When I got back from Nice, I was in need of major down time. Traveling felt like less of a vacation and more like a strenuous math test I had been studying for all week. When I back to the Sanchez house, I felt like it was the end of a rough school week.
Thursday night, my friend Kathryn came over. She is really into surrealistic cinema like myself and is also studying Czech in school. That being said, I introduced her to Jan Svankmajer--a Czech director who uses stop motion and puppetry in his movies. We watched his interpretation of the story of Dr. Faustess. It was fantastic!
The next day, my friend Robin and I hit the bars to watch the France Ireland rugby game. It was interesting because there was an Irish bar down the street and tensions were high because half the people were rooting for Ireland, the other half rooting for France. France kicked Ireland's butt--why? One name--Chabal. Google it.
The following day, Robin and I made a day trip to Annecy. It was exactly like my other trip, paddle-boating, ridiculous deserts, ice cream, etc. Except, at the end of the day, Robin was nice enough to invite me back to her place for some Ratatouille. It tastes like Lasagna with lots of different types of peppers.
The following day, had friends over to watch another rugby game, this time it was Scotland vs. New Zealand. If you know anything about rugby, NZ doesn't lose. Ever. Especially not against a team like Scotland. By the way, NZ is owned by Adidas and they have the name "All blacks." They are pretty great which is why I loved to see my man Chabal (French national team) plow one of their players into the ground.
We followed that up by going to the Olympic Lyonais game. Soccer is one of my favorite things here in France--along with the bread and the public transportation. I love going to soccer matches and I find myself becoming more and more competitive over my Lyon team. I bought a scarf, but would like to have a jersey some day.
It's late at night, but the lights are so powerful at the field it seems like day.Monday and Tuesday I explored the city. I spent my time out of the house as much as possible to give my family a little breathing room. When they weren't home, I did a lot of my own cooking. I made pizza from scratch and stuff like that. Nothing too exciting to mention.
Wednesday, I went to Geneva--my first out of country trip. Geneva was really great, but it rained the whole day. There was a church there that had been built over another church, which had been built over an ancient tribal burial/ritual ground. It was quite eerie, but we walked through the excavation and archeology site. It was fun, but the automatic tour voice in English was kind of ridiculous.
There was stuff in here from 2nd century AD!The other great thing about Switzerland...
CHOCOLATES! One of these every few steps your take. Oh Lord, we had a hard time picking the one we wanted to buy from.Anyway, we packed it home after a couple hours in Geneva. It's really pretty, but they don't use the Euro and we were careful not to exchange too much currency.
Geneva... cloudy
Infamous water spout
I didn't do anything to this picture. The clouds were like that. Pretty cool, eh?
Battlestar Galactica! The swiss Franc is doing poorly, so everything was pretty cheap in comparison. We all indulged. I bought this, the girls bought calendars with naked Rugby players.
Woo! Geneva!Returning back to Lyon felt nice again. I brought my host family back some Chocolates. I think I finally won over Antonio, my host dad.
The next day I spent my time indulging in dorky American sci-fi and I baked a cake--from scratch. My host family really enjoyed it. I have also been reading the Boondocks in French. It's been pretty helpful for learning important phrases like, "leave me the hell alone!" or "would you like to borrow my fro-pick?"
I ended the night by going to an event at the town hall for American students. Yep--it was as awkward as it sounds. So a couple of us escaped after twenty minutes and went to a bar. It was one of the better times I have had out with friends since I've been here. After the bar, we went to an Afghan bar where you have to take your shoes off to sit down near the rug. There were people playing Afghan string instruments and playing drums on the floor. It was warm, friendly, and REALLY.... worldly. It felt a little forced, but I had one of the best pots of tea I've ever had. I will be returning for the tea--I'm sure of this.
So that brings us up to date. I feel like I could write an entire entry on this guy here named Morgan who is from Oregon. He has one of the most genuine senses of humor ever. He's really nice, sincerely curious about everyone, and it's kind of nice that I can get along with him because there are nearly no guys in my program. Even at the little party last night, I was one of ten guys in a room of nearly 100 people. It's not as nice as it sounds, actually.
Anyway, the weekend has arrived--not that it means anything 'cause I don't start school til the 8th of October. But, my friends who are going to other universities will be able to hang out late, so I am psyched to get started on the weekend.
Remember, you can all comment now. So leave some words of love. Keep the US nice and warm for me!
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