So, I went to the cell phone store, again, this time with S and A. I could make a long story short, and let you all know that I am still sans plan and avec shit phone, but thats no fun.
Literally carved an hour out of the day, and S took me to Art de Vivre to finally obtain my new phone. Things looked good, we had a good plan found, we had a new phone found, I could keep my old number.
The reason Im still avec shit phone?
THE FREAKING COMPUTER WAS DOWN. Really France? I would expect this from Argentina, but not from you, while I pay six dollars for a drink, just as much for a cafe au lait, and god knows how much on random food purchases, not to mention its like 60 euros to fill up a car...
Yeah, so now I have to go back tomorrow for the FOURTH time.
(I just listened to Amarte duele three times.......ok four. Im sorry the following lyrics-"solo pon tus labios sobre mi espalda," is just the sexiest lyrics ever. I know Im really new into this French thing, but I just cant imagine that French has shit on it.)
So I went over to Antoine's pretty sweet apartment in Paris last night. He was going to make me dinner or something, but I forgot to mention that I had already eaten dinner. (This is good, actually, I had a baguette, cheese, and apricot jam for lunch/dinner. And by baguette, I mean at least 10 inches of it, I thought I was going to throw up.) Anyway it was good to get out of the house, especially because I have to work both Friday and Saturday! Anyway, we talked about differences between French and North American culture, and I noted that hes "so French," but also that engineers as a species, are all the same. He was really nice about my French though, and helped me with pronunciation, and very enthusiastically let me know when I did it right. I learned, cutting off is "faire la queue du poisson" (spelling doesnt count for me in French yet), and "faire la course' is going grocery shopping!
Another funny Spanish encounter. Ailie and I were on the bus, talking in English, as per usual. These French guys on our left, lean over and say in Spanish to this girl, who may or may not have been Austrian, "Comprendes que dicen?" Which means, do you understand what theyre saying, referring to us.
Im beginning to think of Spanish as a super power.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
VIVE ESPANA
"Was that your first American?" "You can be my exotic American travel partner!"
"And then I left my key in the mens bathroom" "Ailie, itll be okay if you just brush your hair!" "But dont you want to practice your Spanish?"
"Just did." "God, I hope our sandwiches make it through security" "Hotdogging through Europe" "You dont get a ticket, you were rude!" "Sorry, I just speak French," "Moi aussi!"
Sorry for that. Needless to say, Spain was a good time. After an irritatingly long 8 hours of travel, we arrived at our hostel that was conveniently located to downtown and various historic locations. Although we arrived after 11, we decided to take a tour of Madrid and look for a retaurant or something.
What we found were three American girls, walking around looking for a place to get a drink. We tagged along with them and ended up getting a drink at a bar in Sol (I wont say what nationality, because its kind of embarassing). Anyway, came back home relatively early and fell asleep in our room which, at that point was empty.
On Wednesday, we woke up at a reasonable time and breakfasted on coffee (and croissant for Ailie). Feeling motivated, we walked out to El Paseo del Prado, in hopes of entering for free. We realized that we had to wait until 6 PM, so we wandered off towards Reina Sofia. We went in and it was pretty exciting, I got to see all of these Spanish paintings that Ive been studying since I was 14, including Guernica.
Im not sure how much of an "art" person I am. I feel like there are people out there that can just stare at something, and really appreciate it. I can only truly appreciate it if I understand at least some part of background. In other words, Art has to have context for me to consider it worth seeing. The propaganda, etc from the Spanish Civil war was really interesting to see. All that history I learned however long ago started stirring, and I was able to remember and fill in the gaps.
After the Reina Sofia, we traveled back to the hostel and went up to the terrace to enjoy the sun. We met some Americans, two 19 year olds from California who were doing 3 months traveling, and a guy from New Orleans who was taking just a few weeks. They were good people, and we went out with them that night. (There was some key issues, and possible sexual abuse, but thats not really important-just should note that no one got hurt....)
Thursday was a little more questionable. But we did still walk Madrid and the weather was absoultely perfect. We got groceries and made dinner. Somewhere in this mix, we met a couple Argentines that were studying in Barcelona, and ended up going out with them that night. In the process, we ran into some Erasmus kids we had met a few days before, and tagged along with them to some bar.
