Excuse my French

Ok, so I've been having the slightest worry that I've been accidentally cursing in French. There's this one phrase that I've started using, and I think it means "I don't care", but it could mean something stronger than that. So, in order to find out, I just looked up a list of bad words to see if it was on there. It wasn't. But there were a ton of other "gros mots" and phrases, along with their translations. Most were horrible of course, but some were just hilarious. Thus, the whole point of this blog post.

For example: (Translations only because they're funnier)

    1. "You have the body of a dog and the I.Q. of a five year old!"  

     Bah. Good one. Got the physical and the     intellectual side.

     2. "You are a potato with the face of a guinea pig!"

     How does that even work?? And what's with the combinations?                                                

     3. "You smell like beef and cheese!"                
                                                                       
     Hey now, that's just a quote from Elf. I bet he sits on a throne of lies, too.

I have a feeling that this website might not be the most credible, but hey, it was worth the laugh. If you don't hear from me for a while, it will probably be because I've died laughing after hearing one of these on the tram or something.


P.S. I found another website that says the phrase I've been using isn't a big deal; it's just a little informal. "Je m'en fiche."

Flowers, mountains, sea, and sunshine.

Now for a bit more cheery post. Éowyn and I travelled to Marseille and Aix-en-Provence the weekend after Normandie. We had been thinking Strasbourg for about three days, but then in about an hour's time we changed our minds completely, decided to head South, bought our tickets, and emailed her friend Hannah to see if we could crash her place for a few nights. It was such a whirlwind, but it was so much better than the usual stress that comes with planning travel. And it was an even better weekend.

We flew RyanAir and landed at MP2 airport, which is in between Aix and Marseille, so we decided to go to Marseille for the day before heading to Hannah's for the night. Marseille was awesome, a huge city completely different from the west of France, mountains in the background, Mediterranean in the foreground, and a whole bunch of diversity in the middleground (this sentence makes sense in my head, I hope in yours too). It was wonderful to shed our sweaters and admire the view from the top of Notre Dame de la Garde, a church set on top of a hill right in the middle of the city. We even got a bit of coup de soleil--sunburn. Uh oh. It's true that Marseille doesn't really feel like France, but it is France no matter what people say--a France that has lots of immigrants, lots of cultural diversity, and it can be cool to observe, despite all the controversy and problems that surround it.

Then we took a 45 minute shuttle ride to Aix-en-Provence, an absolutely charming little village that makes a grand contrast its metropolitan neighbor. The cute little buildings seemed to glow with their warm southern colors, and the tiny little streets make your head spin with all the unique shops and restaurants. Other than getting to know Éowyn's lovely friend Hannah, who was a fantastic hostess, the highlight was the big open-air market on Saturday. It was huge! The flower section was beautiful to see, and I found some super cute gifts for my peeps back home :) Oh, and there was also a woman singing Edith Piaf in the street. Semester made.


I absolutely loved the south of France; it was beautiful. But every time I travel, I become more and more thankful for Nantes. I am convinced that it's the best. More on that later, I could talk all day on that subject.

                                                                                                                           À tout à l'heure!

Normandie and Tough Questions.

Ok, so I have a ton of little posts to make. It's been a while since I last posted, and I want to write it all hehehe. IES sponsored a weekend trip to Normandy a few weeks ago; we went to the WWII Memorial museum in the city of Caen (pronounced kinda like con), the Bayeux Tapestry exhibit in Bayeux, Omaha Beach and the American military cemetery, Point du Hoc, and finished up with the German cemetery. Of course we had a lot of fun, as usual, but I think all of us also did a lot of thinking and discussing. No one could go to any of these places (except maybe Bayeux--tapestries are great, but not the most philosophical of subjects) without taking a hard look at the world.

Like most people, the Holocaust draws my attention like no other historical event, and it weighs heavy on my heart. Many ask themselves what they would have done in that situation--if they would have leaned out the window and cheered on the German soldiers carting away their neighbors, or if they would have stood up and fought, hid them in their cellars or attics. I think that's a good question. But I think an even better question is to ask myself what am I doing now? Our world has not changed, and until it is redeemed, there will always be evil, always be injustice. The 27 million human beings imprisoned in the horrors of human trafficking are evidence enough. I say this because when I think of the Jewish people--persecuted, hated, treated like animals, massacred mercilessly--I feel anger and deep sadness. But I do not want it to go to waste. Compassion is great, but if it does not result in action, it counts for nothing. We say we study history to learn from it. So let's do it for a change. These are just my thoughts.