Yes, I Live in a Christmas Village

(written the week after Thanksgiving, slightly out of date...)

For almost as long as I can remember, I helped my Grandma set up her "Dicken's Village" at Christmas.  For those of you not aware, Dicken's are a set of elaborate miniature houses and buildings the likes of what many suburban mothers put up to form a Christmas village under the tree, in a windowsill, or up on a bookshelf, just more expensive.  There are houses and shops of all shapes and sizes, figurines selling everything from pheasants to flowers, horse-drawn carts (quite unlike Senegalese charettes), iceskaters and small children, a plethora of tree varieties, snow-covered stone paths and walls, and anything else you can think of to convey the imagery of a small English town at Christmastime (or London, around the time of Charles Dickens).

One of the towers and the
"curiosity shop"

I spent many afternoons during the early Christmas season helping my Grandma create elaborate country, town, and city scenes with her figurines.  We used seran wrap to create streams under bridges, styrofoam to add height and dimensions, and cotton to look like freshly fallen snow.  I remember my sister and I occassionally using the figurines like Barbie dolls, creating elaborate stories for them, especially the quaint farm scene (that always had a place at child's eye level underneath Uncle Kenny's coffeetable).  The scenes took up her entire house--on bookshelves, under tables, as center pieces on tables normally reserved for eating--anywhere!  We always had a lot of fun brainstorming where to put pieces and I know she was sad when I got too busy to spend much time on them when I got to high school.

Homes along the river, complete with
stone wall

It's been snowing in Semur on and off for about a week now, and sticking (which means it's cold!).  While out for a "run" this week down by the Armacon River which cuts through town, I suddenly felt transported into the miniature villages of my childhood.  Semur, with it's old Burgundian architecture, flowing river, and snow covered stone walls was suddenly the personification of the Dicken's village (except without all of the Oliver Twist-esque aspects of 19th Century London).  Below are some shots, let me know what you think:

What a classic country lane!

Snow draped rooftops 

Looking up on the church from the river

Ok, so the French winter sky is always really gray, so the pictures aren't as beautiful as I would like, but oh well.

Update: after a week of nonstop rain, the snow is back.  It's still a little gray, but much better than the dreary start to December.  I hope you are all getting in the Holiday spirit, wherever you may be!

"Sur le pont d'Avignon...

on y danse, on y danse. 

Sur le pont d'Avignon,

on y danse tout en ronde."

I'll admit, I'm a pretty terrible francophile.  Sure, I've been speaking French for something like 11 years, spent a summer in Paris, and graduated from college with a Certificate in Translation (meaning that through the litterature heavy AU French Dept I had read several French authors), but I don't actually know that much about France, the different regions, or various current political or cultural figures (historical, sure, covered that in Paris).  While applying to this Assistantship program, I had to ask friends and basically googled the different regions, somewhat randomly choosing rural areas over some of the more industrial or famous parts of the country.  A shame?  Maybe, but I've obviously become more interested in Africa in recent years and Belgium has always held my Western European interests (and Sweden my northern interests).

 I had vaguely heard of Avignon when Monika suggested we visit it during our 5 day weekend in early November, but I couldn't totally place it at first.  A quick Rick Steve's check reminded me it's the city of the French popes and has a famous bridge, but that's about it. 

A look down on old Avignon

Avignon is a very cool city, the old heart of which is held behind the ancient town walls. It is a university town in southern France and a lot edgier than dear old Burgundian Dijon, in part to the interesting mix of cultures that comes from its location closer to the Mediterranean Sea.  I was pleasantly surprised when I kept forgetting I was actually in France and not Italy, between the popes, paintings, and good ol' Roman ruins.  Famous Avignon souvenirs include lavender, soap, fabric, and the multi-purpose Herbes de Provence (which we have learned this year can be used in everything from quiche to squash soup, chili, and Thanksgiving stuffing), none of which I purchased.



Le Pont du Gard



We stayed with some nice German university students and visited such famous sites as the Palais des Papes, Musee de la Petit Palais (sacred art, including a Botticelli), the Pont St Benezet (the famous bridge), the Pont du Gard (old Roman acqueduct you've seen in your high school French books, a bit outside of town), the opera (a first for me!  We saw Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte), and the Roman ampitheater in Orange on the way back.  The biggest let down was that the museums in Avignon are all operated by a private company, meaning we couldn't get in free with our "Pass Education" which allow free entrance into all public museums and monuments (like the Louvre).  Lameness, so we were forced to use our university student IDs get some discounts on entrance.

