I had the best hiking trip ever yesterday!
I’ve had a bunch of amazing hiking adventures…I always love hiking (and my boyfriend Jack is the best buddy), but hiking in France was different in ways I never thought of. What I loved best was that for a change I still felt comfortable and at home despite recognizing these differences. Nature is perfect for that! Anyway, the first thing I noticed was that there weren’t any ferns in the forest. There was tons of moss all over the rocks, and some long, gangly sprouts grew out of the ground moss. I didn’t recognize some of the birds (black with white on their sides and blue tail feathers). And walking along the vineyards was absolutely incredible. I’d never been so close to orchards like that except on my grandparents’ fruit farm. Plus my allergies were mostly under control! We started at Mont Sainte-Odile, high in the Vosges mountains. The monastery was lively with people enjoying the sunshine and a lunch outside. My fellow Accès members and I ate lunch there too. After lunch we explored the terrace, which had been closed the last time I was there due to winter conditions. There were so many flowers, and the sun was warm. It was a clear day, and I could’ve stared at the mountains in the distance for ages. The hiking trail began right off to the side of the monastery. We all stared out together, but Sama, me, and Bikash (another Accès student) got separated from the group because we stopped to take pictures and soak in the scenery! We were headed towards Barr, France, which is the capital of the Alsatian vineyards! I’m not sure how long exactly the hike was, but it took us about 2 hours. Really it’s the pictures that can do the best describing of how beautiful the path was, better than I can describe. Because Sama was with me, we spoke in French, and it was the least stressful and most relaxed I ever felt speaking French. Every time someone else passed us on the trail, which wasn’t all that often, they said “bonjour!” and of course we said “bonjour!” back. Forests are often a little dark because of all the trees, but that doesn’t bother me. I love when the sun pokes through, and sometimes there are patches with fewer trees where you can really soak it in. In my opinion, the trail wasn’t expertly marked…so, we got lost about 3 times! It wasn’t a big deal—we just back tracked and took a different path. And Bikash INSISTED upon using Google maps. I hate to admit it, but it was a little comforting to have the map! Alex gave us a general map too, but it wasn’t detailed for those of us who are challenged in navigation! There was never a dull moment on the trail. Sometimes the path split and we had to think and confer, sometimes it crossed a road, and other times there was a little structure to explore or a boulder that overlooked the mountains. Sometimes Bikash and Sama broke into song (well, beat boxing and that kind of stuff!), and just a few times we asked someone along the way if we were indeed headed to Barr. Once we got out of the woods, we found a cute little country hotel where people were sitting outside enjoying a coffee or a cold drink. Then we hit the vineyards! You could see the village below, as we were still descending the mountain. The roofs were a burnt orange color. Sama, Bikash, and I were the last ones there, and we found the others waiting for us under a tree next to a church. I think the excursion was a favorite for all of us! Hiking in the Vosges mountains is definitely worth it.
