les jeux olympiques!!

AAH! the marshmellows are attacking the city!!!!

Yesterday I had two firsts: I went to Italy, and I went to the Olympics.
We left the apartment at about 630 and walked to the station at Part-Dieu, where a magnificent bus awaited us. The drivers were these two funny characters that sort of bickered back and forth the whole way. The bus ride was nice though - we even got to watch a movie! It was James Bond, randomly enough. Dubbed in French, of course. The ride was about four hours, so I got a little nap in...
We arrived at the train station in Torino, Porta Susa, around 1130. The first adventure was figuring out where we were. Luckily, there were volunteers stationed in the stazione and just outside to help wayward Olympic spectators find their way. We got a nice map of the city. Second adventure: trying to figure out how the tram system worked. We eventually figured out that we needed to go inside the station to La Stampa to buy tram tickets, then shuffled back outside to take tram 10 to the Palacesport Olimpico, where the hockey match would be later on. We didn't know exactly how far we needed to go, but luckily Scottie started talking to this guy from London who was on his way there for the Italy-Finland match. He was actually really nice and we chatted a bit with him the whole way there.... After we found it and picked up our tickets, we wandered around the Olympic area but were disappointed to find that there wasn't much there. I think we had all envisioned sort of a festival atmosphere with lots of things going on, and that just wasn't the case. We took the tram back up to the north of the city to try to find the "Olympic Superstore" that our map told us was in that general direction.... we failed at buying touristy Olympic merchandise and ended up walking a lot more than I had thought. Tired as we were, we needed some gelato to reenergize us for the trek back... The gelato was awesome, and the people were very helpful. Seeing that we were struggling, a customer at the counter asked if we spoke French and explained some of the flavors to us. Molto grazie, segnora!
I was glad to make our way over to the stadium. Once we had a sense of purpose, things picked up a little. This time, the area was crawling with people, many of them decked out in red Russia jackets or yellow and blue Sweden shirts, carrying flags, faces painted, often wearing Viking horn. (?). The hockey match was awesome!!! The Russia team definitely had the stronger fan base and I think that helped to propel them to a smashing victory, 5-0. People got really into it - they danced when the cheesy sports stadium music came on and cheered on their teams. Some Russia fans near us kept trying to start the wave but sadly, it failed before it got a quarter of the way around the stadium. Basically, the Olympics weren't too different from a sporting event in the US.... although the people there were probably a little more classy ^_^ Sports events have a sort of culture unto themselves, I think, and people of all nationalities get a little silly when they're cheering for their favorite teams.
So overall, it was a good adventure. Now I know that while it may sound fun to just jump off the train and start walking, a little more planning beforehand would be helpful. This trip was kind of frustrating, and quite honestly, not terribly fun until we got to the hockey match. I'll know better next time.
I was really excited to have a chance to speak a little bit of Italian, though! I've forgotten a lot, and when/if I go to Rome later this semester, I should definitely spend some time brushing up before we go. But people seemed very patient with foreigners and even when all we could say was "Buongiorno... gelato? cioccolato?", there was a little bit of communication.
I'm sad to miss out on going to Italy with Julia, Lauren, and Louise. Paris and Dijon with Mom and Tom will be AMAZING though, and I'll have other chances to go to Italy... I'll make sure of it!!!

scottie, the impassioned sports fan... go russia!

australians at the game ... with their kangaroos.

rousskies!!!

the (blurry) olympic stadium and flame... yowza.

my new favorite crepes recipe

wow. talk about a tasty snack...

Prep: about 10 minutes
Cooking time: about 1-2 min per crepe
The recipe says it makes 24 crepes. I would estimate that it's more like 15, and that's if you're using a small pan. Sorry if the translation is a little rough.

250g flour
1/2 litre milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter
(optional: add vanilla, rum, curry, pepper, lemon.... virtually any spice you can think of!)

Pour the flour in a mixing bowl and make a small well in the center of it. Pour in about half of the milk and mix, gradually pulling in flour from the sides of the "well". Next add the eggs and mix until batter is smooth.

Add the salt and the melted butter. Add the milk little by little. The batter should be runny but not liquid. Add any extra flavoring. Here, the magazine says to let the batter sit for 1-2 hours; I didn't and my crepes were still tasty. Go figure.

Heat up a small pan or skillet; mine was about 8" in diameter. With a paper towel, thoroughly coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Give the batter a quick stir to make sure it hasn't settled or separated, then pour a dollop into the pan. The batter should be runny enough for you to be able to tilt and twist the pan a little to get the batter to even coat the bottom and about an inch of the sides. I think this is the really key part: keep the crepes thin.

When you set the pan back on the burner, the crepe won't take very long at all to cook. Mine took about 30 seconds and then flipped easily. Use a coated spatula to separate the edges of the crepe from the pan; they'll likely be done first. Flip and cook for about a minute. Eat immediately with your bare hands or, if you're in civilised company, put on a plate and put that plate in the warm oven to keep the crepes hot until serving.

Recommended toppings: (any combination of the following is probably delicious)
A sprinkling of sugar
yogurt
good jam
creme fraiche
nutella
chocolate syrup
fried apples.... just do it.

some people also eat "crepes salees" - something a little more hearty. crepes are tasty with eggs, ham, cheese.... spinach....mushrooms... anything, really. Think of something you'd eat in an omelette and just served it on a crepe.

thanks, Cuisine et Vins de France! you will feed me for the rest of the semester....

