Week 7

Patience, almost to Italy!

Wednesday: Thankfully I can report that today was a normal day. I woke up, had breakfast, got to see Guilhem before he went off on a big bird-watching adventure in the mountains (he's already on his 2 WEEK vacation), and Lionel took me to class. We had a nice class today and my teacher asked me again if I had changed my inscription to the B1 instead of the A2. :)
I had lunch with Roshanna and Erin (a ham and cheese baguette) and then we went to the second half of our class with our other teacher, Isabelle. To kick off the class, she went around the room doing an oral test. I feel like I did okay; at least, I did well enough that I left class in a really good mood. After class, I went upstairs to Cécile's office to practice English with Lucille and Emile. They were already on vacation too so they got to spend part of the day in their mom's office; something they were really excited about because it has a white board. At least we were able to use the space to our advantage- they brought a board game that we were able to sprawl across the desk, and Lucille took the liberty of drawing pictures and writing out sentences in English on the white board. Emile mostly just scribbled. Hey, whatever keeps them entertained for the hour and 15 minutes that I have them is fine by me. Afterwards, I headed to Chantalle's room in the dorms to meet up with most of our group to book hostels in Italy. We got a lot done- actually we had every night except for the last two booked within an hour! I took the bus home after this and had a little time to blog before dinner. While I was blogging, Lionel installed the family's brand new flat-screen TV, and it was huge. Christine chuckled at it after it was put up because it was balanced on a table that was an 1/8th the size of it. She said something like, "I think the size is a little huge, don't you?" And Guilhem replied back, "I think it's the perfect size for me." Spoken like a true teenager. While Lionel was installing the TV, I gave Guilhem permission to go through my iTunes and put any music he found interesting on his USB. A very simple interaction but this one made me grin from ear to ear. Guilhem was so excited that I had things like Enya, the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks, the Phantom of the Opera, etc. It made me so happy to share with him. :)
Dinner tonight started with a zucchini, garlic, and cream soup. After that we shared a light dinner of salad, slices of ham, tiny pickles, stuffed grape leaves, and piccalilli sauce. For dessert: a vanilla ice cream bar wrapped in chocolate. :)

Thursday: I woke myself up 20 minutes early today in the hopes that I would be able to finish my shipping paperwork after hanging my laundry. I was wrong. I was able to get all of my laundry hung but after eating breakfast and getting ready and whatnot, there just wasn't the time for my family's package. I was hoping to have the dang thing in the mail two days ago but I guess it will have to happen tomorrow. The same routine followed: Lionel took me to school, we had a pretty normal class, I ate lunch with Rosie, Erin, and a guy from our class named Steve, we finished our classes and then I went back to Cécile's office for our french lesson. We did a lot of talking and going over worksheets from my class, and actually ended up spending an extra half hour chatting (she thinks she owes me an hour for the day I was sick). Eventually, though, I had to cut her off because I was still determined to figure out the paperwork for my package and I needed to do more laundry/preparations for Italy. After all, I was leaving the next day!
Once at the house I got right to my blog, trying desperately to get the thing caught up before my trip. You, of course, know how this ends.... as I'm writing to you about a day that happened two weeks ago. haha For dinner we had the rest of the yummy zucchini soup and then enjoyed a really incredible crab tarte. Picture a soft, warm, flaky, eggy quiche with lots of herbs and Gruyère cheese inside and then throw in a little shredded crab... OMG! I didn't know that I liked crab so much before I ate this. With this we had an apple and endive salad and topped the evening off with very dense brownies made by our wonderful chef Guilhem. We each were given two but Christine "saved" her second one for breakfast the next day. Personally, I think she threw it away. They were filled with pan-melted dark chocolate and you could crunch little sugar granules every other bite. In a way, they were divine. Also in a way, they were so made by a thirteen-year old. No offense Sabrina. ;)
After this, I showered early, did my homework, and got the rest of my laundry in the washer. I was feeling really good about how the evening was going and was thinking there was no way I wouldn't get my box handled tomorrow when things took an interesting turn.... I was in my room upstairs (with the door closed, mind you) when I heard a scream/yell, rustling, and a dining chair being shaken back and forth across the floor downstairs. Guilhem was obviously throwing a fit but it quickly escalated into something I hadn't yet experienced from him- a real fight with Christine. I could hear Lionel using his man-of-the-house-voice to get Guilhem to calm down but he just wouldn't. He was yelling so loud about something that he could have been shouting right in my ear. As it always happens, this argument or fight eventually turned to Christine; and let me tell you, the two of them went at it like dogs. Christine raises her voice with Guilhem when he truly crosses lines or boundaries with her, but she NEVER uses the same yelling tone as him... until tonight. I cannot possibly tell you what they were saying but they were nearly shaking the walls with their shouting. Guilhem was screaming at her like she had just killed his best friend, told him it was fair, and then ordered him to go to his room without supper. And Christine was close behind him all the way up the stairs dishing it right back. They eventually ended up in his room just down the hall from me, and the volume of the yelling at that point actually made me a little nervous (another first here). Guilhem screamed at her to the point that I thought I heard him crying at one point, and Christine wouldn't budge from her position for anything. Things eventually calmed down just enough that I thought it was safe to exist and I crept quietly downstairs. When I got there, Lionel was sitting serene-faced at the dining table doing something on the computer. I'm sure he could tell by my expression that I was a little put-off by what just happened because he began to explain: "Nous avons eu un grand catastrophe dans la maison. Guilhem est presque mort. Christine lui a dit qu'il n'a pu pas avoir son DS." Translation: "We have a had a great catastrophe in the house. Guilhem is nearly dead. Christine told him that he could not have his Nintendo DS."   -_-

