When in Rome, or Bordeaux...

I am SO out of touch with where I am! So, for you lovely folks in the States it was Daylight Savings! My computer automatically changed one hour ahead... but my host family has been running on the same schedule and no one here said anything about this major clock event! Hmm... I finally inspired myself to google it. Daylight savings for the European Union is the LAST Sunday in March!! HAHAHAH

And I clicked on one of those links that pop up when you sign into AIM because I was taking a quick break from studying (ALL DAY I'VE BEEN READING AHHH), and I found out Heath Ledger passed away last month! I can't believe it! :'(

So yes, those have been my recent revelations.

Back to studying! Haiii yah!

Miam miam.

Buon giorno!! Fresh from Italy, and... with my laptop! =D Let us rejoice and sing together!! La dee dee dahhhhhh!!

Let's see! Italy was great, but more than the monuments and ancient Roman ruins I loved Deda and her family!!!!! They are the nicest, sweetest, most knowledgeable about everything, best cooking bunch of lovely people I have EVER met. Thank you so much for everything, I can never thank you enough. =]

Mario e Rosaria. <3


Deda!


Mario e mi


Marioooo!!


Mario e Deda :)


Loving and cute, to boot! =D

I learned some Italian too!! Maybe that will be the next language I try to learn! =D Pancha mia fati capana! Mmmm!

I am going to do a major blog on Italy, but since I just took a midterm, let us save that for later.

Oui, it was my first test in Bordeaux! Go me! Too bad I FAILED it. It was a freewrite for an hour on the subject the professor chose, and she chose this prompt that was SO BROAD I wasn't satisfied with any of the vague responses I came up with. Sigh. It was the worst piece of writing I have ever authored. For shame!! Wahhh!!

Oh yes! Let me show you some wonders of France! Today for lunch I ate a kebab frites, translated as heaven with fries! haha Kebabs here aren't meat on sticks, they are sandwiches! The meat is put around a rod, and cooked by spinning on its axis, then the cook razors off slices of meat, and sticks in veggies, and FRIES and sauce... mm!! I have a favorite place called Oasis. It's a tiny stand I pass by on the way to the tram, and I like it because the guy realllly takes his time with sandwich so I know he puts all his love and tender care in it.



The fries made the kebab too big for my mouth, so I took some out to eat later... When that time came I put cheese on them... oh, not just any cheese (c'mon I'm in France), behold...




CAMEMBERT CHEESE FRIES!!! :D

(It was a biyatch trying to eat though! The nuts were falling into my sleeves and stuff! HAHA)

OH! Just in, one of my blogger fans has sent in a request. Yes, let's see, from Mr. Kono in LA: "I want more random stories. "

And so be it!! I never disappoint fans, or bored students in dinkie lectures!! WHOO!

So my first class of the day was my Greek/Latin roots class, where the prof is an actual grammarian. She collected some of our papers last week, so she was about to hand them out and she says: "Vous ecrivez vraiment comme des cochons" (You all really write like pigs)

HAHAHAH Great way to start the morning!! haha Usually she picks on me and reads my papers out loud, but today she smiled as she handed me my paper and said "Tres jolie" (Very nice) YAYYYY!!! (My paper was on heartbreak... yes, very jolie! haha)

I feel like posting pics. Facebook is where my BIG photo albums are, but here is where I will tell more detailed narratives and stuff! Yee haw!

Hmm... seeing as this post is very gastronomical, I think I will continue with it! Sorry if this makes you people salivate! (Note to self, don't read this blog on an empty stomach! Tee hee)

TODAY'S SPECIAL : ITALIAN CUISINE!!!

So after our first pilgrimage through the charming town of Fondi, Deda and I went to the patisserie (aka my heaven on earth) and then to Sidis... the super market!! (ALWAYS make it a point to go to super markets when you travel! Gives such a profound insight to local life!) Here I will share pictures of the ambush we did on a whole plate of desserts (that we vanquished)!

Here we unwrap the thing from its pretty package!



Why, hello!



Naked and free at last to be DEVOURED.

Let's see... starting from the top:
the bronze ball is 'Mont Blanc' with chestnut frosting on top and meringue and whipped cream inside (takes 12 hours to prepare!)
1st column aka furthest left (going down):
flaky bread with yellow cream inside and powdered sugar on top, cookie sandwich with buttery whipped cream, with chopped hazelnuts and powdered sugar on top
2nd column aka the middle (going down):
beignets (x2) with hazelnut cream inside and on top
beignet with dark chocolate inside and on top
3rd column aka furthest right (going down):
beignet with white cream filling, flaky pastry called 'Lobster' with chantilly cream inside (Deda's fave!)