Friday we walked around and bought post cards, doing the tourist thing. We found Eli, Gabe, and Chris in the common room and made our sandwiches for our trip home. It sucks to say good bye to these amazing people, but c'est la vie.
Food-
Didnt actually eat at any Spanish restaurants, due to lack of fundage. We did however buy some chorizo and rice for about 3 euros, and made that last for FOUR MEALS. Yeah, we kicked Spains comida ass!
I did though come home to find the grandparents having a little fete with a tiny slice left of some sort of gateau. I had french cake, french cheese, french baguette, and a glass of french milk. I was disgusted with myself.
"And then I left my key in the mens bathroom" "Ailie, itll be okay if you just brush your hair!" "But dont you want to practice your Spanish?"
"Just did." "God, I hope our sandwiches make it through security" "Hotdogging through Europe" "You dont get a ticket, you were rude!" "Sorry, I just speak French," "Moi aussi!"
Sorry for that. Needless to say, Spain was a good time. After an irritatingly long 8 hours of travel, we arrived at our hostel that was conveniently located to downtown and various historic locations. Although we arrived after 11, we decided to take a tour of Madrid and look for a retaurant or something.
What we found were three American girls, walking around looking for a place to get a drink. We tagged along with them and ended up getting a drink at a bar in Sol (I wont say what nationality, because its kind of embarassing). Anyway, came back home relatively early and fell asleep in our room which, at that point was empty.
On Wednesday, we woke up at a reasonable time and breakfasted on coffee (and croissant for Ailie). Feeling motivated, we walked out to El Paseo del Prado, in hopes of entering for free. We realized that we had to wait until 6 PM, so we wandered off towards Reina Sofia. We went in and it was pretty exciting, I got to see all of these Spanish paintings that Ive been studying since I was 14, including Guernica.
Im not sure how much of an "art" person I am. I feel like there are people out there that can just stare at something, and really appreciate it. I can only truly appreciate it if I understand at least some part of background. In other words, Art has to have context for me to consider it worth seeing. The propaganda, etc from the Spanish Civil war was really interesting to see. All that history I learned however long ago started stirring, and I was able to remember and fill in the gaps.
After the Reina Sofia, we traveled back to the hostel and went up to the terrace to enjoy the sun. We met some Americans, two 19 year olds from California who were doing 3 months traveling, and a guy from New Orleans who was taking just a few weeks. They were good people, and we went out with them that night. (There was some key issues, and possible sexual abuse, but thats not really important-just should note that no one got hurt....)
Thursday was a little more questionable. But we did still walk Madrid and the weather was absoultely perfect. We got groceries and made dinner. Somewhere in this mix, we met a couple Argentines that were studying in Barcelona, and ended up going out with them that night. In the process, we ran into some Erasmus kids we had met a few days before, and tagged along with them to some bar.
Friday we walked around and bought post cards, doing the tourist thing. We found Eli, Gabe, and Chris in the common room and made our sandwiches for our trip home. It sucks to say good bye to these amazing people, but c'est la vie.
Food-
Didnt actually eat at any Spanish restaurants, due to lack of fundage. We did however buy some chorizo and rice for about 3 euros, and made that last for FOUR MEALS. Yeah, we kicked Spains comida ass!
I did though come home to find the grandparents having a little fete with a tiny slice left of some sort of gateau. I had french cake, french cheese, french baguette, and a glass of french milk. I was disgusted with myself.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
1)
Tried to get out of my shit prepaid plan an attempted to get a contract with my portable provider. Two trips and many paperwork later I was unsuccessful. I need to get documentation from my employers, apparently. I found this irritating.
2)
After unsuccessful cell phone trip, went to Paris and Ailie triumphantly found a handbag for Madrid (which is today). Found a bar with a cheap happy hour and settled in for a pint or two. At one point this North African guy comes up to us (Morrocco, actually). And attempts to talk to us. As he opens his mouth to say hello, HIS TOOTH FALLS OUT. Ailie and I see this, and I start laughing hysterically. Nonetheless, the guy continues to try conversation while surreptisiously searching for his tooth, on the floor of the bar. Ailie and I start to talk amongst ourselves, to try and give this guy the hint that we arent interesting, and finally, he successfuly is able to replace his tooth.