Week 7

I know what you really want to hear about is Italy but I must stay true to my blog format and comment on each and every day! Here's what you missed in the week leading up to my big trip~

Monday: Slept in a little bit today, then woke up and had my breakfast. I got myself ready and then Lionel and Guilhem got home for lunch. Today we had a really really incredible dish that I thought I was going to hate: tuna-fish loaf! It sounds gross, I know, but it truly was a savory, moist, fluffy pillow of mouth-watering goodness. The loaf came out looking rather pink and was dotted all the way through with different herbs and very small veggies. Lionel was able to cut it into slices but they fell apart when he tried to pick them up to serve. On top was a creamy cloud of whipped eggs, cream and fish juice. There was sauce on the side of natural yogurt, tomatoes, and some herbs. With this divine dish we had soft, steamed potatoes and zucchini, courtesy of Guilhem. We finished our heavenly meal with cheese and bread, fruit, and the usual coffee and chocolates. I was in a little bit of a dream-state after all of this but was able to focus just enough to read through my Business in the EU notes before our first exam. I then took the bus to school, picked up money from the first of six people who owed me for our plane tickets to and from Italy, took my test, picked up some more money from another person, and then walked to the post office to buy a packing box. I've been contemplating how best (and how cheapest) to send my mom and sister their birthday presents. Plus, I've had a growing pile of souvenirs for my family for about a week now. I decided to go with the large international box and thank goodness I did- it only barely shut, and that was after I removed all of the packing materials and plastic wrap!
I took the bus home next and set about to relaxing until dinner. By the way, I did okay on the test; I got a B. Now that I know how his tests work, I think I'll do better on the next one.
I was able to talk with my family a little bit before dinner tonight and then I started packing up my box. I was in the process of being completely frustrated with the shipping forms when Christine called me down for dinner. I guess the box will have to wait until I am peacefully in a food-coma.

Packin' it up!

For dinner, we started off by not having soup- a first! Tonight Christine served us cold, marinated Piquillo peppers topped with a little feta cheese. They were just like the peppers I had in Spain. Basically, they were delicious! We then had another endive salad and the ever-amazing bacon, egg, and Gruyère cheese tarte. Bread and natural yogurt/raspberry preserves followed. If this wasn't enough happiness, I got onto Skype shortly after that and was promptly read the Valentine's cards from my mom and sister. The rest of the evening went like this: Guilhem and I had a lively conversation about Harry Potter that was sparked by him wanting to watch the first movie (his favorite, because it gives the most detailed insight into Harry's world- something I must agree with), I took a shower and then I went to bed a little bit early. Isn't life swell?

Tuesday: Unfortunately today didn't start off great, and it wasn't because Tuesdays are my early days (8a), nor was it because I had just recovered from being really sick: I set my alarm an hour late. :( I got up with plenty of time to make it to class at 9a.... if only class actually started at 9a on Tuesdays. I knew it was completely impossible for me to make it to class on time so I played out the morning like normal and decided to show up to class an hour late. Please know, I am taking my classes very seriously and am not slaking off one bit. The only reason I felt it was okay to do this today is because it has happened before with multiple other students and my teacher has been very understanding about these things; well, if it's the first time. Since this was my first time showing up very late to class, it was a truly honest mistake, and because I know that I have made a very good impression on my teacher, I decided that I could be late this one time. Of course when I got there, I apologized and she told me that it wasn't a big deal. I felt so proud of myself for dealing with this problem with as much maturity as I could muster, and I had a double-shot of reassurance when I out-shined the rest of the class in our usual hour-long phonetics session this afternoon. :)
Towards the end of class, I knew my day was going to fully recover. But at lunch, I realized it was going to be amazing. I'm sure you've already guessed the reason why- duh! Food!! :) I had a totally fantastic Greek salad sandwich today, with strawberry yogurt, and a muffin that looked and tasted like a chocolate chip cookie. I could go on but we'll just call it a delicious lunch. :)

We headed off to the afternoon session of classes after this. So you know, there's an exam in mid-March here that all USAC students have to take called the DELF/DALF. Basically, you take a certain level of this test and if you pass, you get a diploma saying you are fluent at that specific level of french. It's a national diploma and it's good for life; you know what that means- everyone here is freaking out over what level to take! Well, everyone except me because I seem to be the only one here who does not have a French major OR minor. I went into the USAC office today to see what level my professors have recommended me for and to sign up for it. The levels start at A1 and then continue to A2, B1, B2, C1, etc. Ryan, one of our advisors, recommended that I take the A2. He said that I've been doing well in my classes but he worries about me taking a higher level because I have some of the least french experience under my belt of anyone in my classes. He had told me towards the beginning of the program that I tested into a surprisingly high level of French, given that I've had a three year hiatus from the language. Who am I to argue with him? And honestly, what does it matter to me if I take the A2? So I signed up! 

