Saturday Sunshine in Lille

“A beautiful day in the neighborhood” as Mr. Rogers would say. I soaked in the sunshine all day long! Kami and I profited from finally having a weekend at home and walked to several of the places we hadn’t yet seen. On our way down the stairwell we realized that we’ve become quite endeared to the graffiti we pass, hence, the picture. We then walked to the City Hall in hopes to climb the belfry but discovered you must have a group reservation. We kept on our way and decided not to take any metros since the weather was so nice. Good thing-because we walked right into a strike! To the French, strikes are everyday annoyances, but to me they’re still exciting! Hundreds of workers were protesting having to work on Saturdays, to which I respond that I understand and support their fight against injustice ;). haha. Sooo kidding. The French complain about their 35 hour work weeks and measly 6 weeks of paid vacation each year and I have no sympathy. While continuing up what I’ve decided is my favorite street in Old Lille, “Rue Esquermoise,” the strangest thing happened. All of a sudden Kami and I were surrounded by a dozen young men with cameras while one, dressed ridiculously, asked if he could take our picture. I was shell-shocked for a minute and trying not to giggle seeing as he was wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants along with a hardhat and clown shoes. I’m sure I looked confused because he finally gave an explanation saying it was his “enterrement de la vie de jeune garçon aujourd’hui.” Literally, his “burial of his young-boy life,” more commonly known to Americans as his bachelor party. Once I understood that this was tradition for the groom-to-be to dress up and perform preset dares that his friends chose, it made a lot more sense. Apparently these parties often take place on Saturdays downtown and sure enough, we saw two more groups later this afternoon. I also passed a bride in a pink wedding dress looking like a melting pink cupcake and tired from the heat. Next, Kami and I crossed the city and headed into the Citadel, an enormous park that used to hold 28 fortressed towns and now is home to a zoo, a stadium, and lots of open forest area. I had to laugh when I saw a sign in the canal that lined the edges of the park: it said “Peche Interdite” “Fishing Forbidden.” I thought that seeing and smelling this water would be warning enough, but apparently the park authorities don’t think so. We walked around until our feet hurt and then headed for home.

June 12, 2009

A day of days! This morning grades went out to all the students and were posted and I saw everything from tears to skipping down the halls. The majority of the students did well but there was a handful of strugglers. I had a fourth interview with a student named Célestine who has her real interviews with her choice schools today. I hope she does well and can’t wait to hear how it went next week. I took a picture of her while she was preparing her summary and analysis for me. The second picture I posted is of a building I pass every day. Each time I walk past I say I’m going to take a picture and this time I finally stopped and did: I love everything about this house: the doors, the iron patterns, the color, the Flemish style, everything. After work I went to help paint decorations for our big ward activity next weekend. It will be called LDS-Fest and there will be bands playing and a picnic dinner. Before coming home and crashing in bed, Kami and I walked to Bankwok, a current favorite of mine. The food is all raw and you put everything you want in one bowl and then the chef cooks it in a wok with noodles and a really good sauce right in front of you. I asked the chef if he minded if I took his picture and he was thrilled, though the picture turned out a little more blue than the restaurant actually is. Kami and I ate in the park and then went home and crashed. (Next day) This morning I went for a little run around the streets near my neighborhood. It is a beautiful day so I’m headed out to explore more of the city…Bisous xo

