climbing the "mountain"

After a string of rainy Sundays, James and I decided today that we needed to just brave the weather and finally visit Mont-Royal...well, I should say that I decided that we should, and James is willing to go along with almost anything.

The Parc Mont-Royal itself is about an hour walk from our apartment, so we hoofed it there and then braved Mont Royal. Mont Royal is not really a mountain, but the Montrealers call it such, so I figured I should call it that as well. It is a pretty big hill, and it took us about an hour to get to the summit. Ironically, you can't see anything from the summit--the best views of the city are from the Chalet and a turn-off of the road that goes up the mountain. The views were AMAZING, and made the difficult hike totally worth it.

In my opinion the descent was more difficult than the climb! James and I followed this little old lady down this steep cliff-side full of rocks. It required lots of delicate maneuvering, but eventually we made it down. At the bottom, near the St. Etienne monument, the Tam Tams were in full swing. The Tam Tams are a group of drummers who assemble themselves every Sunday afternoon during the summer for an improv jam session. It had a very hippie vibe, and I witnessed more pot-smoking than I had ever seen before in my life, as well as my first drug deal--so exciting! Needless to say we were exhausted after four hours of walking, so the rest of the evening will most definitely be spent chilling out in the apartment. (It was really good cardio though!)

going for baroque

This Saturday we desperately needed groceries, so that was our main activity for the morning. We were able to get things to make several meals for just over $40, so we feel like we're finally getting the hang of eating semi-cheap in Montreal! Unfortunately it started POURING on our way home with our groceries, so we ended up having to take everything out of the soaked cardboard packaging and trying to scrounge up enough Tupperware for it all!

After drying out, we started out on our 1 hour walk to the Old Port for Arion's 30th anniversary concert. They played at the Marche Bonsecours as a part of Montreal's Baroque Festival. The festival's theme was "The Seven Deadly Sins", and Arion represented Gluttony. In between the orchestra's pieces we were served little "gourmandises", which was a nice addition to the classical music. My task at the concert was to sell CDs, and I feel like I did a pretty good job! I also felt a lot more comfortable speaking in French that evening, with strangers and my colleagues, and I got really good at switching between the two as needed to talk to customers.

After the concert, James and I ate at Bella Vita, a tourist-y Italian place in Old Montreal. The pizza was good though, and we finished just in time to make our way to the Old Port for the fireworks competition. China's entry was on display this weekend, and we rated it a 6 out of 10--some memorable moments, but not a very strong finish.

la fête nationale

Last Friday was Quebec's National Holiday--la Saint-Jean. It is a BIG deal in Quebec, I would say equally or even more celebrated than the Fourth of July in the US. It turned out to be a rainy and cloudy day, but we persevered and were able to take part in some of the celebrations.

The first thing we did was watch the Parade of Giants. This parade basically runs through the history of Quebec, using giant 25-foot tall representations of its important historical figures that are wheeled through the streets. It took awhile to get started, but really picked up momentum and was really fun to watch by the end. We brought Jeter along with us, and he was scared of everything!

After the parade we made our way to the Parc Maisonneuve to check out the Saint-Jean fair--food vendors, carnival games and rides, and live music. On our way to the official site, we stopped by the Parc Olympique and had fun walking around the old Expos stadium and standing on the Olympic podium. Due to the rain the actual celebration site was really muddy, but we made the rounds and partook in the fair food--yum!

swingin' saturday

Yesterday James and I set out on a new adventure--swing dancing! While I don't think either of us has ever been accused of being rhythmic, I do love swing music, James loves me, it was free, so we went for it! We got to visit one of Montreal's boroughs, Verdun, and hang out at a fabulous park on the river on a most beautiful day. The lesson was in French and English, and we really enjoyed it, although they made us switch partners every few minutes so it was a little difficult getting used to dancing with someone new every 5 minutes when you were just trying to get the hang of it. We stayed after the lesson and danced a few more songs, trying to copy the more advanced moves we saw others doing, walked around the park, and then decided to head back to the Old Port since it was such a beautiful day.

To our surprise, the Clock Tower Quay was open, so we were able to walk out and climb all 192 steps of the tower to get great views of the city. We then decided to pay $20 for a 30 minute pedal boat rental on this canal at the port, which was really fun, and as we both discovered, a first-time experience for both of us!

At this point we were ready to go home, and I'm sure Jeter was ready for us to take him out since we had been gone about 7 hours...but unfortunately James lost his all-day subway pass. Which would not have been a big deal, but for some reason at that point every ticket machine we tried could no longer accept cash, and the machines do not recognize American credit cards. We had to walk to four different entrances before we found one that worked, and by that time, we were exhausted.

