Belgium!

alright, this is going to be a long one. lots of pictures. caitlin and i just spent the past 3 days in belgium. it was AWESOME! i should probably do this chronologically. monday, we left at 8am and took the bus for 4 hours to brussels. i slept most of the time so it wasn't too bad. we got to our hostel at about 2, dropped off our bags in the lockers and walked towards the center of town. it was SO cold. i'm talking a high of 9 degrees (celsius). friggin cold, right?

so anyway, the city itself is not all that beautiful. in fact, they say in the city guide that it's ugly and they like it that way. i wouldn't go as far as ugly because there are parts that are completely magical. but it's true that they will have this amazing structure sandwiched by 2 boring apartment buildings or ugly grocery stores. and there is a ton of graffiti but none on the historical buildings. i guess even the punks respect the architectural beauty.

the center of brussels is this place called the "grand square" which is completely amazing. it's all ornate and reminds me of disney land. it's the most beautiful at night, in my opinion. and all the streets branching off of it are filled with these adorable little chocolate shops and DELICIOUS waffle stands. ok so that's the next thing we did after taking a million pictures of the grand square. we got BELGIAN WAFFLES. i had 3 of them (one each day we were there) and the first was with stracciatella gelatto, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. seriously, i have never felt so close to tears as a result of food consumption before. in a good way.

the next step on our journey through the city was to a store to buy gloves, hats and more layers. we were not prepared for snow and snow it did. in most of these pictures i am totally bundled. and i mean, i come from the north east. i know what cold is. i was NOT prepared. after warming up a little, we went to a frites stand (aka fries). turns out, they are not french. they are belgian. and they are DAMN good. i thought i'd try the local favorite and get my fries with mayonnaise on top. ew. well, ok not ew. the first few bites were amazing. i love mayo. but after half a bucket of fries covered in mayo, i felt a little ill.

we walked those off for a little while and discovered the city some more. there are so many cool streets and buildings where you wouldn't expect them. we had no destination or time frame, so we wandered until about 10 and then headed back to the hostel to sleep. oh wait, one more thing before going to bed - we went to this cool pub and got kriek. it's cherry beer, a belgian favorite. i like it a lot! i wonder if they have it at haxtons, because i could easily drink only that for the rest of my life.

on to day 2. we got up early and caught a train into ghent. that town is ADORABLE. it's really tiny but so charming. in brussels, most people speak french. the signs and everything are in 2 languages (french and dutch) but in ghent everyone speaks dutch and then if you speak french to them they'll switch to french. we wandered around and took lots of pictures. we were only there for a few hours but we ended our excursion with lunch at this "pancake" house that claims to be the inventor of the pancake. when they say pancake though, they mean crepe. not to say i didn't enjoy them thoroughly, but there is something to be said for a pile of silver dollars. mmmmmmmmmmmm.

so back to brussels - we took a train back and went straight to our next destination. we were so excited about this place that we almost ran into the ticket booth. this place, this magical spot, this WONDERLAND is called "mini europe." yep, it is exactly what it sounds like - a park that takes you on a tour through europe via models of the famous monuments. it. is. amazing. it was all outdoors however and we froze our noses off. the pictures are priceless though and it was worth every limb i lost to frostbite.

in the same park there is also a water park for kids and some sort of disney land rip off full of carousels, themed restaurants, imax theaters, etc. there was also the atomium which looks like molecules and is in the background of most of my mini europe pictures. it was super expensive though and we decided to save our money and head back to the center of town. we grabbed some dinner (aka fries and a sandwich...always fries and/or a waffle involved in a mean in belgium). food there was not expensive at all especially compared to paris and it was so good. you could get a sandwich for less than 3 euros and fries for 1 and a half. the beer was delicious and also very inexpensive. i mean, where else can you get a huge mug of beer for less than 2 euros? we wandered around a little more and took some pictures in order to make room for waffle number two. i got the same thing (ice cream, chocolate and whipped cream) because it was just so good. and the fruit covered mountains of waffley goodness seemes a little too hard to eat with mittens and a scarf. not that i didn't get ice cream and chocolate all over my face anyway.

there is a lot to do in brussels but you have to pay for all the museums and stuff so we basically walked around and saw what we could for free (which was still completely worth it). all of the shops and touristy things close before 7 which is crazy. one thing i can advise - if you want to shop in brussels, get up early. they don't mess around. at dinner time everyone peaces out. then it's restaurant time. these people know how to eat and i think it's because they need that extra layer to keep from getting hypothermia. seriously.