In class, Vuokko, one of my two professors, went around the room asking us which levels we had signed up for. She seemed surprised when I said the A2 and now I know why- she came up to me after class just to tell me that she thought I needed to take the B1. Her point was basically this: '1) you might not do fantastically well during the B1 but there's no way you'll totally bomb it, 2) you will probably do better on the test than the others who are taking it too, 3) what do you have to lose?' Well who was I to argue with her? The next day I went in and asked Ryan to change my inscription, so I'll be taking the B1 on March 14th, 15th, and 16th... bonne chance à moi!

To make this day even better, Roshanna invited me to go downtown with her to hang out and have dinner. I called Christine to let her know I wouldn't be home until late, and then we went off to enjoy the evening! It was a stunning day in Pau today so I got some great pictures of the Pyrenees. The two of us together also accomplished a few things downtown: we bought our train tickets for the coming friday from Pau to Nice and we walked along the Boulevard de Pyrenees (which just never gets old) to find a touristy shop where I could buy shirts for my dad and brother. We found a Renaissance/Medieval/Lord of the Rings themed shop with a slightly creepy, awkward man running the store. We talked with him for a little while and I mostly came to the conclusion that he was just a lonely guy. He still creeped me out a little but he was very nice; he gave me a two euro discount just because.

Afterwards, the two of us met up with our friend Joe who would also be going on our Italy adventure. The three of us enjoyed the view of the sun on the mountains for a little while and then we walked around to find a great place to eat. We were a little early for dinner in the downtown area so we ended up sitting at a Russian café (cleverly named "Café Russe"= Russian café) to have some coffee. I got a fancy cappuccino and happily sucked the thing dry.  

Ahhhhhhhhhhh

Enjoying the view; and the château!

My cappucino

When it was finally time for dinner Joe offered to take us to a pizza place he found with his buddies on his first night in Pau. The menu was amazing and it was also complete torture to have to choose just one; but I eventually settled on a blissfully creamy, cheesy pizza-pocket that was filled with onions, tomatoes, crème fraîche, cheese, ham, and chorizo. *slobber slobber slobber* We also decided at this dinner to keep Joe around because not only did he bring us to this treasure-trove of a pizza place, he bought us a bottle of wine to share. :)

You know I ate the whole thing!

Happy me :)

At the end of this glorious day, we had to face a little rain but I had my umbrella and made it to my bus stop in no time. Once at home, I was re-frustrated by my shipping papers and eventually gave up and went to bed. All in all, though, a beautiful day!

Home!

I have officially made it back to Pau safe and sound from my crazy and amazing week in Italy! I have just over 1,000 pictures from this trip, so you can understand if it takes me quite some time to update you about it all haha. I will be posting on here again as soon as I can!

Merci

Sunday

I had a normal breakfast today with Guilhem and Chrisitine (Lionel was working on the room upstairs), except that we had Lionel's fresh white bread instead of wheat bread. Guilhem spent some time this morning copying a picture from a book of Star Wars characters and naturally, it came out looking exactly like the photo. He also showed me a picture of C3PO that he has that's signed by Anthony Daniels- the actor who played C3PO in the Star Wars films. It says: "Guilhem- que La Force soit avec toi!"

"May The Force be with you Guilhem!" :)

After this nice, slow morning I showered and got myself ready for the day. For lunch we had another yummy pile of julienned carrots and then Guilhem and I had the last two slices of yesterday's meatloaf cold (Christine and Lionel had hamburger patties). I ate mine with mustard and though it was cold, it was still very good. With our meat we had a pile of slightly sautéed veggies: green beans, bell peppers, onions, zucchini, squash, and couscous- a very tasty combination! We finished it all of with cheese and bread, fruit (I had an apple and received a lesson in how to properly peel it with my knife), coffee, and more amazing Lindt chocolates. I am one lucky girl! After lunch, Christine asked if I wanted to go on a walk with her and Guilhem. Of course I agreed. We went on a nice, very relaxing half hour car ride through the countryside, with the windows open, taking in the fresh, nearly warm air of the day to get to the sight of our walk. Though the sun didn't shine much today, the air was very pleasant and not too cold. It was a great drive and I took pictures the whole way. When we stopped at our destination- Bélair- my breath caught: the mountains had taken a giant leap towards us and were as clear as mountains of fudge covered in powdered sugar! We walked on a beautiful country path for the next hour and a half or more just taking in the view, the fresh air, and the beauty of the day. It was fun to spend so much time with Guilhem and Christine; it always entertains me to listen to the two of them together. At the end of the walk, Guilhem pulled out a box of chocolate covered cookies from Christine's backpack and offered me one after another. I had a moment today of thinking that life can't really get a whole lot better than this. :)

Oh nothing, just the Pyrenées mountains!

Yea, just to make this more unreal, there was a crêperie along the path we took today

That's our promenade up there with the crêperie on the left, our car on the right, and the mountains in the distance!

What a gorgeous day

It takes my breath away again!

