Fausta

The movie I saw tonight with Didier, Marie, and Jacqueline (Didier’s mother) was a Peruvian production called Fausta -- in Spanish with French subtitles. It definitely wasn't a comedy-- the tragic lifestyle in Peru is hard to watch; however, I am glad I saw it. The main character, Fausta, is in search for a way to bury her mother but she cannot afford a casket. She takes on extra work but then is later cheated out of her pay. She lives in constant fear, as her mother did, due to the violent way the women are treated in the villages outside Lima. There is the most beautiful piano song called Cyrene that I wish I could find but it is nowhere on the internet. The principal actress played her role well as a virtually silent, scarred, tender and beautiful young woman. This film won the Golden Bear prize in Berlin this year which is a big deal. The title in English is The Milk of Sorrow.

French Film Festival

This week is the French Film Festival and a big percentage of the population flocks to the theaters. Didier and Marie have taken me to see two of the premiering movies: a comedy “Tellement Proches” (A little like “With Six You Get Eggroll”) which was absolutely hilarious! Secondly, “Fais-moi Plaisir” a romantic comedy which was quite fun too. We saw one Wednesday and the other Friday. They were sweet to let me tag along with them when their kids are out of town. We also went to dinner Friday night in the square in front of Notre Dame de la Treille and it was delicious! I had a pepper tart and salad and took a picture to prove how pretty the presentation was. Marie and Didier are truly two of the kindest people I have ever met. Marie is an artist and I had previously asked her if I could buy one of her paintings that she could bear to part with and when she had me over for dinner last Thursday she had me choose one and then gave it to me as a wedding gift! It is an orange abstract canvas and I’m so pleased to have it. I just got a nice surprise-In the English lesson notes that one of the girls gave back to me from Wednesday, each of the girls wrote me a little message! One says, “Very Tank-you Haleigh. I like you” How darling! Things are going superbly here besides the heat and humidity which is barely bearable. I cannot believe I only have one month left!

A plethera of invites by the Van Peteghems

Last weekend was a so joyful because…my family came! My Grandma Koller, Aunt Kathie, and sister Hillary came to visit for two days on their way home from Spain! I had awaited this weekend the whole trip and it was wonderful to be with them! Unfortunately there were train mixups so they didn’t arrive until late Friday night but we still had time to go to my favorite little student restaurant. The next day I took them to the university to meet Dean Van Peteghem and show them around. Then I took them through Old Lille to Notre Dame de la Treille and the little monastic artisan shop that’s in the basement. We made a quick stop at one of the modern Russian exhibits for Lille XXL. Next we took a bus tour that gave us a good dose of history. Then, to hold up tradition of always getting our hair done while on vacation, we went to a startling modern salon called “Nouvel Hair.” The décor there was eclectic – things hanging from the ceilings and walls, crushed mirrors pieced together, etc… We came out looking lovely! We then strolled back through Saint Maurice’s Cathedral and admired the stained glass and paintings. That night I took them to one of my favorite restaurants called Tramonata and to my delight everyone thought it was delicious. The next day we went to church and I translated for Grandma while a missionary translated for Hilly and Kathie. Then, we took a boat tour down the Deûle river. Suffice it to say that the boat was not simple to navigate, but once we got the hang of it we enjoyed looking at the ducks, homes on the bank, and even a stork! Following that, we spent three hours in the Palais des Beaux Arts (Museum of Fine Arts) which is the second biggest in France next to the Louvre. A kind man offered us tickets for free and we had a nice chat with him afterward. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Rodin sculptures, Rubens paintings, and other lesser known Flemish artwork. That evening, we all went to Les Compagnons de la Grappe, a restaurant on a hidden terrace tucked back away from cars and noise. We thoroughly enjoyed eating “la langue du chat” literally “Cat’s tongue” but is really a great cut of beef. The next morning when they left to fly home I was sad to see them part without me. I’m so glad we could spend the weekend together! I’ll have to get Hilly’s pictures to upload on here since we mostly used her camera.
Continuing on, this week has been a fabulous one full of invitations and interesting outings! Tuesday night I went to the end-of-year cocktail for all the professors and employees and the president of the university, Therèse Lebrun, spoke. I had the chance to shake her hand afterward; the dean introduced me to her, and it was slightly ironic because I said, “Je suis ravie d’être ici parmi vous à la catho,” and she replied, “We are thrilled to have you interning here and hope you feel welcome.” Haha…we were both trying to accommodate for the other. It was neat to see all the colleges unite together since all the departments aren’t situated on a campus like ours are. After the speech there were the most beautiful hors d’oeuvres and champagne (or apricot juice for the pregnant women and oh yeah, for me :)) Later that night I walked with Didier to a museum where we met his wife and kids and toured through what is called the “Gare Saint Sauveur” – They have taken an old train station and created a time traveling hotel where each room is from a different decade. It was fun to see the 60’s-70’s rooms all decked out in orange, lime green, waterbeds, fake wood, shag carpet, old radios, etc… They had typical shows of the eras playing on the room’s TV’s and pictures of celebrities of the time period hanging on the walls. Unfortunately I couldn’t take any pictures so the picture is just one off the internet. Then we went for a drink and a snack in the lobby of the classiest hotel in Lille called the Hospice Gantois.
The next day Marie Van Peteghem and I had agreed to exchange an English lesson from me for a little sightseeing. So, I had three eleven year old pupils: Agathe Van Peteghem, Camille Lepoutre, and Alix Dilly. They were as cute as can be; for two hours we spoke half English half French and played guessing games, learned “Row Row Row Your Boat” etc…Then, I went with their mothers to visit the Bouvines Cathedral. This church is where the Battle of Bouvines took place which I learned is the battle which ended the twelve year war between France and England. It then led to King John of England being forced to sign the Magna Carta. Inside I learned that this is the only church in France where the stained glass windows are of war scenes, not religious depictions. The inscription picture is Latin for "Catholic University" and the statue is the matron saint of the University I believe, & I thought both were pretty as I was walking to work one day. I’ll call it quits for now and finish updating later xo à bientôt

A continual warm welcome...

