Hello from Les Andelys!

So, after a crazy time moving into my apartment in Rouen and the 4-hour round-trip commute to school every day, I decided to move out to Les Andelys where my school is. Daniel, a new teacher at the school from Martinique (he teaches "carrosserie", or auto body repair, with the vocational school students) was offered an apartment on campus, and as it had three bedrooms, he decided to share the apartment with me and David, the school's Spanish teaching assistant from Spain. I couldn't be having a better time! I am platonically in love with both of them, and they have both expressed that they would do absolutely anything for me. David left last night (we've got a two week vacation, so he's back in Sevilla until we start school up again), but right up until he left, he'd been making us dinner every single night. He said that he used to be a chef in Spain but didn't like cooking for work, but now he loves making meals for the people he cares about. And oh my gosh, it is so wonderful. He made his own pate the other day, and I'm still dreaming about the zucchini and roquefort potage that he made (his grandmother's recipe). It has been an interesting adjustment from basically eating vegetarian to now living with some serious meat-eaters. As we were driving David to the airport last night and passed lots of cows in fields, I would coo over them and David would say, "Non 'awww', 'mmmmmm! yum yum!'" They are goofy guys, and I love them.

I really don't know what I would've done without them- after I informed my landlord that I decided to move out to Les Andelys, he let me know the next day that he had found someone to live in my apartment and that I'd have to vacate ASAP! I had about 45 minutes' warning before I literally packed up all of my things, handed over my keys, and headed out. Luckily for me, David, Daniel, and our friend Rafa were all in Rouen with Daniel's car, so they all helped me move everything into my car, drop off Rafa at his house in Rouen, and headed back to Les Andelys (and only momentarily stalled out a couple of times! I can't believe all of the things I have now, thanks to all of the things that Sylvie's graciously given me). It is a lot of stuff, but I'm happy for all of it, especially all of the kitchen stuff, which both David and I are so enjoying! It's hard getting used to only having a hot plate and a microwave to work with, but we're getting used to it. I'm excited to make Ceilidh's avocado and orange salad and some stir fry with peanut sauce tonight!

It's just me and Daniel for today, though Daniel is heading out tonight, so I'll probably invite Chloe over. She lives "in town", which is about a half hour walk from our high school, and she works at the middle school out there. I'm definitely spoiled with the nicest company, and I just don't know how I got so lucky as to be surrounded by such lovely people.

School is also going very well. I only just started working in the classroom yesterday, and it's taking some getting used to. I think I just need to strike a good balance between friend and teacher, since I'm not officially a teacher and I'm really just there to get them comfortable speaking in English. Just need to hearken back to my days in Anouk's classroom and authentic communicative experiences going!

For the vacation, I'm excited to do lots of laundry, probably head into Rouen tomorrow to pick up my bank card from the bank out there, going to Disneyland on Tuesday, and headed to Paris for a couple days to see my friends out there at some point. Am I really living this? Is this really happening? I am just so happy!

Hello from Rouen!

I am officially writing to you from my very own studio apartment in Rouen, right across from a very nice private school and near rue Cauchoise, a pedestrian street. It's pretty near to everything, which is very nice for me, especially given my limited supply of energy of late.

I really lucked into my apartment. I was staying at the Auberge de Jeunesse in Rouen (youth hostel) from when I arrived on Wednesday, September 28th until Sunday, October 2nd. I was planning on arriving, rushing like mad to find housing, and settling into said apartment. Magically, it went just about like that. After taking the wrong train from Paris to Courbevoie, taking the train back to Paris again and jumping on an express train to Rouen that was luckily running late (all this while lugging over 100 lbs of luggage with all stairs, mind you!), I made it safe and sound into the Gare de Rouen, where Sylvie and her son were waiting to take me out to dinner and to deliver me to the youth hostel.

Instead of spending my first days furiously scrounging up all of my energy to find a place to live, I spent it making friends with other assistants and the people in my hostel, going on walking adventures in the city, and compiling lots of lists of places I would love to live, if only I could muster the courage to call people in French. Finally, I spent all day Sunday (the day before I was to be leaving the hostel) calling up the owners of potential apartments, only to discover that I needed a guarantor who is French to guarantee my rent payments.

Sylvie just happened to be calling in the midst of my mad-calling marathon, and when I told her that most people needed a French guarantor before they would even let me see the apartment, she told me that I seemed like a responsible person and that she'd have my back and sign anything that she could in order for me to get a set place. SAVED my life is an understatement.

