Life is good.

I work at The Farmer's Museum. I interpret rural life of upstate NY circa 1845. This is how I dress most days:

I like my job! I work in the print shop and I've made some cool things, including a copy of this Emily Dickinson poem:

I like living with Robby and Andréa. They take really good care of me. We have good chats all the time. Andréa and I have started watching Chopped on Netflix after work. I've also fallen in love with their cat, Kristofferson. It's not entirely mutual...yet.

On Monday nights I play D&D. We've come so far in the campaign! One more level, and my character will finally get to turn into a giant eagle.

Sometimes we go to dances, or play games, or get drinks at the fire bar. One time we rode on the Blues/"Booze" train.

Life is good.

Transitions

Purgatory is a good word for it--how one feels moving between one adventure and the next. The waiting, the wondering, the stress. A harsh light is shed on the temporality of situation, and relationships. Everything moves too fast and so, agonizingly slow. Decisions must be made. Adulthood must happen. Money is probably a good call.

It's good to be back. To see faces I haven't seen in seven months. To listen to friends' stories and life updates. To compare goals and ask big questions together. It's also been really great having access to my favorite Thai food.

But now is the time to make important choices I've been putting off since April. It's all fun and games to decide to move across the country, but then the reality of actually doing it hits you in the face. Is this what I really want? There are two sides to a coin: on one side, one wings it. On the other, one carefully researches and plans. Maybe these sides are on the same coin for a reason. I've got the winging down. The planning I'm working on.

I have no idea what I'm doing. It is terrifying. Luckily, I have amazing friends who feed me and let me pet their cat. Amazingly, I've found some work to occupy my time (and fund my craft beer tastings) until I get on the road. Hopefully, I can keep my shit together until that time, if not for longer.

There are some things that are keeping me sane. The first sip of coffee in the morning. The sunrise over Otsego county's breath-taking hills, knolls, and farmland. Loving Kristofferson, Andréa and Robby's cat. Music. And walking. Frothing the perfect foam for a latte. And writing, when I do it.

I'm going to leave you with a poem, because poetry is great and everybody should appreciate it on a more regular basis.

Poem: “The Orange,” by Wendy Cope, from Serious Concerns (Faber & Faber).

The Orange
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I got a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.
This is peace and contentment. It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I'm glad I exist.

No Longer Allergic!

I'm back in the United States of America. For the foreseeable future. It's very bittersweet. Like, if you looked up "bittersweet" in the dictionary, there would be a close-up picture of my face as I stepped on the plane that took me to Moscow*. And beside that photo would be a GIF (because this dictionary is interactive and on the Internet, apparently) of animated rainbows dancing. Guys, I'm so excited about the Next Step. Super pumped. Ready to roll. It's going to be amazing (and hard... adulthood is not as simple as clicking your red heels together; it's more like a long and treacherous journey down an apocalyptic alternative reality version of the yellow brick road--let's be real). Like, whoa.

But I miss Nice! Fancy that! Let's take a moment and look at what I thought of Nice before I even got there:

"So, I'm a little nervous about moving to Nice. Nice has 147 days of "strong sun" and 64 days of "weak sun" annually. That's 211 days of sun. I'm used to a 164 days of sun! I will have to deal with 47 extra days of sunshine! Oh my! What am I going to do?!"

I may have been a little too preoccupied with meteorology. I have gotten rashes from the sun before, so my worries were legitimate. Besides this, though, I had no idea what to expect from Nice. I had no sense of the place. No inkling of what I'd find when I got there. No expectations. Which is cool, I guess. I was free to experience the city without prejudice. 

Now that I've lived there for 8+ months, I definitely have a sense of the place. My sense is that Nice is always going to be something different. People come and go too quickly there. Businesses fall apart and go up in days. The turnover of tourists is remarkable. These are integral parts of Nice's identity. In some ways, it's good that I'm leaving Nice when I am. The delightful pocket of Nice I experienced last year no longer exists, which is very sad, but is also the nature of the universe. Change. C'est la vie and all that.

