The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Skiing!

Bonne Année! Happy New Year! I had a great two weeks at home celebrating the holidays with my family, and now I'm back teaching in Gap. Last weekend Slawa came up from Avignon and we went skiing at a resort 45-minutes north of Gap. Luckily we got a ton of snow the days before she came and we ended up with a crystal clear day for skiing! I was a bit rusty and took more than just a couple of spills, but it was a thrilling experience skiing in such a beautiful environment. In fact, it was kind of dangerous because sometimes I would be distracted by the spectacular views.

Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse...

Last weekend I went to Avignon to visit Slawa. It was nice to have a break from Gap and to see a friendly face. Saturday night we met up with our friend Corie and went to the apartment of two other American teaching assistants to make pancakes for dinner. The other assistants, however, live with two French girls who were also having people over for dinner. It wasn't a problem, but the interesting thing is we got to see a bunch of young French twenty-somethings hang out. They made a savory meatball and vegetable casserole in a tagine that looked like a work of art. It took a couple of hours to prepare, but their preparation was part of the evening. They drank wine, danced spontaneously to traditional music, played the flute, told jokes, talked about their lives and intermingled with us - all while preparing an incredible meal. It started around 8pm and they didn't finish eating until after midnight.

I really love the French adoration for the relationship of food and camaraderie. Of course, food is essential in many cultures, but in France 'gastronomie' is taken to another level. I've seen it (and partaken in it) so many times here already. It starts with an 'aperitif' which is a glass of wine with a salty snack like mixed nuts or something that resembles Chex Mix. Then a cup of soup or a small salad. After that, you get the main dish which is usually some kind of meat and always delicious. Often it's served with vegetables. After you that you might eat a small sweet desert, but most of the time it is just some wonderful, wonderful cheese. Mmmmmmmmmmm...cheese. I really hope that I keep this appreciation once I leave France.

Sunday morning Slawa and I got up to take a tour of the famous 'Pont d'Avignon' which means the 'Avignon Bridge.' It was pretty cool. At one time it led from one side of the Rhone River to the palace of the Pope. FYI, for about 70 years, Avignon was the home to the papacy starting in the early 14th century. Just like the Vatican today - Avignon used to be a sovereign state. The bridge was built between 1171 and 1185, with an original length of more than 900 m (2950 ft). It has been knocked down many times due to floods and has been reconstructed each time. Also, there is very famous French song that goes, 'Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse, l'on y danse...' which means, 'On the Avignon Bridge, we danced there...' So of course, Slawa and I danced on it. And under it. And in it. And around it.

It was a good weekend.

It was an itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny cultural difference

Yesterday I went to the swimming pool with four of the other language assistants - all of whom are girls. Strangely enough, I'm the only male language assistant in Gap. Two of them had talked about the pool a few days ago, and Tuesday night we decided to go as a group to check it out. It's a small public pool, but it's very clean. In fact it may be the nicest public pool I've ever been in.

So I showed up in my athletic shorts that double as swimming trunks, and a woman who works at the pool came over to me and said, "Le short n'est pas acceptable. Il est interdit ici. Tu dois porter un maillot de bain. Tu comprends?" (Shorts are not accepted. They are prohibited here. You must wear a bathing suit. Do you understand?).

I looked around and, of course, a 'maillot de bain' means a pair of speedos, which all of the other men were wearing shamelessly. I told her that I didn't have a 'maillot de bain' and that I always use my shorts for a bathing suit. She stuck to the policy but graciously informed me that she would look to see she could find an extra suit that I could borrow.

She came back a few minutes later with a tiny pair of bright blue speedos and said to bring them back to her when I was finished. I took one look at them and knew that this was going to be a very funny day. I put them on - stuffing as much of myself as could into this ridiculously small piece of fabric. When I thought I had done a sufficient job, I took a look in a mirror and was horrified. I felt indecent...they hardly covered my butt.

What could I do, though? The girls were already swimming and I had already paid. So, I walked out proudly in my little speedos and started swimming too. The girls didn't say anything when they saw me, and then I realized that they couldn't appreciate my embarrassment because, in their countries, what I was wearing was perfectly ok...they're all from the EU.

