Wow I'm sitting in an airport home. This is a bit unreal, I must admit. When I really think about it, it makes sense that it has been 7 weeks, but mostly I feel like I just got here. The whole group is convinced this is week three. Ok well, I'll at least update you fine readers on the past, and last, couple weeks.
After my father's day adventure to the Namur citadel, I had a fairly normal work week. The website I revived is getting hits, responses, and requests to join, as well as organizations messaging me that they are promoting within their networks. Last week we also found out our German chapter partners would be visiting NATO and wanted to stop by ATA to visit and see the office. So, I was asked to compile a fact sheet on German foreign policy and the current state of affairs in General with news in Germany.
Some of the biggest news of that week however was……yes….I received plastic money! Well, I was able to get access to my mail anyway (finally) and got the cards that Mom and Dad so generously speed shipped to me….too bad we didn't know they would be held hostage once they arrived. Anyway, I also got some cash from the stipend at lecture and was happy to once again be free of needing to rely on others' cash.
However, what I was really looking forward to all week was certain voyage by the name of Nana Camp that was fast approaching :) . Feeling sort of silly for not realizing until Thursday that I don't work Fridays and have no reason to really miss out on a day in Paris, I was able to change my train for free and spend Friday in Paris before the crew arrived. I got there early morning and had an enjoyable day walking basically the entire city, from Notre Dame, to the Louvre, to the Luxembourg gardens, down the Seine, and more. It began to rain and I couldn't check into my hostel yet, so I hopped quickly into a theater and watched my first movie completely in French! Without subtitles! It was a movie about a French man of Algerian descent who finds himself stuck in Algeria because of a stolen passport when settling some business for his sick father. I couldn't believe how easy (considering) it was for me to follow; good movie too.
Once the movie ended, I was able to head over to the hostel (I was right by the Louvre-at the other end of the street of the wine tasting actually for all y'all who were there). The hostel was actually really nice, and I shared it with just one other girl until about 3 AM when a couple other people arrived, so it was very low key. The girl who was there was AUstralian on an overnight layover and we ended up heading to a close restaurant for a few hours enjoying some live street music (due to a music festival city-wide that night) sitting outside a cafe. The guys playing were a cover band, wearing checkered bell bottoms and had blond long wigs. They played Helter Skelter and I was sold. It was hilarious to see some of the middle aged to older crowd stopping and bobbing their heads.
Also. I had one of the most gourmet amazing salads ever, I have to mention. In a bed of greens, was a flower of an artichoke in the middle, along with mango, grapefruit, apple and more. On the side came a "tar tine" with roasted vegetables that was almost like a quiche. Amazing. A glass of cab sauvignon topped it off perfectly. I also had a really easy time talking with this girl, Hana. She sounds like she's had an amazing life, grew up in England but now lives off the grid pretty much on an island off of Australia without electricity, running water or much else. She even mentioned catching crabs for herself and growing all her own vegetables. She also grew up in a family of 14 kids….so maybe she's running away haha.
Here are some pictures:
Here are some pictures:
Well I had to have an espresso....was even
at the same cafe I went to in high school!
Well, the next morning was time to meet up with half of the Nana Camp crew, including Mom, Dad, and Stephen! I woke up adding in over an extra hour because I decided to take a nice morning walk instead of the metro and wanted to make sure I had time in case I made a wrong turn (no electronics or maps remember). Well, lets just say I didn't add enough time in for what followed.
I left the hostel and made it almost the way there, but had a slight wrong turn, but quickly made it back on course and was set to arrive almost perfectly on time, even about five minutes early. Once I made it to the "address" (or so I thought) I stood outside what looked like a run down store front with what I thought may be the apartment on the second floor above where we were staying. I waited about 20 minutes but quickly was feeling like something was wrong. I had a dead phone, with no charger with a wall attachment, and thought I may be able to get some help in a local Starbucks (maybe they could plug in my usb to a computer?). This Starbucks had nothing they could do. So I moved on (at this point I'm worried about having no contact with the family because they knew I was in a hostel the night before and am approaching 30 minutes of tardiness, which is unlike me). I saw a couple of older ladies speaking english and approached them to ask to use their phone. Understandably they didn't want me to hold it, so they dialed Mom and Dad's numbers, but they didn't go through (I'm assuming it was some sort of country code problem). I continued down the street, and found another Starbucks and thought I'd try again. Mind you, I'm feeling pretty frustrated and lost as to how to solve this problem (I even asked someone for an internet cafe but all were far). Luckily, this barista was very very nice and found a USB port on the cashier and plugged my phone in. After about 15 we realized it wasn't even charging, but he even brought my phone to the back room and plugged it in for me there. Lifesaver. However, I had to wait a while to get enough charge to contact the ole' fam, but it was definitely worth it. After a bit I finally got contact with Mom and realized that I was literally just on the wrong section of the street (which meant I wasn't far, but I also felt pretty dumb).
So, best lesson learned: In france, there are Rue Fouboug XXX and Rue XXX as different sections of the same street. The Foubourg part is the part outside of old city walls that now are not there, and without the Foubourg is inside…I forewarn all future Parisian travelers with this invaluable tidbit of navigation information.
Well. I met up with the family, dropped up some things, and we quickly took to the streets! After exploring the Pantheon and the crypts there (saw so many famous dead guys! From Rousseau, to the Curies to Hugo and more) we stopped for a lovely European classic lunch cafe-style out on the street. All the food was amazing, Stephen tried carpacchio (spelling?) and Dad had some amazing goat cheese with smoked salmon and Mom had a French style quiche! I had a great seafood salad with citrus.
The Pantheon!
Then we headed over to Père Lachaise Cemetery to see Jim Morrison's grave among others. The cemetery was so bizarre and unique. Almost like each grave was a hut/outhouse looking thing that gave the grounds a vibe unlike any cemetery I've seen. Definitely cool.
