I guess I should update this...

Well, I've been putting it off long enough-updating my blog. I think I've hit a bit of a "traveller's wall" if there is such a thing. This week has been somewhat up in the air for me in terms of exciting activities ; it's felt a little like I'm just sitting around for exciting things to happen. Now that I've spent a whole month in Nice, and 3 in France, the glazed-eye look where I see everythign with wonder is starting to fade a little, and for the first time since I left, I'm feeling the toll of being away from home.
One of my best friends back at home is getting married, and talking about all the planning and whatnot via Facebook just makes me wish I wasn't so far away to miss all the details. As well, I keep having all these dreams where I'm back in my grade 3 classroom teaching my little darlings. And, inevitably, with Christmas lurking in the horizon (in a MONTH, can you believe it??!?!!) I'm feeling the pang of missing my loved ones. So I guess coming here to update my blog would be a little like looking at myself in the mirror and finally admitting that inspite of being in love with my life here, and the opportunities and experiences it has afforded me, I can't help but truly miss my life if Canada!
I would like to think that I have always recognized how rich my life is at home, and how blessed and lucky I am to have my education, my job, my family, my friends, etc. But after just 3 months away, I can really really feel the pride and the love that I have for the people and the accomplishments in my life.
Ah, it feels good to get that off my chest! Don't you all feel warm and fuzzy now that you know that I miss you tons inspite of all my fabulous perks here in France? ;)

Anyway, on to more exciting topics. Like I mentioned, this week has been somewhat lacking in exciting activities. I guess what stands out the most is that I have purchased my ticket to the UK. I have my friend Amanda living in Newcastle, who I will spend New Year's with (we're going to an 80's party!!! Aren't you just itching to see the pics of all the awesome costumes already??) and I have some Uvic friends living around London, whom I want to visit as well. I'm very excited, but I have to admit that living my balmy 18 degree city to -2 and snow is not all that appealing... I don't even have gloves!! I guess I'll just have to spend my time inside English pubs to run away from the cold... oh the sacrifices I make!
Let's see what else... last Saturday I went out with Cecile's sister, whom I had mentioned in my last post. She is a lovely, lovely girl , we had a lot of fun, and it was so nice to have a girl-friend to talk with and drink wine with! I'm seeing her again this week :)
As for work, it continues to be wonderful. Lisa, who is turning 3 in 2 weeks is very excited about her upcoming birthday party. Since I'm trying to be a mixture of Mary Poppins and SuperNanny, I have brainstormed with Cecile to make some cool party projects. For example, Lisa and I will be making her very own piñata with papier maché... impressive, no? Also, I have volunteered to make a Princess cake with the top of a Barbie doll, and her skirt being the cake. I will take pics so that you see how very Betty-Crockerish I have become. It's quite impressive, actually. About twice a week I bake for the family while the kids sleep, and so far I've made oatmeal and blueberry muffins, chocolate chip cookies, feta and spinach scones, regular scones, cinnammon rolls, zucchini bread... and they love it. I don't eat any of it, because I'd rather splurge on French food, but if it keeps them happy, then it's all good!
This upcoming weekend I have my American friend Dan coming to visit, hopefully I'll make a good tour guide, since we're goign to try to go to Aix-en-Provence and Monaco.
Well, it sounds like I've done my bit here. I thought I would leave you with a little list of the things that I miss the most from Canada.. so that you can send them to me on the mail, for Christmas!
1) Nonfat vanilla yoghurt in big 750ml tubs.
2) The gym :(
3) Supermarkets that are open on Sundays
4) The ban on smoking on restaurant patios
5) Canadian Diet Coke... it tastes different that French Diet Coke. Don't ask me to explain it, it's like asking me to be rational!
6) Cheap shoes. You can't find a pair for under 100 euros here.
7) Banks who update your online account status immediately... as opposed to 3 days later.
8) Dog owners who don't leave their dog's poop on the sidewalk
9) My L'Oreal facewash that costs 7 dollars at home, and 17 euros (approx 30 dollars) here
10) Organic Peanut butter for my morning toast
11) SUSHI!!!!! All you can eat for 13 dollars at Davie St, or that other place in North Van that's ridiculously good. I actually salivate everytime I think about it.
12) Cheap makeup. For some reason Covergirl hasn't made its mark in France. As a result, I'm economizing on eyeshadow, mascara, bronzer and blush... I don't know how much longer I can go on....