I want to take a moment, though, to appreciate my Nice. The Nice in my head--the Nice I'll always remember. Here's a poem:

Allergic to the Sun

When you move to a place without 

expectations, and with an apprehension 

for the sun, you will fall into friendship

with the bars and the people--with the 

people, for a night and with 

the bars, for a lifetime. 

This is the inevitability of the Côte d'Azur.

Do not be alarmed. The sea will sooth

your browning skin. The rocks that

make up the plage will leave gray 

dust on your clothes--reminders of good 

times gone by. Ghosts of smiles.

The street names will remind you of

dreary Paris, but the light and the 

colors--weapons Matisse harnessed to 

revolutionize his craft--will awaken 

in you a fidelity to a place you never

thought you'd call home. Here, you

work, and you play more than you work,

and that is the nature of your stay, and

you don't mind. The government does

its best to dishearten you, and you

laugh at it, because that is all you can

do. You laugh and file the paperwork, joke

and then pray. You go to the beach with friends

who laugh and pray with you. You sit beneath a

brilliant sky and wonder at how this 

became your life. And as you sit you realize 

you are no longer allergic to the sun.

Whoop, whoop! There it is. Nice won me over, guys. 

Anyway, I want to give a huge shout out to all the lovely people I met who made my Nice experience what it was. You guys basically won me over, so there you go. I can't wait to see some of you again--either at a Nice reunion, or a chance encounter, or during a trip to a new corner of the world. You're also welcome to come find me in the U.S. I will feed you delicious Annie's Mac n' Cheese and we will drink fantastic craft beer. Deal?

*My trip from Nice took an epic 2 days in which I traveled via overnight train to Paris; Orly airport to Moscow; Moscow to JFK; airtram to Grand Central where I had beers with Olivia and Max!!!; Metro-North train from Grand Central to Waterbury; and my dad's car from Waterbury to home.

From Scotland With Love

Guys. Scotland is gorgeous. BBC Radio 1 is perfect. Scotch eggs are delicious. There are sheep everywhere! And used bookshops for charity! And wonderful beer, and people, and fun!

I arrived in Scotland a week ago. Grant picked me up from the airport and we drove to a picturesque town in the highlands, Pitlochry, where we met Natalie. That evening we listened to live bagpipes, traditional Scottish music, and saw trad dancing at the town hall. I had my very first Scotch egg (a hard boiled egg encased in breaded meat) and loved it. The next day started off right with a full Scottish breakfast--including black pudding! We went out to Blair Atholl where I had my picture taken with some highland cows! (Mad horns, man!) We rested mid-day with high tea whilst watching Wimbledon. (At that point, I realized how insane these stereotypes were getting, but, when in the UK...) The next day I saw Blair Castle. The Ballroom is ridiculously decorated with a bunch of deer heads and random swords and it's pretty amazing. It has a huge wooden floor and I imagined I was out of time at some sort of contra dance-viking-fusion party. For dinner we went to The Old Mill Inn and I had haggis. And I loved it. The next day I relaxed and wandered around Pitlochry. It's pretty small, but cutesy. I got a poetry anthology at the train station secondhand bookshop for £1. After Natalie got back from work, we went to Gregg's for lunch. Hooray for cheap, hot food! On Friday we walked a path to Scotland's smallest distillery and went on a whiskey tour. It was cool to see how whiskey is made (and to taste some...especially on a cooler, rainy day). After lunch, Grant, Natalie, and I headed to Inverness! On the way there we stopped at the Battle of Culloden Memorial where Natalie told us the story of how Bonnie Prince Charlie lost Scotland to the English in in 1746. That night we got delicious pub food and went to a place called Hootananny where a group of 20-something guys were playing live traditional Scottish folk music (read: jigs and waltzes...it reminded me of Pine Lake so much). We made friends with a pair of older gentlemen named John and ? who've been to Belarus. They had some incredible stories. We ended up staying in the most lovely, chill hostel. In the morning we had free tea/coffee before heading to Primark where I got some new shoes (my old ones were wrecked from hiking through wet grass). Before heading out, Natalie showed us this AMAZING secondhand bookshop called Leaky's (which, let's be honest, belongs on Diagon Alley). Then we did some serious touring of the highlands, guys. I actually can't believe we got this all in--Urquhart Castle, Fort William (and Loch Ness, of course), the set of the Great Lake and the Hogwarts Express from the Harry Potter movies near the Glenfinnan Viaduct, and Glencoe. We did all of this on our way to Glasgow, where I got to meet Natalie's friends and get a taste of the Glasgow Uni neighborhood and Glasgow bar scene. We had a DELICIOUS American-style brunch at TriBeCa restaurant the next day before touring Glasgow University campus (which is essentially Hogwarts). Later we got refreshments on Ashton Lane and watched the crazy tie-breaker between Federer and Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. And then we headed to Linlithgow where I took a much needed shower, relaxed, and enjoyed a lovely evening with Natalie and her parents.

