Um...Oops

Who knew a car wash could be so exciting?

We pulled up to the automatic car wash and saw a man holding what looked like a magic wand. He was standing a few yards away from a car, watching it get scrubbed clean. For all intensive purposes, it looked like he was pulling some useful Harry Potter type magic to get the washing done.

We watched in awe. Then we realized there was no one in the car. Ooo, magic car!

Then we saw that the wand was an antenna and the car in the wash was in fact his car. We were puzzled as to why he was not in his car. That is the whole point of a car wash. It's uber-fun to see it from the inside out. Later when I read the ever-so-helpful instructions, I found that it is "interdit" to stay in the car. Not allowed. Sad day.

So he finished and screwed the antenna back on. I had been clever and unscrewed mine while I waited. I know I was just buckling to peer pressure but sometimes it's not a bad idea.

Then I read the instructions. Apparently I didn't read them quite well enough but we'll discuss that later on. I did learn that I had to get a card or a code to use the machine. How annoying. Hannah and I went inside the gas station and I paid for a code on a piece of paper.

I pulled the car into its proper position and started the machine. About 30 seconds after the red and white swishy things started swirling at full speed, with soap and water flinging everywhere, I noticed that the brushes were coming dangerously close to my side mirrors. Oh crap.

I checked the instructions again. Yep, that arrow was definitely referring to the mirrors. Oops. I waited in a semi-shocked state of mild terror. The brushes passed from the back to the front of the car. When it finally became visible, there was my mirror, hanging by a thread. It was bad but really, pathetically funny.

At that point, all I could do was wait. Then it was finished, we got back into the car, nervously laughing. I pulled into the parking lot and got out to assess the damage. In reality, it's not too bad. Not really even noticeable now that I've fixed it. But still, it was just so perfect, we had to get a picture to remember this day always.

And to top it all off, instead of dirt and pollen, my car is now coated with white, drippy soap stains. Was it worth it?

My poor, sad Fiesta. I never meant to hurt you. Forgive me?

Monaco: Casinos, Race Cars, No Taxes, and Free Public Bathrooms

This Saturday began at 5:30am for Hannah and me. It involved scarfing down breakfast, getting dressed, and trying to put on makeup with our eyes half closed with sleep. Then I had to drive us to Marseille. This was a last minute change of plans because originally, all transportation of the day was going to be done by train. Five minutes before leaving, I remembered that the trains stop at 11 and we'd be getting back at midnight. After such a long day, wouldn't it have been so much fun to sleep in the train station? No.

So we drove. We found the parking garage, bought our tickets and my discount card for transportation in France, and we made ourselves comfortable on the train. It was going to be a long ride. I attempted to keep my eyes open during the next three hours. The scenery was phenomenal. We passed Mediterranean coastline, frost covered vineyards, and cozy villages. But alas, six hours of poor sleep was not enough and I snoozed my way to Nice.

Nice seems like a perfect getaway location all on its own, but for us, it was just the transfer station. We were headed out of the country!

We arrived in the Principality of Monaco a little before lunchtime and set off to discover the country. Monaco is the second smallest country behind Vatican City so it didn't take too many confused walks down the same street past the Ferrari repair shop to finally figure out which direction to go.

First we checked out the port. They had just finished up the 78th Annual Car Rally and the race cars were all being loaded into their trailers. There was a lot of testosterone in the port that day.

Then we tried to find the Mexican restaurant that we were so excited about. Sadly, it no longer exists and our exciting plans for tacos and margaritas were extinguished.

Not wanting to spoil the rest of our day, we set off for the aquarium and ocean museum. Along the way up the hill, we saw some more beautiful coastline and the royal palace of the princes of Monaco. We also went into the cathedral where Princess Grace Kelly and her husband are buried.

At the aquarium, we took our pictures in front of Jacques Cousteau's yellow submarine and looked at a lot of fish, fossils, and whale bones. It was interesting but we were mostly just starving. So afterwards, we ate pizza and had the best chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) I've ever had in my life. We also watched music videos and discovered that I knew none of the American singers while Hannah knew none of the French ones. I am now considered a French nerd, and I like it.

