Morocco Overall

So a friend of mine Clara and I went to Morocco and Spain for two weeks for our Easter Break. The trip was amazing and I really feel like I got a good sense of what Morocco has to offer because we went to Casablanca (there really is a Rick's Cafe), Marrakech, Ouarzazat, Tinghir, Fes and Asilah. We only spent the night in Casablanca because we had been told that its a industrial and there isnt all that much to do. We also only spent one night in Marrakech because it was crazy busy and way overwhelming but we did get to walk
around quite a bit and see a lot of the Medina (old part of the city). In Ouarzazat we regrouped and went to the cinema museum there which was awesome as its where they film pretty much any film that takes place in the Sahara and Northern Africa.
Then we headed to Tinghir where there was a gorge but I wasnt feeling that great so I decided to take a morning to myself and read and sleep which was really nice. Then we took a 13 hour bus ride (we were told it was only 11 hours) from Tinghir to Fes, it was awful, first of all we left at 5pm so we were going through the night but then we also went through the Moyen (medium) Atlas Mountains and nearly froze to death as there was snow and the bus's windows didnt completely close. Needless to say I was freezing and got so cold that I couldnt feel my heals and my friend sat on my feet for warmth. I honestly dont think I have ever been so cold that my heals lost all feeling, I was also wearing EVERY piece of warm clothing that I had with me! That night we got into Fes at 3:30am and were about to get a taxi when a young guy offered to help us find a place because the medina was really close. It was great because we probably wouldnt have found a place to stay as everything was full. We went to several hotels and then he took us to someone's home, there is this thing in Fes where they are trying to start up chambre d'hote (welcome rooms) in old homes that are distinctly Moroccan. It was pretty cool but WAY over the top with decorations and there a picture of a child that looked like it had been bedazzled it was wearing so much jewelry. It was really interesting to see what high-end old furniture looked like and was an eye-opening experience into the lives of these people's lives. We then headed to Asilah to spend a couple days on the beach before going to Spain. When we got off the bus, thankfully not as adventurous as the one we took the previous night, and we asked the driver how to get to a hotel he waved down the only car on the streets and asked for directions to which the driver replied, 'hop in Ill take you'(in French). He then drove us all over until we found a hotel that suited us and was in our budget.
Everyone we met was so nice and helpful it was amazing. It made me realize how guarded we are in the States and how we live in a culture that is so fearful of others and strangers. I was amazed at how fast people warmed up to us and swiftly invited us over for dinner or tea. It really was awesome!

