Périgueux: Cool or "Null"?

Ok, ready to write; I have a hot chocolate and chocolate croissant (or as they call them in the southwest, a 'chocolatine').

So, I am all moved in! After what almost caused me to have a small nervous break-down, I have found my new place in the center of town. It is wonderful. The building dates back to the 15th century and there are caves below, which then lead to catacomes- no thank you!

After the problems with my on-campus housing, I decided to search for a family or more specifically an older lady that lives by her self and would like some company. Many appointments and frustrations later I found my little get away at the top of a tower. My friend lives in the same buliding, so I asked him if we could ask his landlord if there was another studio available.

Then, I had the honor of meeting his landlady, Madame Henniquin, a legacy in Périgueux. She is awesome; she met Charles de Gaulle- this roughly tells you how old she is (90+). The building has been in her family since her grandfather, a notary, bought it. When he bought the building it was was a huge house, and it was only recently that they converted it into apartments. It has some much history and the tower staircase made out of stone makes you feel like you are walking up castle stairs.

I was just about to give up on the housing situation when I met, Madame. Not only did she have an apartment available, she told me I was not going to have to pay a deposit or the last few days rent in November. As soon as she told me the reason for her generosity, she won my heart and there is no going back now. She told me that she is forever indebted to the United States because of the war and that "we" saved them. Then, she continued to tell me how her brother died in the war and he was only 18 years old.

My dear Madame, she has a little dog who is absolutely insane and I can hear her yelling at him in her high-pitched french voice- "tais-toi, tais-toi!" (shut up, shut up!). When I met her for the first time I entered through her kitchen entrance, and little did I know that the entrance from my side of the building was straight from a history book. I cannot even imagine how old the furniture and art work are, as well as, there value.

My friend, Tyler, who also lives in the building, told me that she plays the piano; to be honest, I didn't think much of it because she has such bad arthritis and a lot of french people play the piano. Well, while sitting in my new place on the top floor, overlooking the sqaure with the city hall, I all of a sudden heard piano music coming up the tower from two floors below. Yes, it was Madame, and she herself later told me she was the vice president of the music conservatory at the young age of 25! When I hear her play, I feel like I should be paying admission and I get goose bumps; it is one of the most moving experiences I have ever had.

When I stop by to say hello or to talk about the apartment, I always need to be sure I don't have a pressing engagement because of the long talks we have. I have never met someone with some much to tell. She told me she would like to write a book, and believe me, if I could understand her better, I would help her. Maybe I could record her.

75 years ago she taught 3 blind people how to play the piano. Also, her relatives moved to Brasil a couple of hundred years ago and and that they moved back to France shortly after because their children died of cholera. Then, on a lighter note, she is always talking about that crazy dog. It's a white and furry little thing that doesn't stop barking and nipping at your toes and hands. She recently lost her reading glasses and then a few days later, she found them in her dog's food bowl.

Basically this woman has won my heart. I will learn so much from her this year. For those of you who are worried about me over here, Madame is looking after me. In a week's time she has told me multiple times, "do not do drugs, they make people crazy," " do not get in the car with someone who has been drinking," and "take your time find a nice young man, because nice girls sometimes pick bad boys."

Tomorrow, Tyler and I are off to buy a tree and decorations to make Madame's place have a little Christmas spirit.

Before this wonderful change of scenery, I experienced the craziest move in day ever. I mentioned in my last blog that I tried to move into my friend's place temporarily until I could find my own nest; but then, we were stopped and essentially escorted off the premises because they live on a high school campus and we might be "terrorists."

Move in day... it was raining cats and dogs.

My friend picks me up at my new place to make my second (and hopefully final) attempt at moving. We pull up to the dorms and the whole parking lot is blocked off because of fire trucks and ambulances- food poisoning in the cafeteria (see, there was a reason why I don't eat there). We then had to park further from the school. We went to use the elevator to get to my room on the 6th floor, but it wasn't working because the firemen cut off the power to it. We then found another way entrance and the elevator worked- thank goodness! Several loads later, as well as very wet clothes and hair and a our new fireman friend, we were off to my new place.

