La · voyageuse

Oh. My. God. I'm. Addicted.

I can't help it! It's everywhere! It started after Chris left and I started watching the.. oh, I don't remember which match, and then followed the rest of it on my computer. But it really dug its claws in Thursday night in Prague when I hung out in Old Town Square with a bunch of Brazilians and drunk Englishmen. And last night at the beer garden with Brynn and Tim, watching the Mexico-Angola match.

I am officially addicted to World Cup. And it's not even Chris's fault, because he's in Germany. I just love it, I can't help it. I hated watching it here with Chris because I always felt so stupid, but after watching some on my own I am beginning to get it and really enjoy it.

Anyway. Prague was great, in addition to the football. A really cool little city, and Brynn and Tim were fantastic hosts. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and am now sunburnt and sore. Czech is a strange funny language and I didn't pick up on any of it at all. But like I said, a very good time was had. Most of it was spent just wandering the city, through Old Town and the Lesser Side and the Castle. I didn't get to see the inside of St Vitus's because the crowd was so insane, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Very warm, though.

Anyway. Going to sit around and follow the Czech Republic-Ghana match (go Ghana!) on my compy for a bit, then go make dinner, then wait twitchily for tonight's US match.

This is ridiculous. Heheheh.

So. We left Thursday for Wales, in the morning. Took a flight to Liverpool and a few train rides until we got to Betws-y-Coed, which is where we were staying. After asking around, we found out that our hostel/inn for the night was a bit further away than expected in a town called Penmachno, so we took a bus there. It was just a tiny little inn in a tiny little town that didn't even have a food shop, so we went without dinner. But it was nice.

The next morning we went into Betws proper, left our bags at our B&B, then went off for a hike to Llyn Elsi, which was lovely. We got chased by geese, walked around the lake, just gorgeous. It's such beautiful country, you wouldn't believe it. Then we came back to the town and soaked our feet in the river. Everyone was jumping off the bridge into the river on the other side of the waterfall, it reminded me of Ithaca. Then we had dinner (fish and chips, but they weren't great) and went back to our B&B where, if I remember correctly, we watched soccer. Came out of the first day rather sunburnt, despite having bought sunscreen.

Day two saw us going to Dolwyddelan by train to see the Welsh castle there, which was really cool. It's just this tiny little tower sitting on top of a hill. There were some really gorgeous views from the top, it was cool. Then we had some ice cream and did another little hike up to the Snowdon viewpoint, where we saw the famous mountain. Well, I lie, first we found ourselves at a bench in a sheep field, so we sat there for awhile and that was fun. Then we went up to the viewpoint. Then we got the train back to Betws, watched the tail end of the England-Paraguay game, and started wandering around and investigating dinner. I got myself a Welsh flag and a sticker and such. We ate at a hotel bar, and I had lamb and leek pie, which was postively delicious.

Day three was our second and last breakfast at the B&B (tea, toast, cereal, ham, sausage, eggs, tomato, mushroom, and baked beans--I love English breakfasts =D). We left our bags there for the day and hiked out to see Swallow Falls. We lost the trail several times due to bad directions in our guidebook, but it ended up all right and we met a Welsh guy who had been to and loved Juneau. The falls ended up being rather pretty, and the trail was fun. We got to see Ty Hyll (The Ugly House) on the way back, too. We didn't take the trail back but just followed the highway, which ended up being a good thing, because along the way we found a lamb with her head caught in the fence. We tried to scare her into pulling her head out, but that didn't work. Chris wanted to leave and tell someone, but I couldn't just leave her there. So I bent down and started calming her down and petting her (Chris was scared she was going to bite) and soon she got used to her presence. Then, with him lifting up the wire of the fence, her yanking backwards, and me holding her head and pushing, we got her free. She was very excited and ran back to her mum right away and hid under her, tail wagging furiously; it was adorable =D

Then we went and got our bags from the B&B and, because the buses weren't running that day, started the 5 mile walk back to Penmachno for the night. This was right after the 5 mile hike earlier, and this time it was with packs. And I've never done that before. AND I have a bad knee. But we did it, and my knee survived; it just decided to swell up that night. We had pasties for dinner, and that was delicious.