So, with that knowledge in hand, I was off that night to take a look at two apartments. The first was cheaper and had a lofted bed and looked like exactly what I wanted, but the guy texted me 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet and said that the apartment was taken. And with that, I headed off to my Last Chance Apartment, which was itty bitty but completely furnished and everything was completely re-done two years ago and all of the charges were included (though I'd have to fend for myself for internet). The guy who rented it to me said that there were about 20 other people waiting in line for the apartment but that he said he trusted me and liked how I sounded from my phone call, not to mention that his father was an immigrant from Turkey and he always had a soft spot for immigrants trying to find their way in France, where he and I both know that the paperwork doesn't always make for an easy transition.

Though I'm loving the apartment (apart from the part where I now have a chestnut-sized bump on my head from banging my head on one of my hanging shelves in my tiny studio), I do think I'll be moving to Les Andelys soon, since my commute consists of, at best, begging a fellow teacher to let me ride the hour-long commute with them in their car, or at worst, walking 20 minutes to the train station, taking the 45-minute train to Gaillon, waiting for the bus, taking the half-hour bus to Les Andelys, and walking the half hour to school. It is very tempting right now to take up David and Daniel on their offer of a room in an apartment on campus, not only because I wouldn't have to worry about my commute every morning but it is also less than half what I'm paying right now to live in Rouen. Definitely worth it to be in the boonies with some lovely people.

Now, I'm off to get ready for a coffee date in Rouen and working on getting pictures online! Once I get everything sorted, I'll definitely be doing a picture post. For now though, I've also been trying to get up both old and new videos, so those should tide you over. Lots of love!

Getting lazy, but doing well!

I figured I owe myself a post, but it's not quite going to be a real post just yet.

But here is part of an e-mail I wrote to a friend. Just know that I made it safely from Paris to Rouen, with SO much thanks to Hannah, Alexis, and Lia, who helped lug all 100 lbs of my luggage down six flights of stairs, onto a bus, and straight to Gare St-Lazare! I had such a nice time in Paris, but I'm excited to get everything set up in Rouen and to get settled into my new school!

- Trains are hard (but cheap and easy to sneak onto)

I took the wrong train from Paris, trying to get to Rouen. I wound up in Courbevoie, where there were no escalators or elevators to get me from the wrong side of the tracks (hehe) to the right side. I wound up hitting my ankle with one of my 50-lb bags and it is still killing me. =/ I finally took a train back to Paris and got on the right train, which was direct to Rouen. No one ever checked my ticket. However, I didn't get a seat because I couldn't lug all of my luggage up the stairs to the second level where the seats lived, and I wound up sitting on one of my bags in the hallway-type thing with two girls with actual seats (who either couldn't or didn't want to climb the stairs to sit in one of the many available seats- they were carrying no luggage).

- No matter where in the world you are, people who have disabilities and the people who love them are always the kindest.

Sylvie, one of my co-teachers, picked me up at the train station today after insisting that I shouldn't be going around by myself and that it would be nicer if I'd let her pick me up. She came with her son, Leonard, who has Down syndrome. She even took us all out to dinner for pasta (when I ordered pesto pasta, she asked several times if I wouldn't be happier with something that had meat in it, and that the expense was no problem), and Leo kept saying "Jamie" and looking at me with googly eyes and giggling until we were all in fits of laughter. It was absolutely priceless, and I will never forget that moment as long as I live.

I'm staying at a hostel now in Rouen for a couple of days, hoping to find housing on my own. I'm rooming with two other French girls, and they seem pretty nice. I'm headed to the school tomorrow with Sylvie to meet everyone, and then I'm hoping to adventure around Rouen a little bit and maybe even contact some people about getting a room somewhere. I have hit or miss internet at the hostel, and it's only available in the common areas, which is kind of a bummer, but that didn't stop me from calling Tara and my family (and consequently getting so frustrated when it kept cutting out or they wanted me to talk louder when I really don't want to disturb the other girl in here. I'll hopefully make it up to them soon with some AWESOME internet connection in my eventual apartment!!! *fingers crossed*).

Things I forgot to mention:

I passed through Copenhagen on my way to CDG:

I passed our old stomping grounds:

I went to see a free organ concert with Trevor at Notre Dame.

I went to have dinner with my host family where I used to live.