THE SUN IS OUT!

both today and yesterday there have been significant amounts of joyful, rejuvenating sunshine. i felt MUCH better once i could look outside and see the sun for once! yesterday i still played it pretty lowkey, but scottie and i took a walk to the fabric museum. we lots of really, really old cloth. after that, exciting as it was, i was kind of beat. we dashed into monoprix and then came home and stayed in for the night. we ate ice cream and watched the opening ceremony for the olympics on scottie's bed. it was pretty cool! there was some crazy modern dance kind of stuff but they also had some dancing, a recreation of a rennaissance garden party with crazy costumes, and a brief performance by luciano pavarotti (wow!) louise came for a little bit because she was really upset -- she had gone to see a symphony performance and the conductor had a heart attack right in the middle of it.
today has turned out to be pretty good, so far. i woke up early to talk to jake online and also ended up chatting with fran, mundy, and daniel crane.... then scottie came over and we had our first attempt at crepes. (YUM!) Then, refusing to let my sickness get the best of me, i ventured outside for a walk.... that turned into a three and a half hour walk. *whew* I started off wandering in Vieux Lyon. I went into the cathedral St Jean and was suitably impressed by its stained glass windows and remarkably high ceilings. They also had an "astrological clock" that had been built around 1378. It was huge! It had dials for minutes; for days, weeks, and years; and for the position of the sun, and on the hour is has figurines that move around and dance. It was really pretty cool! Next I wandered around some more in Vieux Lyon, then somehow thought to myself, "I should walk up to Croix Russe"... after a little more wandering on the Presqu'Ile, I found a first staircase that went up by the Trois Gauls Amphitheater - the one where Saint Blandine was martyred - and then a central set of stairs called the "marches de la cite". It was a long climb, bu these stairs passed through a lovely public garden and ended up pretty close to the main square where the metro is. I explored a bit and looked at the shops - there are lots up there - then bought myself a tasty croissant to fortify me for the walk back. The view from the top of the stairs was amazing -- the picture just doesn't capture it. The sunlight seemed particularly powerful today, maybe because we haven't had much sun for a week. Even though I was getting tired, I made it all the way down and back to the apt without taking the metro. yes! I don't feel as tired as I haved after other excursions - maybe because I didn't have to chat with other people, but all the same i'm feeling pretty beat. i may lay down for a bit. hopefully we'll find something fun to do tonight; louise said that she wants to hang out with us. in any case i hope to leave the apartment!!

the inside of St. Jean - notice the sunlight pouring in through the stained glass .... so pretty!

la fourviere..... in the sun!

they just have buildings like this just hanging out in France. everywhere.

a bit of a dreary week.... with some highlights.

well, today marks the end of the Dark Week.... i started feeling really bad wednesday morning, got worse on thursday, and had been pretty miserable since then. however, after a good night's sleep and some cold and cough meds from louise, i feel better today!! i'm still not at 100%, but i felt well enough to go to my lit class at 1 and, though i still coughed a lot, i did just fine. i'm really starting to like this class. it's on "Balzac et la nouvelle musicale" - basically, the use of musical references in Balzac's Comedie Humaine. the first two classes have been pretty general introductory lectures, but we're going to talk more specifically about the music and operas referenced in the works before we start talking about the works themselves. sounds like fun, since we all know how much i want to be an opera buff ^_^ also, i must admit that there's a special place in my heart for French Romanticism... le sigh.
i've decided not to worry about my classes. if things got really desperate, i only need to get nine credits from the regular classes plus the three we got from PRUNE, and i'll have the minumum 12 credits. best case scenario, i could potentially come home with 18 credits.... but that would make me an overachiever, so that's out of the question. i may continue to sit in on art moderne and just not take it for credit, because it's interesting, but not so interesting that i would want to spend an exorbitant amount of time studying it.
this weekend was verrrrrry lowkey. we (scottie, emily, lauren, linda, et moi) wanted to go to the opera on sunday, but unfortunately it was standing room only. not wanting to stand in our
heels for 3.5 hours of intense russian drama, we came up with plan B: go to monoprix, buy snacks and girly drinks, go home and have a girls' night in. would have been a lot more fun if i hadn't been sick, but at least i was with people!! plus, seeing lauren dance was pretty amazing. it was ridiculously silly fun and i loved it.

saturday was still pretty chill... i left the apartment to go to the librarie with scottie and emily to buy books. i could have spent ages in the french bookstores! i ended up finding one of my balzac texts and some school supplies.... including a fountain pen (yay i feel euro.) we made dinner together that night - scottie made a fabulous roasted tomato and garlic soup, emily and lisa shared their quiche with a potato crust, and i made apple pie.... which turned out surprisingly well! the crust was way different that usual, either because of different proportions that usual or because of the french ingredients.... in any case, the crust was really flaky and delicious. i didn't know i could do that!
sunday was market day, which made me happy even though it was freezing.... i forgot to mention that i picked the coldest weekend of the year so far to get sick. the high was freezing and it went down from there - eek. i bought une courge, some herbs, and some creme fraiche to make some squash soup this week.... nothing else very exciting. at least, not for most people - i get very excited about fruits and vegetables, so i'm thrilled no matter what i find. sunday night i decided against going to the match du foot, but we still had a little dinner over at julia's - she made sean's potato and leek soup and i made the fruit and nut couscous. mighty tasty. then i went home and talked to mom on the phone for a while and went to bed.
mom speaks some french now!! i'm so proud. i was so very impressed when she said she wanted to speak in french over the phone.... and she hasn't even gotten very far on the tapes yet! bien fait, Maman! i can't wait till they get here - less than two weeks!!
ok, time for a snack and maybe a nap before class tonight... otherwise i'll never make it through IR!