Then yesterday we left. We ended up taking a bus from Betws to Llandudno because the train wasn't running, and some guy came and got us at the last minute. We spent a large chunk of time in Liverpool airport, our flight was delayed, but now we're back, and I miss Wales.

Really, just a very wonderful, therapeutic weekend. What a cool place.

I might do pictures later, I just have to upload them. But in the meantime, it's 5 billion degrees here and I have a test to fail tonight.

I am miserable. It looks gorgeous outside, and all I want to do is go for a run, but do to injury, I can't. Speaking of injury, both of them hurt ridiculously right now. I am decidedly unmotivated and blatantly not studying for the exam I have Monday that I'm going to fail. And Chris is in Amsterdam and I'm lonely. And my room was so freezing cold last night that I slept in socks, a long sleeved shirt, and a hat, under three wool blankets, and I never once got hot.

Christ, I just want to go for a run.

Bah.

Had a lovely experience this morning where my physical therapist curled me up into a ball, put his thumb just beneath my shoulderblade, and threw his body weight on me until a lovely crackling noise emitted from my back. And then he popped the wayward tendon back into place. And now my arm feels like a painful, useless piece of flesh attached to the right side of my body. Someone tell me, just how am I supposed to take a 2 hour exam with that?

Anyway. Evidently I am much more fucked up than I thought.

Back to studying like mad. And playing with Pandora.

So. This weekend Chris and I went to Limerick, Ireland. What a fantastic country. Very nice people. We stayed in this ubercool Bed and Breakfast where the host, Dermot, was incredibly friendly and even helped me get my leather jacket back (I'd left it on the bus, he did all the calling of people). Yesterday we went and saw two castles, King John's and Bunratty, and they were very cool. We heard live Irish music in a pub on Saturday night, too. I squeed at all the Gaelic on the signs. I really loved it there, made me remember how much I love Celtic stuff, and it was so good to be in a country that speaks English. I miss it, and somehow it made me more homesick.

What had been diagnosed as tendonitis for the past 6 MONTHS was actually a displaced tendon over my elbow, that got popped back into place last Wednesday. Theoretically the problem is solved, but it still hurts--probably needs to heal or something.

Frustrated and ornery for no reason. I'm probably overtired.

Spring Break was a good time, a very good time. I promise I will post pictures somewhere, in some time... it's a work in progress, mkay?

But now, alas, is back to work. Just cranked out my stupid art history paper, it's such bullshit. This is why I'm a ling major, I can't do this explaining art crap. Psh. Try to explain an abstract work. What bullshit. Also have to probably start on my huge Israel paper, which I have absolutely NO ideas for, and it's due a week from Tuesday. Or it might not be. I haven't been to class in two months, what do I know. Though I doubt something that big has been pushed back. Because that'd make sense.

I'm having a bit of a rough go of it. Frustrated once again by not being able to do anything, and what with spring finally and thoroughly here, all I want to do is be outside, be active, be... happy. Christ, if I could just write for any amount of time, that'd help. But I'm stuck in a bit of a rut where I feel positive that I'm not going to get better. I'm not asking for sympathy, I'm just stating my situation right now. I need to work on it, because basically, it's killing me. So we'll see. First step is physical therapy, and I'll call them tomorrow.

Now I think we're going to go cook dinner, and then I might color for awhile while Chris finishes up HIS paper.

I'll let you all know when/where photos are posted.

Kind of silly to be updating now, when I'm going home tomorrow night, but whatever.

Having fun except for the head/chest cold and the nastily hurting knee. It's so nice to not have to pay for housing and food. And the food is GOOD. And oh my gods, the BEER. The beer is beyond excellent. So very tasty.

Kind of creepy to think that a little over half a century ago this was Nazi central, though. Sends chills down my spine. Everything's so much more new than it was in Italy, because everything was bombed.

