Month: May 2010

This is not intended to be biblical, but us Strasbourg students (just 2) have really entered the “this is the last” stage. Indeed, these are our last days in Strasbourg, and who knows when, if at all, we will be back. Yesterday we had our last Saturday afternoon with Malou.

We had to write our family evaluations and decided to make it a whole evening by eating together instead of meeting at a cafeteria as done in previous years. Naturally, I suggested a last soirée crepes at Malou’s, but in the end the sun decided to grace us with its presence so Malou took us out for dinner at a terrace place in Kehl, Germany.

It was truly magical. There were tons of kids playing in the park and the garden (most of them half naked, some of them nude), and tons of peoples sitting out in the terrace drinking, eating, and enjoying the weather that just 24 hours before had made me wear my winter coat. The place was amazing. It was what they call a Beer Garden, just because you sit around the garden and drink beer.

The restaurant itself was a kind of gazebo with open doors that gave way into the terrace. The terrace was built with wood covered with plants that only let the sunrays shine through. It was simply lovely. There were more French people than German, and the waiter of course, was Alsatian.

So we ate schnitzel –again- and fries and wine and were so full that it took us two hours of chatting afterwards to be able to get up and drive again. We left at around 10 p.m. and the sun was still out. Unbelievable. You can’t beet that as a wonderful last meal of us three together.

I mean, the official last meal will be on Tuesday with the host parents, but it will not be the same. When it’s just the three of us we can talk about so much more. So to me, that was the last meal.

So packing has begun, as well as the shopping for things that I want to incorporate into my daily life no matter where I am, like the French press coffee maker :P. My last exam is on Wednesday, after which I head to Geneva for a couple of days before leaving the European continent for a long time….

Well, two exams down, two to go. And in the middle of it all was our last outing with chère Malou yesterday. We had pushed this trip back because we hopped the weather would rise up to the occasion and be what it’s supposed to be, SPRING, but it never has, so we stopped waiting and headed to Heidelberg yesterday. It is a small town in Germany about one and a half hours away from Strasbourg.

First stop was the castle, of course there is always a castle, there are probably as many castles as there are hills in Germany and France. This castle was no Versailles or Haut-Koenigsbourg; it had no rooms and oddly enough, it had a pharmacy museum inside. In any case it was particular in that is was meant to be a fortress and not a home, and its gardens used to be one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

The town itself was very nice, though not my favorite. We had our last fancy lunch together so of course I went all out and had my last German schnitzel with asparagus soup and knodels. It was yummy and so filling that I did not have dinner last night. Then we walked and walked for about two hours. Of course as usual I hunted H&M down only to try out like 5 things and not buy any, and Malou made us go and look at artisanal jewelry that imitated medieval craftsmanship. All in all it was an amazing day. All twelve hours of it (yes, the downside is you have to be at Malou’s place at 8am for these trips, but at least we stop for some croissants on the way :P)

I suppose the nicest thing about yesterday was that we got to catch up after so much traveling and ash cloud chaos, and we realized it was our very last outing with Malou in Strasbourg and Junior year students at Holy Cross. Even if we come back here in a year, which I very much look forward too, even if we live in Strasbourg again, which I don’t think I’ll do, the experience will never be the same.

So I savor it now, before I go back to studying for my next exam on Wednesday…

Yes, it’s finals time! One down, three to go. However that is not what I want to tell you guys today. Today I would like to share what I consider to be my single most exciting moment in a class at the Poli Sci Institute. You see, contrary to what I expected, professors here do not ever touch upon sensitive issues for the French, so nothing ever happens beyond the structured lecture. During the last class, however, things were different.

During the two-hour Political Geography one thing led to another and a student asked the professor what he thought about France wanting to forbid the burka in all public places. Silence. Then he spoke. And what is eve better, I agree with him. “I suppose I am more of an anglo-saxon man when it comes to individual liberties,” he says. Why? “Because there are certain inalienable rights that cannot be transgressed in France or anywhere else. What do people care is a woman decides to cover her face? It’s her choice.” And he even said the French all-time favorite phrase: “On s’en fut.” (Who cares!…It sounds cooler in French).

At all times he kept saying that this topics surpassed the lecture but he just kept on explaining why he believed it was complete insanity. His strongest point (and mine) is that Sarkozy is so lousy at finding escape-goats (and one is needed NOW due to the Greece bailout) that he has to blame it on the poor Muslim women. It was wonderful, the best way to end the year. Of course, at HC that happens pretty much weekly 😛

So yes, classes ended for good. Exams in the process….

It is much much cheaper to travel in Europe than in the US, thanks to Easyjet, Ryanair and the likes. I just survived the ultimate low-budget experience: a very very cheap flight from a city ‘near’ Strasbourg to a city ‘near’ Lisbon; and after all the hassle I cannot say it was not worth it. But once I work there is no way I’m doing budgets again.

Behold the ultimate low-budget experience: one tram ride to the bus stop, one bus ride from bus stop to the Kehl train station, two trains rides to the Baden Baden Station, one bus ride to the Karlsruhe-Baden airport, one plane ride from Karlsruhe, Germany to Porto, Portugal, one taxi ride to from the Porto airport to the Porto bus station, one bus ride from Porto to Lisbon, and voila! That is low-budge for you. For a total duration of 9 hours (from 5am to 2pm) you save about 150 Euros and lose 7 hours of your life. If you don’t work and want to see as much as you can, it’s worth it. I do wonder though, how can those people who work for a living bear the pain and fatigue? It takes me two days to fully recover.

By the way, Lisbon is beautiful, possibly my favorite city in Europe, alongside Barcelona. I mean, Vienna is also magical, but Lisbon…Lisbon is heaven on earth because the weather doesn’t suck as it does in Vienna, London, or even Paris. From what I’ve seen and based on where I’m from (the Caribbean), Portugal is the closest to home. You also cannot beat the Latin culture (Spain, Portugal, Italy and the former colonies), so warm and lively, how can you settle for cold and arrogant? I cannot. Of course this is my own personal opinion 😛

I’m off to Manchester again tomorrow (yes it’s horrible, but my boyfriend did not consider the weather when choosing a school and I have to pay the consequences), and then I have two weeks of FINALSSSSSS.

Eh oui, c’est presque la fin!