My neighborhood

Everybody, I’d like you to meet my neighborhood. Neighborhood, I’d like you to meet Everybody!

Almost 2 months ago (Yeesh! Where did the time go?!?) I moved into my very cute apartment. It’s about 20 meters squared (about 65 feet squared), completely furnished, near the city center, and is quite cozy on a cold winter’s day. Here is a silly video and a photo:

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My neighborhood is quiet most of the time, but it can also move and shake: bustling with young teenagers at 8am (I live next door to a high school), quaint cafes and secret nightclubs… summed up in a word—charming. Here are a few photos from around my ‘hood: 

Clermont Ferrand, the part of the city not limited to the block around my apartment, is just as charming if not more. The city is surrounded by dormant volcanoes and so the people have made use of what resource comes with volcanoes… lava. That’s right. I live in a city filled with black buildings and sidewalks, and the most incredible of all, a black cathedral made from lava. Some find that depressing, I find it positively awesome. I mean who else can say they have a gothic, catholic cathedral made from black lava?!? Clermont can!

Cathedral

Opera House

Notre Dame du Port! The most amazing mosaic work I've ever seen! 

The main street leading up to the cathedral

My lava cathedral! 

The city is small-ish, only 70,000 inhabitants, but it in no way feels small because there is always something fun to do. There is an amazing music scene here with a variety of musical talents from folk to heavy metal. I have never been to so many concerts in my life! Also, Clermont is home to the internationally recognized short film festival, which happens in February, and I have heard only good things. I’m very much looking forward to that! 

And last but not least, Clermont Ferrand is home to France’s best rugby team, A.S.M. I haven’t been to a game yet, but I look forward to the day when I can put on the yellow and blue war paint and drink myself silly at a real match.

After being a student for so long, boy is it weird to be on the other side of the desk… As is often the case, I have a new appreciation for all my teachers! Lesson plans—what a pain! Trying to find interesting and yet important subjects to teach, encourage discussions and remember all of our names. I bow to you! “Am not worthy!”

My School

So, needless to say, teaching has been interesting. I like the opportunity to impart knowledge on the youth of France, but when everyone suddenly becomes so interested in their pencil case the second I ask a question, I get a bit frustrated. Trying to inspire kids to want to learn is the most challenging, but then again I know they study 10 subjects for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. I may very well be tired and overwhelmed, but as are they.

Please don’t get me wrong, my kids are great! I teach 12 hours a week, so I have about 12 different classes and every student I meet is wonderful! I was really lucky to be placed in this school because it is a good school with great kids. I even started an English Club so that even more students could practice their English with a Native; I had my first meeting last week and it was great! We talked about everything from WikiLeaks to TV shows to Prince William's engagement to Kate Middleton. It was so fun and inspiring that it even reminded me of a certain Book Club I was once in!

  And lucky me, my colleagues are fantastic, too! Everyone in the school, from administration and teachers, to hall monitors and janitors has been warm and welcoming. My first weeks here, I was invited to the homes of several of my colleagues from the English department. I did take up one of them, Isabelle, for lunch at her home.

It was the day before my birthday, so I welcomed the idea of a nice meal with a nice family. (Sorry guys, I tried to replace you!) And it was lovely! A fresh ratatouille with wine and French conversation… heavenly! And then Isabelle surprised me with a birthday cake!

Yummy! Then after lunch we went for a hike to the top of a hill atop which a small, old chapel stood with a magnificent view of the patchwork fields that stretched as far as the eye could see. Then we went for a little drive through some of the neighboring cities… I saw buildings that dated back to 1010!! Take that, “historical neighborhood” in Mesa (who's houses are from 1911-1950)! 

Isabelle and her two lovely daughters, Lisa and Rafaelle 

In other news, winter has arrived. I’m already ready for it to be over. Seriously. I’ve realized that I don’t really like snow, or rather I like it but I don't want to live with it. I mean it’s cold, slippery, deceiving, and gets in your eyes. Sure it’s pretty, but I can’t appreciate anything because I’m too busy walking like an old lady, staring at the ground, trying not to fall over. It’s going to be a long winter…. 

I don't have any pictures yet of the beautiful Place Jaude with the big Christmas tree and ferris wheel all covered in snow, but I will work on that and get back to you! 

I hope you're all well! Happy Holidays! 

