48 Hours to Go

I am off in less than 48 hours and I feel as prepared as I did a month ago. I really have not got much new news to report. I am trying to map things out, but leave them open. A kind of struggle I hope will be more enjoyable when I have people recommending places to go, see and stay.

I have to be honest, school starts on Monday and I have never felt better. I mean I have no stress or worries at all. Perhaps it is the lack of lesson plans or worries about the student body, or the crazy hoops that teachers would be made to jump through, but I feel good.

My sister will not be able to join in for my birthday so I will be off, in Italy, alone and I cannot wait. I think I will be visiting Torino. Why Torino? Well, Rome is too far away, Venice is too expensive and Torino is on the way to Germany. What is there to do there...I have no real idea. I am hoping to just explore.

I hear that Munich is lovely and am excited to visit, despite not knowing a word of German...okay without knowing three words of German. I will be able to be there about a week and meet up with Justin for a fancy hotel for about three nights.

I bought a Eurail pass for France, Italy, and Germany. Perhaps it was not the best idea for a couple of reasons: 1) I have read that in some instances it will not save you money 2) I will be recieving it on Tuesday...please note I am leaving on Monday. I guess it will be shipped to France by mon papa.

I am waiting to hear back about being placed for my French family but hope that it is somewhere good. I am still not sure if I want to take the immersion classes or not, they are expensive and I will be immersed...but it is different. I will have to ponder this some more.

My letters of recommendation, application and even doctor's notes have been sent in for a small family run farm (not really kibbutz) about 10 minutes from Tel Aviv. Of course there was drama about the doctor's note, since I was not there, but I was checked out in December so I was cleared.

I decided that although I still am unsure of the exact items that will be in my backpack, I will bring a laptop. Just got a new mini one for emails, blogs, and skype. Perhaps a phone will be purchased, perhaps not; at least some form of communication will be possible.

I said my goodbyes to almost everyone I wanted and am getting ready to hold on tight. The next blogs that I will be posting will be stories and thoughts, hopefully more exciting than what you have been reading up on thus far!!

Pulling it Together

So my time is coming near and I feel like I have so much to do still. I am leaving for New Jersey in two days and need to make sure that I have everything I need with me as there will be no turn arounds on the way to the airport (to France). Justin will be leaving from the same airport the same day and the same time from me, so it is nice that we will be able to go in together, even though our planes will be on opposite sides of the airport.

Today I need to get the nerdy money pack, shoes that look fashionably European, a new battery for my watch, and get a combination lock. I have decided that a money belt will be best for me...not the belt that has a spot for money, but one of those money pouches that I can stick my passport in. I have heard it is lame and uncomfortable but I figure, better have it decide not to use it, then want to use it and not have it. Also, I have read that people said it was so stupid seeing someone have to pull out their shirt, undo their pants all to get the money for the merchant...I am not going to be like that...that screams "I AM A FREAKIN TOURIST AND NEED TO BE ROBBED!" I will have my passport and most of my money there while in my purse or book bag (like a normal person) I will have like 20-50 euro for the day trip.

Why not get my shoes in France? Great idea, but I fear having to enter a store and ask for a size...not the normal 5.5. I mean I just feel like the stores will be different there, and I do not want to risk not finding what I want, when I know I can get it here (although this may mean that the "European style" shoe that I get is really an American style shoe that fakes me out.

I just reconnected with an old friend and she gave me some great advice. The hostels will have lockers so bring a combination lock. I can enter the Louvre through the metro station, which apparently is a much much shorter line. (Anyone know tips on getting around the long line for the Eiffel Tower)? Another friend of mine told me to always have a home base for the cities, which I knew - the change of plans with my sister not coming (or so I think) makes me worried since I do not even know what town I will be in, let alone having a home base in it! Plus it is August, and I know how the french vamoose that time of year.

::bites nails::

Favorite New Suggestion/Information: My 2 pairs of underwear dear friend of the heart...I asked him about how he cared for his passport - he replied that he had the necklace carrier, but kept it in his crotch (I might be passing on this suggestion too)

Israel and Germany Too

Every time that someone talks to me about when I am leaving I get a horrible piercing pain in my front temprel lobe. I believe it is, what some call, a stress headache. I feel like I have so much to do and just not enough time. I don't know how this trip would ever have been possible if I did not have the summer to make final plans and arrangements.

I was going to get my NM license but it turns out since I am under 25 I need to take some Drunk Driving class and that takes way too long. So everything will stay the same and when I return from my trip I will change all of my official paperwork. I have switched banks and have a credit card that will not charge me a conversion rate (go Capital One). I am still working on switching my automatic bill pay to the new bank account and making sure that my student loans are paid off. I spoke to Sprint about my phone and they said that they can hold the number for like $10 a month and I can get it when I return, which is what I might do. I just need to call them up and make sure everything is set. I need confirm that my credit and bank card know I will be out of the country so that when I use my cards, they do not shut them off.