Part of the Palais des Papes,
but it's too big to get in one
picture.  Cool lighting tho!

While I never learned the famous song as a child growing up (thanks, Mom!), it's famous enough to have been dedicated as a UNESCO World Heritage site solely for it's role in the song (and not for it's architectural success as the bridge has been more than half destroyed by the Rhone River).

In front of the beautiful cathedral
for the Popes

Anyways, it was a good trip and I'm glad we were able to make the most of a 6-day weekend before the cold set in.

Thanksgiving, à la Française

A very happy and slightly belated Thanksgiving to all of the readers out there, wherever you are!

Thanksgiving or Christmas?  The snow started Thursday early afternoon and continued on and off most of the weekend.

  

I thought this was clever and complex,
yet not too difficult for my
oldest students to figure out.

Every holiday celebration is slightly different (or extremely different in my case) and Thanksgiving 2010 was no different.  Since my job here in France is to use American culture to teach French students the (American-)English language, Thanksgiving was an obvious choice for two weeks worth of class lessons.  Like my fellow American assistants, I spent the week prior researching a little on the background of Thanksgiving, as well as debating how to best include (or not include) some of the more culturally-sensitive aspects of Thanksgiving.  Having participated in many an elementary school Thanksgiving feast (including being a chosen reader in a Thanksgiving skit that would no longer be considered culturally appropriate), I had a lot of memories but needed a brush-up.  After scouring the internet for various lesson plan ideas, stories, and whatnot (some ok, many terrible), I decided it would be best to brush over some of the sensitive aspects and focus on what Thanksgiving has become today in America (having not participated in a US Thanksgiving in 3 years, I'm not really "up" on US culture, but whatevs).  Instead of the fateful first interactions between the Pilgrims and Native Americans (including Squanto who's story I am now fully versed on), I focused on four aspects: 1. Family (and friends), 2. Food; 3. Football (and the Macy's parade), and 4. Being Thankful.

I prepped a few different lessons, based on the grade level but all very similiar and was pleasantly surprised when they were mostly well-received by the students.  While I'm not sure if they understood everything, they all know that we eat turkey and pumpkin pie (which they think is a disgusting idea), watch football/the parade, and most get that we like to be with family and friends.  A few students and teachers even understood that it's hard to be away from family/friends/other Americans for the holiday, and asked me if I was sad, which was sweet.  Some may have even understood the idea "to be thankful for", because I asked them about it, but it's a much harder idea to get through their heads than the idea of a "large chicken" and lots of other types of food.  Whatever, it worked and put me in a great mood all week and helped get me into the spirit of Thanksgiving (even though I had to work on Thursday). 

  

A small, typical French oven

While in America for the Derlunas wedding, I planned ahead and purchased two cans of Libby's pumpkin in anticipation of perhaps being brave enough to do a Semur Thanksgiving.  A few weeks prior, I chickened out of everything except pumpkin pie due to the small size of our kitchen and my busy Thursdays.  However, as I was prepping the lessons, I got brave again and talked to the other American assistant in Semur, Jie, and we decided to get our international group of girls together for a Thanksgiving.  We had 4 countries represented (or perhaps 7, depending how you want to think of it) and had people bring dishes. 

Monika had difficulty carving the chicken,
so Vir was called in to help (not the
US Americans)

We didn't have a turkey due to the size of our tiny oven, but Vir and Anne (Argentina and France) made a delicious apple glazed chicken; Jie (the US, China) made mashed potatos, gravy, and chesnuts; Monika (Germany, Bolivia) made the beans and whipped cream, and provided the wine; and I introduced the girls to pumpkin pie.  (Klara, also from Germany, arrived in time for dessert, armed with delicious sparkling peach wine.)  It was quite the feast!



Thanksgiving Semur-style
Myself, Anne, Vir, and Jie. 
(Monika took the picture and Klara had not yet arrived.)



  

Not the prettiest pie ever, but I nearly
melted tasting it, yummy!