Mom and Dads visit

Ok so this is way late going up but I have been pretty sick lately and didnt really feel like posting. But anyway mom and dad came to visit me two weeks ago now, wow it feels like they just left, and we had a great time. I found them an apartment in Vieux Lyon called chambre d'hote or host room. Usually its in somebody's home and you eat with them and can speak with them which is really cool if you know French, but since mom speaks absolutely no French and dad speaks minimal I thought that an apartment would be better. The apartment was in a traboule, which dad thought was amazing, and was built in the Middle Ages and the exterior was renovated in the Renaissance Period. It was pretty cool and inside it was IKEA-ed out so it was all new and modern in an old building with a stone spiral staircase to the rooms. I was pretty proud of the find and they really liked it, plus it was centrally located and awesome.
So they got in on Saturday night and we got to the hotel and chatted and then went to bed. Sunday morning we got up and went to the produce market on the banks of the Rhone to get all of our fruits and vegetables for the week. We also got some cheeses that I like which were a great hit as well, brie (of course) and compte which is a pretty strong cheese but smooth. No one wanted to get bleu cheese, my personal favorite so we skipped that. Sunday night we went to the Opera House to see a traveling symphony play music by Mozart which was great and then we went out to dinnner. All in all it was a good day and I would have to say a semi-romantic day seeing as how it was their anniversary, however, they did have their son tagging along so not all that romantic.
Monday we got up and I showed them Vieux Lyon, Fourviere (the big basilica on the hill) and the theatre gallo-roman or the Roman theatres. After that we went back to Vieux Lyon to have lunch and then ran into my friend Josephine who walked with us to Bellecour (one of the biggest courts in France) and right next to the shopping district. After that we got a drink in Place Terreaux and sat in the sun enjoying the beautiful day.
Tuesday we got up early and went to Marseilles for the day which was absolutely amazing. I had no idea what there was to do so we stopped by the tourism office and got a couple of maps and advice on what to do. First thing we did was take a ferry to Chateau D'If the island from the Compte de Monte Cristo and learned about the history of the island as well as the book and Alexandre Dumas' family. One really interesting fact about the book is that it wasnt written as a novel but as pamphlets to be printed in the newspaper, that way more people could enjoy it. It was also the first book translated into Chinese and was the first international best-seller. Anyway we also did a little walking tour of the city and saw some of the sites but we took our time stopping in stores and looking for cool streets. We also had a little break for ice cream and tea next to the old port which was great and then we headed off to the shopping district. That was pretty much the end of the day in Marseilles as we had to catch the train back to Lyon. But when we got back to the apartment we had some of my friends over for drinks and snacks before we went out for Saint Patrick's Day. Mom and dad stayed in the room while 'us kids' went out.
Wednesday I got up early because I thought I had class but was wrong because it had been cancelled. So mom and dad spent the day wandering around and found a store where the man was making silk tapestries, something Lyon is famous for, to which mom of course became a patron. I also found out that I got into Swansea University so it was a pretty good morning. That evening we went to my family's house to have dinner with them and some of their friends who spoke English. It was a great dinner and we had duck with cherries, rice, salad, cheese and then marquise au chocolat (dont know the translation for English) and some other coffee cake thing but neither had to be cooked and were served cold, it was all amazing.
Thursday we spent the day in Parc Tete D'Or which is a mix between a park and zoo which was great and a couple of friends came along for that as well. We also had a drink by the lake enjoying the afternoon sun. It was a great week to come because it was sunny and warm the entire time! And then we went back to the apartment and they packed and got everything ready to go.

Amanda's visit

The last week has been really busy and exciting. Last Friday my good friend Amanda came to Lyon to visit for a couple of days over her spring break. So I made sure that she saw all of the main sights of Lyon in the only full day we had. I also had a couple of friends over for dinner so she could meet some of my friends here and visa versa. One crazy thing is that there happened to be an Indian (Native American) street performance happening at Bellecour which I thought was funny since she had traveled across the globe to come to France and she sees N.A.'s performing.
All went well and because the last week with mom and dad being here was so busy I have pretty much forgotten the details of Amanda's visit but I felt like it went well and we had fun.

An unfortunate event

Yesterday I decided to go to my first swim practice and woke myself up at 8:30 to make sure I would be there on time. So when I arrived at 9:30 and the coach told me the practice was full but I could come back for the practice 11 I was surprisingly ok with it. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was able to go to the university (which is right around the corner and the reason I chose this swim practice to go to) and submitted my application to Sciences Po! When I returned I had a great swim practice and was really happy with how much I was able to do, particularly since we were doing I.M.s and breaststroke drill kick. Anyway half way through I could feel my lip starting to tingle and as I predicted I had a cold sore coming on. I kept telling myself that if I put Carmex on it, it would go away and everything would be fine and it wouldnt be that big. Now I dont know if its because I went out last night or what but I woke up this morning and its HUGE! Fortunately it looks like I got punched and not like I have a cold sore BUT I made the mistake of just telling everyone it was a coldsore, which I then had to explain what it is. And even luckier for me it was the first time some of the people had ever seen a cold sore. Now I was not only self conscious and in slight pain from the cold sore but I was also a novelty on display and some people told me "Oh gosh I really just cant stop looking at it" or "You dont look very good today are you feeling alright" although that last one might have been because i didnt sleep a lot last night. Anyway getting a cold sore sucks but getting one in a foreign country, having to explain what it is, and then having everyone wanting to get a better look blows!
For obvious reasons I have not included a picture in this post but Im sure you can image what it looks like when three cold sores fuse into one.