We had planned to go back downtown to watch the fireworks competition at night, but it turns out they don't actually start until NEXT Saturday, so we were able to rest our exhausted bodies at home.

James left early this morning to head to New York to spend a few days visiting his family, and he took Jeter with him, so it's pretty quiet here. It is once again a PERFECT day outside, so I think I'm going to hang out in our neighborhood and do some shopping!

week 2 recap

Monday
A gift from God! I showed up to work and was told to go home because the roof was leaking in several locations and until it stopped they had to cut the electricity! Free day! Unfortunately due to the rain we didn't get to go out and do much, but it was nice to just spend a day at home.

Tuesday
Back to the daily grind! This week I tackled some really difficult translations about the intricacies of baroque instruments and some musicologist's blog posts about different baroque pieces. Lots of new vocabulary to tackle, but I'm making my way through it.

Wednesday
After work James and I went downtown to the Francofolies Festival, the big French music festival that lasts 10 days every summer--and it's free! The two groups that we watched were really good-- La Volée d'Castors and Vincent Vallières--hoping to be able to find some of their music on YouTube and show it to my students next year! I also had my first experience smelling pot--at one point I turned to James and said, "What is that horrible smell?" and, well, I had my answer. I realize marijuana is for some reason synonymous with outdoor music festival, but it just seemed rude to sit amongst a large group of people and do it...not the highlight of my night for sure.

Thursday
I got a break from translating and got to alphabetize concert subscriptions for next year! Exciting!

Friday
Today at work there was a surprise meeting with the artistic director of the orchestra which put everyone a little on edge....but it went okay, and luckily I don't do anything SUPER important so the heat is never on me :).

James and I met up with Karen, my friend from the PFMP program, and her husband Amos for sushi and gelato. The people who sublet their apartment to us gave us a really good Sushi recommendation, and we had a great time hanging out with them--we can't wait for them to come back from Minnesota so we can go to their place for dinner with their three kids and them.

saturday splurge

Saturday was another exhausting day for the "Walking Garcias"...I have no idea how far we walked, but I think it's safe to say that it was at least 10 miles.

Food
For our "Saturday Splurge" we spread out our eating to get some of the best Montreal had to offer in our stomachs. We started with Portugese sausage from the Street Painting Festival, added scrumptious mini-burgers and "the best" poutine in Montreal (a Quebec original dish--fries with cheese curds and gravy), waffles and crepes with Nutella from a street stand, and finally, a baguette with extra creamy Brie and grapes. It was all SO good. I can't wait for the next Saturday Splurge.

Attractions
We did some more tourist-y things today, and our first stop was the Basilica of Notre Dame. On our way we found an older couple that looked lost, and they asked us where they should go, so we led them here as well. Boy, did that make me look like a knowledgeable tour guide. The Basilica was amazing. I have seen many cathedrals throughout Europe, but it was by far the most impressive and illuminated cathedral I've seen. The work inside is so intricate, and I can't wait to get prints of the pictures I took.

We also strolled the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal and went out to walk along the Old Port. We intended on climbing the clock tower to get some great views of the city, but alas, it was closed off. We did have our first Bixi experience! Bixi is company that has bike rental stations all over the city, and you can ride them for free for 30 minutes. We rode them the length of the old port, and even though James was nervous, it turned out to be really fun!

We made our way back through some of the festivals we visited on Friday, and stopped by the main location of the Street Painting festivals to get a picture of us sitting in a GIANT Adirondack chair--a little shout-out to Webb! By the time we made it home, we had spent 6 hours walking around the city, so we were ready for a relaxing evening at home. We contemplated heading out for a free outdoor concert, but our exhaustion ruled, and fortunately so, as it started storming around the time of the concert. Another great day in Montreal!

TGIF!

Friday James picked me up from work at 5:00 since it was on our way to our evening activities. We walked about 40 minutes to get to downtown Montreal and the Place Bonaventure, the site of the World Beer Festival. Admission was free, but each 3-4 oz. sample of beer cost between $1-$5, so we were tapped (haha!) pretty quickly. I stuck to the fruity ciders, whereas James blew half of his drink tickets for the heavy Vermonster. We had a good time though, and there were TONS of people there that were very entertaining to watch.

Following the beer festival we went by the FrancoFolies festival and heard some French music, then walked through the Formula 1 Grand Prix festival, and ended our evening with the highlight of our time so far in Montreal--Schwartz's deli. Schwartz's is a Montreal landmark, and serves massive smoked meat sandwiches in a no-nonsense manner. We had to wait outside in a line for about 30 minutes, but were eventually ushered inside to the primo location for eating--the counter. The staff was extremely nice, and our buddy Mikey made sure that we got the full Schwartz'z experience. The sandwiches were great, and I'm sure we'll return there sometime again before we leave this great city!

