Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
teaching bluegrass to the french
Last night at Dinner, Pauline started talking about something she saw that she thought was really neat. As she was describing it, I realized that she had seen someone playing the spoons! (Like how they do a lot in bluegrass music). And she got a little confused and was like, "They had a fork and a spoon... or was it two spoons?" and I was like, "Oh yeah, you take two spoons and put them back to back..."
So she got all excited that I knew what she was talking about, and was like, "Wow, you've seen this done before?? Do you know how to do it??" So Raymond (host-dad) got excited too, and he got out a bunch of spoons so that I could show them... and it was really funny, because they'd never seen anyone play the spoons before, and they were all sitting around the table trying to make these rhythms.. it was like my Recreational Music class all over again..
And that's the night I taught the Maillard family how to play the spoons. I wish I could play the spoons better.. or that I had a set of those cheater spoons (ok, not really cheating, but they make spoons that are already attached so that you don't have to worry so much about how you hold them.)
So she got all excited that I knew what she was talking about, and was like, "Wow, you've seen this done before?? Do you know how to do it??" So Raymond (host-dad) got excited too, and he got out a bunch of spoons so that I could show them... and it was really funny, because they'd never seen anyone play the spoons before, and they were all sitting around the table trying to make these rhythms.. it was like my Recreational Music class all over again..
And that's the night I taught the Maillard family how to play the spoons. I wish I could play the spoons better.. or that I had a set of those cheater spoons (ok, not really cheating, but they make spoons that are already attached so that you don't have to worry so much about how you hold them.)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
paris marathon
This morning I got up early to watch the Paris Marathon. I met Rujuta downstairs at about 7:45 and we went to the metro- but when it came it was PACKED, mostly with runners, and the people on board were saying, "pas de place!" (no room!). I've managed to squeeze onto some pretty crowded metros before, but even I could see it would be practically impossible for Ruju and I to fit. So we decided to walk.
Um. I should take more early sunday morning walks. Because Paris is really wonderful that time of day. Practically no cars, the sun was out, it was cold but tolerable, and really peaceful.
So we got to the Champs-Elysees, which was packed... I think someone said around 10,000 people participate? That seems like a lot, but when it started (8:45) the Champs-Elysees had people running by us for several minutes... we watched for a few minutes, then managed to find the other Sweet Briar was there, talked to them while people were still taking off from the Arc de Triomphe, and then Matt, Annie, Clare, and Marisa decided to join in for a bit. So they took off, and people were still running by, and Molly, Rujuta and I decided to go down to the Louvre and wait there for the runners to return from Bois de Vincennes.
It took us about an hour to get to Place de la Concorde because of all the people and blocked off areas, and then we had to wait a long time for the first group of runners to come by (we calculated that in miles it was about 17.5). Once the leaders (a huge group of Kenyans- go figure) ran by, we realized that we were freezing cold. It was about 10:30 at this point, so we decided to go home and warm up.
Overall though, I thought it was really neat to see, and worth getting up for. I don't think my description is very good though...
Map:
Sorry if it's hard to see, I just took it from the marathon website to give you an idea of the route.
Um. I should take more early sunday morning walks. Because Paris is really wonderful that time of day. Practically no cars, the sun was out, it was cold but tolerable, and really peaceful.
So we got to the Champs-Elysees, which was packed... I think someone said around 10,000 people participate? That seems like a lot, but when it started (8:45) the Champs-Elysees had people running by us for several minutes... we watched for a few minutes, then managed to find the other Sweet Briar was there, talked to them while people were still taking off from the Arc de Triomphe, and then Matt, Annie, Clare, and Marisa decided to join in for a bit. So they took off, and people were still running by, and Molly, Rujuta and I decided to go down to the Louvre and wait there for the runners to return from Bois de Vincennes.