So that's my Christmas list folks... you know what to get me now!!

I REALLY live here

So, it's been (*gasp*) 11 weeks since I left Canada, and took on France. I've changed residences, and had a couple adventures. But now that I'm more of a working girl, I've had to settle down a little bit and actually do things people do when they reside somewhere. You may be wondering then, exactly what I was doing in Nantes? Well, it wasn't the same. I seemed to be in this constant honeymoon phase, where everything was glittery and new. And don't get me wrong, Nice has very much been a dream come true, but I'm actually very happy that I'm more settled and can say I take part in everyday routines of French people. Here are some of the things that mean I really really LIVE in France:
1) I buy my bread fresh from the boulangerie every couple days.. make it a 6 grain baguette. Yum!
2) I have a constant supply of wine at home. Be it a nice rouge to accompany the Camembert I have in my fridge, or a nice chilled white to have a glass as an "aperitif" before my dinner.
3) I do laundry, and hang it up in the lines outside of my balcony, like everyone in Nice does. I don't think they have yet encountered the technology of driers here. All the better for the environment!
4) I watch the news in French, listen to the radio in French, read my free Metro newspaper in French, and watch dubbed versions of Friends, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. It's like good old times in Colombia, where everything was dubbed into Spanish.
5) I have to deal with a garbage cubicle for the building that fits 1.5 garbage bags for 15 apartments. That's how I get my upper body workout.
6) I have become accustomed to paying 3.5 euros (about 6 dollars) for a Diet coke when I go out to a restaurant. I no longer see this as scandalous.
7) I earn in Euros, have a French bank account into which I deposit Euros, and a check book (French people pay for cheques for everything. Let me tell you, it makes waiting in line at supermarkets a patience game)
8) I have to clean my apartment twice a week. That includes dusting, waxing the wooden floors, vacuuming, etc. No more Michelle who did the housework in Nantes!
9) I take the buses, go for jogs around the neighbourhood, and am the butcher's best friend (he gives me a discount on rotisserie chickens!)
10) I give directions to tourists!!! In french, english and Spanish!! That's right, I've had to do it a few times already, and I actually know what I'm talking about, I'm not just making up false directions so that they'll leave me alone.
11) On the tourist subject: They're ANNOYING when they walk all 5 or 6 of them in one single file on the sidewalk. It reminds me of Victoria... and you all know I was an active militant against tourists there...

So yes, my life is a bit calmer and less full of surprises, but I'm really comfortable, and happy with my life. But don't worry, I'm not getting too comfortable... I'm still coming back to Canada!
By no means am I becoming boring though. Last Friday I wanted to have a cultural outing, so I scoped out the shows at the National Theatre, and I went to see Don Juan, in its original Spanish version, with French subtitles projected above the stage. It felt nice to have the upper hand for once with this language business!
Then on Sunday, since I had la voiture, I took off to a couple towns in the Corniches, which are all the towns along the ocean between Nice and Monaco. Cecile and Iannis had made a couple suggestions as to places to visit. So my first stop was at Beaulieu sur Mer (literally: Beautiful Place by the Ocean... Napoleon was VERY creative when naming this town). Here,the Greek villa Kerylos is found. This is a mansion, built by a very rich, very eccentric millionaire in the early 1900s. He wanted the whole house to be an exact replica of a 2nd century Greek abode. The whole inside is built from Ferrara marble, the frescoes and rugs artificially aged to look the part, the beds like those Ancient Greeks sleep in, and even a shower which collected rainwater, and that's how they bathed. It was impressive to see that much passion and dedication being put into recreating something you're in love with, but at the same time, it was excessive! I walked around with this telephone-like apparatus which had the recorded guided tour of the place. Everytime you came to a place of interest, you would find a plaque with a number. I would then punch the number into the machine, and listen to the French explanation of the artifact/room. It was very cool.