Magnificent weekend with Angelique Derome

I spent a fabulous weekend with Angelique Derome and her family at their home in Old Lille! We walked home from work together and went to pick up her two kids from school. They are both bright little redheads and adorable. The oldest is named Léa and the younger, Sacha, 11 and 5 respectively. They both had fun personalities though Sacha warmed up more quickly to me. He told me detailed stories of his favorite parts of Harry Potter and it was so adorable, I couldn’t resist snatching a little video of it. Unfortunately I can’t rotate the clip but I thought I’d include it anyway. The first evening Angelique made a fancy meal starting with a tuna puff aperitif. Her husband was slightly disappointed when she said I didn’t drink, seeing as he had already splurged on nice champagne. The meal was delicious and it was delightful to hear about how they live and also about their interests. The cheese course contained four new types that I’d never tasted and three of which I loved. Maroilles is the typical cheese of Lille, very strong, and those who like it are true northerners. It grew on me after a few days however the cheese with the grey line down the middle had a strange and bitter taste. That evening we watched “Il était une fois…” – Enchanted – translated into French; even the songs! This was a treat for the children because they are rarely allowed to watch tv in the evenings. I slept on the very top floor of their beautiful two hundred year old home. In the morning I explored the house more and was fascinated by the many unique objects and antiques. Every painting in their home is an original; my favorite is one of a little cherub. They also own a wooden statue of a similar angel posed on a rod and stone. Both Angelique and her husband Cédric enjoy going to “braderies” and hunting for the treasures amidst the piles of junk being sold. They have some priceless objects which they never intend to sell such as a silver lamp that at one point was an ancient brass relic in a cathedral. When Cédric bought it, a silversmith offered to dip it in silver for him. He did so and then attached wires to turn it into a lamp and now it stands stunningly in their living room. Another of my favorite objects was a golden table with beautiful figures carved into the edges. Since they met twenty years ago, Angelique and Cédric have bought eleven apartments and houses, one at a time, and fixed them up to sell them for a profit. They finally saved enough to buy this home in a charming neighborhood on the Rue Royale in Old Lille, a dream for many Lillois. Saturday afternoon, they spoiled me and took me up to Bruges, Belgium. Though I’d been once before it was raining cats and dogs so this time it was splendid to be able to actually see the city! Upon entering we saw a flock of swans and several babies sitting near their mother. We made our way up and down the tiny streets, of course stopping for the world famous Belgian chocolate and hot chocolate (worthy of its title). The city of Bruges was in fact destroyed during the Second World War but while being rebuilt, it was decided to reconstruct it in its historic style. Thus, we still see the Flemish colors and architecture and stair-stepped roofs. (However, those, I learned, were actually brought with the Spanish influence when they came to conquer the North.) There are several artists who paint in the streets in hopes to sell their work. Finally, I admit that undoubtedly my favorite part of Bruges was our visit to Notre Dame de Bruges. The Cathedral holds Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child statue, a marvel to behold. Speaking is not allowed in this area and the sacredness of the theme of Mary and baby Jesus was moving. The statue was made of marble in 1504 and I was interested to learn that Michelangelo’s depiction of this scene differs significantly from earlier representations of the same subject, which, as I read, “tended to feature a pious Virgin smiling down on an infant held in her arms.” Here, instead, Jesus stands upright, almost unsupported, “only loosely restrained by Mary's left hand, and appears to be about to step away from his mother and into the world. Meanwhile, Mary does not cling to her son or even look at him, but gazes down and away, as if she knows already what is to be her son's fate.” An interesting commentary I thought.
At the end of a fabulous day we drove back to Lille and ate a delicious meal featuring escargots. I don’t know if I will ever crave these slimy snails drowning in garlic, however I managed to stomach three of them and have the shells and a picture to prove it. Sunday was Mother’s Day in France and the primary sang an adorable medley. After church we walked around Old Lille and through the Hospice Comtesse, an old hospital that was stopped in 1721 and turned into a museum. My favorite piece was a striking old globe painted with both geographical and artistic images. I would put it in my house in a heartbeat. All in all it was an exciting weekend full of discoveries! A bientot…

4/6/09 or 6/4/09 depending on the country :)

Bonjour. I’m getting more and more behind on my blog as the days go on. I wish I could keep track of every experience but it just isn’t possible. I’ve been asked what my internship is exactly and where I am so I’ll give a brief overview. I am at the Université Catholique de Lille, a private Catholic university in the North of France in a city called Lille. It is said that Lille is the fifth biggest city in France but that is only if they include the dozens of suburb towns. Lille itself is a student town and the population increases exponentially when the semesters begin. More specifically, I am interning in the FLSEG which literally translates as the “school of liberal economic sciences and management.” In this department I have two responsibilities; first and foremost: to prepare the graduating students for their English interviews that they will have to enter graduate schools and masters programs. I love doing this because it gives me a chance to meet students from everywhere and help them build their confidence as we have several practice interviews and they progress. For example, one of my students, Elyse, just came for her fourth interview and she is starting to understand the texts we discuss so much better, as well as me when I ask her questions. We’ve been working on the “th” sound so she can say “this and these” instead of “zis and zeese” and she’s coming right along. Some have a better level than others and I interview them accordingly. My second mission is to help as an administrative assistant to Dean Van Peteghem and his two vice deans. This is also fun but in a much more challenging way; I am overloaded with new information every day and sometimes feel like I will never understand how this business school works. However, I am getting to the point now where I can answer some of the phone calls and help about half of the students who come in with questions. Besides this I’ve been asked to start helping translate the university’s website into English. The programs here range from three year degrees in economic-finance, management, or accounting and auditing to masters degrees in all three, as well as what is called “prepa-commerce”- basically an accelerated bachelor’s degree that prepares the student for graduate studies simultaneously. All students are required to do a 1-2 month internship in the summer so it’s been fun for me to see where the students are going when they come to get the dean’s approval. I feel privileged to have this internship seeing as this is one of the top business schools in France and one of the best private universities on the whole.
Yesterday, there was a “Colloque Juridique” conference where donors to the university were invited and I was asked to help guide the guests. The woman in charge said it was a good idea to have me speaking with the donors to show the diversity of their program. She was right; they asked where my accent came from and what I was doing here and were interested. Funnily though, I was speaking with one of the men who donates a lot each year and she purposefully came up and said, “Oh I see you’re practicing your English?” and he responded, “Oh no, your intern speaks wonderfully. We were just talking about what a neat exchange this is for her to work here.” Haha, I hope I didn’t look confused as she set him up for that compliment. I am so thrilled that I’ve finally got a handle on things now. Too tired to finish my thoughts, I'll wrap up tomorrow. Bonne nuit.. xo

