I'm moving!

Well, I've changed countries, homes and jobs. Might as well change blogs. I'm going to try out the tumblr site for awhile. You can check it out here : http://chicksandducks.tumblr.com/

Back in black (shorts)

I arrived back in Iowa yesterday. I spent a week in Toronto on my way back in France with Ada, a friend from my HEC days. My suitcases apparently weren't quite ready to leave; they chose not to join me in Des Moines. So here I am, getting ready to go for a walk through the countryside in my mom's black gym shorts and a t-shirt from 5th grade.

On another note, I think it's about time I head back to the states. I've caused more than enough damage for one year.

Ginger apple tea, figue cookies and a snooze . . . if only it were to be

Get the whole story . . .

Brief reprieve from reality

Weekend photos!

I went to Aix en Provence this weekend to visit Geoffrey. We visited a little village called Baux de Provence on Friday, went sailing on Saturday and explored Aix on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I don't have much time to give details. The photos sort of say it all.

It's (almost) the weekend!

The last few days have been really intense with projects. I have one last one to complete before I head off for a long weekend in Aix-en-Provence tomorrow where I'll have only two projects to work on for Monday. Ohh. Is it sad that I think a working weekend with only two projects is exciting? Hmm.

I'm sorry I haven't posted much recently. All I've had to talk about is microfinance remittance services for migrants, waste exchange evaluations, accounting, revision work for a consulting firm and CSR guidelines for cooperative banks. Exciting!

I'll have some excitement to report after this weekend, j'espère, and a few photos.

Amber waves of grain

Spencer modeling my grandma's amazingly "patriotic" blanket.
Thanks grandma!

Spencer coined this "country mouse, city mouse"

More birthday picnic photos

I think somebody likes me (blush)

Clarification

My dad brought up a point that needed clarified in my previous post. (thanks Dad!) In my cruise ship analogy, it seemed that nationalized health care would always be more expensive. While nationalized health (or a cruise) care can seem expensive up front, it can often be a cost saver in the long run. You MAY be able to figure out a cheaper system on your own, particularly if you have amazingly good health (and luck), but that means taking on a considerable amount of risk if you don't want to spring for good insurance.

Thoughts on socialism

I went to take care of some nightmarish paperwork for my national health care. I'd been putting it off for quite some time. I forgot to change my address back in November, and when I went to the doctor on Monday I finally realized I should probably take care of it in order to get reimbursed for some of my medical expenses.

So I showed up, all manner of papers in tow, and waited . . . 10 minutes. That's right. All that procrastination, and I got right in! They took care of my problems in another 10 minutes, and they didn't even need half of my documents. What a relief.

I guess the trick is to just go to the office. I did the same for my government housing assistance, after months of unsuccessful phone calls and e-mails. The problem was resolved in a manner of weeks.

I was thinking about it, and I think I've found an appropriate analogy. Now mind you, I'm still a good capitalist at heart, but nationalizing certain services necessary for basic care is REALLY great. So here's my analogy. Nationalized health care is like a vacation. You can organize your own trip; this could result in an amazing trip, even on a shoe-string, full of sites you could never see otherwise. Or you could end up getting ripped off, mugged, and bleeding in an ally. The other option: an all-expense paid cruise ship. It may seem more expensive at first, but once you are on that ship, everything is taken care of, which means for certain people, you may be able to enjoy certain aspects of the vacation you would have been loathe to opt for if paying for everything separately (like preventative care). Now, both options can be great, but with the cruise, everyone is guaranteed a minimum of fun. This also means the other passengers don't have to pick up the tab for passengers that dash and dine.

This may not be a perfect analogy, and you may be bored out of your mind right about now. I just needed to share my appreciation for the French health care system and all that it has done for me.

You know you've been in France too long when . . .

The story talks about how we conducted a UN security council simulation involving piracy in Somalia for high school students in Le Mans.

My happy bubble

It always happens. Winter gives me the blues, I grow weary of mundane gray skies and the gloomy blank stares of passersby. Then spring comes, and I fall back in love with Paris. Spring came twice this year. This morning I went for a jog with someone special along the Champ de Mars behind the Eiffel Tower. The fog hung low in the sky creating a surreal bubble around the park. The trees and flowers were in full bloom, and I couldn't help but think that this was a perfect moment.