November 2, 2010

Only working 12 hours a week, I would have thought to have already written a book by now. But instead, I have lounged around, indulging in the glory of nothingness—walking with nowhere to go, eating for the sake of chewing, buying for the sake of owning. Having little to do, for me, is more of a burden than a blessing. With little to do, I do little.

 I could have spent my time exploring new hobbies, making new friends, writing my blog, devouring books, painting, working out, haggling with shop owners… doing any and everything because I had the time. Don’t get me wrong, I did do some of these things: I made a few new friends, read a few books, and traveled a bit but I still did not spend my time wisely, according to me.

Yesterday, November 2, 2010 was an important day for me that helped remind me how precious time really is.

At 12:07 AM my baby brother, Jett Luka Buratovich, was born! Initially, he was an adorable bundle of goop with long black hair soon to be polished clean and stylized by all those in attendance. I have only seen one photo of him from when he was bran-stinking new and I do think he is quite frankly beautiful. I can’t wait to see more photos and to one day hold him in my arms and nibble his little-person cheeks!

I felt great the whole day knowing that I had a healthy little brother!

At the same time, however, I felt a pang of sadness because a dear friend of mine from Switzerland (A member of my Swiss family, as I fondly refer to them, whom I met when I was 16 for the first time and with whom I have spent every summer since) had been in a severe motorcycle accident 14 days earlier. I had only learned on Saturday of his condition and as the updates came in—in a coma, broke almost every bone in his body, paralyzed, pneumonia—my heart sank a little lower and lower each day.

When I woke up today, November 3, 2010, I checked my Facebook like the good junkie I am and saw a post on my friend’s brother’s wall: 7/25/1992 – 11/2/2010 R.I.P. Hot tears rolled down my face—Hannes had just celebrated his 18^th birthday. He was young, handsome, a bit of a bad boy with a heart of gold who had his whole life ahead of him…

I can barely wrap my head around it and when I think of his family—his mother and father, and two brothers—dear people I consider family, my heart throbs. I cannot imagine the pain they must be feeling and I send them all my love and support.

So, today has been a very emotional day, both celebrating and mourning. These two events have reminded me how precious time is, how it is not to be wasted or taken for granted. I hope to make the most of life; being happy, doing something I love, and most of all sharing moments with family and friends. I know I live far from many of the people I love, but I hope you all know how very much I love you and how thankful I am to have you in my life. 

Italia

Ciao!

My, my I have so much to tell so forgive me this long blog journey you are about to embark upon… There is no better way to tell this than a day by day account, which is a bit dry but necessary. Here we go…

Day one: Thursday 16, 2010

After a 16 hour flight with tiny seats, drunken ladies, and the company of Jaden Smith in his impressive role in Karate Kid, I finally arrived in Venice. I gathered my many belongings and began my journey… It was at about his moment that I realized how hard this trip was going to be—I had a suitcase on wheels that weighted 50 pounds and two smaller bags that weighed 20 pounds each! As my luggage played such a large role in my trip, I am hereby going to collectively name them Gary. So Gary and I made our way to the bus, then onto a water taxi, then to the hostel. 

First glance of Venice! 

Boy did the people stare when they saw me lugging Gary around… Americans… Yeesh! their deep Italian-brown eyes said as they glanced my way. (Mind you, no one was mean, but I could see the snickering as we made our way along, slowly but surely.)  Once I settled in at the hostel, I met my travel buddy, Leah! 

We exchanged a few quick details about ourselves then set off to explore! On the water taxi we caught a few of the sights—San Marco square, Basilica, etc. We wandered through the many tiny streets and over bridges, alongside canals and past shops and markets. We got a bit lost, which is what you are supposed to do in Venice apparently, ate pizza and drank wine and were quite merry. 

Basilica 

I love it that hanging your clothes out to dry is endearing in another country... 

After a bit of a nap, we got dolled up and went out for a night on the town! After eating an amazing meal, we were invited by some handsome Italians for a drink, which we gladly accepted. Quite a first day!

Gondola! 

This was the lone gondola man in the middle of the big river (normally they are in the small canals) and the water was really choppy... We we felt bad for him, but also found it quite funny!