Even though I didn't have Thanksgiving Day off, I was still able to benefit from a long weekend since I always have Fridays off.  A bunch of the American assistants located in Dijon wanted to get together and celebrate Thanksgiving, so after submitting my first grad school application of the year, I "quickly" baked another pie and hopped on the bus.  I arrived to the setting-up of the Dijon Christmas market and spent an enjoyably long evening with other North Americans conversing over some great food.  (I didn't take any pictures though because there were about 5 or 6 other cameras constantly snapping and didn't find it necessary, sorry people.)  We played a fun game similar to taboo where I discovered how out of touch I am with French culture and government, being more of a franco-afrophile than a true francophile, which I am mostly okay with.  It was a great evening and I really appreciated being a non-Dijoner invited to celebrate with those based in the city itself.  Thanks to Taya for hosting the large group of us, Sarah for letting me stay at her place for the night, and Erica for grabbing coffee with me when I arrived several hours before the start of the dinner.  It was also a great opportunity to discuss travel possibilities with some others who are up for something a little more exciting than Western Europe...

And now, since it is (or was) Thanksgiving, I guess I should mention some of the things that I am Thankful for this year, in no particular order:

• All of the people who have sent me cards and letters in the past month, especially the Thanksgiving cards.  A big thanks for the three packages that arrived this week from Jen, Emily, and Bob and Margaret, especially the homemade cranberry banana bread and all of the chai tea, AMAZING!  Thanks for all of the love and kindness, even when I sometimes feel silly asking for things while living in a developed country.
• To my parents and everyone else who continue to support my crazy ideas and inability to stay in the same place or country for too long, in the midst of the crazy economic annoyances and massive student loans, especially with everything else they have to take care of.  You guys are champs and God has a special spot in heaven for you.  Thank you for your love and support.
• My sister, who I only seem to see once a year, but whom my students already think is cooler than I am because she is working so hard at something she loves and her bands will be huge some day.  Though she couldn't make it to Senegal, hopefully she can make it to France.  She, and several other friends, are inspiring me to start "running" (err, attempt to).  Maybe someday I will be able to do a 5km, but at least now I can do something since I don't have Zumba or Healthbridge.
• For all of my friends and family in Senegal.  I talked to many of them a few weeks ago for Tabaski and swelled with love as they passed the phone around, sending blessings and offers of sheep meat my way.  I miss them more than words can say and can't wait to return, hopefully sooner rather than later.  Amidst my frustrations and difficulties over the 27 months, they taught and loved me so much and I genuinely miss my crazy life with them in Ndiomdy (and Thies).
• For my job here in Semur-en-Auxois.  The town is super adorable and though I might not love the job and the school might not be the most organized/functional, it's still a job that at least pays a little. It has already shaped part of where my life is going (or more, where it's not going...) and I've met some great people and I know there will be some fun adventures in our future.  I have an apartment and though it's freezing, at least I have someone to share it with and fight for better heating--and we get along!
• Tying in to the above, I am thankful for all of the amazing and crazy experiences I've had and will hopefully continue to have.  After life in DC, the city of world travelers, I sometimes forget that things like study abroad, alternative break, mission trips, the Peace Corps, and other types of global work are NOT actually normal for most people.  When my students asked me where I've traveled, they were shocked that I've been to 39 US states and over 20 countries!  I had never even thought about that until they asked, but I've been blessed with some cool and ridiculous jobs and opportunities to learn more about the world in the hope of making it a better place some day.  Little by little.  O ndang o ndang.
• For the $6 Target leggings I bought prior to coming which have already played an important role as long underwear/layers and the newly purchased 5euro H&M legwarmers.  Best purchases in recent memory, hands down.  I may fantasize about the days when I woke up sweating in my hut instead of shivering curled up with my computer next to the radiator, but at least I have things to layer. 
• God, because He is pretty freakin' incredible, 'nuff said.

There's so much more I could include, but I will stop there.  Thanks for reading this and I hope that you all have a great start to the holiday season.

Yea Malaria Prevention!

So please check out this video shout out to Peace Corps Senegal and their work with Malaria No More (Ed Helms is from The Office if you think he looks familiar).  While I never did one of their mosquito net distributions, many of my friends did and I worked with other distributions and on lots of other types of Malaria prevention education.  (Check out my blog entry about Neem Lotion from November 2009: http://pcbeth.blogspot.com/2009/07/fighting-malaria-1-bar-of-soap-at-time.html)

Ok, here's the video.  Yea Peace Corps! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcCV0uGqMVI


(btw Comedians Against Malaria?  Whatever, as long as it helps combat the spread of this controllable disease.)