Contemporary Art and Shopping

Wednesday, James and I visited the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. For those of you that know us well, you may be wondering...modern art and the Garcias? For real? We decided to go because it is free on Wednesday nights, and we wanted an excuse to go beyond our neighborhood for the evening.

There was much art that made us go, "huh?", but also several pieces that actually made sense to us--yay! All in all it was a nice new experience.

Afterwards we ventured into the Underground to see Montreal's Underground City. Due to the extremely cold Montreal winters, they decided to build an entire underground network of shops. It is amazingly expansive...the best way I can describe it is the Mall of America flattened out and placed underground. It stretches between several Metro stops, so one could theoretically spend a whole day beneath the Earth.

Speaking of the metro, they have these really nice evening passes for $4 where you get unlimited bus/metro access from 6pm-5am the next morning. They're a pretty good deal, since a one-way trip normally costs $3!

Back from hiatus!

In order to document all the exciting happenings of my summer, and to make sure that I keep doing exciting things worthy of documentation, I'm back to the blog after a 3 year hiatus.

This summer James, Jeter, and I are living in Montreal, Quebec, the "City of Festivals" for two months. We arrived three days ago and have enjoyed every minute so far!

The apartment we are subletting is in a quiet area off of a major street...and yes, I used Craigslist for the third summer in the row and so far have no scars to show for it. It is pretty spacious for a city apartment, with a good sized living room, 2 offices, a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, a piano (!), and washer/dryer. We also don't have to pay for parking, and the gym we signed James up at is only a block and a half away.

Our most frequent activities have been taking Jeter to the dog park, WALKING, and grocery shopping. We have yet to find what one would deem "affordable" groceries after scoping out a few different stores of different sizes and profiles, so we've pretty much come to terms with the fact that food will break our bank these two months. Jeter loves the dog park and the dogs and people of Montreal love him. Everyone says, "What is he?" and I wish we knew! He's also a very good conversation starter, so James gets some human interaction while I'm at work during the week.

Which brings me to our next topic: work! I'm interning (read: not getting paid) at the Arion Baroque Orchestra like a real grown-up, working 9 to 5. There are only 2 other women who work with me, and they are in their mid-20s as well, so we get along really well. So far I've done lots of mundane tasks that they have obviously been putting off doing for months, and some French to English translation for them. The good news is that two of the three women are actually from France, so they are very easy to understand compared to the Canadian French accent--wowzers!

Favorite phrases of the day:
C'est malade! It's sick/awesome/wicked cool!
C'est fou dans la tete! It's unbelievable!
le lunch

advice of the wise variety.

Today I was browsing stationery on papyrus.com, and I found some cards that I have seen before in the store, each with a different quotation from someone mildly to wildly famous. Although I had read through them before, the first card containing a quotation from Mary Anne Radmacher really struck me tonight. The past week or so has been a pensive time for me as I have reached yet another point in my life when I ponder what my purpose is, where I should go, what I should do, and how I should do it. The decisions I make at this point in my life could drastically affect the rest of my life, and I am struggling to decide which paths I should take. Anyway, some of the lines in this quotation gave me a lot to think about, and I hope to expand on them in later posts as I reflect upon how I can apply them to my own life.

live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard.
practice wellness.
play with abandon.
laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.

thoughts on father of the bride.

I'm into my second viewing of this movie in the past four hours, and I've realized how drastically my opinions regarding the premise of this film have changed since it came out back in 1991. Granted it seems logical that something would change in my thought processes in 17 years, but I dare say that the bouleversements of which I speak are slightly more recent, perhaps circa 2000.

I remember watching this movie in high school and thinking that George Banks was totally out of line. I mean, Annie is in love, she's 22 years old, she's returned from 4 months abroad...who is her dad to tell her that she can't marry a successful man that comes from a rich family?

Yet now, as I watch it I picture myself in her place. I cannot imagine coming home after a 4 month absence to tell my parents that not only have I met someone, but that I love that someone, and that someone and I are engaged. I think George is totally justified in his initial reaction, I mean, she is only 22 years old and she's fallen in love with a guy in Rome, seems a little ridiculous.

Maybe this post is just coming out because I've had another bitterness filled Valentines Day. I've had 23 straight years of being single on Valentine's Day, but I'm pretty ok with that. I guess I can count it as the one day on which no one has ever falsely proclaimed their love for me, or felt the name to buy me ridiculous presents "in the name of love." Sweet.

monday, monday.