Day two:

This trip was decidedly a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants kind of trip which meant we had a lot of waiting around to do… We decided to leave beautiful Venice and head to Verona, home of Romeo and Juliet. After waiting an hour and a half for a train ticket, we finally set sail to the fair city. Again because of our lack of planning, we showed up without a reservation for a room and had to thus spend some time wandering in the rain looking for a shelter, all the while lugging Gary alongside. Luckily we found a beautiful bed and breakfast! We put Gary to bed, then went out to explore…

We had a fantastic dinner of tagliatelle and cream sauce then wandered aimlessly through the city until we came across la Casa di Giulietta! ‘Twas a nice time to see it as the hoards were away… 

Day three:

Still a bit jetlagged, I was happy to have had a good night’s sleep. I awoke refreshed and ready! We had a quick espresso then ventured into the city- we went into the old arena and at some point made a wrong  turn and ended up on the stage (where tourists are not supposed to be) so we got to see what it felt like to be an opera singer. 

We returned to Casa di Guiletta to see Juliet’s balcony—the graffiti is extensive and all about love! Added an interesting flavor to the ancient building… 

Romeo, Romeo...  Wherefore art thou Romeo?

We left fair Verona and again headed East to Milano. Upon arriving, we found out where the hostel was located and made our way there… only to find out it was booked solid! Homeless and in the rain (again) we went to an odd internet café and booked a night at a cheap hotel. We hailed a taxi, loaded ourselves and our 6 pieces of Gary into the tiny, Italian car then settled into the hotel for the night… 

Day four:

Waking up to sunshine… what a treat! Leah and I moved ourselves to the cool Zebra hostel then set out to enjoy some vitamin D! Our first stop: The Duomo. Well, after a bit of confusion about whether or not the giant cathedral was indeed the Duomo (you see, it has no dome, therefore we were certain it could not be the Duomo) we were informed it was so we went in…

The Dome-less Duomo

 Now I’m not sure if this is was the safest idea ever pulled out of the hat, but it was certainly the best… the hike up the Duomo stairs brought you to the roof! It was quite amazing to be on the roof of the Duomo in the heart of Milano with not a cloud in the sky! Leah and I took our time up there, taking it all in and sunbathing and napping in the warm sunshine.

The roof!! 

Then, later, we met an old friend of mine from high school for drinks. Lisa was a foreign exchange student my junior year and when she noticed on Facebook that I was going to be in Milan, she contacted me and we set up a time to meet. So, Leah, Lisa, Matteo and I all went out for traditional Milanese cocktails at this cool strip of bars along the Canal. 

In Milan they have an awesome version of Happy Hour: with a cocktail, you get to enjoy the all you can eat buffet of actually decent food. So, the four of us stuffed our faces with gnocchi, mozzarella, pesto dishes, lasagna… everything awesome and Italian! It was great! 

After we parted ways, Leah and I returned to the hostel where we played Taboo with some of our Danish roommates… Playing against foreigners is a great way to boost your self esteem: despite that they spoke English perfectly, they were no match for our astounding cultural knowledge of marshmallows, HBO, Sesame Street, and the like. But the absolute best part of the night was when they played against each other in Danish! It is such an odd language with its English and German cognates mixed with grunts and groans (I mean no disrespect to the language, but listening to it being spoken at warp speed at 4am was astounding!) It was an interesting end to our time in Milan. 

Day five:

Good-bye Milan, hello Lake Como! Leah and I took a train and a bus to the beautiful lake (so breathtaking, George Clooney has taken residence here). See for yourself… Amazing!

 We settled into our very cool hostel right on the water and went out to explore the small streets of the lakeside village, Menaggio. The buildings were ancient and full of charm; the view of the lake and the small cities on the other side was incredible!

 

And as the sun set, we returned to our hostel where we had a three course meal fit for the gods! Gnocchi with sage and parmesan to start (already full), spinach omelet with potatoes and veggies (stuffed), then panna cotta to finish (put a fork in me, I’m done!). It was a great meal, and so large that afterward I could do nothing but sleep, which I did very well with the lapping of the lake just outside the window…

Day six:

A quick breakfast at the hostel then it was out to the lake! I couldn’t wait to get my in the crystal clear water for the first swim in Italy. I lay on the small rocky beach just long enough to get warm then I made the plunge! As I when in, the air in my lungs went out! My heart raced as it tried to pump my frozen blood… I felt so alive! I love it…

Until, I remembered, I didn’t bring a towel. 100 pounds worth of luggage and no towel… So, I tried to dry off and get warm with a tank top, which was not too successful, so I lie down and let the sun warm me up.