Miam miam.


Eccolo!



And more pictures of more dessert (at a restaurant called La Magnatora-- literally meaning "place to eat" in dialect, Deda's family and I went to eat here my last night in Italy... DELICIOUS and UNFORGETTABLE. Ti amo!)

Rosaria got the Tiramisu. I don't even like Tiramisu and I wanted to eat some of it!



Deda ordered the Pana Cotta with berries! Mm....


I ordered what I thought was a fruit tart, but it was BETTER! Berries and Spanish bread!! It was moist and squishy and oh so wonderful...




And now for some pictures I took at another super market (not Sidis)! Enjoyyyy!!

Here are some veggies after all those sweets! haha

Look at the Zucchini's!! Like balloons!! So cute!!


Mmmm eggplants...


This was the Frozen Food section! Isn't that cute?! There was a woman who bagged whatever you asked for!


Do you see those smiley faces in the bottom of the picture? I tried to take a picture of them and the lady was like "NOOOO!" haha Well we bought them and ate them anyways! They are potatoes!!! :D

I'm not sure if you suckers, I mean, people in America know about it yet, but Ferrero Rocher now has the new box of Ferrero Garden!


t comes with the new flavors of strawberry, hazelnut,




pistachio, almond,


and coconut! (Coconut is the only one I haven't tried since I'm not a fan of coconut candies)



But yes, please try them! They are covered in white chocolate, drizzled in cream of the flavor you choose with filling! Miam miam!

Whew! Okay, time to run! This post was pretty lengthy!!

-Michelllleey

PS Since people always ask: today's weather was schizo: sunny, windy, rainy, hail, and now it's just plain freezing. =] Come visit!

The waiting continues...

So! The French customs wrote back saying the scans I sent were FUZZY. No laptop until March I guess. Sigh. I am sending photocopies tomorrow. The waiting continues...

BUT! No matter because... I am going to ITALIA mañana!! Tee hee!!!!! =]

So excited!! Please pray that everything goes well! Tomorrow I take a train to Paris, where I take the plane to Rome! Whew!

Here is a funny story about France which also makes you appreciated America, haha:

I went to the movies last night. The movie was playing in theater 6. So I follow the sign from the lobby to theater 6. It leads me to a staircase. I went running for an hour yesterday, so I was not happy. But up I went, the STEEP stairs. I see the sign for theater 6. Leads to a door that leads... to MORE STAIRS. While cursing the French under my breath I climb the stairs... and I reach... MORE STAIRS. I am not even kidding. I followed 4 signs that indicated theater 6, to 4 different flights of stairs. Fun times.

Side note: the movie was less than stellar. (it was Jumpers, aka Another Movie with No Premise...) I mainly went to hang out with those cool peeps (Narcine & Pierrick!! and I met Olivier & Sophie--?) from the English Club! haha (no worries, I am still speaking in French! yeaa!)

Alrighty! Today I ate a KEBAB. A REAL KEBAB. Not those meat sticks. It's a pita bread with carved meat and veggies and FRIES inside!!! SO GOOD!!!!!!!!! MMMMM!! This was my 2nd one and far better (and cheaper) than the first one I ate! (advice: ask for ketchup as your sauce, white sauce = poo)

Okay! I will miss you all and be thinking of you while I eat gelato on the Spanish steps like Audrey Hepburn!

KISSES!!

-Michelle

I am the computer lab hobo.

Hello my loves!

So! Update on my laptop, haha. They want a copy of my student ID cards, the receipt of the repair that happened in the US, and proof that I live in Bordeaux. SCREW YOU FRENCH CUSTOMS PEOPLE!!! GIMME MY LAPTOP!!!! wahhhhh!!!

In short, I find myself in the usual spot : the computer lab. Someone near me has dowsed his or herself in a very pungent scent. That will definitely help my headache! Haha =P Anyways! I am the computer lab hobo. Please give me money.

Oh yea! I AM GOING TO ITALY ON FRIDAY!!! I am so excited! Thank you soooo much to Unni and Deda for the hook ups!! I am so excited!!! Arrivederci, France!

