 |
| It's just pen, but if tattoos were ok, I'd get one like this |
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Parc Rochegude
Rainy Days
"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow." -Jerry Chin"Persistence is the element of human nature that daily moves us closer to our dreams."
"To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did."
"One does what one is; one becomes what one does." -Robert von Musil
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning." -Albert Einstein
“It’s not who you are underneath, it’s what you do that defines you.” -Batman Begins
"To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all." -Peter McWilliams
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always be what you've always been, and you'll always get what you've always got."
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
 |
| Arbre à souhait- Jardin des Plantes |
I love stormy weather. It's the best for curling up on the couch with a good book, cuddling, watching movies, sketching, and reflection (a few of my favorite things). I spend two days in Montpellier this week and it was absolutely wonderful. I'll write more about it later, but in the Jardin des Plantes there is a tree called "un arbre à souhait". People write their secrets, wishes, or secret wishes and hide them in the tree. I don't think I have any secrets, so I wrote a wish.
I only have one, maybe two, semester(s) to finish before I get my Bachelors degree. Then, it's on to graduate school. I have to start my application for that in less than a month. Another best friend is getting married in 5 months and I turn 21 in 6 months! I can't believe where I'm at in my life right now. Truth is, I always knew I'd grow up, but I never wanted to be a grown-up! And I'm almost there... Scary! I used to laugh at my mom when she'd say she didn't what she wanted to do when she grew up, but everyone is "growing up" in some ways. We are always changing. I know I've a very different person than I was at 16, last year, or even last month. Life is an accumulation of normal days in which we make seemingly small decisions. But, it is the daily decisions which shape our lives. Your decisions determine your direction and your direction decides your destiny. So start by deciding what you want to be, where you want to be, and how you can get there. Each day you wake up is the start of the rest of your life and each day you get to decide where you want the rest of your life to go. Dream. Make goals and work to reach them. Wishes are only unattained goals. Don't fill your life with empty wishes. Your entire life is simply a sum of "todays." Make each "today" count.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. -Michael Jordan
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. -Ellen Glasgow
All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. -Anatole France
Always remember that the future comes one day at a time. -Dean Acheson
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. -Leo Tolstoy
“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction” -Winston Churchill
If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. -Mary Engelbreit
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. -Maya Angelou
Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed. -Irene Peter
Things do not change; we change. -Henry David Thoreau
We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance. -Harrison Ford
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Theater of Albi, Rugby, and Toulouse
For FLE (French as a foreign language) last Friday a few of us had the wonderful opportunity to go to the theater in Albi and get a private tour by the director. For starters, we had to wait out in the cold while he smoked his cigarette and blew the smoke in our faces. Everyone in France smokes! I'll likely have black lungs by the time I go back to the US. Now, it was truly interesting for about the first 45 minutes, but after 2 hours, I was bored to tears! The theater has been renovated several times. Originally it was the gymnasium for the prison, but when they built a larger prison farther outside of town, it became a public gymnasium and has recently been renovated for use as a theater. It really is cool though! They were setting up the lighting for a set while we were there. It was pretty cool to see all the behind-the-scene places. We even got to see the air filtration/ conditioning system, and holy heck- it's huge!!! That sent the director into a tangent about how it has to be that big to filter out possible pathogens terrorists can unleash in theaters, just in case. Then he showed us the dressing rooms, toilets and showers (as if we really needed to see those), and we had an awfully long chat about photons and electrons. By this time, he had already been talking for an hour and a half, and then asked if we had any questions. Did I mention that we watched a 40 minute film in class the previous week about everything he didn't cover? I had heard more than I ever wanted to about the behind-the-scenes of the theater. But, he wasn't shy to tell us that we must be half-dead if we're not curious about anything. So, he talked for another 15 minutes during which he kept making long dramatic pauses in the middle of his sentences in which he was completely still. It was really quite strange. By then, it was way past time that he had another cigarette, so we went back outside and froze while he took another smoke. Finally, we thought we were done, but then we got a quick 10 minute tour of the cinema.
 |
| photo credits: http://ballsontheline.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/saving-face/ |
Saturday we went to "Anglo-phones Anonymous" at a cafe for lunch. This crazy old man is really quite interesting. Him and his wife come every week and when we arrive, he always takes our hands, strokes and kisses them, pulls our chairs out for us, etc. in the name of French gallantry. There seem to be a number of rumors about the reason he and his wife move so often, why he can't have an email address, and what his real job is. Anyway, on the 26th of March at "11 o'clock 15" he's planned a "surprise" for everyone. I can't even imagine what it could be. Whenever he leaves he always insists on getting his goodbye kisses one way or another, and he can be quite assertive about it. France is funny like that. You kiss total strangers, just because they know one of your friends, even though you'll probably never see them again! Then, that night was the rugby match between England and France, so Caitlin, Laura, and I went to O'Sullivans to watch the game on the big screens and around halftime I finally decided that I was officially cheering for England. (England had two hot players, and France only had one cute one) Rugby is so much more violent that American football, but it's also more fast-paced and more entertaining. And because they don't wear pads or helmets you can see their faces, although very few of them are really worth looking at haha. Sébastien Chabal is certainly interesting... I could never play rugby against him. He's a beast! It was a good match though! England won!