Soon we were itching to see Bellagio, said to be the most beautiful city on the lake. We took a ferry ride over... 

...  and promptly ate lunch, as you cannot see the most beautiful of the beautiful cities on an empty stomach. Satisfied, we wandered through the city, but as we had our luggage with us we had to do so in turn—I ate gelato as Leah explored, then vice versa. It was quite nice to enjoy my colorful array of gelato au bord du lac, the sun threatening to melt it if I didn’t eat it fast enough.

Once we both had our turns around the city, we decided to head back for the train station, as getting anywhere in Italy will take you a full day, even if it is really close. And good thing we did... After a long day on the ferry, then the bus, then the train, then another train we arrived in Riomaggiore (one of the 5 lands of Cinque Terre) at 11pm.

Now, as it is a very small city, this was stupid. Especially stupid as we didn’t know the name of the hostel we were staying at. In my defense, I figured there was only one hostel in this tiny town, so surely everyone would know it (and if you’re wondering how we could have missed such a big detail, remember that we had to catch about 5 different modes of transportation which were comically always leaving “in just 5 minutes!” So, we’d run with all of our luggage, throw them aboard in the nick of time, then hop on ourselves all hot and sweaty and hungry, so there was never any time to check my email.) So, there we were two American girls with 200 pounds of luggage, in a tiny Italian city, speaking very little Italian at 11 o’clock at night. It sounds like the plot of a bad sitcom…

Luckily, a very cute and handsome man from the train had hopped off in the last minute to help us (he recognized how truly hopeless our situation was, and thought he could lend us a hand seeing as how he spoke the language and all). So, there we were lugging Gary up and down the one main street of the city (of course which was on a steep incline because we’re in Europe and nothing else was going our way) looking ridiculous and asking desperately if anyone knew where the hostel was...

Well, no one knew. But, after about 20 minutes of this, we happened to meet a Japanese boy who spoke no English but, by some stroke of luck, was staying in the city and had extra beds! We gladly accepted his offer, relieved to not have to sleep on the streets. But, then… he opened the door to his apartment and a staircase that went as high as the heavens appeared before us. Midnight and there we were lugging our luggage up 5 flights of stairs…

Our new found friend, Tes, showed us to our rooms … The apartment belonged to an elderly couple who were away for the night but due back at 9 am. With only a few hours to sleep, I crashed immediately after the world’s longest and most comical day… 

So that's all for now, folks. Will write about the rest of my trip soon, but wanted to give you a head start since it's a bit of a novella already. 

Love. 

One week....

It’s official! I’m moving back to France for another dose of the romantic language, rich food, lush wine, fresh fruits and veggies, and last but not least the fantastic cheese! Oh the cheese…

Good food aside, I am quite excited about this opportunity to be an “assistante de langue,” or an English Teacher’s assistant, for 7 glorious months in the small, rural city of Cournon d’Auvergne. Soon my days will consist of walking along cobblestone roads to the high school—Lycee R. Descartes—where I will be teaching for 12 hours a week. With the rest of my time I plan to cook—taking up a permanent residence at the local market has always been a dream of mine and I am thrilled I’ll finally have the time to do so. 

Yellow dot marks the spot: This is where Clermont Ferrand is. 

And here is a picture of Clermont Ferrand and her beautiful Cathedral! 

So with just 7 short days before my departure, you might imagine I would be busy running from here to there, booking hostels and trains, finalizing my living arrangements in Clermont Ferrand (the larger city where I’ll be living), and zipping up my suitcase… Wrong. I have my one-way plane ticket to Venice and that is it. Literally. What I know is that before arriving in my new home, Clermont Ferrand, I will be traveling, my other true love aside from cooking, for 2 weeks through Tuscany and the South of France. First stop Venice for a few days, then who knows… Verona, Milan, and Cinque Terre are all on the To-See list but I have no definite plans as of yet. The feeling of the unknown, with just the open road--or more accurately the open train tracks--ahead of me, is inspiring. Time will not dictate my experiences but rather my experiences will—if I like a city I can leave of my own accord when I’m good and ready rather than surrendering my will to a departing train before I’ve had my fill. Or maybe I will just end up falling in love with one city and living on their beach to diligently work on my non-existent tan and eat pizza and pasta until October 1st (my first day of work!). Either way, I am bound to have many experiences worth writing about… So stay tuned.