Things that I did in Paris today:

- Ate a delicious goat cheese and tomato sandwich from the bakery down the street

- Saw Michel Gondry at a cafe

- Shared a round of tea, Mister Yellow, and a cupcake at Miss Cupcakes in Montmartre

- Got lost in Montmartre and proceeded to finally find the longest outdoor flea market that I've ever seen (pictures follow)

On the street, when we were lost.

(Want to buy a hot doog?)

Walked to a park and saw a waterfall

Came home and had delicious ratatouille as the sun went down
(while watching Mystery Science Theater 3000)

Re-bienvenue en France !

Bonjour from Paris, everyone! I arrived Wednesday afternoon, and after a couple of hours in the airport, hassling the employees to stamp my passport (to no avail), I am officially in Paris.

I forget that the French can be kind in their own way. I think my experience was definitely skewed the first time around because I did have so many American friends with me. There is a specific kindness to American English; for example, hardly anyone says, "Have a nice day", and those that do would more likely say "bonne journée", the meaning of which is more akin to "Good day to you", which definitely doesn't have the same ring to it!

Anyway, the kindness I experienced while lugging my nearly 130 lbs of luggage up and down so many flights of stairs to and from all two of my metro transfers (though maybe more out of pity than anything else) was stunning. I never had to carry all of my luggage up or down the 15 or so flights of stairs that I experienced on my way to chez Alexis and Hannah. People were very kind, though I did take particular note of one guy, who, when he asked me which way I was going up out of the metro station and I didn't reply the one he needed, he gave me this look of disgusted incredulity that I can only express as lovingly familiar. It almost felt like home.

On another note, I can't even imagine having impaired mobility in this city. Those stairs really did me in, and my legs (and arms) are still howling. Though that was probably also from the 6 flights of stairs at Hannah and Alexis' apartment, too. No elevator. Awesome. =D

It is so good to be around Hannah and Alexis! My first night in, Hannah and some friends and I went out for an apéro of a very sweet-tasting beer-type drink down the block, and it was super fun to be alternating between Spanish and French and English again. Afterwards, we got back to the apartment and watched funny youtube videos and made delicious vegetarian carbonara. I fell asleep probably around 10:30 pm and woke up at what I thought was 9:00 am. I had looked at my laptop clock, but realized that it was still on New York time. Boy, was I surprised upon learning that I actually woke up at 3:00 pm! I know that I often sleep more than most, but those nearly 17 hours were exactly what I needed to jump-start my recovery from jet lag. Here's hoping it's gone for good!

Yesterday, we made spinach and goat cheese feuilletés, which were so good, but even better with the Sancerre wine that accompanied it (I thought of you, Chrissy!). Wow. Best white wine EVER. I'm not often fond of whites, but this changed my life forever. Just, wow.

Today, I'm off to my old stomping grounds. Going to see if I can figure out my old cell phone chez Bouygues, headed to Reid Hall to say hi to my junior Smithies abroad, and then making my famous petits gâteaux americains for dinner at my host family's house tonight! I am quite excited to be back.

Answers of sorts?

I have answers, and although they are not very helpful in terms of making me better, they are quite interesting (and one is supremely happy-making)!

1. I don't have Lyme. Wait, maybe I do.

They tested for Lyme, and it came back negative. But then, for reasons unclear to both me and my doctor, they did a CONFIRMATORY test for Lyme, which came back positive. We are both not sure what this means, but my doc threw some more amoxicillin at me, claiming that it's better to shock whatever is doing this out of my system now, rather than wait and see what happens if we let it go. She says it might have something to do with the fact that I had been on antibiotics when I got my bloodwork done, or that maybe my thyroid disease was interfering? It does seem strange to me to get a false positive, when I would assume that more likely than not, bloodwork results in false negatives (any input on this, dear readers, would be greatly appreciated!).

2. My immune system is slightly compromised

No surprises there. My immunoglobulin level is at 638, which was under the minimum normal level of 700, but not low enough to be concerning. Just means that I get sick more than other people and take longer to recover. No surprises here!

3. NO MORE HPV.

I am so happy! Over three years of dealing with worries and concerns of keeping safe, on my own part and on the part of others, and I can finally rest easy for a little bit. Life is good.

Now, I'm off to Shop Rite to help my mom stock up on provisions for the impending hurricane. Hope everyone is keeping safe and getting prepared!