-sur-Soane, then take a bus across the river from Villefranche to Jassans Riottier (another 15 minutes). Not to mention all the waiting for metros/trains/busses, and the walking to the metro stop and the school on either end. But since it's only two days a week and I have what amounts to a two or three day weekend every other day I can't complain, and the commute leaves me plenty of time to read, sleep, and marvel at the efficiency of the French public transportation system.  

 

I work in two schools within a 5 minute walk of each other; one called the Ecole de la Mairie (Mondays and Thursday afternoons), and another, much smaller one called Champbouvier (Thursday mornings). The Ecole has 14 teachers and about 300 students, and Chambouvier has 5 teachers. Each day I have 6 or 7 different classes, with kids ranging from 7-11. I'm still getting used to what/how much each teacher expects me to do because my involvement with the classes seems to range from full-on planning and teaching to just assisting them with their already-prepared lessons. For the most part the teachers are all great, as are the kids. I'm greeted hundreds of times a day by "Ello Keem!"  They're really excited to learn English, are a joy to work with (for the most part), and have produced some hilarious/adorable phrases/pronunciations in English. After teaching one class the multiples of ten ("Twenty, thirty, forty...") I asked if anyone knew how to say 100 and I got a very logical, albeit incorrect, guess of "Tenty?"  Another time when I asked them "What's a shorter way to say 'Hello' in English?" I didn't get the "Hi" I was looking for but one little girl did postulate a very timid "Lo?"  The class that I baked cookies with had a blast, and it was a fun challenge to divvy up the baking tasks among 12 ten year-olds.  

  

The youngest classes are going to be the hardest, and it's also too bad that these are the classes where I'm pretty much left to my own devices in front of 25 seven year-old French children that can barely form a sentence in French much less learn English. I'm going to have to come up with lots of easy songs and games to keep them occupied. I'm soo happy that my French is as good as it is because I don't know how I would get by without being able to give directions and tell them to be quiet in French.  

I'll write more about what I'm doing in the classes later on, as well as post pictures of the schools. Let me just end by saying that you know you're in France when they pass out notes for the kids to take home to their parents on what to do in case someone (the teachers, the busses, the lunch-ladies...who knows) decides to go on strike. Love it.  

To start off, here's a picture of Lyon as seen from Fourvière, which is a huge white church on top of a hill that has the best views of Lyon. On a clear day you can see the Alps in the background. The giant 'crayon' building is the only skyscraper in Lyon, and I seem to feel the same way about it that I felt about the giant, lit-up Citgo sign in Boston; a huge eyesore, but it wouldn't be Lyon without it. 

The past week has been incredibly busy so I'm just now getting around to writing a post- there's lots to tell, but most importantly I FOUND AN APARTMENT!!!! I spent all of last Tuesday online looking on various apartment websites and making tons of calls, most of which resulted in a) no answer, or b) an already rented room. I had also been hearing stories of people who looked for apartments for weeks--the Australian girl I met at my Nathalie and Jean-Rémi's apartment had been staying there for almost three weeks before she found one--so I was pretty worried about it. The other assistant staying with them, Lucy, who is now one of my good friends here, was also looking for an apartment so it was nice to have someone to share the anxiety with. By the end of the day, I did manage to set up three appointments to look at apartments for the next day. 

The first was in a great location, but it was kind of a mess and my roommates would be quite a bit older; a 32 year-old and a couple (30 and 26). I didn't meet the couple but I got the impression (based on his wild, curly red hair and giant beard, his sweatpants, and the fact that he was 32 and still asleep when I came at 11:30 on a Wednesday) that Martial might be kind of a bum/dirty hippy.  Don't get me wrong, I love the hippies and I probably could have lived there contentedly, but I had a very strong desire to clean as soon as I saw it. He was nice enough, and the rent/location was so great that I probably would have taken it if I hadn't gotten the second apartment, which I fell in love with immediately, and where I ended up living.

I was actually extremely lucky when it came to getting this apartment- I called the woman literally as she was putting it up on the website, and since I was first to call she offered it to me first. There were quite a few people interested in it; there was actually a Scottish assistant looking at the apartment at the same time as me. Needless to say I was pretty stressed out while I was waiting to hear if I had gotten it or not, and I was so excited that I got it that I hardly slept the night that she called me. The rent is slightly more than I wanted to pay, but I can apply to government aid that could get me about 80 euros off/month. Also since I'm only working 2 days a week I can definitely fine tutoring or babysitting jobs on the side.   

The third option was a very nice room in a great apartment right off the main shopping street in Lyon that was being rented by a divorcé.  His nine-year-old daughter lives there every other week, and he went to his country house every weekend, and it wouldn't have been so bad except that it really didn't allow me to have anyone come visit/stay over.  As much as I loved being in a host family I was looking for something more independent.  