Silly boy :)

Gosh, this picture kills me

Can you not see Julie Andrews running up this grass covered hill, arms thrown out, singing at the top of her lungs? Either way, the hills were alive with something today

"Hunting Reserve"

Me with an âne

:)

A beautiful walk

At the end of the walk, we headed back to the car and unfortunately, I really needed a bathroom. Well, there weren't any toilets around but there was a lot of bathroom. Anyways, after my "tour of nature" (as Christine called it) we were on our way back home. After the drive, we had some warm drinks and then Guilhem and Christine went out to play tennis. I got online and was able to video with my parents through Skype, so I took them on a mini tour of the downstairs. I got to show them the table that I set for dinner, the kitchen with our fresh bread, our fire, etc. It was really cool to feel like they were right there with me in my French house. :)
For dinner, we started off with the rest of our carrot, onion, pumpkin, and cream soup. Then we had our main course of tortilla à la Christine- basically Christine's version of a Spanish "tortilla." It looked almost like a soufflé but there were thick chunks of potato and some onion in the omelette too. It was super tasty! With that we ate a spinach salad and the rest of yesterday's grâtin. We had a round of cheeses (I had some garlic cream cheese on my bread) and then it was dessert- fromage blanc (not natural yogurt) and raspberry preserves. I blogged for a little bit and then it was time for bed.
A perfectly lovely weekend, and I feel completely back to normal!

Saturday

I didn't include this weekend in my run of "Most Fabulous of Weekends" because it wasn't that fabulous. haha It certainly was good, of course, but I still felt a little bit icky and pretty tired for most of it.

Anyways, Saturday morning was pretty normal: I slept in a little, got up, had breakfast, and got myself dressed and ready for the day. Christine's sister and her husband and children came to our place for lunch today. As excited as I was to meet some of Christine's family, I have to admit that I had myself all in a tizzy before they showed up- I was so nervous to speak french with them! I was afraid that I would make stupid mistakes with the language in front of these strangers or that they would try talking to me like a normal person and I wouldn't be able to understand a word of their rapid-fire french. But there was no reason for me to be this afraid; it was a perfectly calm, wonderful experience. The four of them showed up around 12:30p, we all greeted each other, and then it was pretty much time to sit down to lunch. We started lunch off with an apple, endive, and walnut salad and then had the terrific main course: a zucchini grâtin and a super juicy meatloaf. We had a very mild red wine with this and finished off with a round of cheese and bread, two yummy tartes (courtesy of Christine's sister), and coffee and chocolates. It was a great lunch and a great afternoon- I chatted here and there with our guests, was able to answer some of their questions/curiosities about Americans, and enjoyed a fabulous meal. Perhaps the day was more fabulous than I have given it credit for? ;)

Zucchine grâtin and meatloaf

The tartes that Christine's sister brought :)

After the family left, Christine took off with Guilhem to drop him off at a friend's house and Lionel went out to chop or buy (still not too clear on his method) some wood for the fireplace. I was alone in the house for a little bit sort of walking back and forth trying to decide what to do with myself. There were a couple of things I needed from the store and I was also really wanting to check out another store called LIDL where Christine buys their nice chocolates and the whole grain mustard. I was still tired but was also feeling restless from being cooped up in the house the past few days; so I got my walkin' shoes on and took a stroll to Le Clerc (across the street from the university). After getting what I needed, I met up with Rosie and another USAC student named Aleca to head to LIDL. There, I bought three chocolate bars, two boxes of delicious German chocolate cookies, and a small jar of the mustard- all to send to my family in the U.S.! They love me, they really love me. ;)
When we were done at LIDL, Rosie and I headed back to her room so I could get all the work I missed on thursday and friday. It was starting to rain outside so I didn't stay long; I didn't want to have to walk once it really started to come down. I made my bus and got home to a fire in the fireplace and an apéritif waiting on the coffee table. We had some Pringles, peanut puffs, and green olives dipped in olive oil and herbs for our snack and Lionel poured out a very interesting alcohol for our drinks called Azève. Honestly, I really did not like this drink AT ALL. The flavor was okay at first because it comes from a flower, but then you swallow and it turns into pepper marinated in expired rubbing alcohol. Fortunately he mixed in a pretty good helping of cassis liquor and I also added water to mine. But after I got that down, I misunderstood a question he asked me and earned myself a whole second glass. I figured out the hard way why the taste was so strong after that second glass: it's got a lot of alcohol in it! I was horrified to realize that I was feeling increasingly tipsy as the second cup worked its way into my blood stream. Pretty soon we moved to the table and I stealthy tried to gobble down my dinner with lightening speed so as to get food in my stomach and counteract the alcohol. Phew! Next time Lionel offers me some Azève, the answer is "non merci!"
For dinner, we had another carrot, onion, and creme soup and then decided that our sinuses weren't clear enough from last night's spicy soup and ate a fiery Moroccan dish. It was such a shame that the food was so spicy because the flavor was really good! There was rice, onions, some peppers, and a sauce on the Moroccan side and Christine offered up shredded tuna to mix with it (to kill the spice!). With that we had a blessedly cool spinach salad and more of Lionel's homemade white bread. This was the first night that I left edible food on my plate... I just could not finish that spicy rice mixture! At least there was the rest of last night's couscous salad as well so I definitely didn't go to bed hungry. Plus, I fully recovered when I got to eat my favorite yogurt and raspberry dessert. And to top off the day, I got to play the French version of the board game "Clue" ("Cluedo" in French) with Guilhem and Christine. It was so much fun to watch Guilhem play this game: he strategized every move, every interaction between the three of us, everything! He's a very logical-thinking kid and he is so mature about things like games because he really really wants to win. He absolutely does not tolerate cheating (and he's 13, you remember), he's fair about who's turn it is, etc. I am sad to report, though, that Christine won: it was, indeed, Madame LeBlanc avec le revolver dans la cuisine!
Lastly, I spent a good 45 minutes talking to Spencer and Sabrina before bed. I've mentioned many times that I've talked with my family on ichat or whatnot in the evenings but 90% of the time I only get to talk to my parents (Spenc and Bri are usually at school). This was a much needed 45 minutes of being silly, laughing, and talking about American Idol with my siblings. I've missed them and their senses of humor so much- a perfect end to the day!