Hardelot Cape

What a weekend! This weekend I went with Dean Didier Van Peteghem, his wife Marie, and their family to Hardelot, a beach town at the tip of France. I had such a great time it was hard to come back! We left Saturday afternoon and the drive took about two hours but the scenery was so gorgeous I didn’t get any reading in. When we arrived we instantly put on our hiking shoes and went up the coast of what is called “Cap gris-nez” literally the grey-nosed cape. The cliffs dropped so far that no one with vertigo should walk here. We passed a lighthouse as well as several ruins of German war barracks buried deep in the hills so they could catch anyone trying to escape from the coast. On a clear day you can see the coast of England, but that also means bad whether is coming. I also learned that we say “Okay.” because during the war the American soldiers would wire back and give the number of fatalities – 0 Killed – thus O.K. I included a little video to show the windy coast of “la manche” – the body of water between England and France. Didier and Marie in the video were telling me that this passage is the highest trafficked waterway in the world and there are very distinct lanes and times that boats can cross perpendicular to the steam liners sailing through. Marie also told me that there are people who train to swim from Calais, France (near here) to Dover, England and several actually succeed.
After a couple hours we came back to the villa and set things up. When the Germans occupied France during the Second World War they cleared everything out of their way so they could see the coast so this home was razed. Since it was reconstructed a few generations ago it looks a little more modern than the others but there was so much room for all of us. The next morning I woke up early to go with Marie to town to get baguettes and had a fun time talking with her. A little while later she took me to what the French call a “braderie” and the closest thing I can think to compare it to would be a city-wide yard sale, only a little more glamorous. All sorts of antiques are sold and the street is crowded. I bought a used French best-hits CD and a tiny bottle of trésor perfume since I could smell it when I passed and it instantly reminded me of when my mom wore it when I was little. Marie bought a card game called Indice for us to play that night. While walking, I saw a pair of identical twin ladies linking arms and they were a hoot! They wore matching skirt-suits and matching white shoes, same hairdo and lipstick. I tried to be discreet while I took a picture. When we came back, we did something I never dreamed I’d ever do: we went fishing for shrimp! Marie put her wetsuit on and drug the shore and she’d bring the net back every few minutes so we could “trilller” – which means to sort the good shrimp from the crabs etc… The shrimp jumped around in my hand and it tickled so I helped for a few minutes and then started taking pictures. At one point I picked up a little bubble looking thing and asked what it was; Didier told me it was a jellyfish egg! Sure enough, when I looked closely I could see the tiny form inside. When we went back they showed me how to cook the shrimp after rinsing them. We put them immediately into boiling water and when they pass out and die they turn pink and float to the top of the pan so I skimmed them off the top and into a bowl. Then when we sat down to eat, it was certainly a new and unusual experience for me to take off the heads, tails, and outer hard skin but once I accomplished several they were delicious! Unforgettable. I enjoyed seeing Didier in a different setting other than the dean's office; he's much more relaxed when he's away from work. He, like most French men, likes to cook and spent nearly as much time in the kitchen as Marie. Later that day we went to the sand dunes and played some games including Pétanque: the most popular outdoor game in France. I think in the US we call it :botchi ball” but the point is to hit a little ball and whoever lands closest with their metal pétanque ball wins. Needless to say I have no concept of distance and my team lost :) however we had a good laugh! On Monday we went to visit a baroque style castle which are much rarer then the castles from the middle ages. By the 17th century people stopped building the traditionally fortress-structured chateaus. They just finished restoration and cleaning so the walls were white and the roof was in good condition- I really liked the silhouette of the roof spires and it was too bad we couldn’t visit the inside since they close fairly early. The funniest thing happened-when we pulled into the parking lot of the castle, apparently we crossed one of the earth's longitudinal lines because the time changed to England's time zone! Sure enough, when we drove out again, it switched right back. Funny little moment.. I did spend some more time on the beach; the first picture is of me and a girl named Ester. She was born in Equatorial Guinea but has lived in Valencia, Spain most of her life. When she arrived in Lille on "Irasmus" (a type of year-long exchange program) her housing had fallen through so Didier's mother welcomed her into her home. It has turned out to be a nice experience for both of them now, seeing that Madame Van Peteghem is no longer lonely and Ester speaks French quite well! Ester and I had a fun time talking on the beach; she had never heard of Mormons and had heard Marie talking to me and wondered what they were. I told her I was Mormon and gave her a few quick points of what we believe. I have learned that I have to approach discussing religion very carefully otherwise some people become uncomfortable. Luckily this time though Ester was so curious; she apologized for asking so many questions about what we believe(little does she know we love to share the answers!) I asked if she wanted to read our 13 main points and she was interested in the Articles of Faith and asked tons of questions. The phrase “laying on of hands” didn’t make sense to her so I tried to explain the confirmation and then she said the 2nd Article of Faith was totally opposite from Catholicism and she thought our version was right; how could we be punished for Adam and Eve’s choices? The next day she must still have been thinking about it because she said, “Haleigh I just remembered something – I once learned that a child develops all his or her habits, mindsets, and lifestyle patterns between birth and age 7 so it makes so much sense that your church baptizes at age 8!” haha, I agreed that it made a lot of sense :). I asked her if she would like me to get her her own copy of the Book of Mormon to satisfy her curiosity and she thought for a minute and said “Why not?” So Sunday I’m going to get one and mark it up for her, I’m really excited! I hardly ever get to share this much without it turning awkward…I hope she continues to be interested. She is a neat girl with a lot of potential. Well, I haven’t covered everything but these were the highlights of the trip and I’m so thrilled I could spend the weekend in Hardelot. Until later…

