Paris Days 5-7

Well I have experienced many things in Paris. It has been a truly awesome experience. I loved the Orsay museum and the Pompidou Center for modern art. Art just makes me happy:) Also seeing Versailles was amazing. It is exactly what one would picture a place to be.

Now the critique of France. It is kind of gross. People blow there nose in public, don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom and the bathrooms everywhere are disgusting. Additionally, it is ridiculously hard to find good vegetarian food in Paris and it makes it a little less fun. Also everything is expensive. It makes me not want to buy stuff out of principal and mostly because it is prohibitive. The language is also much more of a barrier than I thought it would be…
More on the cost: it makes me wonder what kinds of jobs people have here that they can afford these prices, also it makes it clearer why the French are so thin, they don’t want to spend the money to over eat. Lol.

Back to the good. It is such a pretty city with lots of great neighborhoods to walk around. I have enjoyed walking places that are just that old:) I like imagining what things in the 1200’s would be like. I like learning French history and fooling people into thinking I’m French.

It’s true that the French are more fashionable than Americans. It also seems that races are less segregated and everyone wares nice shoes. However, service at restaurants is so much slower. Plus, they won’t bring the check unless directly asked. People of both genders all wear scarves and it seems that nearly all walks of life ride the Metro. Oooh and one more cool thing about the metro is the panhandling accordion players. Amazing!
Well I have one more full day in Paris. I can’t wait to see it.

Paris day 4: the Louvre

Today started right on time! We arrived at the louvre before it opened and had time to grab a quick snack at our embassy: Starbucks:-) then inside we followed the Rick Steve’s guided tour though the sculptures and the Mona Lisa. Quite impressively and humorous. Then we journeyed on our own through more sculptures and such till we had to stop for lunch. Nothing to comment on, so we headed back to the tour and saw more art.
I have to say I enjoyed New York’s Met much more. I feel bad for saying that, so let me break it down. The Louvre wins in the actual building and sculpture collection and the Met wins in overall art collection and display.
The sheer size of the Louvre is impressive! My feet hurt so bad by the end that I barely had energy to shop, but I muddled through;) I went into one of the coolest gift boutiques I’ve eve been in. Some of you will be receiving something.

Then back to the hotel for a regroup and nap. We then headed out to supposedly the best vegetarian restaurant in Paris ( not like there are too many) and we were not impressed undercooked and over priced. C’est la vie. Tomorrow we head to the cemetery, d’orsay and the arc de triomphe:)

Paris Day 3

Today did not start out the way we had intended. From opening locked safes to having to turn in the room key, we ysimply did not start the day early enough. It was a cold rainy day and for some reason that does not scream busy open air market to mass crowds. However, we found ourselves at the Rue Claire market with few other people. We had a light breakfast that took forever but was still satisfying.

From there we headed to the army museum and Napoleon’s tomb. The tomb was breathtakingly beautiful with many frescos and marble everywhere and at least 100 foot ceilings. One of the most impressive things I’ve seen.

The army museum was displayed really well, but it was not as interesting. The first part with knight armor and swords and ornate guns was cool, but the other stuff from world wars 1&2 were not as fun… Mostly uniforms and things.

From there we headed to the Eiffel tower. I was insistent that we get a good picture of mike and me in front of the tower. The first ones we got someone to snap were unacceptable, but then a serious photographer came along and saved the day. Please do note that the pictures in this blog are from my iPhone and the real pictures will be posted later:-)
Then we had to wait in the cold drizzle to take the elevator up the tower. We had reservations so the wait was not too bad. We still froze our bottoms off. We made stops at the middle and the top. It is over 1,000 feet tall and was only meant to be temporary when it was first erected. The temporary aspect reminds me of school portables that are meant to be kept for a short time and always remain permanently. Lol.
Although both the middle and top of the tower views were great, I preferred the middle because you could more easily identify the sites. We decided to walk the 720 steps to the bottom (from the middle platform). It warmed us up a bit and allowed us to see the structure up close and personal.
From there we headed to the Rodin museum which after a 2 mile walk was closed:-( but we did see the Thinker from the street so all was not lost.

We then headed back via Metro to the hotel for a rest. We then enjoyed a nice Italian meal at the restaurant across the street from the hotel. It was the first good service we’ve had. Tomorrow we will be up early to concur the Louvre.

Musings of a Fox's Blog

Today started out with a frustrating experience with the Metro. The credit card machines don’t take American cards and most don’t take paper euros:( so we couldn’t buy the pass and had to settle for a ticket a piece.

We made our way to Notre Dame and it was beautiful:-) the sides rather than the front or inside. We thought about going to the top of the tower, but the line was too long. At least 2 hours.

We instead decided to explore more. Through neighborhoods and along the siene. We stopped for crepes and they were delicious. There was however a rich American elitist family that mike and I wanted to punch in the gut. Kids that looked down on other kids for only eating chicken fingers. Lol.

