Trains of Thought

Well this is awkward.

Pierre, my beloved computer, might stop working for me soon, so I apologize if I am not very prompt at responding to emails. Because Pierre's battery hasn't held a charge for a few years now, when the power cord is on the fritz, you know something is up. Right now, I am able to type after constructing an apparatus that applies constant force to the plug port using only materials in my room. I would take a picture, but my camera battery is one of the pieces of the puzzle that is keeping my beloved alive.

I kind of neglected to blog for two weeks, but I promise that it wasn't because I was lazy or anything, I've just been struggling to find a way to tie things together. I really enjoy cohesion in my blog posts, you know, pulled together with some kind of a theme. (I don't know if ya'll have seen it in my past ones, but I promise that most things are intentional). I have now gotten to the embarrassing point where I might forget everything if I don't write it down soon, so here is how this is going to work:

THE TOP TEN THINGS THAT QUINCY HAS DONE IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS: 
 1. I appeared on Television for the first time in a foreign country. It was two Tuesdays ago when team QKAP decided to be good students and do their homework in the institute library. Now, this wasn't any ordinary Tuesday. Not only was it Mardi Gras, the international fete of fun things, but it was also the celebration of the Institut de Touraine's one hundredth year of service in teaching foreign kids how to speak french. As it turns out, l'Institut was having a huge party that day with free crepes, and the local news station came to cover it! We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. We talked all about why we like french and why were studying at the Institute, and it was all a good time. Unfortunately for team QKAP, we missed the news that night, but a girl who was in the same piece recorded it on her phone for proof. I have yet to find this video of us, or the group picture of the 100 candles lit to celebrate. So, here is a video of a news piece taken the same day (but alas, no Davidson students in this one.)

 2. I followed a speech of a internationally renowned political figure in a language that wasn't my own. Well, on the side of the world that isn't the one on which America lies, there are several controversial presidential elections going on. Over here, it is possible that for the first time in the history of the fifth republic of France, a President will not be elected for a second consecutive term. Nicolas Sarkosy isn't the most popular political figure in France right now, but last week, I sat down and watched him declare his intention to run for another five years. What really amazed me was that the current French president spoke so clearly that, though he spoke relatively quickly, I was able to follow him easily. That aspect of his speech reminded me a lot of Obama. However, Sarkosy isn't as calm and collected under fire. When the journalist had no problem in expressing her extreme dislike for him, Sarkosy practically blew up. Perhaps it was because he wasn't wearing a tiny French flag pin on his lapel. The elections happen sometime in May. For now, the Davidson team awaits the news of the Senegalese presidential elections to determine whether or not the political climate in the west african country is safe to travel in. Speaking of Africa:

 3. I met myself in animal form. Two weekends ago, QKAP took a visit to one of the region's more popular chateaux called Chenonceau. We wanted to see it since we talked about its unique ceiling structure in our art history class, but we were convinced to go with the promise of a labyrinth, a donkey farm, and a wax museum. (For those of you that don't know, i'm terrified of wax museums. But it was closed that day so it didn't matter) We wandered around in the pretty gardens for a bit until we found four donkeys (one for each of us) We named them in the order that they were standing, and funnily enough, each donkey somehow resembled our personalities. K was aggressive and unbearable, A ate an apple, and P was a recluse. Q however, was the most adorable donkey that anyone has ever seen and really enjoyed sticking its tongue out to say hello!

Meet Nikos, Quincy in animal form:

 4. I had a really good Sunday. Two Sundays ago, the team went to Blake's house to make French Toast, or as the french call it "Pain Perdu" which literally translates to lost bread. We cracked some eggs, drank some pineapple juice and talked to this really old french lady that watches Blake's house when his host parents are away. Afterwards, we went on a hike with John (Dr. Kruger's life partner)and my host mom! I was really pumped when she asked if she could go with us. She knows a lot about France and it was tons of fun getting to spend time with her outside of the house. At the dinner table, we talk about John often, and because I didn't know how to say "he used to work for the military" in french during the first week, so I said he was a secret agent. It was host mom's duty that day to discover John's secret mission. I think she did.

Photo Credit: Paisley Lewis

Photo Credit: Paisley Lewis

 5. I looked like a hood-rat spray painting along the river. Last Tuesday, the team finally realized our dream of making our Davidson Spring Frolics Tanks along the coast of the Loire river in Tours. We decided a long time ago that because we were missing Davidson's largest and most fun spring celebration, we would celebrate our own way. The tanks read "Spring Frolics World Tours" a word play on where we live this semester. We will now live in infamy as those American kids that ruined the face of the Loire walkway with our stars and stripes forever.

Photo credit: Paisley Lewis

Photo credit: Paisley Lewis

6. I ate food that watched me as I ate it. On Thursday, the Davidson team parted for our Spring Break trip to the French Riviera! Yeah, I know. Best study abroad program ever. We originally only had to take two trains to get to the infamous city of Marseille, but because french people just don't want to go to work, they strike all of the time, and so we had to take four trains to get there. But everything worked out in our favor. Because the hotel ratings went through a change between the time that Dr. Kruger booked the hotel and the time of our trip, it gained a star! So we stayed at a really swank hotel right on the port face. Marseille was nice, but it was kind of dirty and everyone there looks like a pirate. They all wear lots of eye make-up and they all have neck tats. Thursday night, I ate the Marseillaise specialty Bouillabaisse, which is a kind of fish soup where they give you the broth and a bunch of whole fish, head and bones included. Never have I ever had to debone so many fish during a dinner. Oh la la. Worth it? Well, I have always wanted to try it, ever since the Goblet of Fire when the french girls came to Hogwarts and Ron thought someone sneezed when they said the name. Bouillabaisse.   