Week Six

Monday: I allowed myself to sleep until 10a today to recover a bit from the fabulous but tiring weekend. I had breakfast by myself but it didn't bother me one bit. I enjoy the soft, scrumptious bread smothered with Nutella or butter and preserves and my big cup of coffee too much to care about eating alone. :) The sun was out today and it was an absolutely glorious day! Unfortunately, though, this made getting my reading for Business in the EU done nearly impossible- I just wanted to go outside and forget about school! Somehow I managed to get myself dressed and ready for the day in time for lunch with the family. We started off with julienned carrots and then Christine brought out a Heavenly-smelling baked pork that was drowning in its own aromatic juices. With this we had those white long-bean things that one usually finds in chow mein, but they were simply mixed with some herbs and olive oil and served. Also on the side was a big scoop of pasta noodles dressed with salt, parmesan, olive oil, and a little pimentel spice. We topped lunch off with some more homemade bread, fruit (I had a big juicy orange), coffee, and Lindt chocolates. I struggled through the rest of my reading after this until it was time to head to the university. The day was too beautiful to take the yucky bus so I happily strolled through the streets and parks for half an hour on my way to class, praying I would get even the tiniest bit of a sunburn. :) I stayed after class for a little while to use the university's internet to talk to my brother. I texted Christine that I would be home late and she said not to worry, she would hold my dinner for me. :)
Dinner was late for both Guilhem and myself (he had done something with a friend after school) but it was delectable just the same. We started off with a soup that Christine was extremely proud of: a blend of carrots, cauliflower, milk, cream, chicken bouillon, salt, water, and ginger. It was SO good; and that with fresh homemade bread? Forget about it! Guilhem boiled up some very tasty noodles for the two of us to split. I put olive oil, salt, pepper, pimentel, and parmesan on mine. We had our protein with slices of french lunchmeat-type ham (which I am slowly growing very fond of), and we had our veggies in the form of another apple and endive salad. Dessert was the usual goodness: natural yogurt with raspberry preserves. Ahhhhh.....

Tuesday: Nothing incredibly spectacular happened today; I know this because I've been writing short excerpts about each day in a journal right before bed (which I use for the blog) and the only thing I wrote for today was what we had for dinner. haha If you hadn't already figured out what my favorite part of the day is, you should now be able to at least guess. ;)
Dinner tonight was the rest of Christine's incredible cauliflower, carrot, and ginger soup with bread. We then had the rest of Guilhem's noodles dressed however we wanted. The real main course was perfect, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth fried eggs with a spinach salad. And we topped this loveliness off with the typical yummy dessert. Gosh I love French food.

Wednesday: Yet another day where all I cared to write about in my journal was what I had for dinner. haha I do remember, though, that I had my second english lesson with Lucille and Emile downtown after class. That went well because today I brought Disney songs for them to listen to in English and I could tell that that was way more intriguing for the both of them. Afterwards, I enjoyed a really nice walk all by myself out in the sunshine along the Boulevard des Pyrenées. I walked all the way from the Palais Beaumont (at one end) to the château (at the other) where I bought some more gifts for my family. It was a great couple of hours of alone time to just enjoy the beauty of the day, and I got to practice my French with the shopkeepers where I bought those gifts. :)

A beautiful day in Pau!

Nothing like celebrating the sunshine with a train ride! :)

The Palais Beaumont covered in sunshine

The mountains are hidden but that's the city down there! And you can also see the big red tower that has the pole at its top that points to different peaks as your perspective moves walking down the Boulevard. There are plaques along the street at the exact points where the tip of that pole moves in perfect alignment with a peak; the plaques give you the name and height of that particular peak you are seeing.

Lionel made tonight's soup and I actually got to watch this one being prepared. He had set a pot on the stove to simmer earlier in the day with big chunks of carrots and halves of onions slowly turning to pulp inside. Before dinner, he took the pot with the thoroughly boiled veggies and added two slices of his homemade wheat bread, some seasoning, and a spoon of crème fraïche and blended it all into velvet. Every night since I've been here, I've been asking what's in the soup; and it's almost always the same sort of ingredients- some sort of vegetable base, milk or creme, and bread. But when I've gotten the answer, it never occurred to me that bread was in the soup... I thought they were always talking about the bread we eat with our soup! Well, you learn something new every day. After soup, we had a simply divine homemade pizza. Mmmm my mouth is watering again! The pizza was a super then, crispy, flatbread with small chunks of ham, black olives, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and shredded cheese on top. Oh this was just so so good; you're going to have to take my word for it. We had a spinach salad with this and I nearly giggled when they brought out my favorite dessert after. I was one happy girl that evening.
I wish I could say the happiness lasted, though. After spending a little time downstairs with the family, I said goodnight and headed up to talk to my family at home on ichat. I talked with them for a good hour or so and then started getting ready for bed, when I realized that I didn't feel so well. My throat had started hurting and I thought I felt a fever coming on. By the time I had gotten myself all ready to sleep, I was dragging myself to bed and I could feel that I had a fever. Needless to say, I took some Ibuprofen, wrote my host family a note explaining that I wasn't well, texted Rosie that I wasn't coming to class in the morning and might show up in the afternoon, turned off my alarm, and gave myself a good night's sleep. I was actually very worried that I had gotten so sick so fast and was truly nervous to have a fever; I don't think I've had one in about 5 years.

