France Study Abroad

First, I am vowing to write more, my days here are pretty busy!
Where should I start? hmmm Last weekend we went to Nice, Cannes and Monaco- probably three of the most gorgeous places I have ever set foot on. Nice is completely stunning, everything is clear and blue. The beaches are rocky, but not like our rocky North Shore beaches at home, I'm talking BIG rocks, not pebbles- the beach looked like a pre made background for my computer. I felt the Mediterranean for the first time in my life and even tasted it! SO salty, but it's clear as can be. The weather matched the landscape and was ideal, just like a postcard.

That night we dressed up to hit the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco. The Principality of Monaco is a tiny yet proud and picturesque country filled with high end stores (Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel..you get the picture) and high security. There are police officers everywhere, both in and out of uniform. The casino was nothing like what I'd imagined (of course I think casino and picture Las Vegas), but there was no glitz or flashing lights. Inside, you could hear a pin drop and everyone was dressed to the nines, the building itself looked like an old chateau with magnificent paintings everywhere. Katie and I walked around and tried a few slot machines, without much luck so we just bought a 12 Euro Cosmo and called it a night. Off to Cannes in the morning!

We woke up to SNOW, I couldn't believe my eyes. It hasn't snowed in Nice (where we spent the night, 20 minutes away from Monaco) in over 30 years..guess we brought the snow, huh? The snow quickly departed and the sun came out like nothing had ever happened. The gloomy, dank day turned out to be a gorgeous Sunday! Katie's boyfriend, DJ (who is studying at another American school here) met us along with our other housemate Dylan (who goes to DJ's school) and a few of our French friends met us for lunch. We had a great meal, Croque Monsieur for me (French speciality- grilled cheese with ham) then we relaxed on the beach. The beaches in Cannes were pure salt unlike Nice. Not a pebble ot shell to be seen, but of course like Nice, the Mediterranean Sea.
Katie and I are currently sitting at our desks putting the finishing touches on our winter break trip! We wanted to go to Ireland so I spoke to my dad and he spoke to his friend who lives in Dublin, they'll be vacationing in Mexico so we'll be staying in their flat. Tuesday, we will be taking the TGV(high speed train) from Aix to Paris then flying to Dublin.

Here's a pitcure of Harmony, Katie and I on the beach in Nice!

Bonjour!

I arrived in Marseille Saturday afternoon after a long and tiring flight. My roommate Katie and I were picked up at the airport by the housing director from our university and took the 20 minute bus ride to Aix-en-Provence where we met our host mom, Madame Emery in town. Between Katie and I there were four huge suitcases and a few smaller carry on bags, since the cars here are so small Madame took me and the bags to the apartment and went and got Katie after I was dropped off. They aren't big on elevators here so I had to carry my two 50 pound suitcases up two flights of stairs. Madame showed us around (four bedrooms, living room, bathroom..but the toilet in down the hall from the shower and sink), Katie and I share a good sized room with huge floor to ceiling windows that overlook the mountains.

On Sunday Katie and I walked around town and navigated our way to the university, it's a good 20 minute walk. Aix is characterized for its' fountains, they are everywhere! The weather here is much milder than it is at home.. which is in the high 40's/mid 50's. Aix is known for it's picturesque landscape, abundance of students, chic clothing style, laid back attitude and southern accent. According to the French law, stores are only allowed to have sales twice a year and lucky for me sales are taking place now until the beginning of February!

Today was our first day of classes, I had France During the Occupation and Speaking of Provence (both of which were conducted in English) and they were extremely interesting. In both classes we take trips to places in Aix or to surrounding cities. I am going to eat dinner now (it's 7:30 and it's actually a little early for dinner which is usually at 8) then some friends and I will walk back into the center of town to check out the nightlife and see what else Aix has in store for us.

I've only been here a few days but I can already tell that this will be one of the best experiences of my life.

Bisous (kisses)!
Lauren

The day is finally here! It's the night before I leave for France and of course I left a considerable amount of packing for tonight. I will be studying at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, as nervous as I am to leave I am equally excited. I will be leaving New York tomorrow afternoon headed for brussels and then catching a flight to Marseille.

My roommate Katie(She goes to Indiana University) and I will be staying with a host family, we only know their name so we will meet them Saturday afternoon! I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight, but I am sure the next four months of my life will be hard to forget.