I have applied for the "volunteer" program where I will be put up with a host family for a month and spend about 15 hours a week speaking English with them. I think this will be perfect for me, getting to know the people and culture. I signed up with GeoVision and it seems to fit with everything I need. I called it "volunteer" because I have to pay them, but the cost is still less than it would cost me to live and eat without the program - and who can beat having connections and a family to be with?

I have also done some hard thinking about working a kibbutz in Israel for the time that I need to get out of the EU. My friend recommended Kibbutz Ketura, which seems nice, but what do I know? I take his advice since he has been there and knows the place intimately. I need to get travel insurance while I am there and a volunteer visa. This one seems to be a lot easier to get than the French one, but I am not saying anything to jinx it! I just need to go to Tel Aviv, pay them some money, give them my passport, and BAM! I may not even have to go to Tel Aviv to do this, but I have some people who I may be able to meet up with there, so I see no harm either way. I hear the best way to get from Tel Aviv to the kibbutz is by bus, so that I shall also look into.

I have many emails to many people about many things out. I feel like there is nothing more that I can do but then I get a reply to an email and I go into a new frenzy of things that I need to do. For example, my mom called me to get the date and flight time that I would be getting into NJ - this is when I realized, I had not booed my flight yet! So I did that, thankfully the prices were still low and tickets were available.

I leave for New Jersey in less than a week and I need to make sure I bring everything I need with me...or I will be S.O.L. for a bit at least. New updates: My sister may not be able to visit me for my birthday, I know a heartbreak. I was actually enjoying all of the trips that we had been taking together but I guess not everything lasts. Perhaps she will be able to come, but it is not looking so hot. For my birthday, I have no idea the plans so don't ask. Other news: Justin (my fiance) may be sent to Germany during October Fest (which is in September) for a couple of weeks. If this happens, I get to visit Germany, see Justin, have a free place to stay and relax a bit. I say a bit because I would only have about three days with him before I would be off to my French family, but that is still in the works.

Volunteering

Okay, so I had planned this whole trip around the idea of WWOOFing. I stay at whatever farm will take me, meet the people, immerse myself in the culture, learn the language and then continue on. Since I seem to be having a ridiculous time getting the farms to get back to me, why not just do other types of volunteering?

In college I participated in Habitat for Humanity during two of my spring breaks and wanted to continue this, but did not have the energy or time, when working. I have looked into it in France to allow me to continue with my cheap travels. I found one where I can teach English to a family for about 15 hours a week and they will be my host family. This sounds pretty good. I will continue to look into it.

I have also looked into volunteering for other countries. It is just crazy to go to so many places for a week at a time. I do not know if I could keep up with it, or even pay for the travels. Perhaps I will just stay in France, WWOOF, volunteer, and travel. When I need to leave I can go to Israel for a month or so or Switzerland, which is a lot closer. When I looked up some information about Switzerland and traveling alone I got a ridiculous number of conversation threads talking about how much they did not like the place. Perhaps Israel will be my one month layover until I go to London. It is just hard to be in London and not go to Ireland or Scotland. Or to be in France and not check out Italy. I guess I need to think about running around and possibly volunteering so many places or just getting to know a couple. I do wish that Greece was out of the EU...

Planning of First Leg...Finished!

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta. Okay, so I am no gangsta and I have no idea how that feels…but I do think of Office Space and the feeling that the employees get when they beat the ____ out of the fax machine, and this is my equivalent feeling.

I have finally completed all major plans for the first leg of my trip! All of the rest will be filled in with walking, strolling, eating, enjoying. Now, if you were smart, you would have skipped the last two months of blogs and headed straight to this page, but I guess not everyone has the insight to do so. I was going to write everything down, but I feel as though I have done this a million times before, so I shall not do it again… just new news.

I will stay at the first hotel after my overnight flight, close to the airport. I figure it is cheap and easy, giving me time to relax. It has very mixed reviews, so I figured one day will be enough with that. The rest of the four days will be spent in the heart of Paris.

I have decided that a Paris Visite Travel Card is the best bet for me. This is like a metro/subway card that will give me unlimited access to the metro, RER, and Ile-de-France bus lines. There are other options for trains, buses, etc but I think that this will be the best for me. I will only be in Paris for four days, but I will get a 5 day card since they have 1, 2, 3, and 5 days only. The 4 days will be cheaper than just getting individual tickets so why not?