What else has happened lately? Hmm... I keep waking up in a good mood and it just goes downhill. Why can't I be bubbly anymore?! (I think I just need my good old iTunes.)

I'm reading Tristan and Isolde (in Old French) and it is soooo interesting! I can't make up my mind whether I like it or not. At least it is interesting enough where I feel it's not a chore to read. (I am also reading Jane Eyre and Pride & Prejudice and the Cid, simultaneously in French. So right now, I think Mr. Darcy is in love with Jane Eyre... right?!)

I am now attempting to be a calm, lady-like woman.

Oh yea, there was a mini-dilemma, because my flight from Rome to Paris comes in after the last train from Paris to Bordeaux, so I need to stay the night in Paris. (I couldn't rearrange my flights, sadly) Yay for friends in Paris! Diana is on vaycay, and Guillaume is in Italy (figures) BUT he found me a friend to stay with! So all is happy happy (grazie, signorino)

Which reminds me, I saw Annie (my old French tutor)! We met up at this super cute café on la Rue Camille Sauvageau! There was a show (a guy who was doing storytelling)! I will just say, it was something unlike anything I have ever seen. Annie was laughing, I think I was snickering. It was about a giant who cuts down trees, and then has babies with a tiny woman, and she has 2 big giant babies, and 1 tiny baby. Then, it was time to leave. So that is all I got for you! Sorry!

Oh, dear!!! The person next to me has a whale wallpaper on her computer!! Why do all the students here choose THAT one?! There are plenty of other wallpapers.... SHUDDER.

Alrighty, this post is uneventful! So I will leave you!!

Kisses!

-Michelle

I need a hug, and not an inadvertent one from that guy on the tram...

Good morning! It's 851am here in the city of Bordeaux, France! My first entry in English! Yay!

Due to popular demand, I have started a blog! I was originally going to start it after I got my laptop, but it looks like that is going to take some time, so hello from the home of the Chaperts! =)

Alright! I have been here for 1 month and 10 days! WOW! And I think I JUST reached the point of adjustment! (To each his own pace, okay?!)

I am having a bit of insomnia (went to bed at 2 and woke up at 8, bummer) so I thought I would write in this blog.

Here is a funny aside that will show you a bit of the difference between where you are and where I am:

The Utility of Newspapers on the Bordeaux Tram

Every morning I take the tram to the university 'campus' (the universities here look like a cross between high schools and Chabot, well at least my uni does-- I go to Bordeaux III, aka Anarchy City, but they are all so nice I'm not afraid of them, I may become one myself) and it is JAM packed. There is nothing I have ever seen like it, except for stuffing clowns in a car! Or that one Snickers commercial! It's CRAZY!! You are literally just smushed together. One morning three trams passed me before I could get into one (and I was the last one in, and only because I shooovvveeddddd). Okay! Back to the relevance of the title. There are newspapers stands around the tram stations, it's great, everyone is always reading together on the way to school! :) Anyways I always take one from the (sometimes smiling) paper person, and I chirp 'Bonjour' and 'merci', happy to get my shield. Yes, SHIELD!! Haha Je vous explique ('I'll explain' pronounced: Zeu vooz ekspleek) One morning on the tram I was smushed against this one man, who regrettably smelled less than fresh, and who was taller than me, so every time he exhaled (his smoker breath) through his nostrils and mouth I could feel it on my hair. Ewee!! So I took my handy dandy newspaper and covered my head. HAHA

Episode 2, last night on the tram ride to church I grabbed a sports newspaper (not that I'm interested, because there is no baseball here in France, boo) I was flipping through it, and I saw this guy... treasure hunting in his nose! EWEE!! He was seriously going at it. O_O I was so groddied out I had to block him out of my line of vision with the newspaper.

So, yes, read the newspaper. Especially on the tram.

So! It's true! The French greet with kisses on the cheek! (Do not actually plant one on their cheek unless you mean to, and usually not during a greeting, unless it's family it seems) At first, I was so a wk a rd , but now I am almost pro! It's funny, French students are very careful because they know I'm American so I usually initiate (with girls!). But, they are not big on hugs here. Which to me, is like a breath of life!! I would like a hug and not an inadvertent one from that guy on the tram. Haha! True story, I was in a (not so) romantic embrace with a mysterious man on the tram because it was so crowded! Haha (And yes, ladies, French men are very lovely to be smushed against. Well, most.)