Then, I walked 5 km to the other town I was going to visit: St. Jean Cap de Ferrat. This town is not very special, but the walk there, along the Mediterranean is incredibly beautiful. Annnnd, on the way there, I saw Saddam Hussein's ex-yatch. The state of Irak has had it anchored in the Nice port for the past 2 years, and I saw a news reportage on it about 10 days ago, mentioning that Irak was putting it for sale, and it would be showcased to potential buyers in the month of November (for a small sum of 165 million dollars). Well, I was lucky to see one of the potential buyers taking it out for a spin on Sunday, I noticed it was the same name as the one I had seen on TV. Whoever was on it (maybe it was the help that ran away with it! That's what I would do if I worked in a fancy yatch) was having a blast, running the ski-doos around the boat, and soaking in the sun.

I came back to Nice, after a lovely Sunday excursion, and found myself with another proof that I really do live here: it took me 30 minutes to find a parking spot. I'm not even exaggerating. I spent more time circling around the neighbourhood looking for a spot than I did entering Nice from St. Jean Cap de Ferrat. As I have found out this week that I have the car everyday, it's like that always. I guess it's the curse of living right downtown, in the old continent where roads are tiny, and there's literally no more space.
Other than the parking, the driving has been very good.. on my part. On the part of the French. Well, let's just say that they have a diminished regard for civic laws and no fear of authority. That means that they park ANYWHERE -on the sidewalk, on the crosswalk, double parked... you get the idea- they go at the speed they damn please, they run over pedestrians (well, not quite, but little green man=accelerate and scare the people crossing the street), and they often cut in and out of traffic without signaling. I have been very careful, and will continue to be, as I don't trust these baguette lovers on the road. But, I must warn you that if I come back cussing and talking like a sailor when I drive, it's all the French's fault. Doesn't make me less of a lady ;)

This week has been a bit unique, since Cecile and Iannis took off on a little couple holiday to Prague, and I've stayed at Cecile's mom's house. But on Saturday, I'm taking on the town with Cecile's sister, Marion, who is 26, and lives here in Nice. I just met her on Wednesday, and I'm already loving hanging out with her... it's going to be fun to have someone to do things with!
That's all for now, Happy belated Remembrance Day!

A tourist in my own city

Coming on my 2 weeks in Nice, I've still really loved my work, but now it's starting to sink in that I don't really know anyone, and that it might take some extra effort on my part (why not walk up to strangers on the road and introduce myself???) to start building a social circle in this lovely city. Yet, I've really enjoyed balancing what I call the incognito-tourist lifestyle. This lifestyle I discovered a bit of in Nantes, but I'm really becoming a pro here in Nice. Let me explain a bit...

When you move to a new city, you're always excited to see the sights, get to know your surroundings, and discover all the hidden treasures your new abode has to offer. For me, I have a really big passion for sharing with everyone back at home what I'm living right here. This, no matter how many pictures I take, and how many blogs I type, is MY experience, and it's hard to convey to all of you... yet, I get out there and I try to be detailed with my descriptions so that you can see and feel a little of what I'm experiencing. So, to do that, I explore and take pictures... but I don't really want the people who live here to see me as a tourist. Firstly, it's not the safest for me as a young woman, alone, to be seen with a camera and looking all gazey and in love with the city. Also, I want to really LIVE here, and not be treated like someone who is just passing by. To do that, I have to be stealth when it comes to my touristy actions. These are the things you should always avoid:
1) Wear a backpack
2) Walk really really slowly so that you're holding back the pedestrian traffic behind you, and people start pushing by to get through.
3) Walk around with your mouth open in awe... even if you really are in awe.
4) Walk with the camera in your hand.
5) Avoid all souvenir shops.

So, I've been perfecting this technique, and today when I went to the place of the Vieux Chateaux, no one could have mistaken me for a tourist! This, my friends, is being an Incognito Tourists. I'm getting to see all the sights, but without jumping out as a tourist target.

I've been doing a couple interesting things. Sunday, there was a series of concerts hosted by the city of Nice, and I went to see the Orchestra of Montecarlo (from Monaco) at the Acropolis theatre. The classical live music was sublime and moving, and I really enjoyed the Opera soloists as well. I feel very cultured when I do things like that... I vow to myself that I will do them more often when I go back to Canada!