Then we explored the royal family's collection of cars dating as far back as horse drawn carriages. I've never had any interest in cars but that was one of our favorite things. Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Jaguar... This family certainly has money!

Then we made friends with a bunch of weird animals at the zoo. We touched a monkey and Hannah gave one candy. Both of those things are surely frowned upon but the monkeys seemed ok with it.

In the end, we were freezing and it was getting dark, so we decided to find Monte Carlo casino before it was too dark to get there. We got lost for a while but eventually there it was. It is huge and gorgeous! The wealth of the people in this country is astounding! All around the casino were expensive hotels and shops like Chanel and Cartier. Everyone was dressed so elegantly and it was amazing. We didn't go in this time but maybe one day...

We got semi-lost getting back as well but we were able to hop some red tape in a tunnel and get back to familiar scenery. Along the way we schemed how to marry the sons of the ridiculously rich yacht owners who's boats we were passing. Magnificent boats.

Finally, we ate in the same restaurant as a flood of Hyundai businessmen and then caught the train back home. It was supposed to be a peaceful night train, designed with a dark interior, reclining seats, and few stops. Instead, no one could sleep because a bunch of Marseille teenagers got on and drank wine, smoked, and sang drunkenly and loudly for hours. No one was happy at the end of the ride. Why didn't anyone stop them?

But still, despite the idiotic troublemakers, the whole day was a whirlwind of fun. I've learned how and why the pursuit of money can be so addictive and I saw some really high quality things. I also saw scenery even more beautiful and priceless. I'm grateful for the casino though. Because of it, there are no taxes and a multitude of free public bathrooms. Put together with the almost indecent beauty of this place, I think it makes the list of one of my favorite countries yet.

Palais Longchamp

Good day. Finally did some more cultural/sightseeing stuff in Marseille. I was worried I'd spend a whole year here and forget to do touristy stuff in the city that I spend most of my time in.

Hannah and I found a quiet park in the middle of the city and it was such a relief from the noise of downtown. It is the park surrounding Palais Longchamp. Apparently at some point it was a zoo but it is at least shut down for the winter, if not permanently, we couldn't tell. The cages were really overgrown and there were no animals (besides pigeons) to be found.

We're slightly suspicious of the whole situation because when we visited the Natural History Museum a little later, many of the dead animals were labeled as coming from that zoo. Wonder if it went something like this: "Man, I'm sick of feeding these dumb animals and cleaning up after them all the time. Hey, I wonder if we'd make more money if we stuffed them all and made a museum instead!"

But the museum did have an awesome animal exhibition. There were not signs saying otherwise so I touched a seal. It was furry. I was so not expecting that.

Oh, and on the way to the city, I overheard a French girl singing "Summertime Blues" in the train and it made me laugh a lot. I've never heard a country song with a French accent before.

We also ended up sitting beside an American expat on the train home. He is from North Carolina and his Southern accent was so strong (mixed with a New York and French accent) that it was hard to even understand his English. He's been here 20 years and he kept slipping back into French accidentally. His kid was bilingual and it's so cool to hear kids talk in one language but obviously understand the parent when they talk to them in another.

It's weird how small the world is.

Audibility

Ok Mom, you were right. And Dick Major and John Wakefield, you were both right. And Lacey Keigley, you too were right. I need to speak louder. My diction is bad. I need to enunciate. My voice goes an octave too high and I sound like a child (actually "infantile" was the word most recently used). Basically, all in all, I need to learn how to speak all over again.

How do I know all of this? Why have I finally realized beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is true? Because I came all the way across the ocean to have someone who speaks a different language tell me the exact same thing.

In my theatre class last night, I discovered that my teacher had been giving me the benefit of the doubt. She assumed that perhaps my poor diction and quiet voice were the results of not speaking in my native tongue. After many weeks, she decided to test out her theory. I was made to do an improvisation in English in front of the class so she could hear my real voice. In the end, she was not at all pleased.