Speaking of Italy... fanTAStic. Venice was absolutely fantastic, I loved it, I was so enchanted. Rome was good too, not as good because we stayed in a sucky hostel for the last two nights--we were in a tent! and the showers were a trickle of cold water! etc. But it was fun to see the Colosseum. And I SAW THE POPE! Not at all a Catholic, but that was cool.

Okay. We're going to go see an opera now. So I will talk to you all later.

Well guys, I'm off on spring break for a couple of weeks. Chris and I are going to Venice, then Rome, then Berlin to see his stepdad and mom for Easter. I'll update if I can. Everybody have a great couple of weeks and a happy Easter!

Today is the day. The huge, enormous strike. I am planning on staying in, as it could be dangerous. I don't really have anywhere to go anyway. But Chris went to class, and apparently he took public transportation, so I don't know what's going on. I'm just going to sit here and drink my tea and wait for him to get back. Maybe take a shower, read a little bit for classes.

Why is it that now, although I haven't had class for a month, I have more homework than I ever have this semester? Mmf.

Spring weather continues, though... Chris and I went to Jardin de Luxembourg for a walk on Sunday because it was 66 degrees and just lovely, and it was awesome. It's been in the fifties since, which is good enough for me! I can't wait until after spring break, when it's going to be really gorgeous. Hell, I can't wait for spring break =D

Okay, tea's gone. I'm going to go read the English novel translated from Hebrew for my Contemporary Israelian History class that's taught in French. Did you follow that?

So finally, today, after weeks of cold and nastiness, Paris finally gave us a glimpse of Spring. And my oh my, how wonderful it is to be walking the streets of this city with the boy I love on such a day. The smell of spring rain in the air, the balminess of it all, how clean the city seems... fantastique, vraiment.

In other news, the strike continues. Not only does it continue, but it's getting worse: on Tuesday, because nothing has been done about the CPE, there is going to be a national strike. And I don't mean of just students. I mean of everyone. Which means, in essence, I'll be walking everywhere. And I will probably have to buy food on Monday.

Anyway, here's what the CPE is, really, now that I've got it figured out. It's a contract that's supposed to help young people find jobs, because previously, there had been no aid whatsoever in forming resumes, finding jobs, anything, not like we have in the states. And on average, after someone graduates from uni, it takes them 4 to 8 years to find a steady job. Before the CPE, there were two other contracts you could have: a CDI, where there is no definite termination of your employment, and a CDD, where your duration there is predetermined. Under a CDI, if an employer wants to fire you, they have to give justification. If the justification is insufficient, you can take them to tribunal. Under CDI there is a trial period of 3 months, during which an employer can fire you with justification.

The CPE, contrat premier embauche (first hire contract), which applies ONLY to people under the age of 26, lengthens this trial period to 2 years, and also makes it so that an employer does not have to give justification in firing you. The aim of this is to make it easier for French employers to fire someone (it's very difficult right now). It also reduces the cost of what French employers have to provide for their employees over this period of two years. The youth are protesting this because they feel it places them in a permanently precarious position, which is true. Under this contract a youth basically has to do whatever an employer says, or risk losing their job. Also, they can be fired the day before their two years is up, in order to save the employer the money they'd have to spend to keep them in a CDI. The CPE also makes it difficult for young people to find stable housing or take out loans, because if they can be fired at any time, no bank is going to give them loans. It also inconveniences older people trying to find jobs: if an employer has a choice between a 22 year old and a 27 year old, he will hire the 22 year old because they are more expendable.

From the employers' end, the aim of the CPE is to make firing easier, make it cheaper and more agreable to hire young people, and increase turnover. All of this could possibly happen, I don't know. But most businesses are against the CPE as well, because they're basically being bribed to hire workers that they don't need. They want to hire people when they have need of people, not because the government is telling them to.

Obviously, as you can tell, I'm for the retraction of the CPE--I don't think that this contract of Villepin's is going to help anything at all. I also think that Villepin (the prime minister) is commiting politcal suicide by letting this continue; there's no way he'll be elected president now, not after this. But I don't think that retracting the CPE is going to solve the problem. What France really needs is a complete overhaul of its labor laws: they need to make turnover much easier than it is, they need to help youth get into the workplace, and more than anything, they need to CREATE jobs.