The to Shakespeare and company bookstore where I bought my first souvenir. We went to couple more cathedrals before falling upon…

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Paris night 2

Today started out with a frustrating experience with the Metro. The credit card machines don’t take American cards and most don’t take paper euros:( so we couldn’t buy the pass and had to settle for a ticket a piece.

We made our way to Notre Dame and it was beautiful:-) the sides rather than the front or inside. We thought about going to the top of the tower, but the line was too long. At least 2 hours.

We instead decided to explore more. Through neighborhoods and along the siene. We stopped for crepes and they were delicious. There was however a rich American elitist family that mike and I wanted to punch in the gut. Kids that looked down on other kids for only eating chicken fingers. Lol.

The to Shakespeare and company bookstore where I bought my first souvenir. We went to couple more cathedrals before falling upon St. Chapelle. By far one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen. The upstairs is almost all stained glass dating from 1250 There was however rude children with bad parents that scuffed my shoes and angered Michael.

We continued to wander and ended up at the Cluny museum of medieval art. It was cool with its ancient building and old art.

After that I got tired and needed a rest. After a nap we headed out to a fondue restaurant and could not figure out which items were vegetarian so we had to run out. We wandered further and ended up in familiar territory an Indian restaurant with vegetarian delights but slow service. Headed back to the hotel and planned out tomorrow over wine.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

First night in Paris

So the day started out early with a ride to the BART from Elizabeth. BART ride was not eventful. Then at the airport Mike got into it with a woman that was trying to hassle us out of our spot in line.
Needless to say she stopped talking.

Then two long flights with cramped positions and a long wait on the tarmac in Washington DC. On the flight they served us full meals. The nice thing about having a dietary preference is that you get served first. Then at the airport we got our bags and made our way to the train station with little difficulty. I’ve learned today that the French do not have a bubble and will sit as close to you as possible. Needless to say I was extra uncomfortable on the train and a suitcase was dropped on my big toe. Ouch!

Then we walked to or hotel and they did not have a room ready, so we decided to go and walk around. We headed to the Montparnasse tower that has views of all of Paris. The weather was beautiful, but the smog was thick limiting our view somewhat.

From there we decided to go to he catacombs. This place is amazing and hard to convey what it is truly like. It is a series of tunnels with 6 million skeletons stacked everywhere. This place is cool and creepy. Right on the edge of vomiting.

From there I became extremely exhausted and headed back to the hotel.

Showered and napped, we headed out for dinner and found a delightful Italian place with cheap wine and delicious teramisu.

Walking past cute shops on the way back to the hotel where we stopped at the honesty bar at the hotel ( the kind of thing you’d never see in the US: a serve your self bar) now to nap again and do it again tomorrow 🙂

Juicing Day 1

Well, looks like I have survived day one of juicing. I started out the day in intense pain from a stomach bug of some sort. It was so bad I couldn’t go and work out or go to actual work. But, I’m feeling better now and I think the juice has helped me.

I am liking the juicer I bought. It is fun and easy to use and clean. I had two different types of green juice and some tea. It was nice. But, now it’s getting later, and I am getting hungry, so we shall see how it goes.

One of the things I’m noticing is how much free time I have not eating. I’m worried about being isolated and getting lonely. But, I’m only doing this till next Sunday, so we shall see. I’m hoping to have some healthier habits when I’m done.
Till tomorrow-
Sassy-C

Working on Friendship

Marriage has never been something I’ve had to work on. I am lucky to have married a man that shares most of my world view and supports me in anything I wish to do. This has made most of my adult life quite happy. It has allowed me to share passion and adventure and general good times with an awesome companion.

Where I have issues is with friendship. I’ve never been a person that has many friends. From early childhood I’ve always had just one or two friends that I hang around with.

I’m not sure if the issue is with me or if this is even a real issue. I used to believe that people just didn’t like me or I was just a weird person, but now I realize the error of this thinking. Friendship takes work. You have to seek people out that you can not only stand, but actually want to spend your free time around and plan to do things. And, I realize in most cases I don’t feel that the effort is worth it. I’m realizing that this sounds snobbish and arrogant. I don’t think that I’m awesome and better than other people, just that I don’t generally put much effort into other people.

I have had good friends in jr. high, high school, and I had Michael in college. When I moved to Seattle I was so excited about meeting all these cool people I dreamed would live in the city. The dream soon faded to a reality of being trapped by my job and forced to have friends of convenience who shared no common interests.

Experiencing utter loneliness I decided to leave my homestate to travel somewhere new and exciting in California. I continued to teach and was lucky to find people I did connect with and I was also able to reconnect with my high school best friend. Both of which had my hopes up for the benefits of friendship.

Now in my 30th year I have been able to make a few close friends and this makes me both happy and worried. Happy for the laughs and good times, but worried that I will not be able to hold on to these friendships. Worried that I will do something to turn them off, worried that I won’t put in the effort, and worried that I don’t really know how to have meaningful relationships with people.

Up to this point I have let friendships and family slip away, I want to learn to be a better friend, one who’s worth sticking around for.

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RIP Betty.