Nom Nom Bouillabaisse.

 7. I played my chip with the big boys. On our mega spring break trip, we went from Marseille to Nice. We only got to see our hotel before we left the city for my first new country on my semester abroad! Turns out, the Principality of Monaco is only less than a half an hour away by train! So we all dressed up and went to the country where the unemployment rate is 0%. We walked around in our dresses and bow ties and saw some cool cars and then went to THE casino. When there, I won 5 euros in slots! (but then proceeded to lose that plus another 5. I should've stopped while I was ahead) I also dished and bought a chip which I made Keith put on a roulette table (because I was too scared). Surprisingly, the number 34 did not win. We didn't see any celebrities, but we did see a few cool cars and pissed off a casino security guard that made me erase all of the illegal pictures I took of the casino.

 8. I washed up on a beach made of rocks. You northerners know very well the feeling you get when you see water and it's a whopping 65 degrees outside. You think that it won't be that cold and you'll get used to it eventually. Well that is exactly what happened in the Mediterranean Sea this weekend. Jane, Keith, and I took a dip in the water that was quite cold, but managed to stay in for almost a half an hour! This one guy came up to us and asked us to get him sea water for him. He thought we didn't understand him, I just thought he was crazy. Why would anyone want a bottle of salt-water? So eventually I understood that he didn't do it himself because he didn't want to get wet, so I struggled standing up on a rocky beach. I dropped the bottle twice and fell down three times. Why can't the French get normal comfortable beaches? Whatever. The sea  was more blue than any body of water i've ever seen, and that's what made our little excursion worth it.  


9. I celebrated life with flowers and lights. Oh yeah, Nice! We went there! For those of you that don't know, Nice (pronounced Neese) is this city on the southern coast of France that hosts a lot of tourists, kind of like Florida in the U.S. We went to celebrate Nice's Carnaval, which is this big few week long celebration where they have a bunch of parades and celebrations. There was a big Ferris wheel and inflatables, too! We went to a parade that was a mix between the Rose Bowl Parade and Mardi Gras, where floats were constructed out of flowers, and when they were done showing off, they took the flowers off of the float and threw them into the ground. I collected a pretty sweet bouquet if I do say so myself, but sadly I couldn't keep it. The second parade we saw was a giant lights show, where giant floats rolled down the streets and mocked political figures and famous sports stars. It was pretty cool. Nice was just really pretty. It was probably the second cleanest french city i've seen, right after St. Malo. We took one of those touristy double decker bus tours that used to stop in front of Poster Plus in Chicago everyday. I will admit, they are a pretty useful way to see all of the things you need to see in a big city in a day. Also for you P-Plus folks, we went to the Marc Chagall museum! It was nice to see some of his works after looking at 525,600 advertisements for his exhibitions. In Nice, we stayed at this really cool hotel called the Windsor that was really close to the water. At this hotel, each hallway was decorated by a different artist, so all of the rooms had a different creative twist. Jane, Paisley, and my room had a giant mural of a unicorn that I named Giancarlo to watch over us. The others had cool rooms too, but our room had a really nice view and a rose that didn't smell like what a rose was supposed to smell like at all. In the hotel, the tiny elevator was modeled like a space ship and announced lift-off whenever you went up to the top!

Giancarlo the Unicorn

Blake, Keith, and Jane at the Bataille de Fleurs

photo credit: Paisley Lewis

10. I lost my first eating contest to Jane Morrison. On Saturday evening before the light parade, we went to this really famous ice cream place in Nice called Fennocchio's. (Nice is really close to italy, so there is a lot of Italian influence in everything) There were so many flavors that it was so hard to pick two. So Jane and I decided that we would come back the next day to do the "15 Boules Challenge". We each other and came up with rules and listened to Blake's trash talk. We decided that we could each choose 11 of our own flavors, eat the two necessary flavors (Chilli Chocolate and Beer) and then two that the opponent picked for the other (We both picked black olive for each other but I gave Jane this candied strawberry while she gave me basilic tomato) Jane beat me by a whole scoop. I think she only ate 14 because she has no memory of eating the olive flavored one. But whatever, I ate my 15 in less than 12 metric minutes. We then left Nice to come back to Tours and we found out that while it was sunny and approx 65 degrees in the south, it was cold and rainy in the city that we love.

 
In short, I've had such an amazing time in Tours already and I can't wait to see what else is in store. As of now, I have taken eighteen different trains to get to different places around France. I know I'm in store to take at least seven more between now and the 9th of May when I leave for Holland. Right now i'm finishing up travel arrangements to keep me occupied for the months of April and May. Right now I have strands of Yellow Fever and Typhoid running through my body to help me get ready for Senegal.
  
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I saw Michelle McVicker today, with her friend from Austria Kathi? Yeah! I did! AND SHE BROUGHT MY LAMB! I only got to see them for a bit, but i'll see them again this weekend along with other Davidson students. Keith and I are planning on loitering under the Eiffel Tower all afternoon and hope that they show up. 

Alright, again, I'm sorry for my lack of blogpost and email correspondence. With Pierre's new power cord sling I might be able to keep him alive long enough to respond to some important emails and to skype my parents a few times before we leave for Africa at the end of April. Should I dare to dream? We'll see.

Until next time,

Traveling Quincy

P.S: I just wanted to say thank you to Mrs. Jan Bolubasz! Without her fantastic mittens I would've lost my hands to frostbite a long time ago! Merci bien!!!

Photo credit: Paisley Lewis

QKAP