Home again, home again

Happy 4th of July to everyone. It's a wonderful welcome back to the USA.So yes, I'm back. The last part of my trip went well. I had a nice time with Luca in Bologna. We relaxed and watched some tennis and read as well as doing the tourist stuff that I love. I got my taste of Italian pasta and pizza which is very good. On Wednesday I spent the afternoon in Rome. I walked all over the city and saw a lot of the sights. I saw the Colosseum (but didn't go in) and the Trevi Fountain and went in to explore St. Peter's cathedral. It was a very hot day and I was king of ready to head home, but I'm glad I got to do see it all. I splurged and stayed in a hotel near the airport that night because my flight was so early in the morning. It was very nice and cool to have my own room. The bartender at the hotel was

really nice and made me a pizza, that was normally sold frozen (but was cheaper than that at the restaurant). I woke up at 3:45 the next morning and both of my flights went smoothly. On
the long flight (Munich to Washington) I was sitting next to an 18 year old from Ukraine who I helped with his immigration documents. I also watched 2 movies: Definitely, Maybe and The Other Boleyn Sister. Both were very good. Now it's back to real life I guess. I'm spending the weekend recovering from jet lag, unpacking, and spending time with my parents. I
restart work on Monday.

It has been great hearing from so many of you so often. I plan on continuing these emails when I head off to Argentina on August 15. Between now and then I'll be doing some visiting and working and preparing. I'm going to Florida next weekend with the whole family to visit my
grandfather. Then the weekend after that I'm back in North Carolina for Alice's wedding which I'm in. Then I'm here until August. I hope to see many of you between now and then.

More from Toulouse

Hi!

I don't have long to write cause I'm out the door soon, but I wanted to give
you all an update. I have spent a week here in Toulouse with my old host
family. It has been very nice and very relaxing. It is kind of a blast
from the past to be here again. Most things are just like I remember them,
but the kids are a little bit older. I wrote more about my first day here
on my blog, so check there for more details. I also was able to meet up
with some French friends that we used to hang out with when I was here 2
years ago. There was a big music festival (basically a 5 day concert) that
I went to with them for 2 days. It was nice to hang out with people that I
already knew and to practice my French with people my age. While I've been
here I've walked around the city a lot, basically just to see things again.
I also went for a walk and a bike ride along the canal that is right in
front of the house. I've decided that that is one of my 'happy places' in
the world.

Now I am off to Ma and Grandpapa's. They are the parents of my host father
and they live in the countryside near the Pyrénées. I am very excited to
see them and to spend some time at their lovely place. I am taking
Quitterie (the oldest) and her friend with me because they finished school
for the year this morning. One of the cousins will also be there, so that
should be fun.

On Saturday I will spend all day and night on a train to get to Luca's house
at the beach in Italy.

Ma's and the beach = relaxation to the extreme

It's seems like its been longer than it actually has since I last wrote. I am now at Luca's home in Bologna, Italy. Let's rewind a bit so that I can tell you what i've been up to.

Wednesday afternoon I took the train with Quitterie and her friend Marie to
Ma's house. She took us up to her house (about 20 min away up in the hills). There were a bunch of cousins there because Ma takes care of one family of cousins on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It was great to see them all. This bunch I didn't know too well, but one of the other cousins, Jean Gualbert (Babert), who I got along with really well last time was also there. After dinner Quitterie, Marie, Babert and I all played outside for a bit because it we could and it was great weather. Thursday we took a trip to Lourdes (about an hour away). This is a big pilgrimage site for Catholics and Ma works there often. We were all enlisted to address envelopes to bishops from around the world who had visited in the last 3 years. We were inviting them to come in September when the pope will be there. The kids got lost on our walk to lunch which let us explore a bit. Then Babert and I did the touristy stuff and he was a great guide since he's been there many times. Friday we just hung out at the house. I helped collect potatoes and plums from the garden and make lunch. In the afternoon I went for a long walk and then visited the neighbor to see her cows (including a week old calf), chickens, and pig. The Montpellier cousins arrived Friday night for the weekend. This family (Babert's family) includes 5 kids ages 18, 16, 14, and 12 year old twins. I had a long talk with the oldest about life, society and politics which was fun.

Saturday was my train day. I ended up being on trains for 25 hours including a bit of a delay. I took a 6 hour train from Tarbes (ma's) to Paris, then my night train from Paris to Bologna was 3.5 hours late. I met a bunch of Americans and we passed the time with ease. My first night train
went smoothly and I slept well enough. I made a connection from Bologna to the beach town where Luca's grandma has a house and he picked me up from the
station. His grandma is very nice. She doesn't speak English, but speaks French, so we used that to communicate. We spent most of our time hanging out at the beach with other kids, playing pingpong and beach volleyball or reading at the house. It was very relaxing. We've just arrived in Bologna and he has a very nice apartment in the center of the city as far as I can tell. It seems like we'll be going out for real Italian pizza tonight!

Welcome Home

I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful second family to add to my life. And I am finally here with all of them again!

*An update for those of you who I didn't know in 2006.*
In Spring 2006, I studied abroad in Toulouse, France on the SIT (School of International Training) program. We all lived with host families and I really lucked out. I lived with the Lapeze family made up of 2 parents and 5 children. They are: Vianney (dad) and Domitille (mom) and Quitterie (now 12.5), Alexis (11), Ségolène (9), Tanguy (7), and Foucault (5). In case you're not sure, cause I wasn't before I got here that's girl, boy, girl, boy, boy. They are a wonderful, however sometimes crazy family, which you can only expect with so many people in one house. I became friends with an entire side of the family, including visits to the grandparents (Ma and Grandpapa) and the cousins near Montpellier. I will make similar trips to see these people soon as well. They took me to all family events including a reunion, a first communion, Easter, etc. Needless to say, I was excited to see them after 2 years.