I am 30 years old and I have dedicated my entire adult life to the service of others. I have spent the last nine years since I graduated from college working with teenagers. Most of it I have enjoyed. It is so great to see kids grow-up, learn and and just figure stuff out. It is cool to know that I have played a small part in many kids lives.

However, I have had a life long passion witch is animal welfare. I have been a vegetarian for over 15 years and a dog lover for life. This year I decided that I wanted to do more and started volunteering at the East Bay SPCA. This decision has been the best thing I have done in a long time. The mission of the SPCA to help end cruelty to animals, educate the community and adopt out companion animals is awesome. I have been fortunate to get to meet and play and help care for 100’s of dogs in the short time I have been there. It has made me feel amazing.

However, for all the happiness the shelter has brought me, there is also great tragedy. The life of a shelter dog is a stressful one. Dogs that do not get adopted quickly deteriorate emotionally. This happened to a dog that I cared about deeply, Betty.

I wanted to be able to help Betty and after some behavioral setbacks at the shelter she seemed to be overcoming them and becoming better mannered. But, ultimately Betty was not being successful in the shelter setting and was going to be put to sleep. I felt devastated by this news and wanted to help. I decided to see if I could adopt Betty and save her life. I agonized over this decision.

As many of you know I have an amazing dog named Sadie that mike and I rescued from the freeway more than five years ago. She is the center of our family and we try to do everything we can to make sure she has a happy life. So, could I change the dynamic of my family? Could I heap more responsibility on to mike? Could I make Sadie and Java ( my kitty) share us and our tiny home? Ultimately, I decided I could not do this. It was literately one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I am still unsure if I made the right choice.

I feel like my heart is broken and I don’t know if I am strong enough to continue this work at the shelter. I love dogs and I wish there was more I could do. I wish chat I could save al the “Bettys”. I believe in the mission of the SPCA and I know that it is difficult for them to make the decisions to put down dogs. My hope is that in the future there won’t be more tragedies like one that happened to poor Betty.

There are so many awesome dogs in the world that need good homes. Please make sure to have your dogs and cats spayed and neutered and choose adoption when getting a new pet.

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Thinking about a change

Lately I have been much happier with my life. I have become more confident and more comfortable being myself around everyone.

One area of my life where I don’t feel very confident is my employment. I just don’t feel like I’m living up to my potential. I don’t leave work feeling good about myself. I am feeling like what I do just about anyone could do and it wouldn’t matter if I were gone from there tomorrow.

This job has very little educating to it. All I do is report on what I see, talk to kids, manage tutors and in general try to keep everyone on task. Kids act all surprised that I was a classroom teacher even though I’ve told them many times. As if I could ever teach anyone anything. I know kids are kids and they don’t see the big picture. However, it makes me wonder when a kid says my only job is to make copies and tell people what to do, if my job is really anymore than that.

Did I become the first person in my family to graduate from college simply to make birthday walls and run excel reports. Did I earn a degree in literature only to be asked am I sure I know the difference between a metaphor and simile. Does my job appear so simple that to an outsider a person who does it must be a moron?

It makes me wonder if I am now idealizing my five years spent as a high school English teacher. The years I gave in exchange for my youth and health. The hardest years of my life. I think about those three years spent in Seattle where my only year as a “good” teacher was my last. Only to lead me to the toughest two years of my life teaching at Tennyson.
Only to pack it in. To try something new. To head for the nonprofit world. I love these kids, but maybe it is an illusion that I’m helping them at all. What can a white trash girl from the suburbs really know after all?

The point is I graduated from college with a love for Shakespeare and poetry and a desire to get kids to feel the same. The game turned out to be much different, and maybe that’s ok. I’d just like to feel smart and knowledgable every once and a while.

I feel stuck in this place of not wanting to leave these kids, but feeling the pain of boredom rotting my soul. I have creative outlets, love and a bunch of friends that care. Shouldn’t that be enough? How much happiness should one person be allowed? But, still I wonder what else is out there. What can I be? What can I do to change?

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Thoughts on Hawaii.

Well, I spent a week in “paradise”. I don’t think I’ll ever come back. This place is beautiful and has very nice weather. It offers much to those that like to relax and hang out by the pool. For those like me, who like the excitement of new surroundings and exploration, hawaii offers little. I enjoyed hiking about and seeing beautiful scenery and having the warm sun touch my pasty skin. I also really enjoyed snorkeling and seeing many tropical fish and sea turtles in their natural habitat, but that is all.

What I did not enjoy were all the nights trapped at a resort with no night life and no access to city streets to wonder about. I did not enjoy the inauthentic feel to the place which seemed to only gear itself to tourism, and have nothing else unto its own.

I will remember the adventure driven drives, snorkel views and the lush greenery and lava rocks forever, but I can’t help but feel a little bit ripped off at the cost of spending time in such a land. So, as I lament the loss to my savings, I suggest only that one think before they splurge on such an outing and decide if they are the type that like to be a trapped tourist.

Farewell to paradise, you were not what I expected, but you are all that you can be.

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