we were freezing again and headed back to the hostel after a long day and a lot of walking. it didn't take long to fall asleep and we were up early again in the morning to get some hot water before all the other hostel goers woke up and took it all. (we were in dorm-style rooms and we had to go outside to get to the showers. brrrrr) our last day was spent mostly in the beaux-arts museum which was pretty cool. it reminded me a lot of orsay which is my favorite museum in paris. it's about the same size (meaning it's doable in a couple of hours and not overwhelming like the louvre which i find to be beautiful but overrated). also, there is a painting there by david which just so happens to be my mom's favorite and i believe the piece of art that inspired her to paint (i think that's what she said). anyway, i appreciate the death of marat if only because of her love for it and was excited to see it in person. my mom is an incredibly talented artist and as i am in awe of her gift, i am in awe of that which inspired it.

after the museum, more fries. of course. this time with ketchup. they were so warm and delicious. perfect meal (if you can call it a meal) on a freezing cold day. we did a little last minute shopping, ate some chocolate-covered strawberries, bought some post cards and headed to the train station. a sad goodbye but a much-needed return to my own hot shower and comfortable bed. i am so glad i left france for a few days because if anything makes you feel at home in a strange country, it's going to and even stranger one. can't say i missed the smell of paris because the air in belgium was significantly sweeter and more fresh (due to the waffles everywhere i imagine). but i am happy to be back and ready for my next adventure. alright everyone, hope you enjoyed this one. i'm off to accomplish some french bureaucratic bull in an effort to finally get some health benefits. a bientot...

i wish life was really this easy

hiiii everyone. it's been a week and i have lots to talk about. unfortunately i probably won't remember it all. i've just been so busy. weeeeell, here's what really happened - caitlin and i pilfered some internet from one of our neighbors (who was dumb enough to make his password "password") and have been spending the past week catching up on all the tv we've been missing. so every time i say to myself "i should write on my blog now," i watch heroes instead. sorry for that. i'm not going to make excuses. i love my tv. weeds, arrested development, grey's anatomy, saturday night live, the office...i mean, the list is pretty long.

alright, so some funny stories: yesterday i had class from 10:30 until 5. i had a 2 hour break in the middle of the day so i turned on an episode of the xfiles (funny in and of itself i imagine you might be thinking). apparently i was tired because i put my head down and the next thing i know...3 of my students standing over me trying to wake me up. and i mean, i sleep like the dead. once at a sleepover my friend's mom checked to see if i was still breathing in the morning because i hadn't moved since she last checked on us. so these poor girls think i'm dead on my desk. then i wake up and am so disoriented that i can barely speak english enough to hold class. for the first 5 minutes i think i just made some sounds and hoped they sounded like words. so embarrassing. and the best part? as they walked out, i yelled after them "nice to meet you! let's not tell your teacher that i was asleep on my desk!" ugh. i'm setting an alarm next time. i might not have woken up until the next morning.

last night emily and i went to this magazine event for these guys who started this awesome magazine about 6 years ago called "found." it's all these signs and flyers and things people have found and sent into the magazine. check out their website: FOUND.COM they came to this store in paris, colette, and talked about their stuff. they had cd's and books and tshirts of jokes from the magazines. they're from michigan so i feel like a lot of the humor might have been lost on the french kids that were there but it's cool that they showed up and supported it anyway.

last week we went out a few times. there were some house parties (apartment parties really) and some bars. one of the best nights was at pub quiz. every monday night they have a trivia night which is always fun. turns out we got there too late and were shunned into the pool room which ended up being even MORE fun. we played paparazzi instead. (that's when you take a camera, pass it around and the person holding it makes up a ridiculous scenario which everyone has to react to. for example, "THERE'S A SQUIRREL ON YOUR HEAD!" or "you have just stepped in poo.") it sounds dumb, but try it sometime. the pictures are wonderful.

well, caitlin and i made our way to ikea last weekend. that was an experience for sure. but it was worth it. OH we also discovered Hippopotamus which is just an amazing burger joint here in paris (which is weird). anyway, our apartment is almost livable now. we both have a bed and our suitcases are unpacked. we have food in our fridge and a couch (over sized as it may be) and even a little leah art on the walls. it's really cool - i'm comfortable here and i love where we live. although this morning, as we live above the kitchen of a restaurant, our entire apartment smelled like fish for about 20 minutes. it was not something anyone should ever wake up to. in fact, it smells like fish AGAIN right now.