Now, I really hope that no one in that class understands English as well as they think they do, because everything I said was utter nonsense. And I think my frantic, nervous improvisation may have had something to do with why my voice went up an octave, but that's just an excuse. I know it does that whenever I'm on stage and not concentrating on it.

Essentially, I've discovered I can understand the exact same lecture in two different languages. I was actually laughing by the end because it was so perfectly the same.

My homework is that I have to say my lines in front of a mirror and open my mouth as wide as possible. She claims that it will not only help my speech, but that it will also make my face tighter, supposedly reducing the need for Botox later in life. She used her face as an example of how good mine could look by the time I'm her age. She is hilarious.

So now I'm slightly discouraged. How can I hope to communicate in French (when I do finally learn enough to do so) if no one can even understand my words? *sigh* I have so much work cut out for me.

At least she told me my accent is charming. That's something, right?

Home

I've been waiting for four months to use this title. 'Home'. It's got a good ring to it, don't you think?

As a result of the snow, I wasn't able to do everything that I was planning to do while I was in the states. I had wanted to go to church to play in the orchestra and see friends. That didn't happen. I'd also wanted to spend the night in Tennessee visiting college friends. That too did not happen.

But, everything else was perfect. I spent many days just relaxing with my family at home. We talked, ate Mom's food (the best in the world), ate a French meal that I made, played Wii Fit, laughed at my Dad playing Wii Fit (one of the funniest moments of my life), and watched movies. I got to wrap everyone's presents (which I love to do) and go sledding with Lyne Burke and our neighbor. I had actually boycotted the snow as a result of my annoyance with my flight but in the end I forgave it and enjoyed it.

I was also able to visit with old family and school friends and with newer college friends, if only for brief moments. I love how when you spend most of your life in one town, you have so many shared memories with the people around you.

My favorite times were, of course, visiting extended family. On Christmas Day, after waking up early to open presents, we first made our way to my mom's family's house and later to my dad's.

It was a little hard at my Grandma's house this year since my Granddad died this October. Fortunately though, everyone handled it well and it was a great chance to see everyone and catch up on each other's lives, and of course, eat so much incredible food.

Then we were able to spend three days with my dad's family. I got to go shopping with my cousin/best friend, go to church with her and my Papa, exchange stories and pictures with the whole family, eat too much of Grammie's yummy food, eat an elaborate log cake, and just have a marvelous time. I love family!

And then it was time to kiss my sweet dog goodbye and leave my family behind to cross back over the ocean. I was quite grouchy the day I left. I think I just didn't want to say goodbye. But once I was back on French soil, my spirits lifted. I love this place. I love the land, the people, my friends, the food, my school, and the language.

After realizing that home is still where I left it and that it will be mostly the same when I get back, I feel comforted and much more ready to embrace everything about my time here. I've been studying French on my own and planning exciting adventures with my friends. As much as I love my home, I am so happy to be back!

A Baby

No, I'm not pregnant...although Marie wishes that I was.

The other day she found the Baby on Board/Expectant Mother sign that used to hang in my car window. It got her thinking about babies.

She looks at me and says (in French), "Can you have a baby?"

I reply, "Yes, but I don't want one right now."

"Why?" she wonders aloud.

"Well," I think carefully about my reply, "First I'd like to find someone to be a good dad for the baby."

That satisfied her curiousity for a minute. Then she asked, "If you had a baby, what would you name it?"

Of course I had a ready answer for that. I've been picking out lists upon lists of baby names since I was five. "Charlotte," I reply.

"Like the girl in my school?"

"No Marie, although I think the Charlotte in your school is very nice, I didn't pick the name because of her. Do you like the name?"

"Non."

"Oh, what do you want me to name it?"

"Hippopotame!"

Yes Marie. For your sake, I will name my first child Hippopotamus.