Scarlett Piantini ’11

I can now say that I have lived unique experiences in France. And by unique I don’t mean nice, I mean experiences that people should not go through. Last Saturday I was giving my mom a tour of Paris, it was our second day and we had already seen plenty: Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Le Louvre, and Pere Lachaise. Now it was time to go up the Eiffel Tower. Before going up however, I was hungry and decided to get some fries with sausages because the waiting time inside was of about 45 minutes. So I ate my food and went up. My mom was too scared to go all the way up to the third floor so she stayed on the second floor and I went up by myself. When I rejoined her on the second floor I had some hot wine and then we went down.

That is when it happened: extreme nausea and fatigue took over me right next to the south side of the tower. I didn’t know what to do, because I was the one in charge being that it was her first time in Paris and she does not speak French. So we kept walking and I came across the Musee de Quai Branley so we went in.

I immediately rushed to the bathroom and sat there for about 15 minutes before it started: intense vomit. It was so disgusting. I sat there for about 30 minutes before going out, and then I rushed to the sink to continue. Eventually the cleaning lady called the ‘pompiers’ (firemen), which are always at the museum, and they came to check up on me. I declined my offer to go to the hospital – this time. So they left and I just sat waiting and praying to get enough strength on my legs to go back to the hotel. But instead: more vomit. So after vomiting twice more the pompiers came again and this time they did not give me a choice: they called the SAMU (sort of like 911 but slower). I was then taken to the Pompidou Hospital, supposedly the best in Paris.

So about 5 hours later I had been tested and given enough medication to be sent back to the hotel at 2 am. I continued to vomit through the night and spend our last day in Paris in bed with a fever. I will never eat Paris street food again. On the bright side, I got to ride in a French ambulance with the cute French SAMU guys.

So my trip was not limited to London. Because I was mainly in Manchester, I was able to travel around Northern Publand and see the REAL UK. First we went to Liverpool, famous Liverpool. It does have a charm to it: it’s next to the water and consequently the nicest part borders the sea. There are several unique museums, like the Slavery Museum, only one in the UK I think. It’s nice to walk around as well. They also have the largest Protestant Cathedral in the world and a nice Chinatown. It is very small though, even for me. You can see all there is to see in 4 hours.

Next stop was Leeds. Leeds is also very much like Manchester but a bit nicer. For some reason the streets seemed more lively and colorful, and there was not sun so that wasn’t it. In Leeds we did not do the museums, we went to pubs instead. Since we had some friends from highschool studying there, we let them take us to different pubs. The best one was a boat in the middle of downtown Leeds, an actual boat next to a mall with a really nice interior design that made you feel like the ocean was right outside. I also ate something I had not eaten in a while and I never thought I’d miss: an American burger with curly fries. Go figure.

Liverpool Slavery Museum

So after a nice two weeks I came back to Strasbourg and resumed my routine really fast. Classes are now decided, work goes on, and my ‘scoutism’ is still in action. We also had a ‘cultural’ outing with Malou to the Tomi Ungerer Museum. This time we saw a temporary exhibition that was really nice. We also had time to catch up and we finalized the schedule. That made me realize that the end if France is right around the corner. Now it’s March and my mother is coming! So I have to redo Paris with her but this time I will be the guide. Given my lack of orientation I have prepared an extensive list with directions and maps. So Paris is up this Thursday! Might as well enjoy France while it lasts!

A la prochaine!

I have just returned from what I like to call Publand. Publand because from the moment I got on the train from Manchester airport to head to my boyfriend’s dorm it reeked of beer. Strong, penetrating beer. The rest was not that unpleasant. My first impression of northern England is that is looks a lot like New England, many tall trees, not big on humidity, so not such green grass. Manchester itself is the British version of Worcester, go figure. It is mainly composed of old factories that remind its citizens the old glory Manchester represented for them. Now they are empty, unused spaces, and the city revolves around the two universities in Manchester. Like I said, same exact scenario in Worcester. The weather is not unexpectedly horrible. But surprisingly, it was sunny quite a lot and it was not as cold as France (I guess that is the ONE good thing about the smog).