Sunday in the Versailles Ward

I’m back home in Lille which I can’t believe feels normal after only a few weeks. I had a wonderful time for the rest of my stay in Paris. I spent a lot of time with the Juliennes simply talking, cooking, etc… I went back into Paris a second time and reminisced in many of the spots I used to go. I walked through the parvis of Notre Dame, across the island into the Latin Quarter, I ate a Greek pita next to the Seine, took the metro 1 line to the end to see what was there: I was pleasantly surprised to find that the stop “Chateau de Vincennes” really is a castle! I was sad to leave the next morning; Veronique got up early to say goodbye. I adore their family and will always feel like I’m a little bit a part of it. Sunday morning I made the hour + trek out to the Versailles ward and it was well worth it to see my old friends. A few of them had emailed saying they’d be there and look for me. I walked in and instantly saw my sweet friend Maria Babin in the hall. Then in Sunday School two of my close friends from the institute, Thomas Fournier and Adelaide Cunche came in and surrounded me chatting from both sides. They were so welcoming last time I was here and remembered so much of what I’m doing. In sacrament I sat near Valentine and Emilee Causée and caught up with them. It was so much fun to be around so many familiar faces! After church, Maria Babin and her family took me home with them for a delicious lunch and then took me out into the countryside past the city of Versailles. It was a gorgeous drive and we stopped first at the remains of a castle on the hill called the chateau de la Madeleine of Chevreuse. The view was great both from the castle and then also from across the valley when we continued on. We passed an old abbey and several other quaint chateaux that people often rent out for weddings. I had such a nice time with Maria, Samuel and their cute kids!
Now it's monday and I'm back to work. Today I had a second interview with one of the students Elyse who is studying hard for graduate school. Her interviews are June 12th so we have two more appointments scheduled to give her more practice. Today I gave her a more difficult text that talked about the consumer debt in Britain. She said it was hard to understand but when I told her to summarize it for me she got the main points. The students make significantly fewer mistakes when they calm down. I was pleased to see that she didn’t confuse “who” and “which” today but there were other problems that we worked on. I am really enjoying working with the students. The grand majority of them take their studies seriously and realize that their parents are paying a lot of money for a top private university so it’s neat to see them in the process of applying for their next year or a new program. The French have to reapply each year in order to move on. Well, I’m absolutely exhausted…bonne nuit xo

