Franglish

I’m not sure why, but for some reason all of the sudden I’m speaking French like never before. Of course I make tons of mistakes still, but over the past few days I’ve started yammering away with minimal effort, which is a huge change (and potentially not as great for my host family as it is for me). Ok, not minimal effort, but definitely much easier than before. Up until a week ago, every time I wanted to say something I would attempt to carefully construct it all in my head. This took some concentration, so often by the time I was ready to spit it out, the thing I had wanted to say would be irrelevant or awkward, like a « quip » that’s 5 minutes late…which is a « slope » (Shallow Hal, anyone?). 

I wonder if it has something to do with going to Italy for the weekend. It was funny because ever since I’ve been here and have had to speak French I always think to myself “I hope they speak English, just in case…”

But when I was in Italy it’s like my default language changed. I’ve always been so jealous of people who could effortlessly switch back and forth between languages. This weekend was the first time I’ve ever actually been one of those people. Like I said, tons of mistakes still, but it's really getting easier and I think my confidence is building, which is a huge help. Daniela, the Italian girl that came with us, doesn’t really speak English, so the default “group language” for the weekend ended up being French. But when it was just me talking to one of the other Maryland students, we spoke English. Then of course Italian being thrown into the mix was really interesting. The 4 of us spent the entire weekend speaking a weird mix of French, English, and a bit of random Italian.

I understood quite a bit of what I heard, but really don’t remember Italian well enough to converse. So I found myself saying “I hope they speak French…” And for the most part, they did. It was amazing to realize that despite feeling completely incompetent sometimes, I know French well enough to do pretty much anything I want or need to do. Deep down I guess I’ve known this all along, but it took going to Italy to realize I really can speak French. Go figure, right? 

More Italy pics-

We had to change trains at the border crossing into Italy. Despite having tickets, there were no seats available. Oh, Italy!

Eventually the train cleared out. Kathleen and me.

Daniela and Paymon

Castle! Right in the middle of a piazza. I love it.

Torino at night

Gorgeous church. The inside is just as beautiful.

If I didn't come off as a cat lady before...

After a really great weekend away, I was dreading coming back for another long week of school. Contrary to popular belief, I’m actually pretty bogged down with schoolwork and am NOT lollygagging on the beach all day. Fortunately this week has been better than expected, and I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the awesome care package I received on Monday. It was mostly clothes that I wish I had brought as well as a raincoat that was supposed to be a Christmas gift but was on backorder. But I also got a few fun surprises, including “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” (so Lori and I can have our transatlantic ‘movie date’), a big bag of Reese’s Pieces to share with my host family, a really thoughtful card from Joe Waggle (Hi, Joe!), and letters from the cats. Yes…letters from the cats. And not even just my cats. I also got one from Heather’s cat, Sid Vicious.

Highlights from cat letters included:

From Kitler- Lori is kind enough to let me sit in her lap, but let’s face it, I don’t really like her. I wish you had taken me to France with you; I think that my style is French enough to have fit right in. You have to admit, I do wear black and white quite well… Lori’s caught me on the table more times than I care to admit, so don’t be surprised if I have no fur upon your return. Maybe you could come home early to protect me from the impending threat of the blender defender.

From Sid Vicious-I hope you are having a fantastic time in France. I have a beret that I wear around sometimes when Heather isn’t home. I used to be a painter in the old days. I hear Heather, Lori, and Sam are coming to visit you! That’s exciting…I’m going to try and hide in Heather’s backpack so I can see you!

From Hans-Pet me!

I was totally surprised by all of this, and I couldn’t stop cracking up about it all afternoon, so thanks for making my week significantly better than expected. It’s always nice to know you’re being missed. And if I wasn’t a crazy cat lady before, it seems that I’ve become one now!!!

More Italy pictures: 

Dinnertime!!!

This is the bicerin, a typical drink in Torino. They bring it out in three small cups (steamed milk, espresso, melted dark chocolate. You pour or mix the drink yourself in the larger glass teacup.)

View from the train window

Gelato and pasta and pizzas...oh my!

Back from Italy, and what a great trip!! Even though we were only there for one night, we packed a ton of stuff into a really small time window. Being back in Torino for the first time in almost 6 years was so interesting. It’s changed quite a bit in some ways, but in others it seemed exactly the same. 

I went with 2 other kids from the Maryland group (Kathleen and Paymon) and Daniela, another girl in the program who is a real certified Italian. Having someone there that could actually speak the language certainly came in handy, and I’m really glad we got to know her. She was definitely the nice one in the group. Poor Paymon was the only guy stuck with three girls for a weekend. For those of you who know the dynamics of my immediate family (i.e. my poor henpecked father stuck with my mom, sister, aunt, and me), you can probably imagine how the weekend went. Kathleen and I picked on him relentlessly. He put up a good fight, but by the end of the second day he was carrying my purse and he knew who was boss.  