Thursday: I woke up around 10:30a this morning feeling slightly better. I could tell that my fever was gone (at least for the moment) but my body felt like it had been hit by a train. The back of my neck was beaten with a baseball bat in the middle of the night and someone had been kicking my calves too. I was just really achy and sore all over and could tell pretty quickly that I would not be making it to class in the afternoon; I needed at least a day to rest.
I went down to breakfast and filled my stomach as much as I could to cushion the incoming load of medication (if you know my mother, you probably understand that I have my own little pharmacie in my room). I used the time until lunch to lie in bed, write my parents so they could know what was going on, and do a little blogging. When I heard Lionel rummaging around downstairs, I decided I could probably eat a little lunch too. The strange thing is, I didn't have any issues with my stomach- my appetite never went away and never really increased either. I'm still not sure exactly what I had, but I hope it doesn't come back!
Lionel was the only one home for lunch today and he had finished his by the time I got downstairs. He could tell I didn't feel well so he offered to make me something. In his words, "my daughter is sick; of course I will do things for her!" :) I had a spinach salad first and then he heated up a frozen fish filet that was covered in a tomato sauce. He also reheated some leftover white rice and potato slices so I mixed the rice, sauce and fish together for a pretty full, good lunch. He had to go to work after that and I wanted to go back to resting and whatnot, so that's pretty much how the rest of the day went until the evening. When Christine got home, she apologized profusely for leaving me home alone all day when I didn't feel well. She was also really concerned when I told her my neck was hurting; she thought I might have meningitis and she told me that if my neck was still hurting in the morning, I needed to tell her so she could take me to the hospital. I was also instructed to tell my parents not to worry, that I am in good hands here. Oh how true this is...
For dinner, we had the rest of Lionel's carrot soup and then had a very interesting course, which I am proud to say I ate all of: whole filets of raw, smoked salmon. With this we had another great corn, rice, green olive, greek cheese, tomato, mushroom, red bell pepper, cucumber salad. I switched things up at dessert and had cassis preserves instead of raspberry with my yogurt: an excellent choice!
I was feeling okay after dinner but not great; I had a touch of a fever during the afternoon and I had to drag my bones up to bed. I know I can't make it to class in the morning but I'm holding out hope that I'll make it in the afternoon. Fingers crossed!

Friday: This morning went about the same as yesterday- breakfast around 10:30a, a concoction of medication, and lazing around feeling exhausted. I figured out by lunch that my body was still too tired to go all the way to the university, sit through class, and come back but at least I hadn't had a fever since yesterday! I spent the day doing a lot of sitting, relaxing, blogging, uploading pictures, etc. I did finally get myself in the shower to at least be presentable for my family at lunch- I feel bad for what they had to see yesterday. ;)
Lunch was with all four of us today and I loved the whole thing terribly. It started off with a plate of nothing more than sliced mushrooms tossed with olive oil and herbs. Yum! The main course was, you'll never guess...... chicken nuggets! I don't know if they were home made or frozen but they were good! I think they were pan-fried because they were really crispy and super juicy when you went to cut them. There was a pile of warm, soft, slightly buttery broccoli on the side and Piccalilli sauce to put on our chicken nuggets. We had a round of cheese and bread and then Lionel made me an infusion of leaves that I forget the name of (vervin possibly?).
We decided to live dangerously at dinner tonight by having a very good but very spicy Chinese noodle soup to start. *FYI, the French do not love spicy things. And "spicy" to them is much milder than "spicy" in the States.* This soup was actually pretty hot and it had us all losing our cool a few bites in. Being sick, I was a veritable waterfall of tears and snot- something I was very proud to display in front of Lionel and Christine. haha I choked down the last tasty, painful bites and washed it down with water and bread. Luckily there was the ever mild and delicious tomato, cucumber, greek cheese, white raison, mint, green olive, crab, mushroom, couscous salad to soothe my mouth and throat. After this great main course, we had a truly epic dessert: *you might want to sit down* soft pear halves, covered in super creamy vanilla bourbon ice cream, topped with homemade dark chocolate sauce (as in, a crushed up dark chocolate bar melted to molten goodness and thickened with milk) and a cinnamon cookie. I die!
I went to bed feeling much better, and not just because my soul was tingling with happiness from this meal. My energy was coming back little by little and that "icky" feeling was gone. It's a good thing that I don't have anything planned for this weekend because I'd be dead weight by Sunday.

Bonne nuit!

The Most Fabulous of Weekends: Weekend 4

Sunday: We got ourselves, up, packed, and out today by 10a. Kati and her husband allowed us to leave our bags in their hallway for the day so we could go out and walk around for a few hours without all our stuff. We started the day off with an absolutely stunning breakfast at a little café table under the glorious sunshine. The food is still getting my mouth watering when I look at the pictures: Spanish café con leche and two sweet, pastry-type treats. The first was a doughnut that had a crunchy and sweet apple glaze on top and pieces of caramelized apple inside. The second was a soft, slightly sweet warm bread with hardened chocolate on each end, sugar sprinkled on top, and a strip of thick chocolate inside. OH- MON- DIEU!!