I'm being quite spoiled here as far as school goes. We have a two week break right now, and another at the end of April! There's a carnival in Albi right now, and it's all over town. It's pretty cool! I'll take my camera with me next time I go! So Tuesday we ventured into Toulouse! Unfortunately the weather has been dreadfully gloomy lately, and so I didn't get any great photos. Laura nearly got beat up by some girl on the metro though! This girl got on, and just gave Laura a nasty look. I just assumed she was having a bad morning, and ignored her. Several stops later she started yelling at her like crazy! Unfortunately, my vocabulary is quite lacking in French profanity, so I don't know what she was saying, but she shut up after a few minutes. Finally, she got off the train, only to turn around and start yelling again nearly about to drag Laura off the metro. Thankfully, a man shoved her off just as the doors were closing. We got to the university library with no problem, but it probably took us a good ten minutes to figure out how to get inside lol. But, we were finally successful and headed back into town, and after finding one of Caitlin's buddies we got lunch at a Lebanese restaurant! It was really quite good. It reminded me of a chicken burrito from Chipotle with french fries inside. From there, we went shopping and headed back to Albi! I had started a load of laundry before we left and two of my once white shirts and several socks were then pink, as well as one of Richard's towels I thought I'd be nice and wash for him... Woops! And, I finally got a postcard from Paraguay and a letter from OFII! So, hopefully I'll be able to go see some more of Europe soon enough. It finally cleared up for a while today so I got to catch some sun at the park. Hopefully we have another gorgeous day tomorrow! To be honest though, overcast skies and rain are so much better than feet of snow, ice, and sludge. I'm definitely not missing the winter weather of Flagstaff!
 |
| Capitolium |
 |
| Bookshop- "White Shadows" |
 |
| Restaurant Libanais on the left! |
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Photos of Albi
 |
| I don't actually know what this place is, but Douche is Shower... |
 |
| Cathédrale Saint-Cécile |
 |
| I love this photo! I love my camera! I took this shot before walking into the cathedral. I think it was mass, so I sat down for like 5 minutes, hoping it'd end soon so I could walk around and take photos, but instead I went to the Saturday Market to get some strawberries and a baguette first. |
 |
| Tiny little fish :( |
 |
| Downtown streets of Albi |
 |
| Hidden almost under the cathedral.... |
 |
| Une fleur rouge |
 |
| Au nom... du Père, du Fils, du Saint-Esprit. Amen. |
 |
| Built from 1282 to 1380, consecrated 1480. The Great Organ (blue pipes) was built from 1734 to 1736 by Christophe Moucherel; restored in 1981. |
 |
| The paintings are remarkable... They were painted in 1512 and haven't been restored. |
 |
| An old organ... It's so pretty! |
 |
| Supporting a statue |
 |
| Pigeons... ew. |
 |
| Albi!! |
 |
| The Tarn River |
 |
| It's beautiful!! |
 |
| I love this garden.. I can't wait til Spring! |
 |
| Even in February, the colors are so vivid. <3 |
 |
| Yours truly... xoxoxo |
 |
| A hidden garden in centre-ville. Le Cloître Saint-Salvi |
Friday, February 18, 2011
The past week in photos...
 |
| One of my friends lives with a family and we went over for lunch. Apparently they're really into music- they had tons of different instruments. This one looked awesome! Like a marimba! :) |
 |
| Long story. Once upon a time the English-speaking study abroad stuents were invited to go to the Toulouse-Lautrec Vocational School for a free shampoo and scalp massage to help the students practice English, so they readily signed up! They were to represent the university, and get to miss class for a scalp massage! Several days before the big day, one of Lindsey's professors asked if she liked going to the salon and told her that they needed more English-speakers. Lindsey later realized that the missionaries were both American and passed on the invitation. So, that Friday the Erasmus students and the missionaries went to the salon. Unfortunately, the students knew next to no English and didn't give amazing scalp massages, but it was certainly memorable. The end. LOL |
 |
| Valentines (chocolate) for the elders! |
 |
| Got this at dinner one night, and it's delicious! Please tell me they have it in the US! |
 |
| My Valentine! (chocolate cookie from Elder Hilgendorff- delicious) |
 |
| Potée Limousine |
 |
| Laundry day in Erasmus Apartment Number 4 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)