(Have to give credit where credit's due. The photo is from dailydolores' photostream on flickr.com.)

Paris is burning

I'm back in Paris after a week in Berlin and I'm still in vacation mode. The music video and photos above are supposed to inspire you to faire la fête (since there's a special event coming up this week). Socks don't inspire you? Well, to each his own. Be sure to check out the link below for photos from my trip to Berlin. I've added quite a few to the collection.

Dein Auto verschmutzt die Umwelt!

I'm learning some useful German phrases here in Berlin. 10 points to the person (besides Judith) who can figure out what the title of this blog entry means.

Judith and I are having a great time tooling around the city on bikes. It's been pretty chill, as a vacation should be, and I'm afraid it will be a bit hard to head back to Paris at the end of the week.


If you want to check out more photos, go to the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2354887&id=14803888&l=d90c1a38ea

I have ceased to be a productive member of society

I just can't help it. I'm completely distracted because I leave tomorrow to visit one of my favorite people in the world in Berlin : Judith, my Judy. She's planned an Easter brunch despite the fact that she's Jewish. How sweet. ;) I am really excited to have a bit of vacation and not think about Sciences Po for awhile (although I'm still debating about taking along homework).

Last night I had dinner with my tutoring family in Asnières. It was beautiful outside so we had an apéro on the patio. On the way home, I decided not to get my connection at the St Lazare station and I walked the rest of the way home. I forget how close everything is in Paris. I made it home in under an hour. I walked south through the 8th past Blvd Haussmann & Madeleine, crossed the river on Pont Alexandre III and behind les Invalides. The sky was such a murky, pretty blue and the moon was almost full. It was one of those moments when I can't help but fall in love with Paris all over again, as cheesy as that sounds. Yes, I am one of the dorky Americans walking around with a dorky looking smile permanently plastered on her face; although, that may not only be due to the weather. Ohh, mysterious reference. ;)

Feel like dancing? Yeah, me too.

If I weren't already so happy, this music video would do the trick

Friday afternoon tradtion

Lebanese sandwiches : my primary source of nutritional sustenance

I love themed parties

For more photos of my amazing weekend, check out the following link:
facebook album

Proud to be from Iowa!

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200904030819/NEWS/90403010

Stephanie's Surprise birthday

Stephanie (the birthday girl) & Sarah

She didn't understand why we wouldn't let her wear pyjamas to go get hamburgers.

It'll be ok, Steph. Elizabeth and I LIKE the volume.

Stephanie with the most entertaining djs ever. "Get on the dancefloor cowboys!"

Clemens and Matteo - caught up in the moment

Matteo, Stephanie & Kaitlyn - Thriller
Elizabeth, Spencer, Marianne & Stephanie

Song of the day

Sticking with the theme of "country" music, my friend Vincent has decided he's found my celebrity look-alike in the following clip. Disregard the hair and watch the face; those are his instructions. I also council you to ignore the hands. Also a bit creepy.



Apparently the film version of my life would go as follows:

Vincent says: (12:17:11 AM)
"this summer"
Vincent says: (12:17:23 AM)
"a sleepwalker is going to find love"
Vincent says: (12:17:28 AM)
(explosions)
Vincent says: (12:18:00 AM)
"from the great minds who brought you twilight and fast and furious"

I don't know that the critics will like it, but it's sure to make a bundle.

Umm, story of my life?

I soooo want to see this movie.

I love velib'

I'm in such a good mood today! Stephanie convinced me to give the velib' (the bike rental system in Paris) another try, and let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL! We whizzed along the Seine from Jardin des Plantes to the Musée d'Orsay. Then we hiked around the 7th and 6th, finally settling in at Jardin du Luxembourg for a picnic. It was a bit chillier than we expected and had to use my blanket (a present/hand-me-down from Judith) to cover up with rather than sit on. It was still fantastic. I took the bike back to my place, only getting confused by one-way streets a handful of times. I just don't seem to notice those when I'm walking.