Home again in Croissy-Sur-Seine, Paris

I feel so at home being back with the Juliennes in Croissy-sur-Seine, Paris. I arrived Thursday afternoon and had time to kill before going to their home so I did one of my favorite things; I went to the enormous park that overlooks Paris in the outskirt town Saint Germain en Laye. My dear friend Allie is the one who first suggested that I find it and once I did, I was hooked. It is enormous and next to the chateau where Louis the 14th was born. I love to go there to watch the couples, families, and skyline. Unfortunately my eyes are closed in the picture. After that I got my weekend metro pass and went under the tracks at the Croissy station where I used to go to this Tunisian shack to get sandwiches. There was a really nice Muslim girl there named Chédia last year, but when I went in this time, they said she’d gone back to Tunisia because she was accepted to an esthetician school which I remember she’d really wanted to do. However, her uncle, with whom I also spoke several times, drove up right as I ordered. I was shocked that when I looked at him he remembered my face! He said, “wow! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you here.” I said I couldn’t believe he remembered me. He said he remembers I was the smiling American who lived somewhere near Los Angeles. Haha (To some, anything far from New York must be near Los Angeles). Khared (picture right) is his name and he sat down with me while I ate and we had a fun time talking for an hour or so. Well, at about 9 the Julienne’s got home and I walked back on my old route. I was so excited to see them and they seemed just as thrilled to see me again! Lidwine ran out and jumped at me and Veronique and Patrick both kissed both my cheeks and everyone talked at once. I talked as quickly as I could and they were so glad to see that I haven’t lost my French. We talked until Veronique demanded that I set my things down and that we move out of the doorway. She had prepared a special dinner for me and it was just like old times! She made a type of wrap with filo dough filled with salmon pieces, goat cheese, and herbs. It was delicious! There was a salad, some sort of legume mixture, and “poire belle helene” for dessert – a yummy pear desert. We stayed at the table until well after midnight then I crashed instantly. The next morning, I got up early and ran next to the Seine like I used to. I’ve never been a very avid runner, I’m more of a scenic runner: run for a minute, stop to pick poppies, run for a minute, stop to look at the mistletoe clumps that grow in the trees, etc…It was a gorgeous morning! When I came back I ate breakfast with Patrick and Veronique and told them all about my wedding plans. They told me about their wedding 27 years ago and of the traditional things. I milled around Croissy for awhile then watched/helped Veronique prepare a barbeque. Watching her is like having my own personal French cooking show; my very own French Paula Dean. She doesn’t measure anything and does everything from scr

atch. She doesn’t believe in microwaves because they take away nutrients. With her, and with most good French cooks, cooking is an art. Presentation is a huge part of the end result. After lunch I hopped on the metro t

o hit the city and boy was Paris busy! I wanted to retrace my steps so hopped off at Chatelet and set out on foot past the Pompidou center, past the modern art fountains, past the place where I pierced my ears, past the institute (saw the missionaries) past Hotel de Ville…Then I went to an exposition that Veronique had suggested called “Valadon and Utrillo” at the Pinacothèque. It was something I had never done before which was what I wanted. Maurice Utrillo and Suzanne Valadon are both artists and interestingly enough, mother and son. Their works are strongly connected and are shown together. A quick review of the show said, “A strong-willed woman, Suzanne Valadon succeeded in finding herself a place in an art world dominated by men. An occasional model, she posed for Puvis de Chavannes, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Degas, the latter giving her a great deal of encouragement to pursue her artistic vocation. A mother at 18, Valadon passed on her passion to her illegitimate son, Maurice Utrillo. They shared a love for painting…” When I got home I cooked with Veronique again; I made a tomato and goat cheese tart and she made stingray! She also recommended a book to me called La Vague or The Wave in English. It’s actually about an American man who started to run his class as a dictatorship to help them better understand Hitler’s influence over the Nazi regimes. However, his “game” gets out of hand when some of the students take his teachings literally.