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Good morning! I’m writing this after a lovely breakfast I had with Andrea (assistant director of Accès and Alex’s wife in case you forgot) at a café near the Accès office. I absolutely love espressos in the morning…anyway, I’m in a good mood. We had such a pleasant conversation, and she’s always so willing to spend time with others. Even though it’s a little bit chilly outside still, it feels like spring because of the tulips and the magnolia tree outside the café. Wait a sec—so I’m in Starbucks right now, writing this—and they offered me “une petite boisson gratuite” JUST NOW! You know what that means? They just gave me a free drink! It’s a vanilla coffee with caramel, little crumbs on top that taste like nutmeg, and plenty of cream. I asked why and they said it was a bit left over while cleaning the machines and they didn’t want to throw it out. How marvelous! My day just got even better! Cool!!! Anyway, I had a final for one of my classes already. It was a phonetics class that lasted half the semester. We never had any homework in it because it was a large lecture class. We learned the rhythm of French words, syllable stress, and we also practiced pronunciation symbols with words. I’m not sure how to describe it well…but the test was easy and short. Our prof, Madame Madeleni, was really fun. You could tell she loves her job. In my general French class (it’s just called “français B2” where B2 is my level) we had a midterm type of test. We read a passage and answered questions about it. Kind of like the reading section on an SAT test, but in French! Not awful, but not super easy. I have a test for a French society class coming up. I didn’t have to study too much for these tests. All you have to do is really pay attention in class. Still, classes are tiring! So for fun, I helped Ida make strawberry jam one morning. I washed and cut up a bunch of strawberries. She does it every year, and she’s good at it! So now we have jam for our morning tartines (that’s the French word for a piece of toast with a topping, like butter, jam, Nutella…). Last weekend I also helped her stain the outdoor furniture. She has some chairs with wooden arms, a table, and two wooden flower boxes. We sanded the grime off and painted on the stain. She did most of it, getting up at 7am to start, but I offered to help because it kind of reminded me of something I’d help with at home (yes, Dad, that means I’m offering my services to you and Grandma!). I also went to my first opera! The show was called Beatrix Cenci. If you look it up, you’ll find that it’s a pretty serious and depressing spectacle, but I did somewhat enjoy it. It amazes me that people have voices like that, and the live orchestra was very good. And the opera house Opera national du Rhin, was just as beautiful inside as you would imagine an opera house to be, with a huge chandelier and red comfy seats. I mentioned before that I’m doing research while I’m here. It’s something I came up with on my own, and it’ll help with my anthropology major. My adviser from Susquehanna U is mentoring the project. I know Strasbourg is in the Alsace region, but I didn’t really know what “Alsatian” meant other than that it’s part of France’s and Germany’s history. I’m reading up on Alsatian history, and I’m visiting museums in Strasbourg. It’s a little hard to find time for all of that though, especially since I’m also interviewing people who identify as Alsatian. Two of my professors grew up here and are Alsatian, and I asked Ida and Alex if they had any friends or other connections. It worked out well! I’ve talked to six people already, and hopefully I’ll find several more. I just tell them the goal of my research (to draw a conclusion on what “Alsatian” means culturally and to discover how it's different from just being French), that I’m a university student studying anthropology in the United States, and I ask them some questions that I came up with. Since the interviews are always in French, I ask to record them, because my French isn’t perfect! The interviews are kind of difficult actually. But I really enjoy it. I like asking questions where people get to tell me about culture from their own perspectives. And they’ve all been very nice. The strength of the Alsatian identity is sort of fading, so the older people especially seem to really love talking about it with me, a young person. It always feels good when the people you interview support and are made happy by your research and questions. Not that I have a ton of experience with that yet, but it’s still encouraging. I kind of just jumped into this whole “what does it mean to be ‘Alsatian’” project without overthinking it. It’s way too easy to get freaked out when you realize you’re in charge of a project where the data collection isn’t in your first language…plus figuring out how to track down people you need to talk to…I did procrastinate in the beginning of the semester, so research in Strasbourg is only taking place over the last two and a half months, but I did the right thing. I’m ready now, and I needed the first couple months to get used to being here. I guess I do pretty much feel like I know the city now. French words! en plein floraison=in full bloom I have to be honest...I’ve been having a very tough time abroad so far. It’s been 2 months, and I still very much do not feel accustomed to living here. I don’t like cities, I don’t like public transportation, it’s sad seeing homeless people everywhere, I don’t like