Still catching up: last week Stephanie Lecocq said she figured that with Kami being gone I might be lonely so she invited me to spend the night with her kids. Their names are Jeanne (Like Joan of Arc: Jeanne d’Arc) and Romeo. They are as sweet as can be – Stephanie was so embarrassed that when we got home her house was in a whirlwind and she didn’t have any food except fish sticks but I assured her I was just thrilled to be with a family and none of that mattered. So we made the best of dinner and then Jeanne asked if I would color with her. She then made me a giraffe bracelet with her new birthday bead kit, a very sweet gesture seeing as there is only one giraffe bead. She tied it so tight hoping I would never take it off :), and honestly, it took an entire day of tugging periodically to get it loose.

Guernica

These have been a busy couple of weeks but that’s how I like it. Last Monday I had the opportunity to sit in on one of Dr. Aliocha Lasowski’s lectures and I must say that it was an absolutely enthralling two hours. He hardly used his notes, and he began by mentioning all the reasons and justifications for war. He moved into several specific wars and battles and dissected what led to their successes and failures. Finally, he brought in Picasso’s Guernica paintings. They are a series of depictions that Picasso claims were not symbolism, but realism; he felt this portrayed the horror of the effects of war. The painting I posted is the most well known. I remember reading about the Guernica series in Chaim Potok’s book My Name is Asher Lev, but didn’t realize that they were such influential works. Dr. Lasowski went over the efficacy of various communist regimes, the war on terrorism, and France’s “Battle of Bouvines.” I was slightly embarrassed when he asked for my input in the middle of the lecture. As soon as the students heard my accent they turned around and stared and the girls behind me started to whisper. Later they asked where I was from and they had heard about the Utah “desert”. I believe this lecture was comparable to something one would hear in a history class at Cambridge or Yale.

LDS-Fest 2009

I have so much to catch up on and not enough time so I’ll just type like a madwoman and hope to hit the main points. A few weeks ago our ward hosted an activity called LDS-Fest for all the young adults in the North. I sang a few songs with one of the bands called “Talking to Annalisa” and had a great time! The band is partly members partly nonmembers but on the whole, everyone really enjoyed the activity! While there, I had volunteered to man one of the food stands and the craziest thing happened! I was handing out fruit salads as fast as I could and when I looked up at one of the people and our eyes met we both gasped and started talking at the same time! It turned out that Dennis, a friend I met at BYU a couple years ago has since moved to Belgium, had a day off work and randomly decided to come down to Lille for the music night. (See picture) When he was doing his exchange semester in Provo we hiked the Y and he had dinner with my family and I learned a lot about him. His dad is a diplomat in the Congo and it was too dangerous for him to live there so after joining the church he and his sisters moved to France. He is having a lot of success in his job and occasionally gets to speak English. Next is the picture with me and the three young brothers: They joined the church in January and have made a lot of life changes since. The two on either side of me are handicapped and all three are very sweet. Before the festivities started we took a big group picture of everyone who helped pull this night off: a lot of work went into the decorations. This weekend was also the same time that Kami finished her internship and left to travel around Europe with her mom. She thought I needed a souvenir picture of me working in my office, haha (I think I looked really tired that day). It sure seems weird without her here; the only time I speak English is if I get to talk to my family or Gavin. Work is getting busier but still going very well! I’ll close this post for now xo

Working alongside Aliocha Wald Lasowski!

Un grand bonjour. It has been an eventful week this week-Wednesday I went to Paris since I had been given tickets to Euro Disney. I had a blast but I wouldn’t really consider that worthy of my blog so I’ll move on. Earlier this week, a professor here in Lille that I’ve gotten to know, approached me. His name is Aliocha Wald Lasowski and is a very well respected author and philosopher, among other things. (See photo, however he looks older in reality) He had recently had an interview with Julie Butler, a professor from Berkeley, and to be kind had told her to answer his questions in the language she felt most comfortable in; thus, she chose to respond to the majority in English. Aliocha has read her books and wishes to include her thoughts in his own upcoming publication however he had a hard time understanding her so we set to work dissecting the interview. I must admit, this woman is obviously an intellectual and speaks with a vocabulary to be praised. To make matters worse there was a lot of background noise in the recording. Aliocha and I must have spent at least eight hours this week listening, rewinding, listening, notating, and listening again to what Ms Butler said, and today we finally came up with a final product that he will now attempt to reduce and incorporate into his work. Aliocha is such a well respected intellectual and philosophical professor in France that I consider it an honor to assist him in his work. I learned a lot by simply listening to him. As a gesture of thanks today, he brought me a copy of his most recently published book Commente l’enfance d’un chef de Jean-Paul Sartre with a kind note written inside.