I remember eating this, but it feels like it never actually happened because of how much I crave the food in this picture!

After breakfast ( = after tearing ourselves away from this Heavenly spot!) the three of us headed to San Sebastián's Aquarium. Erin wasn't really interested in the Aquarium so she headed off for a walk or whatnot around the beach. But Rosie and I definitely like doing some of the touristy stuff when we're visiting all of these foreign places, so we paid the 8 euros to go inside. Since it was Sunday, there were probably two or three other parties in the whole Aquarium for the two hours we were in there. We had such a great experience strolling through, taking our time, admiring the view of the ocean out of every window, and watching the fish in the tanks but I am really really sad to tell you that my camera died while we were inside. :( I got a couple of good pics of old ships, tools, and expositions from San Sebastián's whaling history while walking through the history-based section, but the highlight of the Aquarium is its underwater tunnel. And this is exactly where my camera died! I had brought my charger with me to San Sebastián but I hadn't thought to grab a different sized plug-adapter for traveling into "Southern Europe."Though this and my "Northern Europe" adapter look exactly the same, apparently they are different. Basically, I was never able to plug in my camera during the weekend. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back. ;)

Notice the whale that was caught, off to the right?

The skeleton of a baby whale

I didn't like this picture at first because it's so dark that you can't see my face; but now I realize that the background makes this picture fantastic and the fact that I am just in it is a bonus.

The view out every single window in the Aquarium.... ahhhhhhh. :)

This was a splendid way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday. Afterwards, Rosie and I met back up with Erin and the three of us walked across the way to a bizarre that was selling San Sebastián and Donostia (the Basque name for the city) merchandise. I bought a few gifts for my family and for a couple of friends and then we headed out to find lunch. Our last meal in Spain was more of the typical fare: I had the same type of ham as yesterday, some fries, a rather bland salad, and two croquettes. Besides the salad, it was bliss. :) When we were good and full, we headed back to our hostel to gather our things and then head to the tram station. We took the tram the 45 minutes back to Hendaye and then had a good half an hour to kill before our train to Pau arrived. We bought some pick-me-ups at a café across the street (I had a cappuccino that tasted more like coffee flavored hot chocolate) and then we had a leisurely train ride to Pau. We switched trains one time in Bayonne but on both trains we had our own empty compartment. It was a very nice, relaxing ride. 

At the train station, Lionel AND Christine were there to welcome me home. :) They offered rides to both of my friends, because they are just that cool, so the five of us packed into their little van. Once back at home, we settled into an apéritif courtesy of Maÿlis. She was leaving in the morning so she wanted to celebrate her last night with us. We had some more of Lionel's Spanish wine, cassis liquor and water, tortilla chips, and barbecue flavored Pringles. As un-fancy as the snacks sound, they were (and always are) served in nice ceramic bowls. We started dinner off with a carrot soup and then moved onto the main course of yummy pasta salad. The salad consisted of those twisty pasta noodles, tomatoes, Greek cheese cubes, cucumber, and green olives. With that we had some more bread and a spinach salad. For desert, a pineapple, apple, and banana salad- it was a salad bar kind of night! 

This was a very excellent weekend for me; I enjoyed my experience in Spain immensely and would love to go back to San Sebastián one day. I ate well, felt the sun on my skin, and saw many beautiful things- I go to bed as happy as can be!

Bonne nuit!

The Most Fabulous of Weekends: Weekend 4

The second half of Saturday: We found another typical Spanish/Basque joint for lunch and I order something that Erin said is truly classic Spanish food: ham, fries, peppers, and a fried egg. It was so good! The ham was super thin and had been fried so it was dry and juicy at the same time. It was truly very tasty and everything tasted good mixed together; especially eating each separate part with a bite of the marinated peppers.

I'm hoping you know what came after lunch. No? Oh come on; what do they do in Spain in the afternoon right after lunch?! Of course, siesta! Rosie and I were totally beat after last night's philandering so we were definitely up for an hour-long nap. Erin had really wanted a siesta too but she decided to walk down to the beach for a little bit instead. She spends a lot of time by herself so I think we were cramping her style a bit; she probably just needed a little alone time. I felt oh so refreshed after my nap and was ready for the evening. Roshanna, on the other hand, hadn't worn good shoes for our walk earlier so her feet were killing her. She wasn't up for going out at all before dinner time. So it was just Erin and I for a little shopping and the short uphill trek to the big statue of Jesus. I bought a really sassy redish-brown purse for 10 euros and got some San Sebastián postcards from some shops near the hostel. On our way to the path that takes you up to Jesus, we saw a parade of people dressed in traditional Basque gypsy costumes singing and banging on instruments. It got us really excited because we had heard about a Basque festival happening somewhere in the city... that evening! 