The weekend pretty much ended up being a food tour and lots of Lord of the Rings quoting “Second breakfast? Elevensies?” But we were in Italy and how else were we gonna justify gelato at 10:30am?

Highlights:

-A real shower with unlimited hot water

-The sweet slippers that the hotel gave us…and Paymon trying to be taken seriously while wearing them.

-The Egyptian museum-second largest in the world! Real mummies…some of them even had hair still!

-Gelato…oh my god. Gelato is now ruined for me. Nothing I get here or at home will ever compare.

-The Shroud of Turin

-Dinner…so good it deserves its own post.

-Bicerin-typical drink from the area consisting of warm milk, espresso, and melted dark chocolate. They bring out a big empty mug and then 3 small little cups with all the ingredients and you mix them yourself. Delish!

-My favorite wine, Barbera, which comes from the area, was so cheap. We ordered a carafe for the table at dinner. When the bill came we realized it was only 5 euros. Had I known, I would have ordered my own carafe.

-The focaccia place that was so delicious that we went there twice in 24 hours

Shroud of Turin

Up to no good

Short post tonight. I’m in the middle of packing for Italy. Our train is at the crack of dawn tomorrow, but at least that gives us more time in Torino! It’s going to be so weird going back after having not been there for 6 years.  I wonder what’s changed and what’s stayed the same…I guess I’ll know soon enough!

In preparation of my weekend, I’ve been running around all day doing errands and cramming homework in between. Unfortunately there was a problem with my debit card. It got flagged for “unusual activity,” which was annoying but ended up not being a huge deal. I just had to show a bunch of extra forms of ID. Then when I got home I called the bank to straighten it out. By the way, the Google call phone is so handy for things like that!

I suppose I was mostly frustrated because I already went to the bank in person and told them I would be using the card in Europe from January til June. They were supposed to have made a note on my account. But as annoyed as I was, I’m actually really glad that they flagged my card. I didn’t realize it until I was on the phone with the bank, but my card activity did seem awfully suspicious today. Keep in mind that I’m cheap and have been really trying not to spend much money. My bank account’s seen almost zero action since I’ve been here. The woman on the phone was like “Ok, let’s review your charges for today just for verification. There was an ATM withdrawal for $xxx.xx (too much money). Then there was a charge for a train ticket to Italy. Then a charge at H&M for $xxx.xx (WAY too much money). Does that sound right?”

Wow, well when you put it like that, I understand the suspicion.

I reassured her that I was the rightful cardholder and not a thief who swiped it, withdrew a bunch of money from my account, went on a shopping spree at H&M, and bought a train ticket to flee the country. I also gave her a list of other places I will be going in the next few months, so hopefully this time around the message actually gets passed along...

No post tomorrow because I’ll be out of town sans ordinateur (without computer). 

Cat in a bag. Actually that was part of Plume's desperate search for my earplugs, which have unfortunately become  her favorite toy.

Saving Face

Last week I met up with my friend Victor for coffee. He’s the Canadian/Russian guy who I met (and have since befriended) because I misread his sign on campus. We had a good time and he gave me some insight about the locals. Important thing to remember-the Niçoise hate to be wrong. He said when they make a mistake, don’t hold your breath waiting for an apology. This theory was immediately confirmed when the waitress forgot to bring back our change. We had to remind her twice and no apology or explanation was ever given. In fact, we even had to tell her twice how much money we had given her so she could bring back the appropriate change. Victor also told me that the locals hate to look like they don’t know something. So when it comes to asking for directions, it’s common for them to make something up to save face rather than admit that they don’t know where something is.

This evening, in a desperate search to find a “cultural activity” to fulfill a course requirement, I found myself at an Erasmus event. Erasmus (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), despite the crazy acronym seems to just be a foreign exchange program for Western Europe. They host lots of events for exchange students as a way to meet up and interact. So tonight my friend and I went to “Each one-Teach one” which was supposed to be a language exchange program. Neither Kathleen nor I actually looked up specific directions to the place, thinking it was going to be really easy to find.

That was a mistake.

After wandering aimlessly for 10 minutes, I popped into a souvenir shop to ask the employee if he knew of the restaurant. “Oh yeah…I’m not sure which of those buildings it is exactly, but I know it’s down that way,” he said, waving his arms in a left-ish direction.

So we headed in the left-ish direction he indicated, but we hit a dead end at the flower market and the place was nowhere to be found.  So I called Victor. It turns out the place was pretty much 100% opposite of where the shop employee told me.  Annoyed, we backtracked to our original location and found the restaurant with no further problems, thanks to Victor’s accurate directions. 

One more for the list of lessons learned the hard way:

Always ask at least two or three people for directions to any given place. Then compare and make sure you’ve not been lied to. 

No clue what "Fridge Mice Shock" means.