As we pull up to my building, not only is there not any parking, there is a huge moving truck blocking the road! We ask them when they were planning on leaving because I was in the middle of moving. "Oh yes, no problem. We will be done in an hour." Ok, the french seem to have a problem or no conception of time. One hour? Then, they later changed their minds and said it would be ten minutes, which in reality was thirty. They suggested parking in the middle of the square temporarily, instead of driving around in circles. I was a little nervous about this because I could see that they themselves removed the big iron stump in the ground, which is used to prevent people from parking in the center where people walk. But, we did it anyway. Oh yes, one or maybe two minutes later, max, the police decided to drive by! "What do you think you're doing? Do you think you have permission to be here? Did you move the iron stump? This is not allowed." Oops, I totally knew that was going to happen. I think he felt bad once he heard my accent and just told me to move immediately and didn't give me a ticket.

After several loads and trips up and down the tower of stairs, we were exhausted! I kept on smelling a strange smell in the apartment; I looked everywhere but couldn't find where the smell was coming from. I probably said, "where is that smell coming from?" about 10 times before I realized that I had dog poop literally all over the front of my clothes! Like I've said before, it's never a dull moment.

Ok, now life in general...

Before I moved into my new flat, I did not like this city very much; but now it has grown on me. They have put up a little Christmas market where they sell things from different places around the world. They also built the outdoor ice skating rink, which we are trying tomorrow. There are Christmas lights hung on every street and there are live Christmas trees in front of every store- they must have a big city budget for the holidays!

So, answering the question in the title above, is Périgueux cool or "null" (null is french expression for stupid or worthless. I just liked how it rhymed)? Well, I wouldn't say it was either :). There is a lot of history here and it is a pretty place; I just wouldn't recommend it, if you don't eat meat. They put duck liver on everything, including hamburgers.


Well, my friends, I hope everyone is making the most out of this holiday season. I really wish I could be there with you now. I never want to miss a Christmas again. I am thinking of you all everyday.


xoxo

Perigueux

The Strikes

Suz brightening up the moment, like always! 

Cooking with Suz... it's the small things in life :)

Fall in Perigueux

A "used to" wanna be French Person

( I wrote this blog as a joke. I am still having a really good time, and I have met some wonderful people.   It's a good thing to just laugh things off.)


Ok, let's get straight to it. I love France. I have loved France from the young age of twelve when I was invited to stay in the Pyrenees Mountains for a month. As a twelve year old, and then as a 21 year old, life in France was like a box of chocolates- really good and expensive chocolate.

Life as an English Language Assistant in the rainy city of Perigueux goes as follows...


1) Me: "Im sorry to bother you, Sir, but we haven't had hot water in our apartment for three weeks now."
Frenchman: "Well it's because you live on the 6th floor."

2) Went to the doctor because of severe head pain, along with intermittent hearing loss. Was given a prescription for a CT scan.

Told the school nurse that I was going to have to wait for 4 weeks because they have no sooner appointments due to the medical system here. Was advised to just go to the ER and they will take care of me.


Three hours passed, while lying in a thin hospital night gown, with no blanket, with an old man starring at me in pain, and a woman screaming and moaning in pain, the doctor then finally arrives.

French doctor: "You don't need a scan, you just have a headache."
Me: "But I've been here for three hours and they said I was going to have one."
French: "You can just go home, bye."



3) Attempted to move into my friend's house temporarily until I find another place to live.

French: "You need to leave the property at once! This is horrible, outrageous. Why do you think you can just come here? Did you know that France is terrorist threat "red" right now? Are you terrorists?

Me: "I am American, here to teach English, I am just staying here for two nights until my room is ready."

French: "Did you know that France is at "red" for terrorist warnings.



4) French lady: "Holly, are you really going to go out in the rain when it's pouring that hard?"

Me: "Yes, I don't really have a choice. I need to go to my friends house and buy groceries."

French: "Well, we have a saying here, 'this is the kind of weather we don't even put our dogs in'."


5) French: "This is Holly, she is from San Francisco."

Frenchman #2: "Hello, Holly. (did the french kiss thing on both cheeks). You come from San Francisco?"

Me: "Yes"

Frenchman #2: "San Francisco is ugly."

Me: "Wait, what????"

Frenchman # 2: "Well they eat lobster on the side of the street at 4 pm, 4pm!"

Me: "Ok, first of all, what's the big deal about eating lobster at 4? And how does it make San Francisco ugly?"

Frenchman #2: "4pm is too early to eat dinner."

Me: **JUST WALKED AWAY**



6) Eating a kiwi in the cafeteria with my lunch.

French: "Why are you peeling your kiwi?"

Me: "Because I want to. Why, how do you eat it?"

French: "Well, Holly, here in France we use a spoon to eat kiwis, we don't peel them."




Anyways, I guess one thing I have to learn is... WHEN IN FRANCE...