For those of you interested, here's just another reason why I love Obama:
Obama's garden

Ooooommmmmmmm

I went to my first ever meditation class today. A friend of mine is going to start offering them at a yoga studio in Paris, and he needed guinea pigs. Meditation instructors don't require licensing as yoga instructors do, so he needed to prove to the management he could run a class. It was actually pretty interesting.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be a positive experience. To give you an idea of what was running through my head while meditating, here's a brief recap:

Ok, breathe in, breathe out, clear your head. Hmmm, sigh, phrewwww, *honk* is that a truck? I wonder what it would be like to meditate in the countryside. It'd probably be even louder there, birds squaking, tractors rumbling, . . . stop thinking, ok, I can do this. exhale, inhale. . . . . . . . . . . . Ohh, did I just stop thinking? Crap, I ruined it. Ok, try again. Think about a soothing place. I am a monk living on a remote mountain,. . . . . . . . heeheehee, that's too funny, am I even supposed to visualize something? I know I'm supposed to let the thoughts flow through me, to simply observe. . . . my arm really itches. Can I scratch it? Try not to scratch it. Oh. my. god. I really want to scratch now. Maybe I can just take a peek to see if anyone's watching. Oh good, everyone has their eyes closed. *scratch scratch* Wow, I should have moisturized. My skin sounds like sandpaper! And why is my mouth so full of spit! I feel like if I tried to talk I would start drooling. Maybe that means I'm doing it right. My meditation juices are flowing. Look at me! I'm meditating! Woo! Calm down. Relax. Breathe in. . . . .. . . EXHALE EXHALE, what are you doing, you're not underwater. This meditation stuff is way more complicated than I though!

Elites Cosanguines

There was a bit of excitement at Sciences Po yesterday. Some students from the public university broke into Sciences Po in public demonstration of Sarkozy's university reforms. While I believe the movement's gripes are more legitimate than those of the student strike last year, the demonstration yesterday was nothing if not counterproductive.

The demonstrators' number one target was the Sciences Po student body. They interrupted classes, forcing the university to temporarily close all of the buildings, and called the students incestuous perpetuators of an elitist, bourgeois system. I guess I should blame my parents for raising me with two many privileges on the farm.

The thing that got me was that they were more interested in tearing down Sciences Po than building up their own university. I believe in equality, but not if it means holding people back. Sciences Po has been the most progressive of the "elitist" schools in terms of active recruting in depressed communities. There is certainly room to improve, but I think that has more to do with access to better schools at a younger age to prepare students for the selective admission process.

http://www.liberation.fr/societe/0101556055-reforme-des-universites-la-contestation-s-invite-a-sciences-po

Soirée fluo/bling bling

This weekend I hosted a surprisingly successful party in my 18m2 apartment. The theme was fluo (florescent) and bling bling. It was definitely colorful. Here are a few photo highlights:

Elizabeth, Sarah & Matteo
Sciences Po friends


Agathe, Sophie & Emna
HEC friends


Alexis, Audrey & Spencer
Sustainable Development Master friends (Sciences Po)


Stephanie & Elizabeth

(2/3 of the American front)

Can't get enough of this video; makes me want to dance.

Circlesquare - Dancers from Bienvenido Cruz on Vimeo.

Testing out the new camera

My new favorite Japanese restaurant

Judith

Stephanie

I found a car smaller than the Smart car

Authentic Chinese food

A visitor

My dad came to visit me after my stay in Barcelona. We saw as much of Paris in 4 days as some tourists see in 2 weeks. It was definitely a whirlwind tour! My favorite part was our day trip to Tours, an hour from Paris, where we went on a tour of a couple castles. Here are two of Dad's "metro cam" segments:

Vicky, Christina, Barcelona . . . but no Javier or Woody Allen narration.

Time to catch up a bit I suppose. I've fallen out of my blogging habit without wi fi chez moi. Sorry. :( Now that I have internet AND a spiffy new camera, it's time to go wild! (If blogging can be considered a wild activity, I think not.)