I arrived in Toulouse on Tuesday evening after a lovely morning at the beach in Barcelona. Alexis and Quitterie picked me up at the train station with their father in their nice shiny new (American) minivan. The French don't often hug, so these huge hugs were wonderful! I saw Ségo and Domitille at the house, but the youngest two were already alseep. We ate Chinese food and watched France lose in the EuroCup. I surveyed the house for new things and they pointed out all the new electronics/appliances which were all of course American. Vianney is a huge fan of America if you couldn't tell already.

On Wednesday, I spent the morning walking around Toulouse and remembering all of my favorite places. I walked past our old school, the shopping street, the discount sports/camping store where I bought my backpack and a couple of markets. Most everything is just how I remembered it. It is wonderful to be back. The afternoon was consumed by Foucault's 5th birthday party. Birthday parties for 5 year olds are always more commotion and noise than you expect, and this one was no exception. There was cake, and presents, and Alexis put on a magic show for the little ones. I got to see the aunt that lives down the street who we spent a lot of time with when I was here. I also got to meet her husband for the first time because he had been with the French Air Force in Afghanistan the whole time I was here. He was stationed with the American army and is very proud of his English skills, so we spoke in English a bit. The evening was for relaxing and homework.

Today and tomorrow I am on my own for the whole day to play around the city. Friday, Foucault is getting his tonsils removed, so he will take his new toys to the hospital to occupy him. I'm going to try to organize the other kids tonight to make him cards.

I now have skype acess, so I hope to be able to talk to you soon.

Granada + Barcelona = fun

So here I am in Barcelona. The weather is very different than it was in the south of Spain. It has been chilly (about high 60s), cloudy, and sometimes misting rain. I think I see sun outside, so that is a great sign. Let me fill you in a bit.

Granada was really nice. It was a lot more calm than Sevilla and definitely more than Barcelona. There is definitely an Arab feel that remains. I learned that they just built a mosque there for the small but growing Muslim community. The street that my hostel was on was full of shops selling hookahs, tea pots and cups, scarves, tea, and belly dancing skirts. I talked to one of the store owners who was from Morocco and he said that most of the others were also from there. Our conversation was funny because I started speaking in Spanish and slipped up and said one word in French. He stopped me and asked if I spoke French, and I said yes, why indeed I do. So then we moved into French, cause I'm more fluent in that. Then we switched back to English so my friend Laura wouldn't be excluded. I really enjoyed that!

On Friday we went to the Alhambra, which is a huge Moorish fortress which includes palaces from the Nasrids and Charles V. The palaces were very nice and our audioguide was narrated by Washington Irving because he wrote a book about the place. We enjoyed our time with good ole Washington. The gardens were very extensive and were very pretty. They are called Generalife, which we obviously pronounced as General Life, but in fact its jen-er-al-li-fay. It was really funny.

Saturday morning I was up early and off to Barcelona. All parts of the travel went well. The hostel here is nice, but definitely has a different feel than the others. So far, I have seen Las Ramblas, an amazing market, some great street performers and dancers, Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's unfinished cathedral), and the Picasso museum. Last night, I went out with some people from the hostel to see this cool fountain that does a water-lights-music show every half hour at night. The first one was all disney music which was amazing! Then we got a drink and then realized that we had missed the last metro home. Have no fear, we figured it out. We walked to the center of town (a good 25 min walk) then took the night bus back...all the while trying to figure out which stop was ours.

Happy Father's Day to everyone and their dads. I'm off to Toulouse tomorrow!!!!!!!!

That was Sevilla and this is Granada

Wow, it's been a while since I've written. Sevilla was great. I loved the Alcazar (palace), cathedral, and basillica of the Macarena (yes, like the dance). I spent a lot of time with Elie and her study abroad group, so that was great. Being with UNC people makes it feel like home. I also got to spend an evening with her host family, practicing my Spanish and seeing what normal life is like. I walked sooo much, but it was great. My hostel had a tiny pool on the roof, so that was a great way to cool off at the end of the day.

Now, I'm in Granada. Yesterday I explored a bit and climbed to a great lookout spot over the city. I also saw the tombs of Queen Isabella and King Ferdanand. I'm beginning to realize how important they really were in Spanish history. They not only allowed for Christopher Colombus to sail to America, but they also finished the Reconquista of Spain, and started the Spanish Inquisition. They are known as the Catholic king and the Catholic queen. Today I am going to visit the huge fortress/castle/palace. I'm also goingt to find the local market.

Tomorrow I'm off to Barcelona!

I Went to a Bull Fight

So I went to a Bull Fight. It was definitely an experience and I probably won't ever need to do it again in my life, but I'm glad that I went. I really liked the beginning part with the pink/red flags and the dressed up matadors. They try to look all pompous and stick their hips out at the bull, but they're wearing tight, bright colored suits, and pink tights. The kid sitting next to me and I had a good time doing commentary on the whole show, which made it pass faster. I didn't like the whole killing the bulls thing, so I mostly used my visor as a shield so I didn't have to watch those parts.

I also went to the Alcazar (the huge palace in Sevilla). It was built in the 1200s by a Christian king, but made in the Moorish style. It was very interesting because there was lots of arabic writing in the decorations and traditional Arabic decorations. I loved it and thought it was beautiful. I learned a lot from the audioguide.

Those were my big accomplishments yesterday. Sevilla has tons of windy streets that really don't make any sense, so I'm still getting lost, but oh well. I'm meeting up again today with people I met at the bullfight, so it will be fun to have company during the day.