After watching the parade for a few minutes we walked back out to the walkway around the bay and went in the other direction from this morning to head up to Jesus. He sits in the center of a château-type building/fortress overlooking the city and it just so happens that the sun was setting as we made our way up to the top. I feel very certain that He or He and God together painted the sunset just for us because it was too perfect to be mere coincidence. I found the whole experience of hiking up a steep path, climbing up a lot of stairs, and having to look straight up to look at the statue extraordinarily powerful and moving. The whole thing is very symbolic of one's relationship with Jesus, Biblically and literally. The upward direction to get to Him and the looking up to see Him- it all moved me. I was blown away by the statue too- it is so huge! And He is so high up that when you look up at His face, you notice that there is NOTHING but the sky around Him; like the statue is literally in the sky- another very symbolic thing. And if that isn't enough to touch you, while you're staring at Jesus' face, you realize that He is not looking at you but is looking past you. When you finally wonder, "what is He looking at?" and turn around, the view of the city, the sea, and the sunset nearly knock you off of your feet. It was something beyond my imagination; I'm sorry the pictures don't do this experience justice. I encourage all of you to do this very same thing one day, if only just to know what I am talking about.

On our way up!

There He is

His view

See what I mean about this being created just for us?

The other side:

If I wasn't thoroughly in awe of San Sebastián and the beauty that exists in our world from our walk earlier today, I certainly was after my experience up on the hill. My heart was light and my spirit was soaring. It almost wasn't fair to think that I had nothing to do for the rest of the evening but to go eat more incredible food and have more unforgettable cultural experiences- like seeing a Basque festival! We decided not to sit down to a full meal for dinner tonight, but instead we went truly Spanish and had tapas: small plates of one or two snacks that usually come free or included in the price of a drink from a bar. When Erin studied in Spain last semester, she used to go out for tapas with her friends multiple times a week. We were all so excited for this because tapas allow you to try 5 or 6 different things before you are truly full. We picked up Roshanna at the hostel and then headed to our first place for the evening where got a round of beers and our first two or three tapas. I had a bocadillo that was simply a tiny baguette with a Spanish bacon inside; Roshanna had a small round of bread topped with a pepper, small piece of egg, and sausage and another round of bread topped with a sweet and savory crab salad; Erin had two fried "meatballs." I put that in quotes because it was more like a meat sauce, it was so soft! Roshanna and I also split two pieces of one of the most amazing fried foods I have ever tasted: croquettes! This epic snack is nothing more than an insanely thick mixture of cream, creamed potatoes, melty cheese, and small bits of ham. It's so crispy on the outside that you are surprised when you go to cut it and the whole thing collapses in a melting, creamy, potato Heaven. I have to stop there; I'm going crazy thinking about them!

My bocadillo and beer, and Roshanna's two tapas

The round things are Erin's meat balls, and the things that look like mozzarella sticks? Croquettes :) 

This was certainly not a terribly way to start the evening. We headed to another bar soon after enjoying this delicious dinner-time snack to have more. We got another round of beers there and another round of tapas. Believe it or not, I was actually getting pretty full at this point- those croquettes are dense! I decided to go with another croquette (because it was THAT good) and a slice of baguette topped with marinated peppers and onions, a small piece of smoked salmon, and a to-die-for piece of thick, creamy Spanish cheese. The whole thing was drizzled with a little vinegar. I may have shed a tear or two when I realized I didn't have room for another one. 

Mine and Erin's baguette, pepper, cheese bliss and Roshanna's baguette with a creamy, tangy veggie salad

The bar of tapas

Sorry, I think I may have mislead you. I was getting full of tapas at this point, but I still had plenty of room for dessert! We found a crêperie nearby where an English, French, and Spanish speaking Canadian guy was happy to talk to us in English- a first in Spain! I ordered a warm and melty Nutella and banana crêpe. I think there is no need for me to say anything more. :)

To complete this incredible Saturday in San Sebastián, Spain we found the Basque festival. It wasn't hard really, we just followed the music! I think we are three very lucky girls to have been here while this festival was happening because it was quite simply a celebration of being Basque. When and where else am I ever going to see something like that? The celebration was held in a big square that was surrounded on all sides by apartment buildings. There was a band up on the stage, a group of probably 200 singers/dancers/performers standing in front of the stage, and all were dressed in the Basque gypsy garb. They played traditional Basque music and for most of it, the entire audience- I'm talking thousands of people- were singing along, celebrating their heritage. I think there were at least 50 people who came out of their apartments to watch from above too. It was an amazing thing to see and it made me proud of my heritage as well.

One of many videos from this night. I have more on my 

online gallery: gallery.me.com/ranthy

We walked around a little after the festival, sort of following the band as they marched up and down streets singing and banging away at their make shift instruments. We got a couple of pictures with the Basque mascots too- two giant figures (one and old man, the other an old woman) that were both open on the bottom for someone to go underneath, pick them up, and walk around with them. It was rather entertaining to see a huge figure moving down the street on comparably tiny legs. 

Me, after the festival

Rosie and I with the Basque mascots. Kinda creepy huh?

We were pretty tired after this long and magical day, but I agreed to go out for an hour or so with Erin since it was saturday and we were in Spain and all (Roshanna just wasn't up for it). However, "going out" tonight meant the two of us standing against the wall in a crowded bar talking, yawning, and not bothering to order any drinks. Needless to say, we came back to the hostel after 45 minutes or so of that- too tired to carry on. haha Erin probably could have hung out longer but I wasn't cut out for it. I don't have the stamina built up like she does! This was an absolutely miraculous day: I don't think I will ever forget that walk around the bay and my trip up to see Jesus. There was so much about this day that touched my heart and made my spirit soar. I would love to bring everyone I care about to that promenade along the water some day. :)

Goodnight!