Un week-end en France avec une amie

This past weekend marks my first international venture into the rest of Europe. I have a friend, Cecilia, who graduated with a major in French and spent a semester studying her junior year in the city of Rennes. This past October she returned to France, this time to a little city of 4,000 called Die at the foot of the Alps to teach English at a French school.
I decided this was a great opportunity to be introduced to French culture and to get to see what my friend is up to this year, so I headed out Thursday to begin my adventure with my transportation plan written clearly in my notebook:
1. Train Ferrara-->Venezia
2. Bus Venezia Station-->Marco Polo Airport
3. Plane Venezia-->Lyon
4. Train Lyon-->Valence
5. Bus Valence-->Die

Lyon Airport

I had read on the new online about the snow storms that closed down much of Western Europe including London and Paris, so I was prepared for delays. Thursday morning I caught the train to Venezia, then the bus. My flight to Lyon was delayed an hour, but the train ticket that I booked online gave me a four hour window, so I wasn't too worried about missing that. I got into Lyon just fine (although the amount of snow did not, in my opinion, warrant the amount of delays...) and waited for me train. I soon became worried, however, when I saw that my train out of Lyon was delayed because I only had 20 minutes in between the train and then the bus to Die. The train was an hour late, but I jumped on, got to Valence, and saw that I indeed missed the last bus into Die. I walked out into town and found a hotel, but had to pay 40euro for a dirty, smelly room. It did let me sleep however until I could catch the next bus at 8:30am Friday morning.
The 1 1/2 hour bus ride was a great way to be introduced to the Rhône-Alpes region of France, winding through the hills in the countryside and then squeezing through the tiny streets of a few towns on the way.

Made it to DIE!

Countryside on the bus-ride in

I got off at the stop Cecilia said would be near the school where she worked but I couldn't seem to find her. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure if this was the right place and my French skills have pretty much disappeared in the face of all my Italian studies, so I didn't really know how to ask anyone if I was in fact at the right school. A few teachers there did note my confused face and asked me, in French, if they could help. I eeked out a couple words that I think amounted to "I look for American professor," which they somehow understood and confirmed that this was in fact the right place. I rounded the corner of the courtyard and there she was before me--a vision to my travel-weary self! As she later told me, I too was a vision to her worried-about-her-friend-lost-in-France self, so we both yelled rather loudly and ran into a hug. Cecilia later told me that she thinks that the French teacher she was with was really taken aback, as hugging is a much more intimate act in many European countries, but it wasn't the time for formalities as I thanked God to have found my destination.
Ceci introduced me to a couple of the French women that she worked with and then to another assistant that does the same thing that she does, but is Italian and teaches Italian to the kids. We all had lunch together at, of all places, an Italian café, and it was a great game of translation the whole time with Alessio speaking Italian with a little English and French, Ceci speaking English and French, and then me speaking English and Italian. Alessio left to head back to Crest, the town where he and the other assistants live and Ceci took me on a little tour of her town.

Cecilia in snowy Die!

Die is famous for a particular type of sparkling wine, Clairette, that is usually a little citrus-y and sweet, so Ceci took me to Jaillance, a company that makes and sells Clairette for a tasting. The man there let us try almost six different types, from a dryer sparkling wine called Crémant to the sweeter Clairette including a couple organic versions. After the tasting we took a bus to Crest, the nearby town where the other assistants live, to meet and have dinner with them. Once there I got to meet a couple fo them including another American, a Colombian, and a Brit. After a glass of Clairette that Ceci had brought with us we headed out to a restaurant for a little wine and a little food. This restaurant, Le Charleston, offered an interesting section that was basically variations of hashbrowns. I ended up ordering one with smoked trout and a poached egg on top--who knew this was a French was to eat? After dinner we walked around the quiet town for a bit, all lit up with Christmas lights, before heading back and spending the rest of the night at their place since they had some extra beds. Alessio ended up being back at their shared house, so I got to practice my Italian some more and even talk some politics with my new found knowledge of Italian history and current events from my classes in Ferrara. It was really just a great experience to meet all these kids from all these different backgrounds and languages living together and becoming friends.

