Over break, I traveled down south to Madrid to visit Jessica, a good friend of mine who is teaching English there. It was a wonderful week of Spanish food- paella, patatas bravas, tapas, tortilla espangol, etc. Everything was amazing, and of course it was wonderful to see Jessica, as well as her roommates, Tory and Allison! On Saturday, Jessica and I played some ultimate frisbee (finally!) with the team she's joined in Spain. It was so much fun, even though after about 3 hours of ultimate I could hardly walk! It was really nice to throw a frisbee again and run around on a field.
We also celebrated Allison's birthday with a night out, full of dancing and fun! We also celebrated Valentine's Day by going to a tapas restaurant and sharing a meal there. One of the best things in Spain is that whenever you order a drink, they give you a plate of food to go with it- from olives, to paella to potatoes. On Sunday, Jessica and I got up in time to visit 2 of the most famous museums, the Prado and the Reina Sofia during their free hours and saw lots of Goyas and Picassos as well as other artists.
On Monday, Allison, Jessica and I went to a town outside of Madrid called Segovia that has the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in Spain and an aqueduct. It was a cute Spanish town, and really nice to visit. Overall, a very relaxing vacation and great to catch up with many UNC kids. :)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Un week-end americain
To start the vacances off with a bang, some other assistants and I took a weekend trip to Le Mans to watch a basketball match with David Noel playing! Yay for some Tar Heel love! Even though his team lost, it was still a great atmosphere, lots of loud, French cheering, and a reminder of how wonderful basketball is. Le Mans is a lovely city, with an old quarter that was super charming and full of delicious looking restaurants. The shopping was also fantastic, and all of us found some good deals at the sales.
We continued the sport weekend by going to Paris to watch the Superbowl at Le Players- a huge sports bar in Paris. One of the assistants is from Louisiana, so needless to say, we were all supporting the Saints. Yes, it started at 12:30am here, yes it was in English, no they did not show the commercials (lame!), yes they had "cheerleaders" to pump up the crowd, and no, we did not go to sleep until the next morning, catching the early train back home. The atmosphere really reminded me of being back home for any other big sporting event. The most painful part, however, was the ESPN America commercials for their next big event- UNC vs. Dook on Wednesday night. Emma and I cheered real loud for those commercials every time Ramses showed up! Go Saints, Go Heels, and happy vacationing!
We continued the sport weekend by going to Paris to watch the Superbowl at Le Players- a huge sports bar in Paris. One of the assistants is from Louisiana, so needless to say, we were all supporting the Saints. Yes, it started at 12:30am here, yes it was in English, no they did not show the commercials (lame!), yes they had "cheerleaders" to pump up the crowd, and no, we did not go to sleep until the next morning, catching the early train back home. The atmosphere really reminded me of being back home for any other big sporting event. The most painful part, however, was the ESPN America commercials for their next big event- UNC vs. Dook on Wednesday night. Emma and I cheered real loud for those commercials every time Ramses showed up! Go Saints, Go Heels, and happy vacationing!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Snow?! Again!?
Another weekend, and only one week until winter holidays! This past weekend, Emma (another assistant from Cary) and I visited Versailles to see Louis XIV playground and experience French monarchy at its most extravagant. It was crazy! Huge, excessive, and beautiful. The gardens were my favorite part, but as it was winter, the fountains were frozen (kinda cool) and the flowers weren't in bloom. But it was a sunny day, although a bit chilly. Luckily, the snow that was covering Chartres and Nogent did not make it all the way to Versailles, so there was only a light dusting in the area.
Then on Sunday, I woke up bright and early (well, not so bright...) at 6h30 to go with the running club to the regional championships of cross-country. It was in Onzain, about a 2 hour drive away, in a charter bus. It was pretty neat to see how a cross-country meet worked, and visit with some of the other members of the running club. Also got to do a little bit of hiking in the park area where the race was being held. And a quick drive-by of the Blois chateau, which looked absolutely stunning from the bus.
Luckily, after waking up so early on Sunday, I got to sleep in on Monday and all of my afternoon classes were canceled because of 'Courir en ville,' an event that has every primary student running around in town at a certain time. So, of course, I went and cheered on my students and they were all super cute! The giant snowflakes from this morning had stopped, so the kids had nice weather to run around and spend an afternoon outside.
Then on Sunday, I woke up bright and early (well, not so bright...) at 6h30 to go with the running club to the regional championships of cross-country. It was in Onzain, about a 2 hour drive away, in a charter bus. It was pretty neat to see how a cross-country meet worked, and visit with some of the other members of the running club. Also got to do a little bit of hiking in the park area where the race was being held. And a quick drive-by of the Blois chateau, which looked absolutely stunning from the bus.
Luckily, after waking up so early on Sunday, I got to sleep in on Monday and all of my afternoon classes were canceled because of 'Courir en ville,' an event that has every primary student running around in town at a certain time. So, of course, I went and cheered on my students and they were all super cute! The giant snowflakes from this morning had stopped, so the kids had nice weather to run around and spend an afternoon outside.
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