today marks the first day of my 2 and a half week vacation from teaching. i love french holidays. i just got home from a night of wine and 7-up (you think i'm lame? try it. bradley rice is a smart man) on the seine. tomorrow night i believe is a pub night and saturday we're going to the zoo. since i have so much time off i want to travel but it's too last minute to go anywhere too far. i don't have 200 euros to go to scotland as much as i want to go. i think instead i'll take day trips with friends. caitlin and i are talking about going to brussels for a few days and maybe normandy. i could also go to london since i have some friends there. it's nice that i can make a last minute decision about something like traveling to another country the day before i want to go. europe is really cool that way.

ok, so it's late and my roommate is trying to sleep so i should finish up. i have skype now guys - emily finally brought me my webcam that i foolishly forgot in the burbs. just search for my name "leah caraccia" and i should come up. miss everyone! xoxo

new apartment:

ok, so i know it's been a while since i last wrote in this thing. i'm sorry. we don't have internet yet in our new apartment and it's a pain to sit on the cold stone benches in the wifi park down the street.

let me tell you about our place: it's pretty small - 30m2 about. it is basically a studio but there is a half wall that separates the sleeping space and the living space. it's really cute and the perfect size for the two of us. we still have a lot to do in it though because the last people who lived here took a lot of the furniture and we don't have everything we need. i am currently sleeping on the couch which isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. it's too short for me. i'm going to get a futon this weekend at ikea. we're going on a HUGE ikea run. luckily, our landlord has told us she will reimburse us for whatever necessities we have to buy (like a bed...).

tuesday night was fun. we lost power. turns out the guy before us turned off the power and didn't inform the electric company that someone new was coming in. so at about 9pm they cut our electricity. we spent the night in the dark, took cold showers in the morning and got our electricity back by yesterday morning. it was rough, not going to lie. but we survived.

yesterday was my first FULL day of teaching. i saw all of my classes. it was really fun. i made this powerpoint slide show thing with pictures and info about where i come from, what my family and friends are like, what i do for fun...basically, what it's like to be an american. they all loved it. especially the pictures of my kitties and the four seasons. they were amazed by the snow. i have some really pretty pictures of our house in the snow around christmas time and they thought it was the most beautiful thing. one of them said it looks like a movie. they are really sweet kids. i think this is going to be a really cool experience. and i was afraid that i have been planning to teach in the states and that i would suck at it. i think i'm pretty good at this though.

i think maybe next time i'll do something about music. they all want to hear me sing because i talked about when i auditioned for American Idol. maybe i'll find a couple of songs and print out the lyrics. like, maybe I could do you've got a friend - james taylor version - because it's pretty simple and it has some good vocab. any suggestions?

hmmm...what else? oh, it was my birthday on sunday (the 12th). i didn't do much for my birthday because caitlin and i moved in that weekend and were exhausted. i did, however, go to a democrats abroad party in fourqueux and sang the national anthem. oh! maybe i could teach them about the national anthem and i could sing it for them? anyway, that was fun. i ate so much food. that was the best part really.

so more about our place - we live in montmartre which is where the moulin Rouge, sacre Coeur, place du tertres, etc are. it's a really fun place but we have to be a little cautious at our metro stop because it's right in the middle of the redlight district. there are more sex shops and strip joints down the hill from us...the best is when some guy looks both ways and tries to sneak into a porn cinema without being seen...in the middle of a hugely touristy neighborhood. classic.

there is a pretty famous restaurant right outside our window called le moulin de la galette. it's really beautiful and it has a big windmill (moulin means windmill...moulin rouge is a big red windmill...get it?) on top of it. i imagine there are windmills up here because we're on top of the highest point in paris? they don't really function though. speaking of the highest point in paris, our walk from the metro to our apartment is a serious hike. it's all uphill. but, we found a little bus called the montmartrobus and it drives all over montmartre. it has saved us from passing out and/or getting soaked in the rain many times already. i love it - there are all these little old ladies who take it everyday and i've gotten to know some of them. maybe i should take a hint from the fact that i'm the youngest (by about 50 years) who regularly uses the bus. hey, i have a sprained ankle thanks to running on the cobblestones so that's my excuse. (yeah, i rolled my foot over a cobblestone running near notre dame and it made the most disturbing cracking/tearing noise i've ever heard my body make. now it's swollen like a big tennis ball and black and blue. it's getting better though - i think i'll be able to run by this weekend...in a park.)

so, i hope to have internet and a phone within the next week or so. at that point i will blog on a regular basis. mom has been bugging me every time i talk to her to write more. (oh, mom...could we change from mommy to mom? i'm getting made fun of. loooooooove you!) i love that i'm worried about getting made fun of for that but not for BLASTING carrie underwood with my windows open in the middle of paris. ok, until next time...

