Week 17: 01/05 – 01/15
Welcome to /miel/, a written account of my life and what my days hold here in France. Thank you for coming to read today.
I am quite delayed in this post – but I thought I’d rather do a post today and then a shorter one on Thursday. So, let’s get into it.
Saturday, on my way to Brussels, I had a four hour train layover in Lille. I knew I wanted to explore this town a little bit, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so! I unfortunately was not able to get into the main cathedral, as it was closed for some reason. But, I visited a couple other churches, and also walked to the “citadelle”, I have no idea what this is in English, but it was an old military fort circa 1650. You can look up pictures on my Google Album for January here, but also online to see what it looks like from above and within.
I enjoyed Lille, I thought the people were nice, the weather was horrible, but it was also one of the most colorful cities I had seen so far. I saw doors, shutters, and trims made of bright yellows, teals, reds, and pinks. It made me realize that there is some color in France!
Then, I took the train to Brussels, Belgium! It was amazing. I saw two of my good friends from MSU, Tyler and Korey, and it was a perfect weekend. I got to Brussels that afternoon and we met at the train station, then took a quick train to meet Korey’s aunt, Mica (mee-kah), in Waterloo. She is an English teacher for the Department of Defense and has lived in Brussels for 9 years, and she hosted us for the weekend. That afternoon/evening, the boys and I went to the Butte de Lion and saw a panorama of the Fight of Waterloo. This is one of the largest panoramas, and it was really intriguing. You walked up a small flight of stairs and were in the center of the panorama, so you could walk around and see the entire thing. I tried to find a video, but could not, so you can see a video here on my Google Album.
Anyway, then we hiked up some steep stairs (in the pouring rain) to the Butte de Lion, that signifies the Battle of Waterloo. Typically, you can see a bunch of the city, but since it was stormy and raining sideways, we couldn’t see too much besides the stairs. We returned to the house and of course, started to drink some Belgian beer! I caught up with the guys, heard all about their time in Italy, Austria, Spain, and Amsterdam, and caught them up on my happenings in France. We ate “Carbonade” for dinner, a traditional Belgian kind of stew, but was mostly just really tender beef, served over crispy potatoes, with some salad and wine. We stayed talking with Mica for a while, and finally we were going to go to bed around 12:30 am or so… and then all the sudden the boys and I are doing handstands against the walls, sharing some beer and stories, and alas we didn’t go to sleep until 5 am! But it was so worth it.
The next morning, we all met up with Rebecca, another English teacher in Brussels, and we toured around the city. It was great! The cathedral was of course my favorite part (are you surprised?) and we also toured the history museum, which was quite interesting. There was one part where you could descend down into the old Brussels, underground, and explore the old roads and even some remnants of buildings. I didn’t quite understand all the way, but my understanding was that the city (circa 1100) just slowly was sinking and they thought it would be better or easier to build a new city on top. You can (should) check my facts on this…
We ended up going to a couple favorite bars of Mica and Rebecca’s, with all of our favorite being this hole in the wall. It felt like an old-town, definitely locals-only bar, with intricate woodwork and even a fireplace, and only one point of ventilation – the door. It was great to chat with everyone more and more. Finally, we completed our Brussels journey by eating a Liege waffle, which blew my socks off. It was delicious, and chocolatey and dense. Highly recommend! We returned home, ate lemon salmon, rice, and salad (and beer), and somehow still managed to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.
Unfortunately I had to say goodbye Monday morning, since I had to work back in Noyon that afternoon. It was a happy/sad goodbye. I feel so grateful that I was able to see them, as it felt like a little piece of home. Especially so close to Christmas, my heart felt warm to see them and feel so comfortable.
This week was a full week of work, primarily talking about stereotypes and national parks in the USA! It has felt good to be presenting on things that I enjoy talking about, especially the national parks. I am getting to present on my favorites, the ones I’ve visited, the ones I want to visit, and also get to slowly teach the kids how to respect the Parks (and not approach the bison). I presented on Grand Teton National Park, and the 6th graders read the name and immediately started laughing. Why? Because Grand Teton means “big boob” in French… Yes, French explorers founded this park and you can read all about why they named it Grand Teton anywhere on Google.
Friday afternoon, Nicole and I went to Saint Quentin, a larger town of about 55,000 people that’s only 30 minutes by train. We explored a bit and saw the Butterfly Museum which was extraordinary! Please, please go look at the pictures in my January Google Album here, because there’s too many to pick from. There were so many butterflies, but also other insects and even big, hairy spiders. It was only one small floor, but it took us about an hour to see it all. Highly recommend!
We then met up with 5 other assistants who are placed in Saint Quentin, and it was an okay afternoon. While I had met two of them previously, it didn’t feel super welcoming. That’s okay, there are more opportunities to meet other people, because sometimes you just don’t vibe!
Friday night we returned to Noyon, and watched “Glass Onion” the second Knives Out film. It was… mediocre. I prefer the first one, but we had some microwave popcorn and had a good evening nonetheless.
Yesterday was full of social gatherings! In the morning, I went to the market to get some veggies and returned home to start cooking for our lunch. We (Nicole, Linda and I) hosted four other American assistants for lunch yesterday since they live so close in Compiegne. I made some lemon cream spaghetti with roasted veggies, and Nicole made some delightful brownies. It was a talkative afternoon with stories to share, and places that now we all want to go before our time here is up.
Nicole and I rode the train back with the assistants to Compiegne because we had another dinner to go to with Sihame (one of my professor friends), and we ate DELICOUS Moroccan food, since Sihame has Moroccan origins. It was so good! My favorite that Sihame makes is called “brick” (breeck), which is a kind of pastry that envelops a potato puree, some cheese, a little bit of spinach, and spices. You fry it and so it’s crispy and hot, but the inside is warm and soft. I am going to learn how to make these, so stay tuned for my coming attempts!
I went to church this morning in Noyon at the cathedral. It still is so magical every time.
This week doesn’t have too much happening, work and still figuring out what exactly I’ll be doing next year. If you have a spare minute this week, send a postcard over to my address here!
TL:DR
High: Seeing Korey and Tyler and having a semblance of home.
High #2: Meeting new friends, and nurturing existing relationships.
Low: The never-ending rain, wind, mist, humidity, grey coldness.
Low #2: Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the possibilities next year brings.
New French Word:
embouteillage – traffic jam
Lesson(s) Learned:
1. I miss home a lot, but little snippets of it through people is the best homesickness cure there is.
2. Tyler Boyd cannot do a handstand.
3. Sometimes people just simply do not vibe together.
4. Keeping good contact with HS/University professors proves to be helpful.
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Until next week, I wish you all well. I miss you all incredibly much. Please send me a message, an email, some snail mail, whatever suits you best.
All the love,
Abigail
Below: Korey, myself, and Tyler in the Grand Place in Brussels.
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