Play-doh Stuffing
I figured it was about time for some real news. A lot of time has passed and a lot has happened, so, bear with me, as this blog’s a long’un, folks. Go get a nice cup of hot coffee or cocoa, or cup o’ noodles, or whatever it is that tickles your fancy, and enjoy reading about my holiday endeavors…
First there was Thanksgiving. I was a bit apprehensive about it, because of all the nasty things I had heard from previous “Aixers,” (Sounds like some sort of high school football team in Kentucky, “Go Aixers!!”). As it turns out, the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that does the dinners every year isn’t all that bad at replicating our little homage to pilgrims. I mean, it certainly wasn’t as good as mom’s home cooking (and Aunt Natalie’s spicy stuffing), but hey, it certainly wasn’t terrible. There were lots of fishy dishes, beaucoup de couscous, and play-doh-like stuffing, but there was plenty of orange spice wine to wash it all down with (which tastes like licorice, by the way). All in all, it was pretty cool to see the whole CSU group together again. I mean, we all run into each other at school or on the street, but we hadn’t all been together like that since the very beginning. Everyone has found their place, and has become comfortable with their new life in France. I mean, we aren’t all the best of friends, by any means, but it was just cool to see everyone sort of come out of their shell. They’ve all blossomed into such wonderful young adults. Golly gee, how the kids have grown.
For Christmas, the story was quite different. Almost everybody either went back to the states, or traveled around Europe with their family who came from the states. I, on the other hand, spent it toute seule. Ok, I wasn’t completely alone. Bryan and his roommates invited all the loners over for Christmas Eve dinner and a sleepover. There were about ten of us, and the mix of people was a bit strange. The dinner was wonderful (thanks to Bryan’s estranged, bipolar roommate Giri, who happens to be a wonderful cook). The games and conversation left a lot to be desired, as I soon found out I was the oldest one there and the only one not interested in playing “I never.” Thankfully, there was lots of wine. The next morning Dawn and her sister, Kara, made us all their infamous family cinnamon rolls. They didn’t turn out all that well-- something to do with the dough not rising-- but we all had our fair share of crunchy, hot, cinnamon goo. Bryan and I made coffee using a strainer, 4 coffee filters, and a summer carafe. (I know, seriously, who doesn’t make sure there isn’t a nice, reliable coffeemaker, ready to go on Christmas morning? I mean, come on!).
Anyway, then it was time to open presents. Bryan had set up a Secret Santa deal weeks before, so that everyone would at least open one present on Christmas morning. Most people got pretty cool presents (we were given hints as to what our person wanted), others…didn’t… (I’ll give you a hint, it starts with a “D” and ends in “ildo”). I was really surprised because crazy, bipolar, knife-throwing girl (Giri) got me a fair amount of art supplies that I wouldn’t have even bought for myself. (Art supplies are unbelievably expensive here.) Needless to say, I was stoked.
However, there was only so much of strange, anime-loving, gag-gift-giving, twenty-something stupidity I could stand and I went home. I came home to April and her mom, also visiting for the holidays, and chitchatted with them for a while. April’s mom, Carol, was so sweet to me, and kept complimenting me. She’s an older lady and reminded me a lot of my grandma. While it was hard at times, I was still glad to have some sort of a mom/grandma figure around. I really liked her. Later that night, April, Carol, Collette, Pete, and I all went out to our favorite restaurant, “La Vigne,” for dinner. It wasn’t a spectacular Christmas, but I never would have expected anything extra special here, as I know that Christmas is always best with family around. I wasn’t able to do most of the fun Christmas things I normally do, nor did I expect to, but I did keep in mind what Christmas is all about. That’s all that really matters anyway. I could just hear my dad saying, “You know, Emmy, if you expect nothing… you’ll never be disappointed…” I ended the night with a two-hour phone call home, spoke with both of my brothers, my mom and my dad. That made my day.
