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. 

I had a ball at the Gala

David came to Paris, always cause for excitement, but this time he had his suit in hand! Hooray off to the ball we go!

The weekend of June 6 ‘twas the weekend of the big school dance, and there was excitement in the air! But, first things first… what would a weekend in Paris be without a picnic by the Seine? A very anti-social one. The Seine is the place to be, everyone goes there with bottles of luscious French wine in one hand and a smelly but amazing cheese in the other. At picnics is where life happens in Paris…
For Mel and Morgan’s birthdays I made a cake, bought my smelly chevre and two bottles of Bordeaux 2005. Check, check, check. So, David and I went and enjoyed a lovely evening with my whole crew from school. We drank and were merry till the crack of dawn.

That dawn was the morning of the school dance! David and I had a lazy day in preparation for the fête that lay ahead of us. Before meeting up with friends, David and I went to a nice neighborhood café for dinner where we splurged on steaks and wine. Here we are:


From there we met up with all of our friends: Morgan, Rosemary, Thanh, and Nick (Not done justice in the blurry photo) and made our way to the Westin Hotel on the Rive Droite, which also happened to be the same hotel President Obama’s staff was staying in that weekend (as it was the same weekend when he came and spoke in Normandy). The hotel was beautiful, as were all of the guests. We made our way to the open bar for our first glass of champagne and made the first of many toasts of the evening.
Getting ready!

David and I attempted to dance the Waltz but everyone on the floor was quite good and we were soon bumper-car-ed on outta there, so we all went to a more lay-person friendly dance floor and danced the night away!

Rosemary, Morgan and me... rocking the party!

The hotel was incredible:

Dancing queen!

Here we all are...

At a little after 4 am, with tired feet and a tired stomach from 4 glasses of champagne (who knew such golden fabulousness was so hard to digest?) David and I said Adios to the fete and moved on to our new challenge: trying to get a cap on a rainy night. Well, after many failed attempts, a little leg showing, and many thumbs, David finally tackled a cab (literally) and we were finally on our way home after a truly fun night.

The following morning, or should I say afternoon , David and I went to a Parisian Sunday Brunch with my roommate, Anas. Here we are in one of my favorite bars, Le Tournesol.

And that concludes yet another great weekend... Thank you for reading!

Juan les Pins

My junior year of high school—which is over four years ago now for a little reality check for my relatives—mom and I hosted a French girl, Ailys, from Lyon for two weeks. The following summer I went to Europe and stayed with Ailys and her family for some time. We had such a great time: they are such a warm and kind family, so I was very happy to reconnect with them while in France. So, Ailys invited me to celebrate her parents 25 wedding anniversary with them at their home in Juan les Pins which is near Antibes and Nice. So on Friday I arrived in Juan les Pins with Ailys and her friend Marion where all of Ailys’ family and friends were waiting. We arrived late in the evening, so we had a quick dinner for 20 people and went to bed because we had a big day ahead of us.
Waking early, the big group of 30 ish people all convened down at the docks awaiting the big surprise:

We were to celebrate all day on a sailing boat sailing across the high sea of the Mediterranean! Le Don du Vent, A Gift from the Wind, came into the dock and we loaded her up with the rest of the goodies… a refrigerator full of a delicious roast, sides of couscous and green beans, and colorful ice cream in a bowl made out of nougatine.

The guests boarded one by one according to what t-shirt they received. The Tebboune family custom made t-shirts for everyone with a little name or inside joke on the front. Everyone’s fit them perfectly… mine was: “C’est fou ca!” which means “That’s crazy”. The story behind this comes from the summer I spent with them after junior year. Now, I had been learning French for two years by then, but of course it was wildly insufficient for living with a family. So, we spoke mostly English, but like any good foreigner I learned a few key phrases, and “That’s crazy” was one of them. I said it all the time as we white water rafted for 9 hours down the Ardeche River in the south of France… believe me everything was crazy on that adventure!

So back to the story, everyone received their fashionable shirts and we hit the water! At a certain point, I remembered that I get pathetically sea sick just at the sight of crashing waves. So… being the only somewhat stormy day, somewhat meaning that 90% of the time on the Cote d’Azur it is clear as crystal and as breezeless as the inside of a milk carton, there were a few white puffy clouds and lots of wind which created waves. Needless to say, I spent the ride to the destination swimming spot breathing deeply and thinking about the fact that if I were to get sick and let go of the rope, I would fly off the boat into the churning water and might never see the light of day again… yes the waves were that big. But thankfully, we arrived safe and sound to our clear oasis between two islands. No waves, no nausea, just clear blue water and a boom box. We set anchor and immediately started drinking, eating and celebrating. Here are a few boat pictures:

Just call me Mermaid Nikki...

Ailys uncles and aunts organized a few skits that told the story of James and Pascal’s live together… it was quite hilarious!

I napped on the deck, swam in the water (which had jelly fish and was chilly… go me!), drank several glasses of the Algerian concoction Pascal made, and just hung out in the filet, the net at the front of the boat. The day was like a dream...

Incredibe desert!

