Ich möchte eine bier bitte

Last Minute Lauren strikes again...

Last week it was raining (again!) in Paris. My trip to Normandy slowly was dwindling down to a day at Paris Plage (they put an oversized sandbox next to the siene and call it a beach for a month in the summer), and I really needed to get out of the city, so I decided to come to Germany last Wednesday instead of Friday like I planned. Despite maybe paying a bit more than I should have to come here on top of a 6 hour car trip from Stuttgart to Berlin, I am totally glad that I came early! In Germany they have a ride share deal where you can hook up with travelers going your way for really cheap. I ended up riding with a woman called Barbel and two other random passengers in an old beat up German car with no airconditioning for 25 euros. She was a bit stuck up and told me that she didn't really like Americans. Can you believe that! My response was something to the effect of I wouldn't generalize just from California and Wyoming (which is where she was filming documenaries or something). Very diplomatic, but I kinda wish I would have said something more snide now because it still earks me when I think about it even though it was three days ago. I slept most of the ride anyway since I only had about two hours of sleep the night before, so I didn't talk to her much anyway. It actually sounds worse than the way she said it, but I don't think I'll be staying in touch with her. For the most part in my travels so far, I haven't come into too much contact with people who flat out don't like Americans. I can't count the number of conversations I've had about Bush and where in the US Oregon is. No one realizes that we have good beer in America. Bummer for them.

So, I'm staying with my friend Steffi in Berlin, whom I met while in Paris. It's a bit of a long explaination how we met, but basically she was the au pair for a woman that I took French lessons with. Hm, ok, not that complicated. Anyway, she's back in Berlin now trying to find work before going to University next fall and is just hanging out in the mean time. I dig this city a lot! The people are friendly and more relaxed, there are places to just chill in the sunshine and on the grass, their fake beaches are much nicer, and everyone walks around drinking beer at all hours of the day. Seriously, the beer here is cheaper than buying vegetables. We went to the store to buy stuff for dinner last night and a 1 liter bottle of beer was 25 cents three tomatoes and a cucumber were 70 cents. What a great country! The weather isn't actually that great right now, but that's ok cause we all went out last night and aren't really in the mood to do much anyway. I'll be in Berlin until Monday and then my friend Timo is driving up from Stuttgart. We will probably hang in the city a bit then drive back there. Perhaps a trip to Prague may be in the future, but it is far to early to plan these things...

Route du Vin

Here are some recent picts of my adventures with the rents. I would love to run down the itinerary, but we packed so much into the two weeks that they were here, it would take me far too long, and I just don't have the attention span. The highlights for me were visiting the little wineries in the Loire Valley, taking the train to Strasbourg then renting a car and driving all over Alsace. We at tons of great food and shared a bottle of lovely French wine almost every night. I don't know what I'm going to eat when I leave this country. It's definitely going to be a bummer. The pictures above are not in chronological order, but give a good sum up of what went on. They are of a cave we visited, the February weather in front of St. Michel fountain, one of the many little French towns along the route du vin in Alsace (Riquire I think). Funny, most of the towns had German names and a German feeling to them. Probably because they used to be part of Germany. Anyway, back to the pictures...there's one of the Tower Eiffel during Bastille Day, a winery, me in front of the Chateau Saumur, the rents and I at Monet's garden, one of the many sunflower fields, and a picture of the different parts of la vache for good measure.

As for future plans, I am going camping in Normandy next week, then visiting friends in Germany, going back to the US for Kyle's wedding for a couple weeks in August, coming back to Paris for September to Nanny (just for the month) and then not sure. I will see as it comes...

qu'est-ce que ce?

Here are a few recent picts of other kids I've been babysitting (Miles who is American and Minkey who is Austrailian), my bouldering adventure at Fontainbleu, the organic farm in Italy, and some friends in Paris...





Alright, it's been way too long since I last wrote. I'm not a big fan of long, drawn out explanations, so I'll just give a sum up of all that has gone on in the last month...

I went to Italy on the 25th to check out a master's program I was thinking about applying to. I ended up staying with my old neighbors here in Paris on an organic farm and then we all went over to explore the school together. The school is just outside of Parma and sponsored by SLOW foods. For those who don't know SLOW foods, it's basically an organization that supports using whole, organic, sustainably grown food instead of food produced with shelf-stable/non-sustainable products. It seemed like a perfect program to compliment my education, but when I went to check it out, I realized that it was a bunch of great information, but nothing that would increase the experience that I want and help me get a job after. I enjoyed speaking to all the students, but all of them said that they weren't getting the education that they were expecting, they didn't know what they were going to do when they graduated and the school was run really erratically (well it is in Italy!). Anyway, long story short, I'm really glad I went to visit, but I'm not going to apply.

This then leaves another question...Am I going to stay in Paris and work for the same family for the next school year? The answer is "no." I really like Paris and the family, but I can't stand living in the city any longer. It would be one thing if I was making a ton of money or if I really loved the city, but I can't honestly say either. I've already told Anne-Marie and we agreed that I will stay on until the end of September, but after that, I've got to leave. I also feel like, though this has been an amazing experience in ways that I can't eloquently describe, I feel like I need to move on and get experience doing other things. It comes down to a question of what is best for me and what I really want and living in Paris working as a nanny doesn't fall into any of those categories. I feel confident in my French enough to get around and have very basic conversations and would like to continue to improve. I have been doing a hell of a lot of thinking about what it is that I really want and (for now) I really want to learn more about organic farming and sustainable agriculture. So, I've decided to do WWOOFing (willing workers on organic farms) in France for a while. I don't know for how long as I don't have a working visa any longer, but learning about sustainable agriculture while improving my French sounds like something I would like to try. Where I will go and what exactly I will be doing is still up in the air, but in France there are 332 organic farms that are members of the program, so I'm sure I will find something. And hey, if it doesn't work out my alternative options don't look too bad either. So, that's where I'm at now.

My immediate future includes going to Alsace tomorrow with my parents (Dad and Pam) who are visiting me this week and last. I love having them here and it gives me an opportunity to experience foods and cultural activities that I couldn't afford to do on my own. Plus, it's great to experience those things with them. Oh man, we've been eating well! They got in last Friday and we have been going and going ever since. No major arguments yet, but I really notice how slow people in Portland walk. I'm also coming to terms with being the tour guide. I know I've just got to let it go sometimes, but when I know that there are better things ahead and we are dallying someplace, it's really hard to maintain patience. Whatever, I'm glad they're here and will be incredibly sad when they leave. I am coming back to Ptown for two weeks in August for Kyle's wedding (13th to the 27th), so whoever is around, I would love to hang out. Back to Paris... for the last week it has felt like February here. We were walking around the other day and could actually see our breath! Yesterday and today made up for it though and finally, I think summer has come! Yesterday was Bastille day, which is the French Independence day and there was fireworks by the Eiffle Tower. I've never seen more people in one place in my life! Next time I blog (which will be sooner than a month) I will post pictures. Cheers!