Anyway. Sorry for that long rant. But that's the situation.

To make up for the hours of class we've missed we're having tutorats. Educo is running around hiring people for each and every one of our classes. It's crazy. They're turning out to be quite helpful, actually.

Otherwise... dunno. Yesterday was an awful, awful day, where all of our intentions otherwise were thwarted, but it's over now, and today is much better.

Something in this country hates me.

Here, my knee and my wrist have been acting up more than ever. Last week I had stomach flu, which I haven't had that badly since who knows when. And this morning, after dimly remembering waking in the middle of the night to violently scratch at my legs, I look to find my legs completely covered in gigantic hives. Wonderful.

Anyway. Today sucks because of that and because Mum is gone and because I have a SHITLOAD of work to do. Off I go.

So. Over the course of yesterday I:
-Woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning sick to my stomach
-Threw up 5 times at 7, thinking it was food poisoning, went back to sleep, skipped my nonexistent class
-Met my mom who is here, which rules, and ate lunch with her
-Went to Educo for my tutorat with Chris and threw up all over the place 20 minutes into it, spent an hour calming down. Stomach flu, not food poisoning.
-Felt better, went home, took shower, got ready for the ballet I went to see.
-Had a bit of dinner (bread) with Mum and Chris, went to ballet
-Got pointed in wrong direction to seats at ballet, felt like fainting
-Felt really sick and half-delirious during ballet and left at intermission
-Came home, went to sleep.

I'm mostly over it now, but I'm still a little peaky... Either way, yesterday wasn't much fun. Although I don't really remember a lot of it.

Today was fun though, met Mum, we went to Notre Dame, had lunch, I skipped class again because I was feeling sick, and then we met up and went to the Louvre and to dinner. It's really cool having her here. I miss my fambly!

Anyway. That's why I haven't been around.

This strike is so much more serious than I ever imagined. I don't know if I can articulate to all of you what a big deal it is, but I'm going to try.

First of all, obviously, it's still going on. This is week 3. But more than that, the EDUCO people just told us today that it might go on until Spring Break. That's in APRIL. They teargassed students at the Sorbonne. There are riots. There are riot police EVERYWHERE around the Sorbonne. An entire street was parked end to end with police vehicles. We saw 4 busses full of riot police. There's police on every corner in the 5eme. This is serious stuff.

In addition, they're trying to declare the CPE unconstitutional. That's how big this thing is. If it is declared unconstitutional, the greve will end. If it's not, the greve will continue until who knows when.

It's really astounding. The graffiti, the barricades, the students protesting, rioting. They're saying nothing this big has happened since the student riots of '68.

And it's not just students. Other groups are manifesting as well. (manifester=to protest) There was an opera cancelled because of the greve.

This doesn't really give you the true feeling for how big this is. I'll try to get some photos, maybe. But I don't know if you guys will understand, not being here. This is...history. I don't know. It's big.

I have a PLANT again! I think it's a bromeliad, but it's lovely and I love it. It has yet to be named, but it will be.

Yesterday Chris and I went to the Palais de Tokyo and saw this expo called Notre Histoire. It was awesome, really crazy ultra-modern art. Giant skeletons, bronze watermelons, etc. I rather enjoyed it.

I actually had class on Thursday, despite Jussieu being seriously barricaded with chairs and tables and such. Kind of refreshing to actually have class for once.

My wrist is getting better. The doctor gave me heavier drugs for it: a stronger anti-inflammatory, and a pain med. I'm not really sure what either of them are, but I know they're helping.

Did some work this weekend, actually, as Mum is coming this week and I won't have time to do work when she's here. And I figured out some possible schedules. Looks like I'll be taking two ling courses, beginning Arabic, physics for nonmajors, yoga, and, because I just decided on a French concentration, The French Experience. The concentration's really easy, I've got it half done already. With Readings in Celtic languages, that's 21 academic credits, 22 with yoga. Crazy.

Hope all is well with everyone else.