Day trip to Dijon

Saturday I went to Dijon with two friends for the day and it was absolutely beautiful. We took the 7:20 am train which was a little rough because I had to get up at 5:30 to get to the train station on time but it was actually a lot easier than I was expecting. It was also really nice that we left so early because we got in early and had 9 hours in Dijon. I was surprised at how fast the time went by because there isnt a whole lot to do in Dijon but it was the perfect day to go because it was sunny and warm. First thing we did when we got to Dijon was have a vin chaud (hot wine) we went into the cafe to get a coffee and hot chocolate but all of the locals were drinking at 10am so we figured when in Dijon, do as the Dijonnaise. It kind of set the laid back tone of the day because we pretty much went from spot to spot around the town just meadering around the town and stopping rather frequently to eat or get a drink.
The day flew by and we did a bunch of circles but I really feel that we did everything that there was to do and really experienced Dijon. We went to the open air market where I took the picture of the nun buying veggies and then we hiked around town a bit and saw some unneccesary PDA that is very typical in France. Oh and we learned that most of the mustard that we buy is from a vinegar base but its SO much better from a wine or champagne base and when made fresh plus the choices available were unreal; like fig and pecan to mushroom and balsamic vinaigrette!
Another really cool aspect of Dijon is that they decorate the roofs of the building with intricate colored patterns which was beautiful. You should be able to see it on the roof of the cathedral which definitely gave it a unique quality and and broke away from the typical serious church look

Rouen

So after a couple days in Paris and the day before I was planning on going back to Lyon, my friend who I met in Lyon called to see if I wanted to go somewhere in Normandy as he was coming back from Frankfurt with a friend. I of course thought a sneaky trip to somewhere would be fun, when I remembered that my friend from high school Catherine Wagner was living in Rouen, a medium size town in nowhere other than Normandy. So I facebooked her since I didnt have her number and she called me back to let me know that we were more than welcome and that we could stay with her. Rouen is an unknown gem, it was built in the Middle Ages like Lyon but the architecture there is so much different, think the stereotypical German house with the white plaster and brown wood and replace the duo-toned house with a mutlitude of colors, not more than two colors on any one house but there was blue and yellow, pink and a brighter pink it was really cool. Plus the city has an amazing mixture of architecture from the Middle Ages to very contemporary, for this we can thank the Allied forces (read Americans) who bombed the crap out of it at the end of World War II essentially destroying hundreds of years of amazing architecture and completely flattening the left side of the river that was of course built up between the 1950-70s in the same beautiful and well appreciated style as aforementioned in my bit about the 13th arrondisement (sorry I forgot to add that this is essentially the French word for district or section).
Jett (my previously mentioned friend) and I hung out with Catherine and her awesome friends and were pretty much able to see the whole town seeing as how its not that big and can be walked in about 20 min from the train station to the river (Seine). We drank loads of coffee (around 4 a day) and indulged in all of the local delights aka pasteries. We also went roller bladding, I know what youre thinking, but it is the hottest thing in Rouen and you can blade right next to the river for about 20 min before having to turn around, and you can rent the blades, it was great fun. And that last sentence was an overuse of commas but I enjoy them. One of the most adventurous parts of the trip was getting into Catherine's apartment, because she is an au pair her housing is arranged for her and since her family bought a new dance studio she gets the apartment above it. Sounds great but she has to cut through classes and pull up a huge black velvet curtain to get into the backroom (read unfinished garage looking room with old furniture, a CROSSBOW, very excited about that but she wouldnt let me play with it, and couple of surfboards. Then you had to risk your life up the most rickety flight of wooden stairs I have ever ascended/descended to get to her spacious apartment. It was great, not completely finished but great minus the whole toxic mold growing in the floorboards in the bathroom and the mushrooms sprouting next to the shower because it leaked. But as I said very adventurous!
Oh Jett and I also went to the local Musee des Beaux Arts and saw several original Monet paintings and the coolest staircase I think either of us had ever seen. Ive included a picture, its the one with the crazy orange lines, look in the mirror in the corner, the lines turn into a perfect target in the mirror, its amazing. Its supposed to mimic the painting that is at the top of the stairs that I took a picture of but you cant really tell its anything because of the angle it is skewed at. It blows my mind the mathematical calculations that would have had to take place to paint this painting of a biblical scene that you can only truly see with the help of a cylindrical mirror! And it was done ages ago, absolutely amazing
After about 4 days in Rouen and after seeing her bf perform in a local pub, which was really cool,
Jett and I said goodbye to Rouen and to Catherine and headed back to Lyon where is was raining, cold and caused me to become immediately homesick. Thankfully the sun was out this past weekend and I got to go to Dijon with some friends which I hope to post tomorrow.
Oh and I forgot to mention, I guess this is what I get for not posting regularly, but I saw the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake and have included pictures of the church that was dedicated to her. It doesnt look like a church though it looks like a bunch of crazy peaks. Also the picture with the old buildings is based around the ruins of a Roman market, pretty freakin cool.