3)
Ran into Yves on the RER. He was babysitting his friends nephew, who was about 13. In the 20 minutes on the train together, Artur (13 year old) has a new love for English/Spanish
4)
Going to Espana in like an hour and a half.
Tried to get out of my shit prepaid plan an attempted to get a contract with my portable provider. Two trips and many paperwork later I was unsuccessful. I need to get documentation from my employers, apparently. I found this irritating.
2)
After unsuccessful cell phone trip, went to Paris and Ailie triumphantly found a handbag for Madrid (which is today). Found a bar with a cheap happy hour and settled in for a pint or two. At one point this North African guy comes up to us (Morrocco, actually). And attempts to talk to us. As he opens his mouth to say hello, HIS TOOTH FALLS OUT. Ailie and I see this, and I start laughing hysterically. Nonetheless, the guy continues to try conversation while surreptisiously searching for his tooth, on the floor of the bar. Ailie and I start to talk amongst ourselves, to try and give this guy the hint that we arent interesting, and finally, he successfuly is able to replace his tooth.
3)
Ran into Yves on the RER. He was babysitting his friends nephew, who was about 13. In the 20 minutes on the train together, Artur (13 year old) has a new love for English/Spanish
4)
Going to Espana in like an hour and a half.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Food
If youve never lived abroad, you probably wont really understand the following post.
No matter how good the reputation of the food of said location, the honest truth is, it aint never like mama made it. For example, last night, Callie and I went to a "Country Western" restaurant in Chambourcy for dranks. We took a gander at the menu which featured among other things, snails, fois grois, frog legs, etc. COUNTRY WESTERN, people. If youre going to have mostly French food, lose the cowboy hats and dont tease me....
Anyway so today for lunch, L and I had fried potatoes and scrambled eggs. This was all completely on a whim, I had no food goals ahead of time. Originally, I planned to eat rice, but as I was checking L's food to made sure it wasnt too hot, I accidentally got a taste of the eggs mixed with the potatos.
If anyone here has seen Ratatouille, theres a scene in which the super creepy food critic goes to take a bite of the Rats ratatouille. As he does, hes suddenly taken back to his childhood. The scene shows him falling off a bike or something, coming in for lunch and being served ratatouille by his mom...
This is exactly what happened with lunch today. I dont remember the last time my mom made me fried potatos and eggs, but its been a while. I was suddenly reminded of Christmas day, after we opened presents, sitting around the dining room table eating loads of eggs, potatos, challah bread, and sausage. I think thats the first time so far that Ive felt really nostalgic for the States.
No matter how good the reputation of the food of said location, the honest truth is, it aint never like mama made it. For example, last night, Callie and I went to a "Country Western" restaurant in Chambourcy for dranks. We took a gander at the menu which featured among other things, snails, fois grois, frog legs, etc. COUNTRY WESTERN, people. If youre going to have mostly French food, lose the cowboy hats and dont tease me....
Anyway so today for lunch, L and I had fried potatoes and scrambled eggs. This was all completely on a whim, I had no food goals ahead of time. Originally, I planned to eat rice, but as I was checking L's food to made sure it wasnt too hot, I accidentally got a taste of the eggs mixed with the potatos.
If anyone here has seen Ratatouille, theres a scene in which the super creepy food critic goes to take a bite of the Rats ratatouille. As he does, hes suddenly taken back to his childhood. The scene shows him falling off a bike or something, coming in for lunch and being served ratatouille by his mom...
This is exactly what happened with lunch today. I dont remember the last time my mom made me fried potatos and eggs, but its been a while. I was suddenly reminded of Christmas day, after we opened presents, sitting around the dining room table eating loads of eggs, potatos, challah bread, and sausage. I think thats the first time so far that Ive felt really nostalgic for the States.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Conversion
I realize that I have no idea what the euro-dollar conversion rate is, because its a) too depressing and b) I earn euro billetes, not dolla dolla bills.
Im not sure how this makes me feel.
Im not sure how this makes me feel.
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