Vacation was absolutely lovely. I wrote a paper, tutored, worked on a few documents for the consulting company I do translations for . . . wait, this was supposed to be vacation, right? I made up for it in the final week, jetting off (ha! jet. It was Ryan Air, which requires more bus time than jet time) to Barcelona with the lovely Americans, Stephanie and Elizabeth.
(The photos are theirs. I was still cameraless at the time.)
I think my favorite parts of the trip were visiting la Pedrera, one of Gaudi's building, and eating paella. Typical tourist stuff, I know, but I don't care!! It was great!
As for the Vicky, Christina, Barcelona reference, we decided Stephanie was Penelope Cruz's character (she's more exotic than either Elizabeth or me and has the great hair), Elizabeth was Scarlett Johansson (blonde and voluptuous), and I was Rebecca's character, Vicky (neurotic and analytical). They know me so well. :)

silly me

For the past few months I've been balancing my laptop in all sorts of positions in search of a wi fi signal after losing my wonderful free signal. One knee raised, elbow on the light switch, stick out your tongue, . . . ok, three bars, hoorah!

Tonight, I finally caved and prepared a nice little note in French for my neighbor, politely asking if I could pay for access to his network. I stepped up to the door, note pre-taped, and heard the tv on inside. I stashed the note in my pocket and knocked. Before I hardly had the words out of my mouth, he had the code written down and didn't want me to pay anything!

I HAVE INTERNET!!! FAST, GLORIOUS FREEEEEE INTERNET!!!!!!

Secret Shame

Ok, I admit it. I saw Twilight . . . and loved it. Yes, this angst-ridden vampire drama is definitely aimed at a teen audience, but that was what made it such a glorious treat after weeks of studying, writing papers and sufferring through exams. Even though I laughed through the entire thing, a part of me can't wait for the sequel.

My favorite part was when they were describing his vampire skills. The camera would cut to a close-up of the word "fast" on a computer screen and then show the vampire, Edward, running really fast, and then it would show "strong" and he'd lift something over his head. NOTHING was left to the imagination, and every point was made about five times to make sure you didn't miss it.

The next best aspect of the film was the dialogue, incredibly basic with a 4th grade vocabulary. However, it worked for the film. As much as I would love to think that I quoted Proust in my high school years with the ease of a Gossip Girl prima donna, I know better. It was perhaps better that the characters of Twilight were a bit on the quiet side (their sentences averaged at about 3 words per sentence, less if you factor in the meaningful stares as communication); any depiction of real high school banter would have been far less interesting.

My only regret about seeing it is that the author, who apparently has no imagination for dialogue and doesn't understand the concept of subtlety, will become fabulously rich from this whole endeavor.

Good news!

My speakers are working again on my laptop!

Ok, as exciting as that is, it's not my most exciting piece of information to share. I had my interview Wednesday evening by telephone, and I was offered an interview on the spot (on the line?) with the World Food Prize Foundation in Des Moines. I'm very excited!

With tests and papers I don't have much to write these days, and I can't even post pictures as I lost my camera before break. I hope to get back into the groove in February.

January . . . yuck

The holidays are over and my least favorite month is here. Oh January, could there be a worse month? To make it worse, my semester did not end before winter break, so I only have tests, papers, and cold, rainy days to look forward to until spring. At least I have my memories from winter break to keep me warm.

I went home for two weeks, and what a wonderful two weeks it was. Mom taught me a few knew stitches, and I knitted up a storm. The family and I spent a lot of time playing games, putting together puzzles, cooking, watching movies and relaxing. Rachel and I busted out the instruments a few times for a jam session (don't really think it can be applied to classical music. . . perhaps it was a clam session). Mom even joined us with her cello one day.

As for gatherings, I celebrated with the Cramers the day I arrived. In all of my jet lagged glory, I managed to pull it together and enjoy the day. Christmas day was spent with the Heads. We debunked tradition and celebrated with a salad theme. I needed a salad since my absence had stripped me of all defenses when faced with my mom's wonderful cooking. Even with the salad, I believe I managed to put on 5 pounds in two weeks. Ohh carmel corn, you will be the death of me. Christmas eve, Rachel and I spent the evening with our parents and Mom made her traditional clam chowder. To top it all off, we had a beautiful white Christmas. Snow in the country is just so much prettier than snow in Paris.

I saw a few friends while back in town. My friend from Guthrie Center, Mandi, and I spent an evening with our moms. For New Year's eve, my friend Chris organized a party for several members of our graduating class. To my surprise, Chris and I were the only ones not married or engaged. This is simply a statement of fact. I'm not looking to change that status any time soon. :)

I have a conference call for an mysterious internship on Monday. Hopefully I will have details about my plans for next fall earlier than I anticipated.