Then today, like I mentioned, I went to the place of the old chateaux. It was first a Celtic fortress in the 11th century, until the Sardinians came in, and built it into a modernized version of what it is right now. Later, Louis XIV destroyed it, and all that is left nowadays is the parks, the fortress walls, and some archeological ruins. Not to mention, the best view of Nice, since it sits atop the highest point in the city. See the pics on Facebook!

Weather-wise, I haven't had anything to brag about. It's been a rainy 10 days.. there is a huge storm front going through all of France right now, and 5 departments in the interior have sustained serious flooding from the Loire (just imagine the 3 months of rain squeezed into 5 days of raining, and you'll get a picture of what these people are dealing with). Here, we've had some big electrical storms, one which left 1.5 million people-including myself- powerless for 6 hours Monday morning. Right now as I write there is another big storm going on.. the thunder is so loud the glass on the windows is actually shaking, not a word of a lie!

Aside from drowning in the rain, I've been working lots, and still loving every moment of it. Yesterday, Cecile informed me that we'll be taking a couple family vacations during my stay. The first, is scheduled in late Dec or early Jan, to Switzerland. The other, is a 2 week getaway to a rented villa in Tuscany, Italy. I'm telling you.. life is ROUGH out here.
This is all for now, hope you enjoyed the update and the pics that are now up!
bisous

First few days of work

Tuesday was my first day of work, and really, you could’ve barely called it work. Cecile came to look for me at the train station. I may have not explained it before, but the family lives in a small town called Cap d’Ail, right next to Monaco (as in you walk 3 blocks and you’re IN Monaco). So to get there, I have to take the train or the bus from downtown Nice, either is a 10 minute walk from my apartment. She came to get me at the station, and since it was a gorgeous day out (24 degrees… how’s the weather in Vancouver??) we took the kids to a small park with inflatable jumping houses right on the beach- in Monaco. Cecile explained to me that since Iannis works there, and it’s closer than Nice, they spend a lot of time in Monaco for their shopping, going out to restaurants, etc.
Lisa, the little girl I look after, went to play in the castles (after her mom paid TWENTY EUROS to have her play there for 3 hours) while Cecile , the baby Sacha and I sat on a table in the restaurant next to the play area. We ordered Diet Cokes (She is also in love with it, sign from the universe I’m really really supposed to be here!), and sat in the Mediterranean sun, watching the ocean, and talking about each others’ lives. She’s a super amazing lady, who studied law and practiced it for 5 years before quitting after she had Lisa. It’s not really like they need the money, since Iannis has his own investment company and works with the Stock (and yes, is stressed right now with the crisis). But anyhow, it was so surreal for me to be sitting in a gorgeous sandy beach in Monaco, being paid to talk to this amazingly nice person, and with two super kids. Monaco is gorgeous, but a little overwhelming to the senses, since there are buildings everywhere. We definitely drove by the Montecarlo Casino, and saw the Prince Albert’s castle on the peak of one of the mountains. I will be going back with regularity, so don’t worry I’ll be telling you more about it. Iannis came to meet us for lunch, and then we went back to the apartment.
So far, I have really enjoyed being with the kids. Lisa is a firecracker of a 2 year old, and listening to her talk in her little French accent is the cutest thing ever. She likes to play doctor, cook (we made crepes together!), and anything artsy. Sacha, the baby, is an angel. He rarely cries, always laughs, and is happy just to be hanging out with all of us.
As predicted, I’ve definitely been exhausted after each day of work, not because it’s hard, but because it’s a big change from what I was doing in Nantes. I haven’t had any huge adventures, but I’m definitely just loving the atmosphere of the city, and having my independence again (I missed living alone!!). I went to the open air market today and bought fresh produce, fresh fish, cheese, olive oil, and bread… I wish I could take back all the amazing food to Canada! Annndd, the cheap wine. A good bottle of wine costs between 2.50-3 euros, so I’ve become quite a connoisseuse, and at a cheap price!
My new address is:

Maria Ruiz chez Bok Invest
10 Boulevard de Bouchage
Nice 06000
France

Hope to get mail soon, so I can use my new mail key!