Wish me luck!

NEW SPRING 2010 BLOGGER!

Please check back soon to read the blogs of our Spring 2010 France Study Abroad student, Lauren!

My LAST Day of Work

I visited yesterday again with the Secretary General of the International Federation of Catholic Universities, Monsignor Guy-Réal Thivierge. Not really paying attention to the dates before I left, when I saw him he couldn't believe my time here was already up. In fact, it had been one full month since I had seen him the first time. Though at the beginning I thought my time here would not end, it has come time to say goodbye. I have thought a lot on the work I've done and reflected quite a bit on the time I've had here. In being here I have become sure of 3 things. A) The work being done in this office is so very important, and unique. B) I am not a good international travel by myself. Put me in a group of friends, or even peers, and I would have a blast, but alone I am not adventurous enough to enjoy a foreign city. Lastly C) I have realized what it means to have a JOB.

And so we begin with A. The work that Fr. Desbois is doing, along with his team here in Paris is very unique, but at the same time very important. Fr. Desbois began this work on a personal journey in about 2000. He told me in an interview for the project I am working on that when he went first about 9 years ago he wrote in a diary that the work would require not more than two return trips. However, here he is 9 years later and over 20 trips have occurred, with 2 more planned for this year. He estimates he has about five or six years left for this project. In that time he wants to investigate all areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia where there was German activity during the Holocaust. He has so little time to do this because the witnesses, the heart of the project, are already in their 80's and are disappearing quickly. With every witness that dies without telling their story, a mass grave may never be uncovered, and that story is gone forever. I was on the phone in Fr. Desbois' office one night and I was sitting at his desk and looked down and right in the center of his desk was the Starfish poem. It tells the story of a man walking on the beach one morning and in the distance he sees a young man who appears to be dancing. When he gets closer the man sees that the young man is bending down to pick up starfish and throw them back into the ocean. The man stops and asks the young man what he is doing. The boy explains that if the starfish do not have the protection of the ocean they could die in the morning sun. The old man looks up the beach and sees thousands of starfish. He asks the young man why he would bother when there are so many, he couldn't possibly make a difference. The young man looks up at the old man, then reaches down to pick up a starfish and throws it out into the ocean. "I made a difference to that one," says the young man. This is a well known story in Christian circles, and I had heard it many times before, but it really hit me when I saw it on Fr. Desbois' desk. This man has awards, medals, and statues from many prestigious organizations around the world, but yet front and center on his desk is this story. It really explains how concerned Fr. Desbois is for each individual who he has met and will meet. He wants to uncover all of the stories, and realizes he probably won't, but he realizes each one he hears is one more that may have never been told. It is incredibly inspirational.

B) Anyone who I talked to before leaving knows I was very excited to come to Paris. I was, I couldn't wait. But, the combination of being by myself, in a foreign city, not working with anyone my age, made the journey very difficult. Most of my sophomore year was spent going from one thing to the next, sometimes not even stopping in between to catch my breath. In fact I would often find myself doing two or three things at once. Then to come here, and be bored quite a bit was a very abrupt change of lifestyle. I realize now how much I enjoy a fast paced environment. But, nonetheless I discovered an immense appreciation for my French speaking skills, and my ability to live on my own. While I may not have enjoyed it, I did survive being on my own, and I am quite proud of that. My French was surprisingly sufficient. I was often complemented on my speaking skills, even though I have not spoken it for 3 years. Sometimes I found myself in awe that I was carrying on a completely fluent conversation in French. I remember telling some friends of mine that I was nervous I would not be able to keep up, but surprisingly I kept up quite well. And the other think I learned was how fun this place would be with friends. There were so many groups of people my age from all over the world everywhere I went. I found myself thinking about how fun it would be to explore the city with my friends. And so, I know that one day I will come back, after graduation, honeymoon, family vacation, I don't know what for, but I will come back, and I have made connections here that I will be able to see when I come back.

C) Lastly, this was my first real full-time office job. While it was really an internship I got a real sense of what it is like to have my own desk, to have a time to be at work, a lunch hour, and a time to leave work. And, because of this I know that I do not want to work in an office job where I am bound to a desk all day. I need to be able to get up, do things, and not be confined to a cubicle, because as vast as the internet is, you can only do so much in eight hours. Some people can do it, I cannot. And so, this job has certainly exposed me to an office job, and I have concluded it is not where I belong.