The Moon Pie Girls had their first race of 2008 on Saturday, and it was a disappointment. Turns out that that constant pain I have in my knee and foot when running is not such a good thing. I finally gave in, saw the athletic trainer, and was told to take the double I treatment--ice and ibuprofen. So we will see, hopefully I can get back to running soon, and very soon, I hate getting beat at races by little kids.

Today was "dress as your favorite athlete" day for spirit week, here's what I dressed as:



That's right, the one and only Miss Northrup, my favorite runner :).


More Spirit Week goodness to follow...

growing up.

In the past month or so, I feel as if I have really grown up a lot. I'm being forced to deal with many grown-up situations and issues both in my job and my personal life, and the reality of it all can be somewhat shaking at times. One of my mentor teachers at Webb recently had her father pass away, and I realized as I showed up to his visitation that I felt old. I didn't know this man, nor anyone in his family other than his daughter, but I felt compelled to show my support for them. Also, the nurse at Webb recently found out that her son has a brain tumor, and I found myself asking God over and over again what I could do to help her family. Prayers were said, but in the end it was made evident to me that I was able and willing to assist them financially, an urge to help that came just as I received my first paycheck. It still amazes me how God uses so many small things to teach one big lesson. Then there are always the conferences with parents where I am forced to speak plainly and tactfully about a child's aptitude and devise a plan to help them achieve their goals in my class.

That all being said, I've come to the point where I feel as if I really love my life. I have great friends spread out across this great big world, and new great friends who are two minutes from me when I need them. I get to eat every meal surrounded by these people that I have grown to love in two months, I get to share my joys, frustrations, and funny stories with them, and it's so wonderful. I have the joy of giving my best to my students, when I teach them, eat with them, tutor them, encourage them, congratulate them...I can honestly say that I love them all, even the ones that I yell at everyday, the ones who don't turn in homework....I know that they will disappoint me at times, but I also know that they make my days spectacular on regular basis.

the bright spots of my week.

-I got to eat at Carrabba's with 15 high school girls. Mmm, chicken marsala.
-Kelly and I have gotten all of our running/walking in this week...10 mile Moon Pie Run here we come!
-I won a best out of 7 series of Mille Bornes, got a free Subway sandwich, and my own copy of the elusive gym master key all in one night! I'm glad that Garcia and I are friends now :).

a post for the amazing jason lee.

So as some of you may have heard from me, I am in love with one of my students. No, not like that sickos, I love him as in I wish I could adopt him, or at least hang out with him everyday. The child of whom I speak is named Jason Lee, but I call him Paul. He's in my 7th grade French class, and he is one roly poly Taiwanese boy who wears the longest shorts I've ever seen, black dress shoes with white crew socks, and is 90% of the time sporting an adorable smile.

So why do I wish this child was my own? Allow me to illustrate through several anecdotes.

-When he sees me on campus he waves frantically and says, "HI Miss Piehl!!!"
-When he takes a test and it gets too difficult, he stops, puts his pencil down, clasps his hands together and says, "Dear Jesus, save me!" This then escalated into him referring to his eraser as Jesus, and insisting that "Jesus" stay perfectly balanced on his pencil pouch during exams. When Jesus takes a tumble, Jason screams out "You pushed down my Jesus!!!" and gets rather upset.
-The very first day of class when I asked him where he was from, he told me with the the biggest smile "I am American, I am from Bell Buckle, Tennessee" (He's actually from Taipei).
-He likes to try to sneak up on Rocky, the campus canine.
-He bought me Lindt truffles for my birthday, but was too afraid to give them to me because he thought the other teachers (cough James Garcia cough) would get jealous.
-He tries so hard in class, and will occasionally break into "In the Jungle" or do a funny little dance as he arrives.

care bear stare!

I think from now on I'm only going to post when I have a funny image to accompany what I have to say, because let's face it, some of us are visual learners, and also, I like funny. Who doesn't like funny?

I remember the first time I read this comic...actually,no I don't, but I do remember thinking how I wished the care bear stare really existed. I mean, what if when all my students are being royal you-know-whats, I could just invoke the power of the care bears? It's like the definition of killing someone with kindness. But I guess the more I think about it, the more I realize that we all have the power of the care bear stare (yes, this is where the "after school movie moment" comes in.) This is the kind of mushy stuff I write when I am really just trying to waste time until the new episode of Top Chef. 1 hour 41 minutes....

happy pi approximation day.

that's right, it's pi approximation day for everyone who writes dates using the european format (22/7). so celebrate!

really i just wikipedia-ed today's date because i wanted a better subject line than something including the words "summer" or "update".