The first couple days in Cote d'Azur

The bags have been packed and unpacked, the train ridden, the welcome at the station given, and now I’m sitting peacefully in my internet-less apartment, writing the my blog’s draft on Microsoft Word, so I can post it later. It was a wonderful last week in Nantes. After all my trials and tribulations at the start, I ended up being quite happy in that city, and very blessed and fortunate to have met the people that I met. My life in the past year has felt like a constant parade of goodbyes, and unlike everything else in life, they don’t get easier with practice! I was definitely sad to leave my French family, as they had been nothing but wonderful with me. And, I made some good friends at the University that I will strive to maintain in touch with. But, life goes on, I had many open doors waiting for me in Nice, and ultimately, I’m convinced I made the right decision.

Leaving for Nice Sunday morning, I found myself with a knot in my stomach, and with the same fast heartbeat and lack of appetite I had when I was coming to France. After a tearful goodbye at the Gare, I rode the train to Marseille, and then to Nice. It was really beautiful to see the change of scenery from the Northern flatlands, giving way to rolling hills, and finally turning into the craggy Alps of the south. My train wagon was nearly empty for over 80% of the trip, but knowing my luck, I had to have the only seat where someone else was sitting next to me. It so happened that it was a woman who had apparently never heard of deodorant, or showers, perhaps. It was a lovely experience to sit next to someone like that for about 4 hours.

I arrived at the gare with my multitude of bags, and the Bokkias family was waiting for my with huge smiles on their faces. Lisa, the little girl, had a “Bienvenue Maria” card, and it melted all my nerves away. We piled into their “station wagon” (I use quotation marks because I think it’s a travesty to call any car from the brand Mercedes a station wagon) and rode 5 short minutes to my apartment. My neighbourhood is one of the nicest ones in downtown Nice, it’s a grand boulevard lined with olive and palm trees. The buildings are all beautiful, with live colours, and very clean. Iannis, who had conveniently forgotten to mention it before, told me that my building used to be the old Russian Tsar’s residence in the 1890s. It was a 3 story mansion, which was converted into this 5 story apartment building in the 1930s. That’s when Iannis’ grandmother bought the place, and it’s been in the family since. It was un-inhabited for 3 years, until Iannis and Cecile decided to take on an AuPair, and voila, now it’s my home. The building has a grand marble staircase, and an old-fashioned elevator that can fit about 2.5 people in it. I love it!!

Cecile and Iannis spent the last two weeks tweaking and working on the apartment, and it really shows. The paint is fresh and crisp, the wooden floors waxed (original parquet wooden floors from the 30s!), and I even have a brand new duvet and duvet cover, and linens. The double bed is a welcome change from my little single bed in Nantes, which had a horrendous mattress. The other room is a dining/tv/living room with a table for four, and a bed-made-sofa for watching TV. I also have the nicest television I have ever had in any of my former abodes- a SHARP flat screen. Don’t ask me how many inches, all I know is that it’s pretty.. hahahah.

Sunday night was spent unpacking a bit, and going to bed early, since I had woken up early and had been traveling all day long. Monday I had off, so I could ease into the routine. I unpacked the rest of my stuff, and went exploring with my camera, since I had no pics. Nice is definitely a grittier, tougher city than Nantes, or even Paris. From the few cities that I visited in the North, I found them all to be very proper, and their architecture sharp and clean. Nice is the opposite… if Paris is your mom, where you go for comfort, Nice is your mistress, where you go for pleasure. The streets are lined with cafes, restaurants, live music, and people are warm and welcoming.The rugged peaks as its background, the city is filled with noisily colourful buildings, sporting hanging lines of clothes waving in the wind. Ladies dressed to the nines and walking all sorts of yappy little dogs seem to be the norm… as is their poop on the sidewalk. Apparently Mediterranean French have never heard of scooping.

Walking around downtown, I heard every language imaginable, except French. I heard a lot of English from England, some Spanish, and definitely Italian. The food displayed at bakeries and restaurants is deliciously Mediterranean, with lots of fresh herbs, tomatoes, olive oil, and fish.

Tomorrow is my first day of work… I think I’ll be completely fatigued by the end of the day, since I haven’t been used to working. My French courses start really soon also, so I’ll be busy right from the start. This is most excellent, since I’ll have no time to sulk around about not knowing anyone yet. But, I’m sure friends will come quickly when I start my classes… and when all of you come to see me in my sweet pad here in the French Riviera.