These may or may not be my final words for the blog. They will however be my final words from Paris. The taxi comes at 7 AM tomorrow morning to bring me to the airport for a 9:30 flight. I will land in Boston at 2:30 PM and I can't wait. But, I must say, this has been an experience I will not soon forget, I am incredibly grateful to all who helped make it happen. I am grateful to those who supported me and helped me prepare. The CCJU, the Study Abroad office, many others at Sacred Heart, definitely my parents, and many others helped me along the way. Thank You! I will certainly be enjoying the weekend as Monday I start my new job at SHU, and before we know it the semester will be here, and life as Sam Dowd will be back to normal! Thank you for following along and I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience it has been a pleasure doing it!

Over the Hump: Part 2

Saturday ended a long while after it began, and Sunday began much sooner than I thought it would. We had a destination in mind, a park in the middle of the mountains which had a waterfall we could walk to. After a small detour to try to follow signs for Farm Cheese, only to arrive about 45 minutes later to a closed store, we found the park and chose the route to take up the mountain. Although not a hiker by nature, I figured it couldn't be any harder than 24 miles through Connecticut with a 40-pound cross. And so we set off up the mountain. Shortly after reaching about midway we lost two of our group members to an easier route back down the mountain, skipping the falls, but seeing a reconstructed 19^th century Irish household. The rest of us made it to the falls and back down safely. Pictures are in the slideshow below. As most of us were tired, that was the extent of walking too much that day. We returned to Kenmare and explored downtown, had a drink, and went back to the cottage to get ready for dinner. After our dinner at a nice restaurant we went to listen to some live music at a pub. We were mellowed out by then and returned to the cottage for a good night's sleep.

Monday began as any other day, breakfast in the cottage, and discussions on the plan for the day. We finally decided upon driving up to Kerry to see some castles. Before reaching the castles some of the group explored a beach, but to me all beaches are the same, I wanted to get to the castles. The pictures describe the castles quite well, and I am determined to return without my mother so I can climb to the top without giving her a heart attack. We saw a castle in the midst of falling apart, and a restored fort both dating back a couple hundred years. We took what seemed to be the long road back to the cottage, although that was, I think, because the adults were attempting to find a chocolate factory. This was ironic as all I could think of was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the fact that he made Gobstoppers. Gobstoppers are the one candy I have been craving since I stepped foot in Europe and they do not exist here. Just nature's way of teasing me! We never found he chocolate factory, and headed home. The men, minus myself, made dinner, and it was quite good.

Tuesday was a planned day before it even began. We went to Muckross House, a mansion that has been preserved from the late 19^th century. It was quite impressive to see how rich people lived back then. I really enjoyed the bell system they used to summon the servants. 32 bells were attached by string to different places in the house, and the servants had to recognize which bell went where and what bell the pitch of the ring was associated with. I thought that part was very cool. In the afternoon, we were set to kayak near a castle. Unfortunately I downloaded mom's camera onto my laptop Monday night and didn't get any pictures from Tuesday. But, it was very cool to kayak on the lake. We went to explore a 6^th century monastery, which was used to instruct many of the king's sons back in that time. As the least physically active of the group I was not all that excited to kayak, but my age and lack of physical activity equaled their age and level of physical activity, so it was well balanced. In all it was a great experience, and my first, actually in a wet suit, maybe my last too. Tuesday night we had a great dinner, my last in Ireland, as Wednesday morning we go up extra early and I was off to the airport to come back to Paris.

Work since Wednesday has been nothing special. I hope to start interviews either today or tomorrow. My last day here is Thursday as my flight home is Friday. My guess is that I will film for the next 3 and a half days and edit the film on my way home or when I get back. SHU should see my arrival on Sunday, and I begin work on Monday. I can't wait to get home, as I've missed quite a bit. I hope weather is getting better, as it remains sunny here. Today is quite hot actually, not a cloud in the sky! Enjoy the pictures below:

Over the Hump: Part 1

I'll do my best to concentrate here, but my attention is partly being devoted to fending off the brother and sister next to me who are waving neon-colored feather pens in my face in an attempt to attract my attention. If I remember from 2^nd grade, if I just ignore them, they will stop. Well, now the girl has torn the feathers off and is throwing them around like confetti. But, on the bright side, the man behind me is getting tickled by the feathers against his will for now. Ok, now that I have de-feathered myself, I should explain that I'm on Ryanair flight 132 Shannon, Ireland to Paris-Beauvais on my way home from a great long-weekend in Ireland with mom and some friends. I must comment first off, that Ryanair has truly realized that when you are on an airplane you can't avoid the flight attendants. So, they have made them salesmen. Every few minutes they go up and down the aisle with phone cards, scratch tickets, food, newspapers, magazines etc. It seems like a genius business model, but it's a good thing they have cheap flights, it's almost not worth having to listen to all of the sales pitches.