I found a hostel in Paris and decided to go with a four person mixed room as it was significantly cheaper. I hope that it is not me and three guys but we shall see (ear plugs are packed!) I was debating about bringing my computer, I mean it is heavy and will take up a lot of the little room that I will have, and I feel it is not the safest thing to do. The more I think about it though, the more I want to bring it. I will hopefully talk myself out of this though…

I will be able to take a quick 5 minute bus and 35 minute train to the airport and then head to Toulouse. I have booked a hotel there. There were many options, few which seemed compatible with what I was looking for. The ones that seemed good appeared to be in “seedy” parts of town. By context clues, this means beggars and legal prostitutes all over.

I am waiting to hear back from Christian with if he wants me to meet him in town and I can catch a ride on his bike, or if he would like me to attempt getting to him. I will update you when I hear back.

Getting in the Spirit of French Cooking

So being in New Mexico, without a job, and hardly knowing anyone there is little to do. Once can only unpack, clean, organize, move, organize, unpack… for so long before going insane. As stated previously I have gotten into reading about France, more specifically about Provence. I read one great book many years ago which I loved, but sadly the author never wrote another book (or got one published). The latest book that I purchased I finished in one day and it discussed the different French cuisine and stories surrounding the author learning about them.

All this reading about food, of course, made me want to get back into the kitchen and do the baking that I enjoy so much. Having the summers off is a wonderful opportunity for me to get back to try new things in the kitchen, it is unfortunate that I do not have this chance during the holidays, I am burnt out by break.

Looking through my Provence cookbook I came across a summer bread. It called for flour, yogurt, eggs, cheese, mustard, chives, thyme, and mint. Since I did not have mint I substituted rosemary. It came out okay, I guess I was expecting some wonderfully sweet delicious bread…perhaps my cheese was not melty enough… the author said to try it with cheese, so my accompaniment of Brie worked well.

Flipping through the pages, looking for something else, I came across a chickpea recipe. It was simple enough, only four ingredients (chickpeas, pepper, salt, ground cumin) and about 40 minutes of my time. Unfortunately, I am not used to this oven and I think (like the bread) it was a bit over done. I was able to salvage enough and Justin seems to enjoy munching on them. The end product was okay in my opinion, but I loved the flavors. Perhaps next time, I will experiment with some red pepper flakes…

Still feeling unsatisfied I took a stroll in the backyard. Everything seems to be in bloom despite being the in the high dessert. Purples, reds, oranges, and yellows everywhere I look. The roses have been dead-headed and the rosemary has been sniffed. Oh yes, and my beautiful apricot tree…well actually it is my neighbors but 1/3 of it hangs into our yard and we were told to help ourselves…maybe I can find something for those to go in. Back to the kitchen to look up tarts, pastries, ice creams, and ah yes apricot jam.

The recipe only calls for apricots and sugar, both of which I have a high abundance of. Off to pick 20 ripe apricots, without stepping on any slugs, is task enough but nothing could stop me from trying my hand at some homemade jam. I cleaned them off and cut them in half, into the pot they go. I needed to crack the pits though to get the almond shaped “thing” (which by the way happens to be edible). I pulled out my meat tenderizer and went to work, to no avail. All that I managed to do was mark up my beautiful silver tenderizer. Ah, nut crackers, of course! They were not so helpful as the pits were tiny and slippery. Looking into my drawer of tools, I found one last glimmer of hope, my claw cracker. It just so happened to do its job, quite well at that. I on the other hand, did have a few problems, pit particles went flying and the inside was cracked. Luckily I only needed ten and I had twenty to attempt.

After my ten items were added to the pot, I added some sugar and turned up the heat. Right away the apricots started to melt together with the sugar into a smooth golden stream. I had 60 minutes to pace around the kitchen, stirring, and smelling. The smell was so warm and sweet I could not help but to lick the spoon. It was so earthy and wonderful, it reminded me of my grandmother’s kitchen. Perhaps because she always used prunes and plums to bake, I am not fully sure why, but it took me to that place. This was supposed to have a nutty hint to it, but all I could taste was earthy, which I think was from the wooden spoon. Perhaps my nose and taste buds will gain sophistication in France.

All of the skins melted with the sugar and it looked like boiling sugar used for decorating cakes. The jam bubbled up and then oozed together. It thickened and then was removed from the stove. I was supposed to have enough for 4 8oz jars, I think I have enough for one. Perhaps my apricots were small, or I cooked it for too long, it was really thick. I set it aside and let it rest overnight. The next morning I picked the “pits” out and tried it on some of the summer bread and everything seemed to come together. Tomorrow, I will make a new batch, cook it for less time, leave in the edible seeds and jar it for later.