I was less embarrassed because of that, but if you could have only seen me in these speedos - it was priceless. Immediately afterwards, I went to the sporting goods store and bought a boxer-brief style speedo that will at least leave more of me to the imagination.

Let it snow!

It snowed today! It's the first time in almost 3 years that I've seen it! Gap is beautiful...

A View from the Top

Last night, my friend Tom called to see if I wanted to faire une randonnée. 'Randonnée' is the French word for 'excursion,' but it is frequently used to mean mountain hiking. I was really looking forward to going since it would be my first time hiking in these mountains since I arrived (excluding the time that my landlady drove me up to a mountain path and then left me to find my way back down - see the post 'Running Man').

We left at 8:15am this morning, and we were hiking by 9. It was really beautiful on the way up. As we started getting closer to the peak the path was getting pretty narrow and there wasn't much separating me from 500-1000 feet drops. We were almost to the top, and Tom asked if we should go to the peak. Of course I wanted to go the peak, what kind of a question is that? You don't hike for three hours up a mountain and then not go to the peak. I realized, though, that there wasn't much of a path up to the peak and soon I was questioning my decision. It turned into more of mountain climbing instead of mountain hiking, but the top was BEAUTIFUL! One of the most exhilarating views that I've ever seen. The peak was 2592 meters (about 8500 feet).

I tried to sing Happy Birthday to Erin on a video that I made at the top, but all you can hear is the wind. Sorry, Erin. Check out the photos!

Love Actually is in Marseille

This weekend I met up with Slawa in Marseille. It was the start of 'la vacance de Toussaint.' (All Saint's Day school vacation). We stayed with a girl who is also teaching in France and has great apartment in Marseille. Coincidentally she went to high school with Keelin - my friend from Peace Corps. We had a great time and Sunday night we found ourselves in the bar that was used in one of the last scenes of 'Love Actually' (when Jamie goes to propose to the Portuguese housemaid/waitress).

For those that don't know, Love Actually was one of the movies that the Guinea PCVs watched [too?] many times in Conakry. It's such a feel good movie - plus it reminded us of Christmas and brought a lot reminders of home. I'm sure I watched it at least 10 times during my service...

Anyway, we decided that we should have a beer to celebrate the vacation and the fact that we were in this bar that seemed so strangely familiar to us. One beer turned into five and soon we were reenacting the scene from the movie in front of the many patrons (complete with pictures). Good times.

The last day I went hiking in the 'calanques' - some incredible cliffs just west of the city. They are huge limestone formations that make big fjords on the Meditterranean. I'll post pictures on Picasa soon...

Running Man

In my first mass email from France, I wrote that I'm living with an 'eccentric older woman.' I think today solidifies my initial assessment of her. The other day she asked me if I wanted to go running with her after I casually mentioned that I really enjoy running. She told me there were some great trails on the mountain that is right next to Gap. So we agreed that we would head out this morning at 8:30.

I was under the impression that we were going to jog up to these mountain paths and then come back once we were done. I was wrong. As we were walking out the door she headed toward her car. Confused, I said, "on ne va pas commencer d'ici?" (We're not going to start from here?) No, we would be driving to the paths...ok.

We drove for about 15 minutes and because of the many turns I wasn't sure exactly where we were. We parked and she started explaining the path and where it went and (I guess) how to get back down to Gap. I wasn't listening closely since I had started to stretch and assumed we would have plenty of time to chat while we ran - together. She then said something very strange - "Ok, I'll see you tonight. If you don't come back I'll send a search party." Then she left with a big smile.

Apparently she explained that since I ran much faster than she did, I should run by myself and come back down using the path. I thought I could manage after I realized what happened, but after 45 minutes of running, I hadn't passed the path that led back down to Gap. After a few minutes of debating whether to turn around and follow the road back, I saw a house with a lane. I assumed that I could just follow it to a main road, which would lead to town. Unfortunately the morning fog hadn't lifted and the sun was making impossible to tell which direction I should go. I walked for about an hour and eventually found a bus stop. I arrived back home at 11:30.

She later asked how long it took to get back and when I told her, she just seemed to think that I had intended to run for three hours. I've decided that for now, I'll just run by myself and always start from the house.