It was not that rainy either; it was just gloomy most of the time. The nightlife is quite interesting, which is expected being that their economy derives mostly from students. There are many clubs, but the best thing is that there are all kinds of clubs: from gay village to the Hilton Bar and everything in between. They do beat Strasbourg on nightlife. Food, well, I should not have to remind you that few countries beat the French when it comes to food, and England is certainly not one of them. I have a theory now: Anglo-Saxon cultures are not big on food. The US is certainly not into the gourmande life, and the UK’s national dish I believe is Chicken Tikka. At least I, as a tourist who lived amongst British people for two weeks, only had pie as a typical dish. I must say it was really good pie though. It is just my impression.

After two days in Manchester I finally went to London for the first time in my life. I was lucky enough to stay at a friend’s house so I actually experienced the London life, in a London house, eating London food, etc. He is a very artsy person as well, so I got to go to some pretty amazing places. Of course I did the mandatory at first: Tate, British Museum, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham, St. James Park, Camden, the markets…The Thames is very nice, if only it was safe enough to go in it…We spent one of the evening at a really nice bar right in front of the river covered in blankets and drinking cider. London is a city that is alive, much more than Paris. There is art everywhere, every street is different, every corner has a different aura. You gotta pay a lot for that uniqueness though. It is a bit cleaner than Paris as well. The one uncomfortable reality is that it is not a city where people walk much, you need to rely on the Tube. In Paris you can walk from one end of the city to the other (being very vigilant of course) and you will have things to see no matter what arrondisement you are in. The best part of London? Going to the House of Lords. It brought me back to life after months of no intellectual stimulation in France. But you can never have it all, every place has its ups and downs!

See you next week!

So Saturday was not over with the skiing. Saturday night we had a Soirée Crepes at Malou’s place. All the calories I burned skiing were regained with the countless crepes I ate. The first round consisted of the salty crepes with a delicious mushroom and jam cream sauce in two different types of crepe mix. We each had to flip our own crepes so I can now actually flip crepes like in the movies. The second round consisted of sweet crepes. Of course there was Nutella, but also apricot jam, honey, sugar, the works. The funny thing is that the third kind of crepes mix we tried, the so-called “Crepe Alsacienne,” is identical to the American pancake. Funny things of the world, Malou swears it was a very ancient recipe passed on by her Alsatian grandma. All this accompanied by nice sparkly cider. All in all an amazing evening.

Sunday was boot camp for me: Sortie Scout! The first of the year, in the freezing -7 degrees cold of Strasbourg’s magical park. Well, it was not so magical for me this time. The Sortie was actually nice, like always. First we went to mass and heard the lovely sermon about the importance of love and charity. Then it was so cold that the parents of a louvette lent us their basement to eat and we had meat ravioli, salad, cheese, and dessert. It was almost like eating at home. Then…then came the park. We had to go out because the whole point is to connect with nature.

At first it was bearable, the louvettes had to build their own village with the elements of nature – that is of course, snow, snow, and snow. But after an hour I body decided to stop acting like it likes the cold and I was shivering for the next 3 hours. On top of that some girls forgot their gloves so we spent half of the time warming their hand and wet feet after the snow penetrated through their boots. To top if off. Our head cheftaine, Akela, was officially becoming Akela so we had to remove all the winter clothes and remain in our uniform for the ceremony in the freezing cold. At least they let me keep my gloves. Then 4:30 pm came and it was over. By 7:00 pm I had regained feeling in my fingers and toes. My host mom made me drink some hot soup and tea and by 9:00 pm I was tucked into my warm bead until today. It was hard, but it is an experience that I would not have rather done anywhere else but here.