that the libraries are open at weird times and not on Sundays or Mondays, and I don’t like how expensive things are. Oh, and I still get lost a lot. I put a lot of pressure on myself to navigate correctly, and my pride is wounded when I get lost and I’m late for dinner or class or something. I love my classes, my professors, my classmates and friends, and my host mom, but I guess I’m just very much a homebody and definitely NOT a city girl. At Susquehanna University, which feels like home even though it’s 2 hours from where I live with my family, I can walk pretty much everywhere. The library, Starbucks, to a friend’s dorm, to Jack’s place, to dinner, to the post office, to the Saturday market, even to the bank. In Strasbourg it takes at least a half hour to get anywhere by public transportation, which includes wait time. I tend to shut myself away in my room to do homework and write letters. That’s not a good idea though. There’s the temptation of comfort, as I like to call it. Comfort is a great thing, but too much of it gets you stuck. I snuggled under the covers of my bed watching Netflix a little too much, because it was comfortable when I felt down. I still had homework to do though, and it’s necessary to push yourself to get stuff done. Find a new environment to work in. Resist the temptations! I can’t stay in my room—it just won’t work. Even though it takes a while to get there, either by bike or by bus, I found some places to study other than my room. There are 3 different libraries I can pick from, and there’s Starbucks. Plus I found a cat café! There’s no WiFi there, but there are cats! I need to be optimistic—an obvious fact, but I forget about it all the time. So here’s a list of things I can be optimistic about even though I’m not exactly having the time of my life here:
So, yes, I rented a bike! It was included in the price of my program, so to make a long story short, I didn’t have to pay anything for it. I get to use it for 3 months, which is until the end of my program. People bike ALL the time here. Strasbourg is the #1 bike city in France, after all! There are bike lanes in the roads or on the sidewalks. But, the traffic rules are a little bit different here, and bikers are supposed to follow them. They don’t, but they’re supposed to. Basically, you just have to be super observant and really pay attention. And when in doubt, just bike on the sidewalks! The only problem there is when there are a lot of people. My bike has a little bell I can use when people are in the way 😊 Some people wear helmets, some don’t. Postmen all use bikes. Delivery people (like for food) all use bikes. There are bikes with toddler seats, bikes with baby carriages, bikes for toddlers, and bikes with baskets. Actually, most bikes have baskets (mine does!). The baskets are big or small, wicker or plastic (sometimes a crate), on the front of the bike or the back, or sometimes even the side. Bikes are rented or owned, used for exercise, fun, or transportation. Bikes come in all shapes and sizes! The most important thing is the bike lock. I see bike pieces all the time partially attached to a post. Sometimes wheels are taken off or there is something stolen from a bike. If your bike isn’t locked to a pole properly, or if it’s not well made, literally any piece of it will be taken. It makes me nervous sometimes riding my bike because I don’t know my way around perfectly. Like I said, I still get lost. I get nervous about all the pedestrians and the cars that will drive past you with literally 3 inches to spare. But I do love my bike. It was definitely a good choice to rent it! I can’t wait to ride it through the parks when the trees and flowers are in full bloom and the weather is perfect. Until next time, Elda Word of the day! Méli-mélo—mish mash It was the most beautiful thing I’ve seen living here so far…and no, it wasn’t on a plate ready to eat (though I do think snails are very tasty). Today was a rainy day, and I had gotten soaked from both the rain and sweat. I rode my bike to class, a half-hour-or-more trek, and the wind resistance was heavy. Bikes allow you to have a lot more independence though, because you don’t have to waste time waiting for the bus or tram. Anyway, after I got back to the house and put my bike in the garage, I saw what looked like a lovely stone or a shell on the path in front of me. I picked it up, and it wiggled. It was a little escargot, a snail! This snail had the prettiest shell I’d ever seen. Immediately my day turned into a good one, because I found a treasure of nature right in front of me! I decided to let myself enjoy the simple pleasure that this dull, rainy day had. Lucky for me, it stopped raining for a bit and I put the snail down on some moss in the cracks of the path, close to the grass, and I watched it. As it began to unfurl from within its shell, I captured the image. You can only hear the cars on the residential road next to the house in the videos, but I heard the tiny squish of the snail as it came out from its hiding place and the moisture in the grass as the water made it seem to move and breathe. photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMbN5ISmX__QZ9IhlaBx7O9OSBbWSyKgfJhXr_8
Thanks as always for reading what I have to say! à la prochaine, Elda
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AuthorHello! I'm Elda, a French/Anthropology major and Applied Language Studies minor studying in Strasbourg for a semester. Archives
May 2019
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