That's another thing! The men here! MINCE! ('Dang!' pronounced manse- silent e at the end) So stylish and well-groomed! My friend from the EAP program (who I actually met at the airport before I got to France, but that's another story) Katie and I believe that French men are not better looking than American boys but that the fact that by middle school they wear pea coats and when they're older have BEAUTIFUL eyebrows, it enhances class. SO! Yea. (I have yet to see a baggy college sweater. Although, I have seen sweats... quelle horreur! :P)

Wow. Am I covering all the bases yet? Oops. I forgot. My friend Isabel inspired me to write this also for the sake of my parents! So here is a bit about me: I am fine! I feel so much happier lately now that classes have started and I have made friends. :) Even when I was miserable here I could always see that you were supporting me, and that you offered me this fantastic opportunity to study in France, so I will do my best. I love you, Umma and Appa!

So how was everyone's VALENTINE's DAY??? :D Yes, they do celebrate it here, Christa. Lol
I handed out candies (yes, not even the French can stop me from handing out candy) and was in a happy happy mood! Why? It's le jour de l'amour (day of love)!!! <3 Haha, okay I'll stop. Yea, I felt pretty single, BUT it was so great! On my way home from school I saw hordes of men running into bakeries holding bouquets of flowers with bottles of wine in a bag (the paucity of commas means this actions was completed simultaneously by one guy haha). So cute! Sigh, I love that stuff.

That night, I went to the Central, a pub/bar near Gambetta (near the centre-ville, a prettier part of town) with some people from the English Club at school. Hey! No judging! I spoke in French for most of the evening while they spoke in English. My gosh, if my French were as good as their English... that's my goal! Anyways, we all sang karaoke haha! I sang Come On Over Baby (by C. Aguilera, bien sûr! <-- 'of course', pro. : bee-ahn sioor) with Narcine, the girl who invited me and also a karaoke fiend! She is so funny! Mostly everyone sang a song (LAURENCE, la prochaine fois, tu chanteras une chanson, avec ou sans une boisson!) very fun! Let's see there was Narcine, Laurence, Pierrick, Michaël, Guillaume, Marlène, Chloe, Mariad (sp), Rachel, and me! It was nice to get out and relax, classes are so stressful. Well, not the classes, but choosing them! Haha, Seriously, embrace online registration and required classes. Right now, I am trying on classes like clothing (and none of them fit quite right).

Last night there was a lovely dinner at church and a great message! The passage was from Matthew 7: 13-14. (Go read it!) The message was geared towards people who would like to know more about accepting Christ, but I think even believers should hear the message. I am at a point where I am wondering if what I want and what God wants is the same. I am meeting so many new people who are so different (so far, I made friends with a Rasta girl, a Communist/Socialist, etc) and I wonder how I can be myself and at the same time be tolerant and not all haughty? (I always have to make sure I'm not looking down on others, and at times if I am or not or ahhh) Oops. You got a glimpse into my complex thoughts. But yea, whew!

Mmm.../Awww!! I just finished the last of my Bordeaux cookies that Unni sent me! (Thank you SOOO much for the care package, I love snacks and magazines and the ring-- I wear it everyday on my cross necklace!) When I get mi portati ('laptop' in Spanish haha) I will call youuuu!!! MUAH MUAH!!! (oh yea, say 'bonjour' to Sabu for me, please!)

Alrighty! I have been writing for more than half an hour! I hope I am not completely boring you, a girl needs to keep a bit of mystery! ;)

GROSSES BISES (BIIIGGGG KISSESSSSS),

Michelle, Elley, Jini, Jini-boo, whatever you call me behind my back


--edit--

here are some photos from aforementioned Valentine's Day:


Narcine et moi!


Marlène, Pierrick, Michaël, et Narcine. of course it's a Celine Dion song! =)

Guillaume and of course, Narcine ;)

Je voudrais mi portati!

Bonjour! Il est presque 130 du matin, mais j'ai pas envie de m'endormir, alors... j'ai décidé de commencer mon blog! Je voulais le faire après avoir reçu mon laptop, mais on ne sait jamais quand ça se passera, alors!

Je suis allée à un dîner à l'église à Pessac. C'était un repas Agape- génial! Je me suis amusée bien. Oh que le fellowship me manque beaucoup!

Il y a un myriade de choses que je veux raconter, mais, ben, je suis fatiguée! Alors, vous devez attendre! haah Oui, je sais que c'est nul de moi! :P

Bises,
Michelle