in search of a good book

so i'm staying in a home which at any given point houses 1 to 4 of the matheny children. the 3 oldest are all in college in the states. you would think i could find a book to read between them but i have searched all of their bookshelves and found absolutely nothing of interest. i don't really have the money to buy a book for 15 euros and am in the mood for sarcasm and dry humor. i was hoping they would have vonnegut but no luck. i have all of this free time now and nothing to read. i'm reduced to reading 1984 for the 80th time (not that i could ever read that too many times).

i hadn't realized until today that i had my blog set to only receive comments from fellow bloggers and have since changed that so everyone can comment. i want to hear from you guys and i'm sorry i missed that the first however many weeks i didn't notice. i was wondering why people kept leaving messages using an empty blog name.

i have orientation tomorrow at 9 am. meaning emily and i have to leave at 7:30. that is damn early since i've been getting up around 9 every day since i got here. lame - i guess that's when i used to have to be at work. it seems like such a long time ago. what a strange 2 years. i feel much more focused now that i am doing something school-related. i suppose it truly is what i want to do. it's so regimented and straight forward. at least it seems that way to me now. who knows how i will feel after a year of teaching.

i always have this altered preconception of what a certain job will be like and then find it to be vastly different than i had imagined. like when i applied to be a teller after college: i thought it was this glamorous job and that it had to be the easiest way to make decent money - sit behind a counter and push small rectangles of paper through a machine? easy. not so folks. not so at all. it was a pain in the ass and i hated every minute of it. the stress level is high and the pay is low. it makes for cranky coworkers as well. live and learn i guess. it was a character builder...

anyway, it's time to go to bed. early rising tomorrow for a day of getting talked at and spoon fed by the french government. (i sound negative but really i can't wait for them to tell me what to do). goodnight friends.

love from abroad

i got my emploi du temps today (for those of you who are not french speakers - my schedule for work). turns out, i only have to work mondays and wednesdays. that is ridiculous. think about it - i could leave on a wednesday night for monaco and stay there for 5 whole days. i could jump on the train and go into london for a long weekend. i could catch a flight to morocco or moscow, budapest or barcelona...i have so much freedom! alas, i have not nearly as much money and will be getting a second job.

i just finished talking with brad on the phone. it feels like we are a car ride apart still. i've had long distance relationships before but never with anyone i ever really saw a future with. it was not something i valued as much as something i was too lazy to define. but this is so different - i feel the way about this as i do about my family and my home when i'm away. it's like an inherent longing for that which makes me a complete person. i've never actually imagined myself feeling this way. maybe i thought it was all overly romantic crap that didn't really exist in the real and complicated mind. and it's not even that romantic when you really break it down and analyze it. it's just love - it's something you can't help and wouldn't want to change. it's something that grows inside of you despite of yourself. it's something wonderful.

free wifi is underrated

i haven't had free wireless since last tuesday because i moved into paris and have been staying with my friend, greg, in the fifth until friday when we can finally move into our apartment. i can't WAIT! anyway, that is why i haven't written for a week.

i started working last wednesday. school is great - the teachers i am working with are very excited to have an american since most other assistants have been from the uk i guess. i hope i live up to their standards. the first day was pretty cool. i just observed some classes and sort of introduced myself. the younger kids were really funny - their english is pretty good but they are all nervous to ask me questions. the older kids i saw are a special needs group (more intricate learning disabilities, etc) and they were really quiet. they have trouble with french, let alone english so they will need more help and will be harder to teach because they have already given up on themselves. it's kind of sad but they are really great kids.

the second day i went with them to giverny (monet's home town...where the water lillies were painted) and had a great time. i chatted with the teachers and asked lots of questions. they asked me a ton of questions too since there is an american art museum in giverny and we spent about 3 hours there learning all about the us...kind of hysterical to hear how they teach french kids about the states. makes me wonder how skewed my perspective of france must have been when i was in high school.

the gardens and the pond at monet's were really beautiful. his house was pretty cool too. it was a nice trip but i think i enjoyed the company the most. i really like this job so far.

last night was nuit blanche. it was pretty fun - basically there is installation art all over paris for the entire night and people perform music and art and theater in the streets. most of the cafes and bars are open all night long and people just wander around drinking wine and having fun. we went to the pompidou center at one point and we found some crazy dance music in the marais and had a little dance party in the streets. it was a fun time but by 2am everyone was fading and cold so we all walked home.

i don't have a ton to write - i guess a lot happened but none of it was very interesting. next weekend, however, i am singing at a democrats abroad gathering here at mama betsy's house. it should be really fun. it's on my birthday too! (sunday...the 12th). anyway, i will write again the next time i get some wifi time. i'll be back in paris tomorrow. hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather! i miss the changing leaves. :)