It took us about an hour to get to Place de la Concorde because of all the people and blocked off areas, and then we had to wait a long time for the first group of runners to come by (we calculated that in miles it was about 17.5). Once the leaders (a huge group of Kenyans- go figure) ran by, we realized that we were freezing cold. It was about 10:30 at this point, so we decided to go home and warm up.
Overall though, I thought it was really neat to see, and worth getting up for. I don't think my description is very good though...
Map:
Sorry if it's hard to see, I just took it from the marathon website to give you an idea of the route.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Provence: on y danse!
Saturday morning I got up at freaking 5:15am so that I could shower and leave for the train station by 6. We didn't have to be there until 6:45, but my host-mom had said I should leave at 6, so Rujuta and I were 15 minutes early. Wahooo.
So we had a fun 3-hour train ride where we got to see a lot of French country side and experience the TVG.
The first stop for our adventures was Arles. It was sunny and really warm!!
Arles was a Roman city, and we saw the ruins for the old Amphitheatre and Theater. It was so neat. I think ruins are so cool, I dunno why. After the ruins we had some free time, so I went to the market with Jessica, Willa, and Sarah J. It was torture to go before lunch, because there was so much food and so many spices, and it all smelled delightful. We all got a few provence gifts for people, along the lines of lavender and kitchen-y stuff. :)
Lunch was provided by Sweet Briar, we went to a restaurant and they served us chicken with vegetables. Then more free-time, which meant more walking around in the now hot sunshine and more shopping. And sitting outside with ice cream people watching. And we saw the old church.
After Arles was Pont du Gard, which is an old roman aqueduct. And since it was over a river, there were people outside swimming! A few people waded in the water, one person accidentally got her jeans soaked, and another person swam.
That night we got to stay in an Abbey, l'Abbaye Saint-Michel de Frigolet, which was SWEET. It was up in the hills and there was nothing really nearby. There were hiking paths though, so Jess and I went on a hike before dinner, and it was GORGEOUS. We got to the top of this one hill, and we were talking kind of loudly, when I was like, "Hey.. listen!" So we did. And it was silent. Like, you could faintly hear a bird chirp, or an insect once in a while but otherwise... just quiet. So we just stood there listening to the nothingness and watching the sun go down, and it was amazing. And it reminded me just how noisy my life really is. Jeez.
At dinner we had pasta and gross wine, and we learned french drinking songs. Haha. It got a little obnoxious after awhile though. After dinner, Willa, Sarah J., Jess and I played egyptian rat screw and stayed up late. Aaaaand that night was the time change.
The next day we had an early breakfast of croissants, yogurt, and hot drinks. Then we departed for Les Baux, which is my new favorite location in France. Seriously, I thought it was sooo gorgeous. It was really windy, and up in the sort-of mountains, so it was really rocky. But the village of Les Baux was about half-way up the mountain, and it was so neat! And we got to see some 11th century ruins. But seriously, that town/area of Provence was my favorite.
Our last location was Avignon, which I didn't find as exciting as Les Baux, even though it was soooooo much bigger (it was actually a city, not a little village). We saw the Palais des Papes (Popes), and the PONT D'AVIGNON! So of course there was a dance party. Yesss. We (Willa, Jess, Sarah and I) got a little lost finding the bridge though, so we didn't have a lot of time for our dance party and had to RUN back to the bus haha. Then our lightning-fast trip to Provence was pretty much over and we went to the train.
The train ride back was really fun. And it was neat watching the weather get worse and worse until we were in Paris and had to go back in the pouring rain. Hahaha.
I'd move to Provence. It's so pretty.
If you're confused about why we had to dance on Pont d'Avignon:
So there's this french song called Sur le pont d'Avignon (On the Avignon Bridge) and it goes like this:
Chorus:
Sur le pont d’Avignon
On y danse, on y danse
Sur le pont d’Avignon
On y danse tout en rond
(on the Avignon bridge/ we dance there, we dance there/ on the Avignon bridge/ we all dance there in a ring)
1:
Les belles dames font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça.