The next morning Ceci and I said goodbye and walked around Crest for a bit, just catching their Saturday food market with the streets lined with tables of vegetables, mussels and oysters, roasting chickens. It was another great opportunity to see the similarities and differences between French culture and Italian culture in this weekend market. We each bought lunch, a piece of quiche for me and a sandwich for Ceci, and headed back to Die. We had enough time for showers, a quick nap, and then some shopping around Die before I had to take the last bus back to Valence at 5:30pm.
Unfortunately I had to stay a second night at a hotel alone in Valence. I really didn't want to, but the only train I could take to the airport left Valence at 9am and the earliest bus out of Die didn't get into Valence until 9:20am, so it was my only option. The difficulty of getting there and back ended up being exhausting and expensive, and, to be completely honest, made me curse France a couple times. I am still glad I was able to go and visit Ceci and see a little of her life in France, but was very very glad when I finally got back to Italy :) I was greated by some wonderful Christmas lights in Ferrara, including the beautiful Christmas tree in the center of town! I just have two more final exams and some Christmas shopping to do before heading back to Colorado in one week!

Il Ringraziamento e il Natale

Holidays. I always love this time of the year, probably because my family has always made it so special, but here in Italia I have a new vigor for this season stronger than ever before. The feeling of the holiday season automatically makes me feel closer to home and to the ones I love and creates an automatic link with the people here in Ferrara.
We had a wonderfully unique Thanksgiving here in Ferrara. We still had to go to classes, unfortunately, but CIEE put together a dinner at one of the osterie in town to which we often go. Usually, CIEE staff cooks the whole dinner, trying to keep it as close to American tradition as they can, but I must admit I had some doubts about that. How much can I really trust a Thanksgiving dinner to two Italians and a Welshman? Apparently someone else thought the same thing and asked our Student Coordinator, Patti, if we could do it semi-potluck style, an idea to which Patti and the rest of the staff happily consented. I decided to make a salad (I am my mother's daughter after all) and some oven roasted green beans (and I am...well, me after all) for our potluck and brought them to the restaurant at about 8pm that night. We all sat down and were brought two, yes TWO courses by the restaurant of antipasti and pasta without seeing anything related to Thanksgiving. Apparently they decided all of the food that we brought was going to be combined into a gigantic third course, but of course a bunch of the kids were getting full before the turkey came out! The turkey, however, was well worth the wait. As we were all talking about our own Thanksgiving traditions, the lights in the osteria dimmed and out of the kitchen came a turkey glowing with sparklers. We all laughed and clapped, and to add to the quasi American tradition before us, one of the students started singing "happy Thanksgiving to us, happy Thanksgiving to us" and we all spontaneously joined in to the new words of the Birthday song, finishing with cheers and clapping, thus finishing the spread of Thanksgiving tradition misconceptions in Italia. Out came all the "real" Thanksgiving food we had all brought, complete with mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and my green beans and salad. Looks like I may have to hope for some pie once I get home to Colorado, however, as we did end up with Italian, albeit delicious, desserts.

And so the next morning I was officially allowed to get excited about the Christmas season that had descended upon Ferrara! Here, as in many Italian cities, there is a "Christmas market" for the three weeks or so before Christmas in the center of town. I say "Christmas market" because only about thirty percent of the merchandise is specific to Christmas, but it's still fun to have a definite sign of the holiday season in the center of town.










Ferrara also shows it's Christmas spirit as nativities and ornaments show up in store windows and as icicle lights get strung around town. Until this past weekend, however, they weren't turned on at night, but in the last few days it has been magnificent to be out at night and to see the city lit up with these simple but elegant flickering lights. As I finished up class and headed home today, I biked into the centro and came upon the Cathedral. Right in front of it a giant Christmas tree was being decorated with the same lights as are dangling throughout the city. It really is an incredible thing to be able to stand in this ancient town square lit up in holiday spirit like that. Being able to see the town during this season is something I would have hated to miss out on if I had done the more popular spring semester abroad.

With only about a week left of classes, I am proud to say that I have finished my two long papers in Italian and now feel as if I can really enjoy my last week or so in Ferrara. I'm actually off to visit a friend from CU who is teaching at a French school in the little down of Die in southeastern France. After a train, a bus, a plane, a train, and another train, I should make it there by 9:30pm :) Once I get back, I have three more tests before the end of this semester here in Ferrara! I'm so excited to see all my family in less than two weeks and to tell everyone more about my experiences here.  Love to all and Merry Christmas Season :)