 

SOO, I'm living in an apartment with 7 students, whose ages range from about 21-26, in my absolute favorite area of Lyon. My roommates are Stephanie (from England), Olivier (France), Lucy (New Zealand), Roberto (Panama), Marta (Spain), William (France), et Germain (France). I feel like I've pretty much found 'l'Auberge Espagnol' of Lyon. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, a French guy studies abroad in Barcelona for a year and ends up living in a great apartment with other international students and and has life-changing experiences blah blah blah. No it's actually a great movie. This fictional apartment has become the standard ideal for young people who move abroad, and is pretty much what I was hoping to find in terms of a living situation. So, as the French would say, "j'ai trouvé mon bonheur," literally translated: "I found my happiness."    

I live in a neighborhood called the Croix-Rousse, which is located on a hill in the north of Lyon that looks over the entire city (including the other hill with the church on it). Like I said, when I first came here two years ago I fell in love with it, but never dreamed that I would actually be living here! Historically it was the neighborhood where the silk workers lived; Lyon was famous for its silk trade and it was the primary source of its wealth. Since it's slightly above the main party part of the city it has the cozy feel of a smaller town but it's only about a 15 minute walk down to the Place des Terraux (pictured below) where there are tons of restaurants and bars. Also all the steps and hills will make for great exercise. 

The huge statue/fountain was designed by Bartholdi, who also designed the Statue of Liberty. The City Hall and the Fine Art Museum are also located on this square, and the Opera is just down the street. The first apartment I looked at was on a side street near here.    

  

Here are pictures of my street, as seen from both ends

If you ever want to send me something :) :) :) my address is:

Kim Kroeger

8 rue Célu

69004 LYON 

France

I will post pictures of my room once it gets a bit more homey. I made a trip to Ikea and got the essentials but it's still pretty bare. It's not huge (but certainly bigger than my room last year) but it has wood floors and a large east-facing window with a very wide ledge, so I get plenty of light and in the springtime I can keep some potted plants and herbs there. It came partly furnished with a desk, a large bookshelf that is serving as my bureau, a rolling hanging rack for clothes, and a mattress on the floor. It needs some work, but in general I'm really happy with it. Here are the views from my window:

In other news, I've been to my school twice so far (Friday and yesterday) but that will have to wait for another time.... 

Bonjour à tous! Just wanted to let everyone know that I arrived in Lyon safely and on time- in fact my trip couldn't have gone any better, (except maybe in the airline food department- salmon might have been the wrong choice, but the chicken didn't look much better...) My CS hosts, Jean-Rémi and Nathalie, are so nice and have a cute apartment, which I have had to myself since 1:30 p.m. (I arrived here at 12:30 p.m.) until they get home from work later tonight. This works out perfectly, as I could then shower, check emails, and rest a bit (or a lot, as it turned out). I was so tired that I broke the rule of international travel of staying up until it's bedtime in the country you've just flown to, and succombed to a three hour nap on their comfy couch. We'll have to wait and see how that affects my sleep tonight, but it was a damn good nap! There is another American assistant and an Austrailian girl coming over tonight for dinner (both through CS) and there's a big pot of ratatouille slow-cooking on the stove, so that should be delicious! Tomorrow I'm hoping to reactivate my cell phone and wander around a bit, and tomorrow evening there is a huge get-together with most of the other assistants in the city. And I suppose I should start looking for a place to live!

That will have to be all for now; I'm having trouble navigating the French keyboard! I mean come on, home row is 'asdf,' not 'qsdf'! And don't get me started on punctuation...!

I leave for France in a week!! And in keeping with the French style of doing things, about five days ago they finally decided to tell me the exact location of my school! It is not in Bourg-en-Bresse, as they had told me it might be, but is actually in the (very) small town of Jassans-Riottier, 30 km north of Lyon. However, they suggested that I live in Lyon proper, which I'm extremely excited about! I visited the city quite a bit while I was studying in Grenoble, and I love it- it's beautiful, fun, cultural- and it has a mini version of the Eiffel Tower! All good reasons to come visit me!

I will be teaching English to primary school kids (ages 6-11) for 9 months. My contract runs from Oct. 1st to June 3oth, and since the French are so fond of vacations I have at least 5 weeks of paid vacation througout the year. Oh, and I'm only working 12 hours a week! They pay us enough each month to live on (or so they say) but having that much free time plus access to the French healthcare system makes it more than worth it in my book! Since I just found out where I'm going to be, I don't have housing yet and will have to find it once I get there. But I just heard from a teacher at my school who might be able to help me out, as well as the assistante who worked there last year, so I'm feeling a lot better about the whole process. I also have quite a few friends of friends who live in Lyon, not to mention the other assistants, so I'm not too worried about being stranded, friendless and homeless! I'm planning on couchsurfing for the first week or so, and have arranged to stay with a woman and her kids in Bourg-en-Bresse when I go there for my orientation meeting on Oct. 2nd.
My next post will most likely be a few days after I arrive there and get settled (or as settled as I can be without housing)...