Next stop is the UK, two WHOLE weeks in the land of Britons for the February break. Yes, we get two weeks off now and two weeks off in April. Sometime in between I am supposed to learn 5 subjects in international law and pass my exams. So I shall see you all end of feb, hopefully the sun will be out for my next sortie scout!

A fin fevrier!

Vienna was amazing. If you really want to see bourgeois Europe in the flesh you must stroll down centreville in Vienna and see the old ladies walking in their long mink coats and pearls as if Sissi were still in the Castle and the Tsar were still alive. The buildings are just lovely, so much culture you just cannot absorb it all. And yet the city is small, perfect. As a history freak I stood in front of the Library balcony for ages – because Hitler announced the Anschluss there.

As a food lover, there are several heavenly things that must be tried. First, the pastry shop that prepared desserts for Sissi. Second, the worldwide patented chocolate cake at the Sacher Hotel of Vienna. Third, the schnitzel! The Opera is a once in a lifetime experience, 4 Euros and you get a spot (standing up) to watch world class famous pieces, I was lucky enough to watch Anna Karennina. Bottom line, go to Vienna; it’s all they say it is.

As classes resume we are quickly pulled into the routine of classes, work, and Ciel (:s). The firs Friday we Malou resumed her cultural calendar and we went to a small Strasbourg theater called Le Kafteur to experience French stand-up comedy for the first time. It was funnier than stand-up comedy in New York, for me anyhow. This past weekend was PACKED with activities. Friday was an afternoon at the Musée Historique de Strasbourg, quite fun. I was reminded once again how unique Strasbourg is, from free city to French, to German, to French…etc. The Museum was very modern and they let us try on medieval helmets on!

Saturday, oh my God. I skied for the first time in my life. What can I say? I am a bathing suit girl. It was not downhill skiing so I fell only once. It was not as horrible as I’d expected, once you begin sweating inside your suit and you feel your fingers again it’s all good. So we only skied for 7.5 kilometers, but I think that was my week’s worth of exercise right there. It was a very nice experience, impossible to achieve without Malou because she was literally babysitting me the whole time. Once we reached the end, HOT WINE!!!! Yes, Europe is nice :p

To be continued….

Well, my idea is to get you to think of a travel guide, which ultimately seeks to tell you where and how to spend your money. I am fortunate that I do not need a silly travel guide to most places I go, because I have friends in most of the countries I visit. So the first stop was Hong Kong, a completely unpredictable trip that reaffirmed my approval of that island’s way of life. It was not meant to be touristic, the first time I want to Hong Kong (two years ago) I did all the touristic things with my boyfriend, ie. the Big Buddha, museums, HK Bay junks, Ocean Park (only pandas on the island), etc. We even went as far as Beijing and Tokyo.

So I’ve had a taste of what different main Asian cities are like and Hong Kong is by far the best mélange of all. Why? Well because it is the mix between East and West in one very small, very modern island. It has something I NEED in life: beaches (even if most are too polluted to go into). The weather is tropical but it still gets chilly in the winter. There are mountains and the most efficient metro system I’ve seen at the same time. And the people are just SO NICE, a human quality that is increasingly restricted to Asian culture.

So, bottom line, I really really like Hong Kong. The only downside I can comment is that I could see the difference between two years ago and now in the increase of Chinese from the mainland, byproduct of the handover. This just means that you are more likely to get shoved around in the metro and stepped on in the fish market, it is a subtle difference you would never notice as a tourist, but because I lived with a local family I was able t notice the things that affect local people.

Of course I can only remember hearing some awful news almost each morning as we had breakfast: the devastating snow storms across Europe and the US (with relief that I’d escaped in time), the Nigerian student who tried to blow a bomb arriving in Detroit, the Pakistani-British man executed in China…Such a nice way to end the year. Nevertheless, it was an amazing trip.