Then along came New Year’s. Pete, April’s buddy, works here in Aix, and has a car, and a free tank of gas every week. So, in order to take advantage, he invited April, Collette and I to go to Italy with him. We were like, “um, HAIL YEAH!!” Matt, Collette’s buddy ended up hitching a ride with us too. It turned out to be quite the adventure. We drove to Florence on the 30th, figuring we’d give ourselves some time to check the place out and get settled in before all the new years madness kicked in. The drive was surprisingly short, or at least, it seemed that way, and we found the hotel with very little trouble. April and I went into our hotel to check in, as I had made reservations two weeks before (in Italian, mind you, that’s right, Italian). Anyway, dude at the front desk said we didn’t have a reservation, and they didn’t have room for us. Well, after much stuttering and mumbling on my part, and ranting and raving on his, we figured out what happened: (drum roll) he wrote down the wrong dates. Yeah, I know. The funny thing was, he was like, “Who did you talk to? Because I’m the only one who answers the phones here,” and I was like, “No, no, I talked to a woman.” Then he kind of smirked and said, “No, no, young lady, I’m the only one who works at this desk, so you talked to me.” So, after realizing I had just called the dude a woman to his face, I stopped talking and we moved on. The guy was super nice, however, because he found us another room just down the street. Disaster averted.
Florence is absolutely beautiful. I know I must say that about a lot of things, but honestly, I fell in love with that city. It is just so picturesque and romantic, and, well… wonderful. After being there only 3 days, I already felt at home. My three favorite sights were: the Duomo (the cathedral), Ponte Vecchio (a bridge over the Anzo river covered with cute little shops and cafes), and Michelangelo’s David. I couldn’t believe my eyes sometimes. Florence is just so full of history with it’s ornate carvings, and architecture, and oh! the art!! Italy is any art lover’s heaven, and I honestly felt like I was in heaven sometimes. Breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking. After the trip I started toying with the idea of doing another year abroad…in Florence.
We spent the two nights in Florence walking around, drinking in various pubs, and looking for a place to eat. New Year’s was a little tough because we didn’t really consider that lots of people like to eat out on New Year’s Eve. We finally found a restaurant that would take us and after we were done eating, we had about 20 minutes before midnight to try and find a bar. We found a cute little Irish pub with a Korean bartender, ordered 5 pints, 5 shots of whiskey, and toasted to 2005 in lovely little Florence. I kept telling the girls that we had to find ourselves an Italian to kiss for the big moment, but they had complicated situations, as Pete liked April, and Collette liked Matt… but neither April nor Matt were reciprocating those feelings. I had a lot of possibilities, however, as every time I went to the W.C. there was some Italian dude touching my hair, calling me “Molta bella,” or groping me. I was just about to give up on the idea completely when I met David. A tall, dark, and handsome 23-year-old Italian who resembled Adrian Brody, of whom I’m not a big fan, but believe you me, David was a cutie. He spoke only Italian and a little bit of Spanish, so our conversations consisted basic “Sì, bello!!” Anyway, I was incredibly happy because: 1) I was in Italy on New Year's Eve, 2) I got to see David, 3) I got to make out with him later that night. All in all, it was the best New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had.
First there was Thanksgiving. I was a bit apprehensive about it, because of all the nasty things I had heard from previous “Aixers,” (Sounds like some sort of high school football team in Kentucky, “Go Aixers!!”). As it turns out, the little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that does the dinners every year isn’t all that bad at replicating our little homage to pilgrims. I mean, it certainly wasn’t as good as mom’s home cooking (and Aunt Natalie’s spicy stuffing), but hey, it certainly wasn’t terrible. There were lots of fishy dishes, beaucoup de couscous, and play-doh-like stuffing, but there was plenty of orange spice wine to wash it all down with (which tastes like licorice, by the way). All in all, it was pretty cool to see the whole CSU group together again. I mean, we all run into each other at school or on the street, but we hadn’t all been together like that since the very beginning. Everyone has found their place, and has become comfortable with their new life in France. I mean, we aren’t all the best of friends, by any means, but it was just cool to see everyone sort of come out of their shell. They’ve all blossomed into such wonderful young adults. Golly gee, how the kids have grown.