On Monday and Tuesday we're volunteering at the charity shop and seeing the Linlithgow sights and then on Wednesday I'll get to see Edinburgh before heading off to London. So much is happening and it's all wonderful and I'm just really glad, happy, and thankful. I can't believe I'm here. Shout out to Natalie for being a tour guide/host goddess; Grant for driving and being patient and up for anything; Sarah & friends for hosting Natalie and me in Glasgow; and Natalie's parents for being the sweetest people ever. Okay, I'm done now. 

(No pictures at the moment because my computer charger doesn't work in the UK but stay tuned!) 

Wedding & Beyond

I've been bedridden for the past couple of days. Reason? I've been having too much fun. I had a manic socializing phase, and getting sick is my body's way of telling me to slow down. On the one hand, it's good that I'm getting time to myself to recover and rest. On the other, I wish I'd been a tad better at reading myself and my needs. Because I'm coming to the end of my stay in Nice, I want to get the most out of it. But there's definitely a balance that can be struck between friends and me-time.

The main thing that has happened since I last wrote is that I went to Kristen and Lee's wedding. It was awesome. The ceremonies happened on a Wednesday and Thursday--one day was the French civil ceremony (it was really cool to see how a French marriage places a lot of value on rearing children) as well as champagne and canapés at High Beach, and one day at Kristen and Lee's wedding villa in Cannes. I can't believe that this is my life. But apparently when in the south of France...

Kristen and Lee are such wonderful people, and they surround themselves with cool people. I loved getting the chance to hang out with their family and friends, and bond with my lecteur/Nice family. Caroline and Tom, Jenny's friends from home, visited as well, and it was really good to see Caroline again (we went to Dublin together along with Helena and Jenny), and meet Tom.

I feel really blessed and lucky to have met so many amazing people since I arrived in September. I didn't know much about Nice before I left my Pine Lake home. I wasn't sure what I'd find here, except for maybe some teaching experience, some free time to figure out what to do with my life, and some sun burn. Now that I'm leaving, I'm really sad to go. I think I've definitely lived life to the fullest here--more so than I did when I first lived in France. Maybe too full at times. I guess I shouldn't be sad that it's over, but that I should "smile because it happened," or whatever.

Anyway, here's to more fun times ahead! (I'm not leaving yet).

Now That I've Finished Teaching...

I went to wine country outside of Nice with Kristen and Lee a couple of weeks ago. We tasted several different wines, drove in a CAR (which was so liberating...public transit is nice, but this American girl misses her open highways), and managed to see some really beautiful land.

The wine is for a party of sorts. 72 bottles = success.

Then Kirsten and I had people over for a pot luck!