Next stop (after my EU Constitutional Law final :S) was Paris. Yes, Paris. And you DO NOT want to go to Paris when the winter sales begin in France, not with a credit card anyway. I was a good girl; I only bought one pair of shoes that were 60% off (how can you not?) After all, I followed the advice I got from previous Holy Cross girls: Wait till Jan to shop! This time Paris was freezing cold, and that just means you will be forced to spend money cause you will always be spending time in a small coffee shop where the cappuccino is never less than 5 Euros. Luckily I was only there for 3 days….

Final stop: VIENNA.

TO BE CONTINUED 😛

Ma colonie de vacances…:S

This was meant to be a wonderful first blog of 2010, where I would tell you all about my wonderful experiences in Hong Kong, Paris and Vienna. But Haiti is all I can think about right now. So Haiti is what I will tell you about. Those of you who read the papers will know that a 7.2 earthquake shook Port-au-Prince to the ground a week ago. Most of you will see the pictures and hear stories about the rescue guy who saved an 18-month child from underneath piles and piles of stones. All I can think about are my kids, and I refuse to believe that they may no longer be with us.

For me Haiti is more than just the poorest in America, it is my neighbor country. How and why a 7.2 earthquake was barely felt in my city (on the other side of our tiny island) is a mystery – or perhaps a miracle – to me. And beyond being my neighbor country, it is the home of 15 wonderful children who participated in my peace camp last summer, 15 children whom I have not heard of for a week. The amount of impotence I feel being all the way in developed France is inexplicable: I should be there right now, amongst the piles of disaster helping save whatever can be saved and rebuilding everything that cannot.

I ask myself why God did this, why THESE people who have had ZERO chance of development from the moment of their glorious independence (first slave independence in the Americas). All I can think of, in a desperate attempt to find an explanation and a reason, is that now is the time when they can rebuilt their country from scratch. Now they can start over, no corruption, no tonton macoutes, no instability. This can be a disaster with the potential to rebuild a nation. Of course, it is just a thought. But I am now certain that I have to be there this summer and I pray that I meet my children again….

Well, the Christmas Dinner was quite nice. It was very intimate, just us four Holy Cross girls: Malou, Rachel, Kate, and I. We had dinner at a very typical Alsatian restaurant: La Choucrouterie. Of course, I did not eat chou. There is so much chemistry between us four, I think that is what has made our life here work so well, because without them and WITH the French bureaucracy alone I would have hoped on a plane long ago. Which leads me to the saddest news of the semester: Rachel’s sabbatical. Yes, our Rachel is leaving us to accompany her hubbie Ludvic in the middle of Oregon (or Ohio?, some random state with O). I mean, I understand because it is a wife’s duty and he is incredibly funny and charming, but that means we need to destroy our perfect foursome and open up to someone new. More on that next semester. The other bad news is that I have to hand in the first two pages of my ICIP tomorrow….

A few days after the dinner I experienced what will be one of the most enriching and aristocratic-like moments of my life: the Opera. Not just any opera, but l’Opera du Rhin: an opera built by the Kaiser and so clearly showing where he sat a hundred years ago. The funny thing is I had already seen a dance show there; but this, this was Cosi fan tutte, by none other than Mozart himself. So yes, last Friday I had the privilege of attending my first opera in real life in my 22 years of life. It was breathtaking. I won’t spoil the story, but if anyone ever has the chance to see it, don’t think about it twice. I think it was the best way to end the semester, one that has been filled with HC sponsored cultural activities.

So now the semester ends. I am two days away from taking a plane and it’s all I can think off. That and the cold. Of course, nothing compared to the hill. So I am therefore going to take a break from my jolly for the next 3 weeks, as I am sure you will all take a break from anything that requires WORK and enjoy this break. Because besides the many global crisis, it is still Christmas, and it is a time to celebrate miracles and celebrate what we are privileged to have.

So, joyeux fêtes and see you all in 2010!