2:
Les beaux messieurs font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça.
3:
Les militaires font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça
4:
Les musiciens font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça.
And it's just all these people dancing on the bridge. Wahoo! It's a folk song, so there might be slight variations in the lyrics, but the idea is the same.
Sitting in Arles:
Les Baux!
So we had a fun 3-hour train ride where we got to see a lot of French country side and experience the TVG.
The first stop for our adventures was Arles. It was sunny and really warm!!
Arles was a Roman city, and we saw the ruins for the old Amphitheatre and Theater. It was so neat. I think ruins are so cool, I dunno why. After the ruins we had some free time, so I went to the market with Jessica, Willa, and Sarah J. It was torture to go before lunch, because there was so much food and so many spices, and it all smelled delightful. We all got a few provence gifts for people, along the lines of lavender and kitchen-y stuff. :)
Lunch was provided by Sweet Briar, we went to a restaurant and they served us chicken with vegetables. Then more free-time, which meant more walking around in the now hot sunshine and more shopping. And sitting outside with ice cream people watching. And we saw the old church.
After Arles was Pont du Gard, which is an old roman aqueduct. And since it was over a river, there were people outside swimming! A few people waded in the water, one person accidentally got her jeans soaked, and another person swam.
That night we got to stay in an Abbey, l'Abbaye Saint-Michel de Frigolet, which was SWEET. It was up in the hills and there was nothing really nearby. There were hiking paths though, so Jess and I went on a hike before dinner, and it was GORGEOUS. We got to the top of this one hill, and we were talking kind of loudly, when I was like, "Hey.. listen!" So we did. And it was silent. Like, you could faintly hear a bird chirp, or an insect once in a while but otherwise... just quiet. So we just stood there listening to the nothingness and watching the sun go down, and it was amazing. And it reminded me just how noisy my life really is. Jeez.
At dinner we had pasta and gross wine, and we learned french drinking songs. Haha. It got a little obnoxious after awhile though. After dinner, Willa, Sarah J., Jess and I played egyptian rat screw and stayed up late. Aaaaand that night was the time change.
The next day we had an early breakfast of croissants, yogurt, and hot drinks. Then we departed for Les Baux, which is my new favorite location in France. Seriously, I thought it was sooo gorgeous. It was really windy, and up in the sort-of mountains, so it was really rocky. But the village of Les Baux was about half-way up the mountain, and it was so neat! And we got to see some 11th century ruins. But seriously, that town/area of Provence was my favorite.
Our last location was Avignon, which I didn't find as exciting as Les Baux, even though it was soooooo much bigger (it was actually a city, not a little village). We saw the Palais des Papes (Popes), and the PONT D'AVIGNON! So of course there was a dance party. Yesss. We (Willa, Jess, Sarah and I) got a little lost finding the bridge though, so we didn't have a lot of time for our dance party and had to RUN back to the bus haha. Then our lightning-fast trip to Provence was pretty much over and we went to the train.
The train ride back was really fun. And it was neat watching the weather get worse and worse until we were in Paris and had to go back in the pouring rain. Hahaha.
I'd move to Provence. It's so pretty.
If you're confused about why we had to dance on Pont d'Avignon:
So there's this french song called Sur le pont d'Avignon (On the Avignon Bridge) and it goes like this:
Chorus:
Sur le pont d’Avignon
On y danse, on y danse
Sur le pont d’Avignon
On y danse tout en rond
(on the Avignon bridge/ we dance there, we dance there/ on the Avignon bridge/ we all dance there in a ring)
1:
Les belles dames font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça.
2:
Les beaux messieurs font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça.
3:
Les militaires font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça
4:
Les musiciens font comm’ ça
Et puis encore comm’ ça.
And it's just all these people dancing on the bridge. Wahoo! It's a folk song, so there might be slight variations in the lyrics, but the idea is the same.
Sitting in Arles:
Les Baux!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