Ok, one paragraph spent describing 10 minutes, you're in trouble now that I have to describe the last 4 days. It all began Saturday morning at 4:30 AM, I ventured to the train station to get to the airport, and after some creative maneuvering I came up with the necessary money in the necessary form to get to the airport. My flight from Paris to Dublin went smoothly and I made it to my gate in Dublin only to find a delay. Not bad, only 15 minutes delay so I wasn't too mad. But, then rumors of the flight being cancelled began circulating the gate, and soon after the flight was in fact cancelled. This wasn't too bad for me as the next flight from Dublin to Shannon was the one my mother was to take. And so, I began the process of getting a new boarding pass. This was greatly aided by my lack of checked baggage and I was soon back up at the gate ready to go. When mom still hadn't shown up by the time everyone had boarded I got a bit nervous, but I ended up boarding without her and she came on soon after. Then we sat at the gate for 45 minutes as the flight crew reconciled a difference between the number of people checked into the plane and the number of people on board. We took off and landed in Shannon only about an hour late, and got the bags and went to get the car. My mom was with two other couples. The women are part of a group which has been friends for as far back as elementary school, and their husbands were along for the vacation. The eventual destination of their trip is a wedding in Maynooth this weekend for the daughter of a friend of theirs. When everyone had their luggage we went to get the rental van. I never really put together that in Ireland they drive on the other side of the road and the driver's side is the other side. Luckily, John was up first for driving and got used to it pretty quick, and we began the task of navigating Ireland's roadways. Having been up since 4:30 that morning I slept most of the car ride to lunch, and from lunch to get groceries. After that I watched the scenery as we winded through the hills and mountains of Ireland. I was very impressed with the scenery in Ireland. I had pictured farms and hills, but not mountains and rocky terrain. We eventually made it to the cottage and got settled. We went for an exploratory drive around Kenmare, the town we stayed in, to scope out things to do.

In an effort to maintain content for future posts, Ireland will be done in parts, so tune in tomorrow for Part 2 and some pictures!

On the Up and Up!

Today I experienced a bit of a revival of enthusiasm. After finding out last night that my mom's planned visit was not going to work out this weekend I was pretty unhappy beginning work today. I started the day looking at flights so that I could manage a way up to Ireland to see her, and finally I found a very complicated route that would allow me to get there for a decent price. This made me quite a bit happier. Then, in a revelation of miraculous proportions, I realized that the work I was doing here was work that I, or anyone, could do essentially anywhere in the world. This told me that the fact that I was working at the Paris office was a bit of a waste, as I didn't need to be here to do it. So I proposed a documentary on the organization that will be used for promotion of the cause in the United States. This was very well received. The Director said they had been looking into doing just that for a while now (which begs the question of what were they thinking making me work on a website when I told them I was interested in films, particularly documentaries). And so, tomorrow I will meet with the Director, Marco, and Fr. Desbois to pitch the documentary I have in mind and get some input from them. Then, Saturday, very early morning I will leave for Ireland where I will be with mom and her friends until Wednesday morning. At that point I will come back here and begin work on the documentary. This project has two very positive results to it. I will be able to do something I really enjoy and can get very enthusiastic about, and I will have a finished project come July 13^th that will be used to promote the cause. So, it's a shame it took 3 weeks (this morning marked the 3-week mark) to figure this out, but on the other hand, I have a really exciting vision for the documentary and can't wait to start it.