Then it was quickly back to the apartment to get our ole selves prettied up for Moulin Rouge! We were all so excited looking forward to a night of champagne and food (perhaps I was a bit more than the others due to money mishaps and college budget meals…). Either way, we all enjoyed a lovely evening out on the town (I must say we all looked dapper) and it had definitely been too long since the four of us were able to spend a night together.
The show was great! Much more of a variety show than I expected too. Let me tell you. There were 10 foot snakes in a water tank involved…that a woman jumped into. But among the other acts were a pair of incredible acrobat balance actors who did some amazing balancing stunts that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. The female even did a head stand on the man's head….neither held hands….There was another trio of tumblers that was also really good. The can-can part of it was definitely an experience too. I found it to be much classier than expected and very entertaining. They do a good job, and can kick higher than I thought was biologically possible.
Snakes!
Sunday, the rest of the group arrived including the Rices and Nana! A bit worse for the wear from a long flight experience, we dragged them out to the Paris streets nonetheless because, when in Ro…I mean Paris... :). Stephen and I (not just off a plane) headed out first and walked the Seine a bit. Then we met up with the crew (all changed and refreshed) at the Orangerie that houses the panoramic Monet paintings among many other amazing work from Cézane to Renoir and more. After getting everyone their first Parisian crepes (Stephen and I tried the Grand Marnier….cherry liqueur soaked…and no alcohol burned off haha…I'm coining the term cocktail crepe. Yep you heard it here first folks), which we all enjoyed, We walked the Seine and made our way to a wine tasting! We had a bit of a scare that we weren't going to make it in time but all was well. The wine was great and I even found myself enjoying white and rosé much more than I expected! I guess we've been too close minded in the Weiss family.
Then, Stephen, Dad, Garrett and I (the not too tired/not dinner-cookers) continued on to try to check out the Musée D'Orsay, but first, we had to stop for a Kir (a liquor that my professor told me to try before I left that is a black currant liquor often served "royale" which means with champagne-on this menu they also had a "bourgogne" one that was with the burgundy wine we had just heard about! So we ordered two of each and enjoyed a short happy hour :).
Quickly making our way to the D'Orsay once we remembered it would be closing soon, we were greeted with some of the most abrupt and heavy rainfall I've seen in my time in Europe….and Brussels is rain city. Much thanks to Ms. Weiss, we had Paris passes and got to stick our tongues out and bite our thumbs at the approximate hundred wet people waiting in line and walk right in due to her genius purchase of the Paris pass (which I should be getting commission on from the pointers I've given to fellow travelers).
The D'Orsay was my favorite museum to date I think. I wish I had more time because between the layout, the feel and the content of the museum which was incredibly diverse, I found myself saying "oh my gosh" (the most g-rated of the exclamations) over and over. Highly recommend.
Moulin Rouge painting!
After the D'Orsay, we walked back since (sad face) I had to catch a train and wanted a bit of time to hang out with a beer and the rest of the family before I left. After, I caught a train back to Brussels and awaited my last work week…so crazy.
Tuesday of that week I went to an event at the European Policy Centre that my supervisor sent me to to write a report on the topic-Cleaning up Democracy in the Balkans. It was extremely interesting and focused on corruption in political campaigns and elections in the Balkan region and a panel of experts presented research and offered insights to ameliorating the situation. So, my week pretty much focused on writing that document, as well as inputing a large number of contacts into a file I had mentioned I started earlier in the program. I also spent a fair amount of time researching prominent Latvian companies in specific sectors my supervisor asked for because of upcoming work we are doing there. I also composed another fact sheet and did research on NATO growth in the Caucasus with a focus on Azerbaijan. All in all, it was a good last week and my supervisor said to never hesitate to ask for any recommendation I need and to keep in touch and make sure I get involved in the US chapter in DC (which I already met the head lady of and she invited me to her office remember?).
Friday, we all had to take the exam for the course we've been taking in the morning. It was not bad, 50 multiple choice, but it was certainly not easy. He says he purposefully puts very hard questions on to test the depth of knowledge and then curves it. It is also not a large percentage of the overall grade (which is mostly about the internship). After that, we all were taken out by Jerry to the most gourmet buffet I've seen that was organized by having a buffet first course of salads and seafood and meats, then you order off of a fixed short menu for the main course, then a dessert buffet (including a chocolate fountain). There were even 3 wine taps, beer taps, and sodas. It was great. After that, a few of us did a little shopping since this restaurant was by a mall, then it was time to pack. After that was done (wasn't hard for me since I started the day before), I went with Kelly into the Grand Place for dinner one last time and we walked the square and surrounding area.
The next morning (today) I woke up to head over to the airport, and left a gift with note of salt water taffy, a Boston sights book and Sudbury soup mix for my hosts (who I thanked and said goodbye to the night before) and started my day of travel….back to Bean Town it is. Until Monday haha when I fly to DC for class! I guess I'm not good at staying in a place and relaxing.
Overall I am extremely happy I did this experience. I was able to do work that was tangible, not busy work, productive and interesting I met people both in the professional world and at my school that were interesting and will probably be good friends in the future. I improved my french, spent my longest stint abroad solo, ate some great waffles and chocolate and drank even better beer, and had some amazing travel. I think I knew it was something great when a lost wallet, a broken laptop charger and a misplaced phone seemed so secondary to an overall experience. I recommend a visit for all.
Also, since theres no more Brussels, theres probably no more posts to be had that would be relevant to such a blog...but something tells me a sequel could be coming on...perhaps of the Moroccan persuasion in the autumnal months...keep your eyes peeled...Thanks for listening. Au revoir. À bientôt.