That’s all for now, folks!

Hi all, just a quick post to say that I have arrived in Nice safe and sound. I have nointernet, and no telephone yet, so Im kind of in limbo and restricted to using internet cafes ahere the owners dont wear deodorant, there's rows of teenagers playing internet games, and the damn keyboards ,ess you up with their mixed up letters. Mais bon, everything else is stellar. My apartment is beautiful, huge, and posh, and so is my neighbourhood. I will post pics and tell more as soon as I can. And remember, just because I can't use the internet, doesn't mean that YOU can't use YOURS to leave me loving messages about how much you miss me. Word.

Monkey on my shoulder: The French Bureaucracy

So, as previously mentioned, I'm going to Nice. To get to Nice, there are two options, you fly ($$$$$) or you train it ($$). Since I'm a low-maintenance gal, I bought a train ticket for Saturday the 25th, for 100 Euros. Making use of the wonderful advances in modern technology, I used my bank card (which here in France allows you to make online transactions like a credit card, very convenient!), and agreed to pick up the ticket at the train station (from now on, referred to as the SNCF or bastards).

A few days before I was due to pick up my ticket, I had the misfortune of losing my bank card. No big deal, it's replaceable, and aside from the mild headache of my account being frozen for a couple days until I got the replacement, it's a problem with a solution. So, I asked the bank to give me a statement which proved that I had, indeed, paid for my ticket, so I could pick it up. Armed with this, and my passport as my ID, I went to the SNCF to get my train tickets that I had already paid for. Little did I know, that the universe was conspiring against me through the form of French bureaucracy.

I'm not sure if I've alluded to this particular phenomenon before in my blogs, but let me just regale how delightful this FB is. Firstly, the French don't believe in saving the world one tree at a time. For them, the more documents, photocopies of documents, photocopies of photocopies, translations, photocopies of translations, receipts, attestations on your honour, Hallmark cards, and all other forms of paper, the happier they will be. Never, never, ever plan on finishing one affair or errand on one day, because you will inevitably be required to bring more documents, more photocopies, and more papers. Also, you NEVER, ever, break the rules. You never tweak the process, alter the order of steps to follow, bypass any parts, or Heaven forbid, override any component of the procedue. Too easy for you? Okay, let's add another obstacle to this race. Offices, institutions, and all other buildings that provide a service (minus restaurants, and you'll see why in a second) are always closed either 1, 1.5 or in some cases 2 hours between 1130-130 on weekdays. The French Lunch Hour is as sacred as their devotion to baguettes and football. So if you're ever in a really big rush to do something between the hours mentioned above, forget about it. It will not get done. You might as well go and sit with the throngs of workers who have left their offices to go have a glass of Muscadet with their lunch.

Okay, so now that you have a better personality profile of FB, I can continue with my story. I've been dealing with the bank since 10:30 am. When I went to the SNCF to reclaim my ticket, they told me it was IMPOSSIBLE to get it without the original card it was purchased with. This is to say, that inspite of my account being debited already, a transaction number, and official documentation from my bank, I had no right to my train ticket. The lady I was speaking with was not at the real train station, but just at an auxiliary branch they have downtown. Thinking that this was a "pawn" , I decided to go to the real train station and sort things out. But then, I looked at my watch, and saw that I wouldn't be able to do anything, because it was the FLH (French Lunch Hour).

So, after a mild cry in the middle of the street (yes, yes, I cry when I get frustrated, got a problem with that?) I went to meet my lovely Colombian friend Walfa, who is like my surrogate mom here. She calmed me down, fed me lunch, and accompanied me to the SNCF. After talking to 4 people, we had the same answer, pretty much to the same word ( I swear, they must have a script), I had to resort to plan B. Plan B included cancelling my original ticket, and getting my money reimbursed into my account, searching for another train ticket online, not finding another one for the same date OR price, and having to buy the second one for 30 euros more, and one day after I had planned to leave.

Complaining about it won't do me any good now, after all, I'm still going to Nice. But, all I could think of yesterday was how ridiculous this whole experience was, how SET in their protocol everyone was, and how not one single person could, after paying my 100euros, get me the freaking tickets... C'est incroyable!!!