And so, things are looking up here. I will be able to see mom this weekend which will be nice, and then when I get back I spent the last two and a half weeks making a documentary. Life is good.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

You know last night was pretty rough. I was lonely, upset, and to be honest felt trapped in France. Today brings a new day, and what does the man upstairs do for me? He brings people from my home land over to Paris. Today marked the opening of the international symposium Operation 1005: Nazi Attempts to Erase Evidence of the Holocaust. The symposium is being sponsored by two Paris universities College des Bernardins, Sorbonne, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, aka USHMMCAHS (those representative from this sponsor would be the ones sent from my home land) and Yahad-In Unum, the organization that I am working for. Now, while most of the day was spent doing conference work, it was the end of the day that made me feel most at home. After the day was over the speakers and sponsors were invited to the Sorbonne for a reception. This reception took place in the Office of the President of the University. Alas, I felt at home. Though, there was no milk, I did have A LOT of orange juice, as opposed to Champagne. It felt nice to be back in a President's office, having been in a few meetings in the SHU President's office last semester. It is interesting to note that 4 of the many attendees this evening, myself included, were at one point in the SHU President's Office together. Suzanne from the Holocaust Museum, and Marco (director of Yahad-In Unum) and of course Fr. Desbois, were all together amongst a collection of other important people. The purpose of the gathering, however, was not only to celebrate a wonderful first day of the conference, but the President, Georges Molinié, read a press release that was sent out this evening. It appears that Yahad-In Unum and the Sorbonne will be opening a very large research program and archive center to further Holocaust studies, particularly the Holocaust by Bullets in Eastern Europe. I couldn't help but think of whether this would ever be a moment to tell the grandkids about. I suppose it would be if one of them studied the Holocaust many many years from now. I could tell them I was there for the announcement of this great partnership.

I have been noting many differences and some similarities amongst the universities in Paris, mainly Sorbonne and College des Bernardins, and Sacred Heart. At some point I will write a full report, but I want to include in this blog post, only because I really can't resist, a very similar scene as I entered the Sorbonne courtyard today. Scaffolding graced the side of one of the buildings, and down below a big blue sign saying (Restoration of the Sorbonne University Chapel 2007-2010). Again I had a real sense of being at home. It was nice I must admit to have a year in the future be on the sign announcing the project to passers-by. It begs the question: Will theirs be done in time to have 2010 still be a relevant year on the sign? I did take pictures, but technical difficulties are prohibiting their being posted.

And so, Day 2 begins tomorrow. Early day again, but we'll have to see what it has in store!

My First Weekend Away: Namur, Belgium

Tired after a weekend away, I figured I should update the readers on my much anticipated trip to Namur. In short it was a great trip. I was greeted at the train station by Sister Louise and Sister Cecilia, two sisters of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur. We walked back to the residence and had a late night snack, it was about 10:30 by this time. We chatted a bit, mostly in French as that was the common language amongst the three of us. They showed me my room and I went to sleep very shortly after laying down. Not knowing too much about what was in store for the day ahead I woke up about 12 hours later and went back to the dining room to have breakfast. There was a note waiting for me saying Sr. Cecilia had to go to the coast to pick up a sister who was sick, and Sr. Louise had just stepped out to get some food for lunch. Sr. Louise came back shortly after I finished eating the wonderful pastries they had gotten for me earlier. It was quickly discovered that I had a knack for computers so I went up and looked at Sr. Louise's computer and was able to fix a few things for her. Afterwards we sat down and had a great chat. I showed her pictures from the Cross Walk I did in April which spurred a wonderful discussion that covered a variety of topics. Sr. Louise is English so we were able to talk in English which is obviously much easier. I happily obliged to take advantage of the "siesta" while we waited for Sr. Cecilia to come back. When she did come back we took a ride up to the citadel, an old system of roads, buildings, and walls for built for defense hundreds of years ago. It was some great scenery from atop the hill. They showed me around the city a little bit. I saw the cathedral and a church nearby. I can't help but love the detail in the architecture inside and out of the buildings. Dinner followed the citadel tour and then a nice card game, which I lost, but I'm told I was a fierce competitor. My early train this morning didn't allow for too much more time, but I was sure to get pictures with and of both of them. It was a wonderful trip, very worthwhile. I owe a very large thank you to Sr. Marie-Julianne for helping to set it up.

Tomorrow the conference begins, which means earlier morning than usual. So, I'm off to bed shortly. I hope you enjoy the pictures from the weekend, and I look forward to updating you on the conference either tomorrow night or Tuesday. A lot of work has gone into it, and it will be great to see it all come together over the next two days.