In exactly seven days I will be on a plane to lovely, WARM, Hong Kong. Aside the incredible Christmas spirit that makes this cold bearable, it is all about the actual Christmas break now. Things are hectic organizing the next semester, juggling work, internship, students, CIEL, and class is not an enjoyable task, especially when the school gives our the exam dates (not time) a week before vacations. I must once again denounce my shock towards the bureaucratic organization – or lack of – of the French university system. At Holy Cross I know my final exam dates the semester before the courses begin! In fact, I know people take a class or not depending upon when the exam is and thus how early they can go home. Here, it’s a mystery. But it’s all over now, now we know, now we are almost on break.

Similarly, today we had our first final exam, THREE hours, and I’m glad it’s over. I suppose that because classes are so different here, I’m having a hard time feeling like I have to study because I don’t know exactly what to study or where to study from beside my notes. The French expect you to learn EVERYTHING, because professors want the freedom to write down a question from a lecture the day before the exam. They also expect to buy and read all ten books from their bibliography; not going to happen.

On a more joyful note, this weekend was the Scout’s Christmas Show, quite lovely. Before the show I’ll have you know that I mastered my very first hand-made tin box, beautifully decorated and varnished by my lovely hand to be given as a gift to a louvette. Saturday I had to juggle my day between hosting my boyfriend’s French aunt – here in town for the marché de Noel – and rehearsing with my louvettes the song they would sing on Sunday, as well as exchanging gifts and attending the 90 minute mass. Sunday I had to get up at the crack of dawn to greet them as they arrived and then wait until it was our turn. When it finally was our turn, I found myself backstage dressing five girls at a time and somehow finding the French words of encouragement that would keep them sane. It was truly an amazing experience, not only did I speak French in a way in a never had before, but I got to share with many families the joy of watching their child perform.

And so, one exam, one final paper, one Christmas show over; seven days and a thousand more things to do, but in seven days it will all be over, and I get my two weeks off in lovely Hong Kong, where it’s WARM, and where there is not much to do but have fun, and study of course. Tonight we have the Répas de Noel, or Christmas Dinner, at a restaurant with Malou. You shall hear all about it next week!

Christmas has begun at large at Strasbourg, aka Santa Clause’s city. The name is well deserved, just like Hong Kong is the finance capital of the world, every single corner of this city spells Christmas in the most magical way. Its most outspoken expression is the Marché de Noël, an actual market that fills every plaza in the city with wooden Alsatian booths that sell all kinds of unique things, notably hot wine and churros. Dozens of artisans come sell their tiny masterpieces at outrageous prices, from nutcrackers to tree ornaments brighten the entire city from afar. And get this: the trees all come from Norway, so imagine the price. A special plaza is Place Kleber, which hosts the official tree, one so giant that they had to dismember the branches for transportation from Norway.

All in all, the city comes alive, which means that people (like me) who are not fond of the rain and the cold no longer think about it when they go out, because they (we) look forward to the colors and the adorable art pieces sold everywhere. And by overprized I mean that a single wooden doll the size of a finger costs 15 Euros, but that is what happens when things are NOT made in China 😛 Strasbourg actually has a committee that certifies the “quality” of a product and whether it can be sold in the marché or not depending on whether it is “authentic Alsatian” or not. Though I fully support China’s rise, I must admit it is NICE to see something made by someone who is being paid their labor’s worth.

To properly honor the spirit of the Marché de Noël, Malou took us to two German towns this weekend: Gengenbach and Fribourg. The reason is because this is actually a German tradition, so if you were to spend Christmas in any part of France other than Alsace, you’d miss the marché. So we spent last Saturday touring these towns and I think it is my favorite trip to this day. The towns themselves are not out of the ordinary; you have the average nice architecture, the spirit of a different culture, and the historical importance of events like WWII because bombs destroyed most of it. What was amazing was the spirit of Christmas. The music, the smells, the booths; it was just magical. It is a sight worth seeing, and the food is worth eating. So yes, the year is coming to an end, and despite the bad weather, the lack of money, and many other things that threaten the spirit of Christmas, spending it in “la Capitale de Noël” makes it all go away.