Hugs

To my dear loved ones,

So it has been a while since my last post because my computer has gone to computer heaven.

Things have been going well here overall aside from a few bumps in the road. After spending a fair amount of time and money decorating my not-so beautiful room, I found out that I will have to start paying a hefty sum for rent. I would be fine paying for it if it had a kitchen or at least an extra sink to wash my dishes. Finding hair on my plates and forks from washing my dishes in the bathroom sink is getting quite old. Not only that, but the hot water available for the shower is quite unpredictable and they turn off the heating on all holidays.

I bought an iphone with the hope of being able to contact you all with the skype app, but they forgot to mention while I was dishing out quite a lot of money that the 3G network in France is too slow for skype.

Regardless of these little nuances, that are primarily only annoying and inconvenient, my head is still high and I am enjoying the French life and the company of the people around me. Well, needless to say, my family will be happy to know that I am no longer considering staying in France longer than I have to. Don't get me wrong there are some things that I love here, but I definitely prefer home.

My french is starting to pick up and it is so nice not having to ask people to repeat themselves 5 times, maybe now only twice haha. It takes so much diligence and dedication and hopefully with my stubbornness I will conquer my second language.

For the past two weeks we had a vacation for All Saints. My friend Suzanne and I got all excited to go to Bordeaux to check out the shops, yet when we arrived at the train station bright and early we found out there were no trains or buses going due to the strikes. Well, we then decided to hop on the next train to wherever it would go. In one hour's time we were in Limoges, which is a city known for their gorgeous porcelain and dinnerware. It was a great change of scenery and it started our vacation on a good note.

Then, I was off to a small town called, Boulazac, which is 10 minutes from Perigueux. I stayed with one of my student's families. They were so sweet and welcoming. I was thrilled to be able to use a kitchen to make some desserts and meals; well, it was a nice change from my toaster oven :).

Later that week the family went off to Paris and my two friends, Suzanne, Katharina and I stayed to watch their dog. We had free range in the house and it was wonderful. We made dinners, sat by the fire and enjoyed the comforts of being in a home.

After discussing my living situation the family has kindly offered for me to rent a room from them. Their home is a little far by foot to my school, so I am going to try and find a family closer. I am here in France for two reasons, the main reason is to learn french and the second is to see if I like teaching. Thus far, I am learning french at a normal speed, and teaching is ok (well, it's good when the students show up. Oh yes, this morning I had only one class, but I found out, after waiting for them for 10 minutes, that they randomly decided to skip class and go to a morning movie at the cinema). I think living with a family will be amazing for my french and it will give me the opportunity to pick up on french household tips. For example, one thing I learned last week is that they like to put fresh vanilla sticks into their sugar jars to add extra flavor for their desserts. I also learned how to iron and fold well haha; the mom thought it was hilarious that I was insistent on learning her mad ironing skills.

Anyway, I will try to keep you updated more often.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween, I sure missed it. The Europeans just don't get the hang of it! :)

GO GIANTS! Speak to you all soon. Oh yes, I AM able to chat on skype through the instant message thing on my phone, so if any of you want to you can add me, holly.milligan.

Also, my new number is 0033635413629

Hugs (the french people are afraid of them haha, they think kissing on the face is less personal),
Holly

Land of the Cheese

Before I start rambling on about my time in abroad, I promised my dear brother, A.J. that I would make a little "shout out" for him. The other day he asked me why I always talk about France and not about HIS hobbies, jobs, dreams, ect. And when I started talking about looking into masters programs and trying to figure out what I want to do for a career, A.J. kindly offered me a job as his full-time assistant.

Attention all: My brother A.J. is 27 years old. He is single and definitely looking for a girlfriend. His only real requirement for a girlfriend is that she has to be able to drive, well and a plus would be that she loves the bagpipes. Also, A.J. is a bagpipe player himself, people like to refer to him as "the piper" or "the ladiesman." He loves his talking computer and pepperoni pizza with extra garlic.

Ok, now back to France (sorry, A.J). So, I literally just walked in the door with a hot baguette from the bakery across the street. I am now enjoying it with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar- yummy! I joined a gym here so hopefully I won't turn into a butterball.

The beginning of last week I started teaching full-time (which means 12 hours a week for the language assistants). The students for the most part were silent and could not care less about what I was talking about. I told them, "Don't worry, I don't bite," and then they stared at me blankly like I'm some crazy American who has no idea what she's talking about- maybe that's true :).