A Day on the Vines

So prior to my brief US sejour, I spent a fabulous afternoon in a tiny village an hour or so away from Semur, visiting the family of some friends here (the parents of the host mom of two of the assistants--her name is Odile).  They live in an old agricultural village, have fields, several gardens, animals, and a tiny vineyard.  We were invited to help with their recolt, which is done by hand in a long afternoon because the vineyard is so small.  This was one of my favorite days so far in France because the weather was gorgeous and it gave me a chance to get back outside, in the sun, and working in a garden.  Hopefully this day was just the start of my Burgundy wine-o education :)





We went up and down the steep rows, filling up buckets, emptying them in large barrels, and refilling them, all the while munching on fresh grapes right off the vine.  After a tough few hours in the sun, we stopped and drank fresh grape juice and ate soft cheese and cookies.  So French.  It was perfect.

After returning to the farmhouse with the loot of grapes, the men started separating the fruit from the woody bits, and the other assistants and I followed Odile to check out the four massive gardens here parents (in their 80s!) still work.  If only the people from Ndiomdy could see these gardens!  Every household had at least one and most weren't even fenced in because animals such as goats, sheep, and cows are penned in and not allowed to run rampant (novel concept for the Senegalese!).  The largest garden was still full of carrots, varieties of cabbage, winter lettuce, spinach, and so many different types of leafy vegetables that I had to keep asking about.  We drained two of the gardens of any of the ripe varieties of squash we could find, from zuccini to pumpkin-like orange globes to miniature flying saucers, butternuts, spaghetti squash, random gourds, and even a few renegade cucumbers.

 Just one part of one of the many gardens, one of our more than 6 full barrels of squash, and me, excited to be outside, in a garden, and wearing flipflops again.

  



We finished the day with homemade pumpkin soup, the first of many episodes of squash soup this fall :)





The Girls

So though I have a lot to say about France right now, here's an article a fellow Senegal RPCV (now hanging out in Chile, then coming to France in January) posted.

Some of my faves: Sorkhna, Rose, and Awa

Giving African Girls a Chance to Learn

A lot of my Kaolack PCV friends worked with this organization, 10,000 Girls, while I was in Senegal, in varying degrees.  I never did because my schedule was pretty insane, as you know, but I always heard remarkable things about their work.

One paragraph especially stuck out to me.

"I researched the whys and wherefores of the little girls' educational failures. I found that of every 60,000 girls who enter first grade, only 4,500 finish primary school in the region of Kaolack. Of those 4,500 students entering middle school, only 1,500 will enter high school. Five hundred will graduate with a high school diploma, 150 will enter university, and 15 will receive their university degree."

15.  If a girl fails primary school two years in a row she is kicked out.  Or if she turns 15 in primary school, she is also kicked out at the end of the year.  It may sound old, but I knew many 14 and 15 year old girls who had delayed education and thus in the equivilent of 4th grade towered over some of their 9 year old classmates.  But they were still in school and that's what mattered.  They wanted to be there.

Mbarrou, Adama, Absa, Bigue, Ndiaye, Jambar, Fatou Khady, Jabu, Awa, Ndeye, Siga, Rose, Sauce, Ami, Sorkhna, Rhoky, Mame Gnilan, Fatou, Codou, Congo, and these are just some of the girls who touched my heart and who may never finish their studies, and probably don't even dream of making it through university as I have.  That's more than 15 names right there.  Maybe 5 or 6 of them will get to high school, and hopefully at least a few of them will graduate.  Absa's mom almost finished high school (making her the highest educated woman in Ndiomdy), so she has a higher chance of attending and hopefully completing high school as well, but the other girls?  Most of their mothers can't even read French. 

[I'm so proud of these girls and love them so much, which is part of why I organized and led activities at area schools, to help keep them there. I hope that someday the French students I work with will realize how blessed they are as well, instead of striking.]

What can be done?  I don't know and this entry isn't a chance for me to get on a soapbox to preach about the plight of my beloved village nieces and what we need to do--it's just to spread knowledge and appreciation of how blessed we are. 

The girls' mater watering team in the garden.  They put the boys' teams to shame.

Just another thing to be thankful for this November.

So Much, Too Much

Soooo sorry, I guess my promised update about life never showed up...things have been interesting, that's for sure.  I'm in the process of a few different posts, but here's a quick update on some random things since my last post.

