Merry Christmas to me, indeed. I have been spoiling myself rotten with Christmas presents this past week. These are the presents I have given myself this week:
--A one way ticket from Rome to Barcelona (with Kel for our Feb/March trip)
--A one way ticket from Barcelona to Paris (with Kel for our Feb/March trip)
--A ticket to the Black Keys concert in Lille, France in late March
--A roundtrip ticket to Amsterdam (March 17th--21st) to visit Anna and Kay, my roommates when I studied abroad in Italy two years ago. I got this ticket for only 26 EUROS, ROUND-TRIP!! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this price!
--A train ticket to Paris to catch my flight back to the United States on Dec 17th
Ooh la la. C’est beaucoup! But give me a chance to defend my prodigal behavior this week. First, I have not gone out in over FIVE WEEKS, and I have been spending only about 27 euros per week on groceries. I know this is a weird number, but it seems to be the magic number in food budgeting because 25 euros is a bit too low and 30 euros is too much. Second, I finally finished all of my blasted graduate school applications. I felt like I was going to throw up with nervousness each time I clicked the “submit” button. This week it has really started to sink in that my life has the potential to change pretty drastically in the next year. I might be moving somewhere across the country next summer--yikes!! What is most terrifying to me, however, is the idea that I will be living in this place for FIVE to SEVEN YEARS straight. That is a huge commitment for me. For the past 6 years now, I have never stayed in one place for more than 9 months (granted, I always returned to Iowa). So, where I am going with this is that I realized I really need to enjoy my time in France—my last little taste of freedom. I have so much independence and opportunities this year, and I intend on living it up for the rest of my time abroad.
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| Yes, I really did up a pic of my ganglian cyst. |
And finally, the last reason that I deserved to be spoiled is because this week I discovered that a small mountain grew on the top of my foot overnight. I googled it, and apparently it is a ganglion cyst. I am hoping that it will go away on its own, but if it doesn’t then a minor surgery is required remove it (gross). Actually, the circumstances of my finding this cyst are kind of funny. As I was brushing my teeth, I thought to myself, “I am so lucky that I never have to have my wisdom teeth removed. What if I can go my whole life without ever having to have any kind of surgery? That would really be something to brag about." Then ten minutes later I discovered the cyst. Talk about karma….
Anyway, this weekend was pretty uneventful. On Friday the weather was horrible, sort of a sleet/rain mix. Miraculously, I was able to drag myself to the gym (it is a 25 minute walk one way. Also, it was not a miracle that I went, it was by bribing myself with the promise of a pain au chocolat and a "ficelle picarde" at the patisserie next to the gym).
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| Ficelle Picarde: Cheeses, ham, mushrooms inside |
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| Pain Au Chocolat |
On Saturday I woke up to the smells of delicious food being baked. I am doing a really good job of representing America with my ability to sleep in whenever the chance appears (you are all very welcome), so I stumbled into the kitchen around 10:45am to see Laura making apple muffins, Saatvika making a delicious Indian dessert, Miriam making some butter cookie dough, and Guendalina making French toast. Being the wonderful roommates that they are, they all let me sample a bit of their creations. Gooooood morning! Then, I went to Lille to meet up with some other assistants to go to the Marche de Noel and to do some Christmas shopping.
The Marche de Noel was very cozy. Since I am camera-less, I googled some pics of the Marche in Lille—so this is what it looked like. I ate a delicious saucisse franfort avec choucrout (German sausage with saurkraut), then drank two glasses of vin chaud (hot wine with spices). It was lovely. Then we walked around Veuix Lille and did some Christmas shopping. It was a very nice day and it was really nice to meet up with the other assistants—as I said earlier I have been a bit of a hermit for the past month. I got back to Douai around 8:00pm, and then Miriam and I watched a movie together.
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| A "vin chaud" stand at the Marche de Noel |
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| Marche de Noel in Lille, France. Notice the ferris wheel in the background! |
Sunday morning was another wonderful morning. My two German roommates (Laura and Miriam) made the rest of us a traditional German breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, a mozzarella/tomato dish, bread with caramel, honey, nutella, and chestnut spreads, a Christmas bread/cake, pineapple, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, ham (from Germany even!), and cheese. It was a feast! If there is ever a reason for getting out of bed before noon on a Sunday, this would be it. I am so lucky to have such great roommates :)
Anyway, I miss you all lots and I can’t wait to see ya’ll soon!!! See you in 12 days!!
Christy
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