Paris

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I didnt realize how long its been since my last post, for that I apologize, as I know there are loads of people following this and just cant stand the fact that they dont know whats happening in my life. haha
Anyway for the week break in February, because more than a month of school is just too long to endure without a break as decide by the Minister of Education, I went to Paris to see my good friends Caterina and Quentin. Cat was kind enough to let me stay at hers which significantly reduced the price of the trip since you can not find a hostel cheaper than $30. Also she showed me around her arrondisement which was great and centrally located so we never really had to go far to see anything. It was great, I mostly walked from cafe to cafe getting something to eat or drink, ok not really but this is what it felt like because every couple of hours I was stopping in at some recommended spot for a snack. One snack in particular that I would like to discuss is my hot chocolate from Deux Magots, yes the Deux Magots written about by Hemingway, and got a goute (snack) from Laduree. Mmmm the Macarons from Laduree are amazing and typical to the arrondisement in Paris. I dont really think this does them justice but it is kind of a sponge dough that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside (think cookie shaped) with two pieces stuck together with some sort of filling. My favorites were blackberry and caramel!
Back to the subject of Paris, since it was my fourth time to Paris I decided (again) that I would not do all of the touristy things, didnt happen I took around 20 pics of Notre Dame, love that place. But I did make it out of the touristy area and hit up the 13th arrondisement which is the Asian Quarter. Not going to lie, I would stay in the touristy area, there is a reason its popular, its because its pretty. The 13th arrondisement was not the beautiful Paris scene that you dream about, instead it was tall grey or white buildings built somewhere between the 1950's-1970's not a particularly beautiful period of architectural history, at least in my mind. So this place looks like you would image the old Eastern Block to look like, save one plaza that had pseudo-asian architecture, plus it was a gloomy day which only added to the oppressive and dank feeling. But it did have one redeeming quality, the Asian market, I dont know about all of you but I quite enjoy my Asian food and this place was like Mecca yet it was not the beautiful Americanized Chinese food we all know and love. This was some of the most bizarre food I have seen packaged in unassuming boxes and plastic wrap. One example; a can of jus de coco asada, sounds great right, roasted coconut juice/milk. NOT. This was a pretty can labeled in English and Spanish that had CHUNKS of coconut floating in it, Im not a huge fan of pulp so having a chunk the size of a pea float through the luscious cap and into the back of my throat was 1) not something I was expecting and 2) is not a sensation I would recommend to anyone. Upon further inspection I found that it was not an accident but the can was crawling with chunks of coconut, not pretty white flaky coconut but nasty brown and white chucks that looked like puke! However undetered I also tried a nice bottle of Ginseng, with the root floating in the bottle but luckily for me and the people around me in the 'splash zone' the root did not exit the bottle mid-sip.
Although I put a slightly negative spin on my purchases I did get to see some man order 7 kilos (about 14 pounds) of fresh tune. One hopes that isnt just for him and he also received this treasure in a white garbage bag and it cost him over 120 euros! Probably much cheaper than anywhere else. Yet I did not question how fresh the fish was, one because I was overwhelmed by the variety and two by the smell, and it wasnt until I saw large fish tanks in the back that I realized just how fresh that fish might have been, not saying that every fish I saw was alive but I would say that those fish looked like they do in Pike Place Market, for those of you who have been to Seattle you know what Im talking about, for those of you who have not, I would highly recommend taking a gander at the fisherman who literally chuck the fish at each other while they are serving the customers.
Overall and as usual I had a great time in Paris.
OH I almost forgot, I went to Sciences Po with Cat (if you read this thank you so much for going with me) who had to find it because there are several different campuses none of which are clearly labelled. So at Sciences Po I spoke with the woman in charge of the program for about an hour about the varying aspects of the program and the university. All I can say is please keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer or whatever it is that you do, for me because I really want to get in!