On Friday, my friend, Katharina (she's the German assistant teaching at my school), and I went on a 3 hour excursion/exploration through the countryside of Périgueux. It was gorgeous! I could have kept on walking for several more hours but it was getting dark.

We then went off to a Zumba class, which is a latin aerobic dance that I also did in the U.S. So, after our long walk and one hour of dancing we were off to a "Ska" concert. It was verrryyyy interesting. The music was so loud that the free ear-plugs didn't work, and every french person was under the influence of something. We did not fit in, to say the least, but it was a good new experience as I am trying to become more cultured in my ripe old age of 24.

The next morning we were off to the farmer's market to buy produce, cheese, bread and fresh squeezed juice from the local farmers. We went with two of Kat's friends to a cave about one hour from here. The Périgord region is famous for their caves, yet unfortunately, I did not fully understand how the crystals were formed due to the whole language barrier thing :).

And then, I fell in love (again with a city) and not with a Frenchman. Dad- you don't have to worry. I would move to Sarlat in a heart-beat. Preferably I would like to have a house in the U.S. and one in Sarlat (it's ok to dream big), but I need to figure out the job situation first. Sarlat was stunning, charming and very intimate with the cobblestone streets, tempting bakeries, the small nooks with the hidden restaurants and cafés . The buildings were made out of old stone and from most windows there were flower boxes hung with geraniums. It is the most charming city I have ever been to, a must for all visitors!

Sunday we were invited to a student's home to have lunch and spend the day. Their house is huge, cozy, and well, typically french. It was very rainy and damp so the mom made a fire and I helped make crêpes- I was on cloud-nine. The mom has offered her home, her car, her hospitality and comfort for whenever we need it. Their family loves California and the daughter loves In and Out and Costco pepperoni pizza!

Anyways, I was supposed to have 4 classes today, all of which are an hour long. And, guess what? Three of the four classes didn't show! As most of you know, the French love strikes. I really don't understand the concept, but anytime they disagree with anything in the slightest they don't go to work and the country basically shuts down. Tomorrow is a huge strike! The government wants to increase the minimum retirement age to 62. No airplanes, trains, school, or banks will be open or running.

Alright, that is all for now. Much love from the Land of the Cheese!

Saint Emilion and Apartment

The following photos were taken in Saint Emilion, which is a small town known for their Bordeaux wine.

Saint Emilion

Little cheese shop

My future summer home :)

My Apartment before the makeover...

And after...

Before the makeover...

The head english teachers helping me hang the fabric.

And after!

Welcome to Périgueux!

So, I realized about a month ago that I packed far too much luggage when I had to send a package from Dublin to Bordeaux because I had too many things. On Sunday I boarded the train for Périgueux with my 5 pieces of luggage "in hand."  My French family in Bordeaux asked if I thought I was going to a developing country- so, I guess I didn't have to bring a years supply of vitamins! Note to self.

I am staying with one of the English teachers from the high school that I will be working at. The school is called Lycée Jay de Beaufort. I first dumped off my luggage at Fabienne's house and was soon off for a walk around my new town. The architecture is beautiful, like most French cities. There are little tiny streets that cars cannot drive down. There are an endless amount of little boutiques ranging from, haute couture, shoes, cheese, chocolate, sausage furniture, ect. But, most importantly they have cafés everywhere, as well as delicious pastries. I had my first pastry in France today, an almond croissant (best one I've every had!). It is so hard to resist those amazing pastries when they taste as good as the look and smell.

Périgueux is basically in a valley surrounded by beautiful green mountains/hills. It is in the middle of the countryside.

Then the next day I went with Fabienne to the school to get my "free" apartment's keys (basically a large dorm room). Little did I know I was going to meet all the administration and get a full tour of the school. Everyone is so nice and helpful.

Ok, so I wasn't expecting anything when I entered the apartment or I didn't picture anything. But, as soon as I entered my heart dropped: wallpaper peeling with water stains with rust colored carpet that is basically felt (a plus: I do have my own bathroom!). It's not a small studio where I can cover the walls with posters, it's too empty with one twin bed and two desks. My surroundings and living environment have always made a big impact on my state of mind and happiness. So, basically, I started to panic. The place was horrible.

Fabienne left me alone for a while so, I started to research studios. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the main other problem, the night before she had informed me that I will be having a roommate for a while, probably only a month until they find the other teacher a room! When the French say a month, it could mean 3 months.

After writing out the pros and cons of renting a place vs. staying in the 1970's flat, I decided that saving money for my masters is the most important and I am going to grin and bare it. Dun, dun, dun. So today, Fabienne and I went to about 10 stores to get decorations, and then to the farmer's market ( I was in heaven!) to buy fabric to hang on the walls.