Sunset

I napped on the deck, swam in the water (which had jelly fish and was chilly… go me!), drank several glasses of the Algerian concoction Pascal made, and just hung out in the filet, the net at the front of the boat. The day was like a dream. The ride home at midnight was even more incredible… there were still a lot a waves but we were going directly into them, so up and down, and not swaying back and forth (this makes an huge difference for me) so all we younger kids went to the front of the boat and had the ride of our lives! It was one of the most incredible feelings I have ever experienced: heading towards black waters and ice-blue stars, up-high to the peak of the waves, and down low to the valley of the waves. A truly unforgettable moment…

The following day was a spent in the mandatory swim suit dress code just lounging by the pool. Napping, reading and eating… yet another perfect day! Lunch was the only thing on the agenda that day; it lasted for about 5 hours: we had appetizers and great wine; French sausage with all the fixings, then barbequed pineapple (you put a whole pineapple on a skewer, put it over the grill for about 8 minutes or until it starts to bubble, then serve hot with ice-cold Brazilian liquor which is this beautiful bottle) followed by cake and coffee. And all the while, we were telling stories and jokes, and let me tell you, I did quite well with the stories and some of the jokes, humor is really hard, especially drunk-slurring humor… I even participated in telling stories and a joke or two (and people laughed!!!!) It was a very productive, fun, tasty, and educational lunch!

Ailys relaxing by the pool...

That evening we girls went to a popular Brazilian bar. They had dancing girls and drinks in monkey coconuts! The latter made this girl happy…

So, that concludes this weekend adventure… with a very happy girl! Merci et à la prochaine!

Noyers

The following weekend, I went with a very good friend Michel, to his mother’s house in a small village—Noyers. This town has about 80 people and Renée lived in the “suburb” of the town of 7 people… needless to say, it was a relaxing weekend. So Michel and I arrived from the big city and took a quick tour of the house. I have been there once before with Matthias, Lori and Max four few years ago so I already knew it but Michel reminded me of a few of the quirks, like the bunnies that his mom raises, the slant of the house, the cellar that houses potato, wine and an eau de vie fermenting barrel.Then Michel and I went for a walk with the cows. I know it is silly, but I was somewhat scarred. I know that cows are not violent animals, however, going into their pasture, they were all quite curious (as chewing and re-chewing grass all day-Michel and I were the highlight of the week!) thus they all ran over to greet us. At this point I ran behind a tree. Yes, I, Nicole Buratovich, am somewhat of a scaredy cat. But, to my defense, I recognize how docile these animals are, yet I also acknowledge that they have about a thousand pounds on me and hunger in their eyes. Well, not so much the latter sounds like the fear talking, but nevertheless, thirty curious cows can be intimidating. So, long story short we walked thought the pasture, and many a poop-pie, to have a rest on the hill with a great view. Then the cows came and I made Michel high-tail it out of there, stick in hand… just in case.

Then we had a very nice lunch with Michel’s cousin Claude, her partner Vincent and their adorable son Gabriel. Lunch was fantastic, despite all of the dissecting of food the French do… a bit dry, not enough crumbs in the baguette, etc. From there we enjoyed yet another very nice walk with the family through the fields. No cows this time, thankfully. Dinner time came quickly and we enjoyed another great meal prepared by Renée. I really enjoyed the family experience: a nice reminder of home as well as a great, super amazing help to my French. All French, all the time… a dream come true! With a dictionary at our side, we ate and drank well then all fell into a deep slumber.

Here is baby Gabriel experiencing a new view

of the world from his papa's shoulders.

The following day Michel’s family left and Michele, a friend from Phoenix who had been studying at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, joined us. We went and found her at the train station, and being the foodies we are, hit the grocery store where we bought a squid—something I would later have fun with! We brought Michele back to the house, and after a play session in Renée’s hay stacks, started to prepare dinner. Squid risotto.

The girls dressed up and played house in Renée’s very nice aprons: Michele taught me how to clean the squid: rid it of it’s innards, brain, goopy stuff and skin. I did the skin, which is no easy task, but after diligent knife work we had a beautiful naked squid.

Good times in the kitchen:

Dinner was followed by an eau de vie taste-a-thon. For those of you who might not know what eau de vie is, it is an alcohol, about 50%, made from fruit: one would take the fruit, ferment it in the barrel in the cellar, then distil it at your local distillery. Michel made a few himself, which we compared with the other bottles and decided his Mirabelle eau de vie was the best-by far! Some of the drinks were quite hard to smell, let alone drink. Off to bed, hiccup.

On Sunday, Michel and I had a few things to do around the house while Michele prepared a lovely dinner. So he and I hoed the potatoes in the garden, then we were spent and relaxed in the grass… it was too hot to do much.

Before dinner was served, we went for a quick walk through the hills all together. Michele and I enjoyed being in nature where we saw a deer and several other wild animals. This is also when we came up with the best movie idea ever, inspired by the romantic horizon and reality of the mosquitoes...

A beautiful house in the village: We had one last coffee the following moring before we returned back to the reality of work and school. I had two massive papers due and a final in the week to come… but the memories of Noyers really made it easier to get through, as did excitement for my next trip to come: Antibes!