For the record, I loved the Erasmus event. I can't wait to go back! Everyone was extremely friendly, and it was a great way to really meet people and practice my conversation skills. The only downer is that the restaurant where they meet is really expensive, and you have to buy something to stay and hang out. A can of Orangina is 3.50!

Time warps and wormholes...

I can’t believe I’ve been here an entire month…time is so strange here. If I didn’t refuse to believe in such things, I’d be partially convinced by now that I was in some sort of creepy sci-fi time warp…or would that be a worm hole? I don’t know. Regardless, time’s simultaneously flying by and dragging on forever. I’m almost ¼ of the way done! Though it’s only been a month, we’ve been so busy it seems impossible that we’ve crammed so much activity into just a few short weeks. 

I was going to post a picture of a wormhole, but the Google image search frightened me.

So now that I’ve settled into a routine, I’ve noticed a few things from home that I really miss. Obviously family, friends, and cats are a given… but I’ve found that the little things are what seem to make the biggest difference on a day to day basis. So here are a few of them, listed in no particular order:

1)   Decent sized mugs- Like everything else here, including the people, the coffee mugs are tiny. Most of them seem to be about 6 or 8oz (Akash- that is 177.441- 236.588 ml). Really the same goes for all drinking vessels here. I have to refill my water glass at dinner like 8 times. I’ve started just bringing my water bottle to the table. 

I bought myself a big mug. So adorable, I couldn't resist.

It was on sale too!

2)   A vacuum and broom from this century- The broom just does not work. I don’t know what else to say about it. It’s old and worn out and the bristles are all matted together. It’s also too bulky to get into the corners of a room and the vacuum seems to spit more dirt out than it picks up.

3)   The flat sheet- I don’t know what it is about this place, but the French don’t seem to believe in the flat bed sheet. You get the fitted one that goes on the mattress, and then the comforter. Nothing in between. This is upsetting to me because often I’m either too hot or too cold in the night. The top sheet provides the perfect balance and is, in my opinion, a necessity.

4)   Shower with ample hot water-Don’t even get me started. You know my thoughts on the shower. If not, refer to February post “If It’s Yellow…”

5)   Ergonomic memory foam neck pillow for side sleepers-I’m a grandma with creaky old bones and a stiff neck…need I say more?

6)   Post it notes- This seems like a silly thing to miss, but I use post it notes all the time at home. I went to the store the other day to find some, but one measly block costs over 8 euros, which is ridiculous and costs more than my awesome new mug. Looks like I’ll have to remember my keys and lunch without a neon orange reminder stuck to the door. 

Without post-it note reminders, this could be my future...except that I would never be barefoot.

Ginkobiloba

Sophie’s cousin from Paris is here visiting for the week. She got here Saturday night and is staying until Monday. I really like her. She’s “a hoot.”

She’s also really interested in learning English, so tonight before dinner she said “I am thinking we must arrange a deal, you and me. I will cook the dinners for you and me and speak English. And you speak French and we will correct our mistakes.”

I was both thrilled and slightly confused by this statement. I really miss my ESOL students, so having the opportunity to help someone trying to learn English will be great. Too bad she’s only here for a week. Also, hearing French people speaking English is truly an amazing feeling. I’ve been here for a month, royally butchering 50% of everything I try to say. I’m learning a ton, but it’s truly exhausting hearing French all day and having to put so much effort into everything you want to say. I go to bed physically and mentally drained every single night. It’s easy to get discouraged, and hearing my host family try to speak English puts things back into perspective and reminds me that I’m not a moron and that learning another language is hard for everyone!

I was also confused as to why Anne would make dinner for just the two of us when we usually have 4-6 people for dinner. As the evening progressed, so did my confusion. First, they kept talking about the weather in Venice. I assume this is because it’s Carnival and they’re just curious. Then Sophie said something about needing to pack her suitcase, but by suitcase I figured she meant an overnight bag (She’s been sleeping at her boyfriend’s place because Anne is allergic to cats, so Sophie gave Anne her bedroom and poor Plume has been banished to the tiny living room for the week.). Then Sophie asked me if I knew where Plume’s food was and how much she ate. John also told me she prefers fresh water so make sure to refill her dish every day. So now I’m really wondering what’s happening. Sophie brings out a pretty big suitcase and started filling it up and I finally just ask where she’s going.

Turns out she’s going to Venice for work. Apparently she mentioned it but I have zero recollection of that conversation. I also have a terrible memory (It's in my genes. My mother should have taken more ginkobiloba before I was born!) and am therefore not surprised.

So looks like it’s just Anne and me for the next few days. And Chloé…but she’s very rarely home anyway.  I’m actually looking forward to getting to know Anne a little better. I’m hoping to squeeze in some English lessons and who knows…I’m going to Paris soon and it’s always good to have connections. :)

This is a picture from the perfume factory that we toured a couple weeks ago that I've been meaning to post and keep forgetting about.