but that's really all this post is, because it has been awhile, and i have nothing better to do.

i'm still in the KC area, i have one more week of summer school left, and then i'm home free. summer school has been exhausting, but i like exhausting work, so as much as i complain, it's really good for me. i have a few things i want to do this week...like get an oil change (i don't really want to do that, but i should), and maybe go get an eye exam and some new glasses since it's been 4 years or so since my last one. i know, this post is just keeping you on the edge of your seat, right?

in other news, i am completely in love with Bethany Dillon's song "For my Love", it's amazing and well, lovely :).

oh, megan, alisa, christine, and katie left this morning to go see hannah in TX, i'm pretty bummed that i didn't get to go with them, but i guess someone's got to "bring home the bacon". which reminds me, i got my first of three paychecks last week :-D. and my paycheck for two weeks of work was more than i got paid all last summer, so that was nice. ok, pretty sure i'm done.

buggy business.

Today I've been trying to come up with an over-arching theme for my summer school kids, since as far as I know it's all up to me, and I do believe I've arrived at one: BUGS! I have six weeks of classes to plan for, and I'm hoping to spend one week each on a different bug/insect...bee, caterpillar/butterfly, ladybug, spider, ant, and firefly. I feel like it's something the kids will enjoy, and since it's summer we should be able to go out and do some "field research". I just really don't want these kiddos to be stuck inside everyday and I've come up with some really cool things for them so far. Now I just have to rifle through the school's library to find some books in French on these bugs, and spend hours preparing everything that I want to do.

I did however just realize the toll that this summer is going to take on my brain and my sanity. I'm going to be hanging out with 15-18 soon-to-be first graders every day, 8 hours a day, for six weeks...and speaking with them entirely in French. During student teaching I only spoke French 4.5 hours everyday, and it was still hard for me to turn it off when I came home. I'm excited to be able to work alongside native French speakers while staying in the Midwest, but I know it's going to mess with my mind even more and probably wreak havoc on my English.

In other news, today I got a call from a tiny school in West Virginia that sounds like they really want to hire me as their French teacher. I don't want the job unless it gets to be August and I still have nothing, but I probably should find a more tactful way of relaying that message to them.

life as i know it...

Well I've been home for a week, and I'm proud to say that I have not been significantly bored out of my mind or lazy since I've been here. I am NOT proud to say that I still have not unpacked anything, which is not totally my fault due to the unconstructed version of a bedroom I'm currently occupying, but it still makes me cringe.

I've spent the past week trying to tie up all sorts of loose ends, job searching, job interviewing, working for my parents, painting like a madwoman, and making regular trips to home improvement stores. Here is the result of all that work:

-JOB! I get to teach 21 first graders at the French immersion school in Kansas City for six weeks this summer. Kinda crazy how I rememeber telling people in the past few years that my dream job would be teaching at a French immersion elementary school...and less than a week after graduation, it's mine. It is only a summer position, but it's definitely the best summer job I could have ever requested, and it pays well, which is a HUGE change from the past two summers.
-I've made it through all the hoops with the Southern Teachers Agency, which places teachers in private schools in the South, and everyone I've interviewed with seems incredibly optimistic about my job possibilities. The neat thing about this program is that once you meet all their requirements, they go out and market you to schools and once they find a school that meets your criteria, it's pretty much a done deal.
-I got to teach a bunch of junior high kids how to rekey locks. About 80% of them failed, but it was fun to watch, and it felt nice being back in a classroom again.
-The new room is close to being done! Probably the biggest painting challenge I've faced yet...but after three coats of paint it's looking pretty spiffy.

summer :)

So summer is almost here, and I feel the need to declare my summer plans for the blogosphere...at least the plans I have in this moment so that no one can say, "i didn't know you were...." And if they do say that I will yell BLOG! and run away. Not really, but that would be quite humorous.

May 7-14--the beautiful Cedar Valley, popping into a few French classrooms, and hashing out the rest of my summer plans. oh, and chilling with colbs and whoever else i can get to commit to having fun.
May 15-20--Norfolk, Virginia area, for Stephanie's wedding! because i keep promises, unlike some people....ok, sorry, no bitterness allowed.
May 20-23--Cedar Falls for Shannon's graduation
May 24-28--Disney World and Universal Studios with Mike and Katrina, sweet action fo sho
May 30--Chicago for a Cubs game, sitting in the 2nd row bleacher seats in right field...watch for me on la télé :)

From then on, my plans depend on what my summer job is going to be. I may be going to Wyoming and Denver, CO, the Rio Grande Valley de Texas, and also a trip out to wherever I get a job for this fall (California?!? that would complete my tour of the U.S. quite nicely I think).