Friday we are having a decorate Holly's room afternoon. They are so wonderful here, driving me everywhere, cooking, bringing me to meet family in the country. For all of you who don't like France for some odd reason (um... Dad!), you really have to meet these teachers, they are amazing!

I have my new phone number, it is +33777071485. Side note: +33 is the country code, and you need this to dial outside the US. Most new cell phones have the plus sign, but if not you can substitute it with 00, so it would be 0033777071485. Another reason to love France (DAD) is that for wireless internet, cable, and unlimited international calls it only costs 30 euros, which is around 40 dollars. Nice, huh?

Let's see if anything else interesting has taken place... Ok, so yesterday morning Fabienne asked me to come to her class (I don't start teaching for another two weeks). There were about 20 students, which all but 5 were extremely passive and shy (supposedly most French students are like that, sorry don't like to generalize). They were able to ask me questions, but most of them wouldn't give me eye contact because the didn't want to talk. I guess French teachers let the students not answer, but not the new crazy American teacher :), I made them all talk.  I used to hate when teachers did that to me!! But, in the end, I loved it and I can't wait for my teaching to start.

Will post before and after photos soon of my new room.

Much love. Bisous.

Bordeaux

 At the request of my dear brother, A.J, here is another update

A few things I've learned in Bordeaux...

1) The word for chopsticks is "baguettes." When they told me this I couldn't stop laughing- it makes sense though :). And since I used to very much dislike any type of Asian cuisine I did not know how to use these baguettes, which meant everyone else finished eating 15 minutes before I could figure those things out. Oh yes, Mom, I did have sushi and it was delicious!

2) It is "normal" to see people passionately kissing at their table at a café.

3) I think I know why French women are skinny- I seem to be slightly hungry at all times!!!

4) Update of the nude people at the beach... I asked some young french girls that I have met and they said the family took me to a NUDE beach. Most beaches are not nude- topless at that! Sorry to disappoint some of you haha. Well, they are still easy to get to.

5) They go to buy baguettes, the bread :), at least once a day, sometimes twice.

Will add more later...

My French Family: Jocelyn, Mathieu, and Didier

Des Gateaux!

Bordeaux at night

Apparently this was a bike festival, but we just had a picnic there. I was a little confused! Comme d'habitude en France.

Ruins of a chateaux

French picnic

A bientôt!

First Couples of Weeks

Hello everyone!

So, it has been just over two weeks now since I left beautiful sunny California. My trip started out with two great weeks in Ireland. I stayed with my dad's first cousin, Joe and his wife, Monica. I got to meet a lot of my dad's other relatives too. They were so sweet and they showed me everything.

I went to Dublin, Cork and Galway. The county of Galway is by far my favorite. There were rolling green hills, mountains and lakes. We had to stop occasionally on the little side roads because of cows or sheep. The best were the cows on a beach, laying down, looking like they are trying to tan.

If I could generalize or sum up the Irish in a couple of words it would be: they love beer, french fries (well any sort of potato), fried fish, singing, and swearing. The best phrase they use is "Genie Mac," which is a nicer version of "oh my God," (they also tend to through in a couple of cuss words).

I am now enjoying the wonderful life as a wanna-be French person :). I have been day dreaming quite a bit and thinking of the things I would like to say and by the time I construct the phrase they have moved on to another subject. Mais non (but no), it's not that bad, now I find myself just saying whatever just so I can practice. Yesterday I asked a lady directions just so I can practice (I already knew where I was walking).

I am staying with one of my favorite family's friends, la famille Harribey, in Pessac, which is about 15 minutes from the center of Bordeaux. They are so sweet and are so far putting up with me asking what everything means. They said once a week they would like to have a day to practice their English, good compromise I think. The people from the southwest of France have a very different accent from what I am used to.

This past weekend they took me to the beach. I remember from my study abroad time in France that the women go topless and the men wear speedos. That is definitely a strange concept for me, but as they say we are just prude Americans. Anyways, we parked the car in a small forest, then walked over sand dunes, and when I saw the beach I had to rub my eyes because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. More than half the people were NUDE, completely! OMGoodness. So, I asked the adorable young boy, Matthieu, (that I am staying with) if it is normal. And he said, "mais OUI holly." So, for all of us that are a little timid in swimsuits, ne t'inquiète pas (don't worry), everyone else is nude.

More updates to follow. A bienôt ma famille et mes amis!

Bisous