This week was a very demanding week, workwise...I worked a day and a half! We had Armistice Day (Veterans' Day for you Americans) off on Wednesday, but I normally have Wednesdays off, so that was a bit of a letdown. I stayed home Thursday due to a nasty stomach bug that I can only assume came from my students and their grubby little hands. I had previously arranged to have Friday off (I was able to make up the hours a few weeks ago) so that I could catch an early train to Grenoble. Elizabeth, a friend I've known since first [View Full Entry]

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After running around Jerusalem and various other parts of Israel for a few days, it was time for me to get down to the main reason for my trip: visiting my friend Jess. Jess, like me, is taking a year off from the real world and is volunteering at Yemin Orde. A youth village outside of Haifa, Yemin Orde is home (or at least a temporary or part-time home) to about five hundred kids, mostly high school age. While there are some orphans, most have families. Some families have recently immigrated to Israel, while others are back in the kid's home [View Full Entry]

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I am already starting to fall behind on my updates. I got back from Israel two weeks ago, still need to write two blogs about my various adventures in the Holy Land, and just got back from a weekend in Grenoble. I will attempt to update as soon as possible! Anyway, back to Israel. Jerusalem has a ton of tour groups that will take you just about anywhere in Israel on day trips (the country is so tiny that you can drive from north to south in just a few hours). I shelled out some shekels and signed up for a [View Full Entry]

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I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted. Life here in France isn't always fun and games and travel...I do have to work a bit! Our Toussaint (All Saints' Day) holidays started on October 24, so I packed up my backpack, jumped on a train (well, two trains) to the airport. I said au revoir to France and shalom to Israel. My trip there was rather uneventful, but long. I left Douai at 3pm and arrived in Israel at nearly 3am. It turns out it is a tradition for passengers to clap when the plane touches down in the Holy [View Full Entry]

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We had planned to go to St-Quentin today, but that didn't work out very well. We decided to stay in Douai and explore our new town a bit. Saturday is market day, and our little town has TWO markets. We crossed the canal and headed over to the food market (the other one is a bit more like a flea market, and after the braderie last week, we decided to take a break from sifting through junk). The market sells all sorts of food, from cheese to meat to fresh produce. You can also get flowers, spices, and homemade jellies and [View Full Entry]

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Well, I've been in my new French hometown for a week now. I am proud citizen of Douai, which is located in the département du Nord in the northernmost region in France, Nord-Pas-de-Calais (the French really love to divide things into lots of categories!). There are about 43,000 people here, and it's roughly one hour from Paris by TGV (high-speed train) and about 25 minutes from Lille. I was a bit concerned about moving here after spending a week in Paris. I would excitedly tell people I was moving to Douai, and they'd make a terrible face and say something like [View Full Entry]

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My last few days in Paris were quite busy as I was trying to see everything that was left in the City of Lights. Needless to say, I failed, but hopefully I can head back every now and then to see some more sights. Thursday, Peter and I went to Père Lachaise cemetery, which lies on the outskirts of the city. My Lonely Planet guide tells me it's the most visited cemetery in the world. It was really interesting and walked the line between pretty and slightly creepy quite well. We chose not to buy the expensive tourist maps to the [View Full Entry]

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I've been going into Paris every day and doing a very haphazard tour of the sights every day so far this week. I bought a week-long métro pass, so I figure I should use it! The sightseeing is haphazard because I can't really be bothered to sit down and come up with an organized plan of attack and because things in France are randomly closed, so I often have to go back and see things a second time. The métro system is very organized and trains come every couple of minutes, so I can hit several neighborhoods in one day, if [View Full Entry]

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Well, I arrived in France and am still very much alive. However, I don't appreciate comments like "why haven't you blogged yet?!" Give a girl a chance to get over jet lag and eat French food! I do have things to do here other than blogging for you :) I left the good ole US of A Thursday afternoon, and it was a very uneventful journey. One of the members of the Redwalls (one of my favorite bands!) sat next to me in the lounge waiting for our flight to Paris. Apparently the band had a really bad falling out and [View Full Entry]

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(author's note: If you received an email about this update, congratulations! You are subscribed to my blog, whether you like it or not. Obviously, you are more than able to unsubscribe, but know that I will be able to see who unsubscribes and I will hold it against you for a very long time! :) If you are not subscribed, please do so! It is a painless way to keep up to date with me.) Well, it's official. I am packing up my stuff and leaving for France in twelve days. And when I say "am packing" I do not mean [View Full Entry]

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