• I've met almost all of the 8 English teachers I'm supposed to be working with (8 teachers, 12 hours...interesting!) and only met about half of the students due to tests, teacher strikes, a quick US trip, and a week of student strikes.  The teachers (and everyone else in town) are very nice, though I must admit that I'm at a loss for what to do with the students.  I've got some ideas, but still have no clue what their levels are.
• My apartment is freezing cold.  On nice days like today, is noticeably colder inside than outside.  W e are trying to figure out what to do because our tiny space heaters suck electricity and the school refuses to turn on the radiator.  I will be drinking a lot of tea and eating a lot of soup this winter.  Pictures of the apartment coming soon, hopefully (see below).
• I spent a quick 4 days out of France to be the Maid of Honor in Brian and Emily Derlunas' wedding in Gettysburg, PA.  It was a beautiful wedding and everything went swimmingly, though there was a serious possibility that I would not be allowed back in France after because I'm still in the process of getting my visa validated.  I spent two weeks contacting everyone under the sun, in France and the US, in order to obtain a return visa or find someone who could tell me I would be allowed back (people here were telling me just to "forget it" and not be "too disappointed," which was not a possibility).  In the end, as usually happens, the border police did not even glimpse at my visa, just looked at my picture and stamped a random page.  Worrying about this issue occupied about two full weeks of my life and thus nothing else got taken care of.  Oh, and due to national train and metro strikes, I barely got to Paris for the flight and barely made it back to my town.  Too close for comfort.
• I spent an awesome Saturday afternoon picking grapes in a small vineyard an hour away and then picking squash in some gardens.  Incredible.  There are lots of pictures and hopefully a post coming about that.
• There's neither gym nor Zumba in Semur, so I'm trying to develop an exercise routine.  The Maison Pour Tous (kind of like a community rec center) has a Thursday night step aerobics class which my German roommate, Monika, and I tried.  Though I extremely dislike step aerobics, it was good to sweat and do something physical, plus it's not too expensive if I sign up for the whole year.  The biggest problem?  The instructor has the workout "choreographed" to music from 1999 and worst of all, can't hear the beat or cues in the music so instructs people to move against the beat.  For this lifelong dancer, it's obvious and obnoxious.  But it's something to do, so I might just keep up with it.
• Last week the students were on strike and now we are on Toussaints Holiday (a 10-day holiday for All Saints' Day) until November 4.  I spent the past few days in Dijon with some other assistants, exploring, hiking, and drinking tea.  If I lived there, it would be dangerous financially :)   I wanted to travel somewhere on my travel list (it's pretty long...), but we are still awaiting our first pay check and after my quick US trip, didn't think it would be smart to leave again.
• I miss Senegal a lot, but the more time I spend here and experience certain aspects of France, the more I understand about Senegal.  That's definitely a blog post.  I also found a HUGE population of Senegalese selling at the 3x/week market in Dijon and was super creepy listening to their conversations in Wolof.  Also, it's not as fun to just talk random nonsense with Senegalese in France as it is with Senegalese in Senegal.
• NO ONE can pronounce my name here, sauf a few English profs.  Most people who ask my name just stare at me blankly, then look with confusion at whoever introduced us thinking it's a joke, and it's uncomfortably awkward until I tell them that my name is "BeTTani" instead.  [I kind of expected this to happen, but it's a little worse in France than it was in Brussels, Paris, or Senegal.]  A few have resorted to calling me Bettina (a la my Belgian host mom Adriana), which just may be easier.
• I'm constantly exploring Semur and life as a Semuroise.  There's not a lot to do in town, so I walk around a lot and try and stop by any market or festival going on.  Last weekend was the "Journee de la Pomme" which was basically a gymnasium full of tables of various types of ancient apples and some things for sale, but I wound up sharing lunch with a sweet older French lady after I bought some cidre from her.  She was friendly and chatty, confused about my crazy accent (America meets Senegal, Brussels, Paris, Burgundy, etc), and had somethings to share about her opinion of the Sarkozy and the strikes.  I also ran into one of the English teachers who has offered me use of her bike when I need it and showed me the giant house she is in the middle of renovating.  There's a movie theatre and a regular one, both of which I've attended on two separate occassions each.  I'm trying to be more spontaneous and let little Semur surprises guide my days.

Ok, that's all for now friends.  I'll try and write some decent posts sooner rather than later.  As I mentioned, I'm having issues with picasa and updating photos, which is also tied to this blog.  Knowing that I need to deal with that technology has kept me from putting anything substantial on here.  Sorry!

The other side of Semur