Kristen has a Vitamix that only seems to work at our house when the dishwasher and oven are off (the industrial blender takes a lot of energy to use). Kristen made delicious hummus, gazpacho, cashew dressing for a salad, and silky-smooth tofu chocolate cake with the super-powered blending possibility on hand. I made a veggie tarte. Kirsten made veggie wings and kale chips. Amy made a cheese hors d'oeuvre, and Lauren, Katya, Lee, and Jenny all came, too. 

Yesterday Kirsten, Kristen, and her brother, Kevin, and I all went to Antibes. We did a coastal walk on Cap d'Antibes, and then got lunch at a lovely vegetarian restaurant. Lee met us later and we got coffee, then checked out the ENGLISH BOOKSTORE. I didn't know there was one so close to Nice! But there you go! It is really small and cozy and caters to the many English tourists that visit the cute coastal town. After the bookstore we went to the good 'ole Absinthe bar. It was a great day!

Cordon bleu--breaded and fried tempah

with goat cheese

Floppy hats!

Absinthe and random hat-induced sass

Other than hanging out with friends, I've been reading, watching TV, and private tutoring. I recently finished Gilmore Girls and have caught up on the latest seasons of Game of Thrones and Once Upon A Time. I have yet to go swimming at the beach. I've definitely acclimated to Niçoise temperatures because 75 degrees doesn't seem hot enough to put on a suit and get in the water. 

An Update in Three Parts

Part I

I went to Italy to see Alessandro graduate from the University of Milan and got a sneak-peek of Italian living--of both family life and college-student life. It was really fun to walk around Milan, pick up some Italian words, and meet some of Alessandro's family and friends. And eat! I had some great meals in Italy, as you do, but I didn't get to try nearly as much as I would have liked to, so, basically, I have to go back...

One of the classic moments from this trip was after we'd all gone out to celebrate Alessandro's graduation. We'd been drinking and it was fairly late, and I was hungry. I suggested stopping somewhere to get kebab or fries--some sort of drinking food. But Alessandro's friend was like, "Oh, I'll just whip up some pasta when we get home." And she did. So there's Italy for you.

Me, Cyril, and Alessandro in Milan

Lake of Como

Hotdog encased in Italian bread

Alé chillin' with his degree

Hurt feet from walking the streets of Milan

At the graduation party

Part II

When I studied abroad in Paris, I had the wonderful luck of meeting some of the world's greatest people. One of these amazing humans came all the way from Brest (basically draw a diagonal line across France from Nice, and that's where you'll find Brest) to see me. Emma! We had a lovely time together--from exploring Nice, to celebrating Emma's birthday with brunch, to hanging out with some random animals at Parc Phoenix, to eating good food, and to some great nights out. I'm really glad we got the chance to reconnect and create some new memories together!

Birthday Brunch

Oh, hey, mini Statue of Liberty!

Random wildlife in Nice...JK

Typical Niçoise fare at La Tapenade

with Kristen

Paris sisters at Pub Quiz

Part III

I went to Dublin. It was pretty cool. The pride that the Irish have for their history, stories, language, drink, and culture really stood out to me. I felt so welcome and so a part of the city while I was there--so much so that I definitely want to go back. I traveled with Jenny, Helena, and Caroline and we had a lovely time going on a Literature Pub Crawl, as well as going to the Whiskey Museum, the Viking Museum, and a suburban town outside of Dublin called Dún Laoghaire, where we visited the James Joyce museum. We also had a good taste of Irish night life, in addition to trying some wonderful Dublin restaurants. This was an amazing holiday.

Welcome to Ireland. It's green.

What up, Oscar Wilde?

Jenny, Caroline, and Helena

outside of The Duke on our Literature Pub Crawl

Drinking Guinness at O'Neill's

Dún Laoghaire in the sun

That's what I've been up to. Oh, I also moved to a new flat, and have proctored some exams, and said goodbye to some lectrices. This is a whirlwind transition moment as my job is ending, adventures are just beginning, and the great beyond is utterly impenetrable. Hurrah!