For Christmas, the story was quite different. Almost everybody either went back to the states, or traveled around Europe with their family who came from the states. I, on the other hand, spent it toute seule. Ok, I wasn’t completely alone. Bryan and his roommates invited all the loners over for Christmas Eve dinner and a sleepover. There were about ten of us, and the mix of people was a bit strange. The dinner was wonderful (thanks to Bryan’s estranged, bipolar roommate Giri, who happens to be a wonderful cook). The games and conversation left a lot to be desired, as I soon found out I was the oldest one there and the only one not interested in playing “I never.” Thankfully, there was lots of wine. The next morning Dawn and her sister, Kara, made us all their infamous family cinnamon rolls. They didn’t turn out all that well-- something to do with the dough not rising-- but we all had our fair share of crunchy, hot, cinnamon goo. Bryan and I made coffee using a strainer, 4 coffee filters, and a summer carafe. (I know, seriously, who doesn’t make sure there isn’t a nice, reliable coffeemaker, ready to go on Christmas morning? I mean, come on!).
Anyway, then it was time to open presents. Bryan had set up a Secret Santa deal weeks before, so that everyone would at least open one present on Christmas morning. Most people got pretty cool presents (we were given hints as to what our person wanted), others…didn’t… (I’ll give you a hint, it starts with a “D” and ends in “ildo”). I was really surprised because crazy, bipolar, knife-throwing girl (Giri) got me a fair amount of art supplies that I wouldn’t have even bought for myself. (Art supplies are unbelievably expensive here.) Needless to say, I was stoked.
However, there was only so much of strange, anime-loving, gag-gift-giving, twenty-something stupidity I could stand and I went home. I came home to April and her mom, also visiting for the holidays, and chitchatted with them for a while. April’s mom, Carol, was so sweet to me, and kept complimenting me. She’s an older lady and reminded me a lot of my grandma. While it was hard at times, I was still glad to have some sort of a mom/grandma figure around. I really liked her. Later that night, April, Carol, Collette, Pete, and I all went out to our favorite restaurant, “La Vigne,” for dinner. It wasn’t a spectacular Christmas, but I never would have expected anything extra special here, as I know that Christmas is always best with family around. I wasn’t able to do most of the fun Christmas things I normally do, nor did I expect to, but I did keep in mind what Christmas is all about. That’s all that really matters anyway. I could just hear my dad saying, “You know, Emmy, if you expect nothing… you’ll never be disappointed…” I ended the night with a two-hour phone call home, spoke with both of my brothers, my mom and my dad. That made my day.
Then along came New Year’s. Pete, April’s buddy, works here in Aix, and has a car, and a free tank of gas every week. So, in order to take advantage, he invited April, Collette and I to go to Italy with him. We were like, “um, HAIL YEAH!!” Matt, Collette’s buddy ended up hitching a ride with us too. It turned out to be quite the adventure. We drove to Florence on the 30th, figuring we’d give ourselves some time to check the place out and get settled in before all the new years madness kicked in. The drive was surprisingly short, or at least, it seemed that way, and we found the hotel with very little trouble. April and I went into our hotel to check in, as I had made reservations two weeks before (in Italian, mind you, that’s right, Italian). Anyway, dude at the front desk said we didn’t have a reservation, and they didn’t have room for us. Well, after much stuttering and mumbling on my part, and ranting and raving on his, we figured out what happened: (drum roll) he wrote down the wrong dates. Yeah, I know. The funny thing was, he was like, “Who did you talk to? Because I’m the only one who answers the phones here,” and I was like, “No, no, I talked to a woman.” Then he kind of smirked and said, “No, no, young lady, I’m the only one who works at this desk, so you talked to me.” So, after realizing I had just called the dude a woman to his face, I stopped talking and we moved on. The guy was super nice, however, because he found us another room just down the street. Disaster averted.
Florence is absolutely beautiful. I know I must say that about a lot of things, but honestly, I fell in love with that city. It is just so picturesque and romantic, and, well… wonderful. After being there only 3 days, I already felt at home. My three favorite sights were: the Duomo (the cathedral), Ponte Vecchio (a bridge over the Anzo river covered with cute little shops and cafes), and Michelangelo’s David. I couldn’t believe my eyes sometimes. Florence is just so full of history with it’s ornate carvings, and architecture, and oh! the art!! Italy is any art lover’s heaven, and I honestly felt like I was in heaven sometimes. Breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking. After the trip I started toying with the idea of doing another year abroad…in Florence.
We spent the two nights in Florence walking around, drinking in various pubs, and looking for a place to eat. New Year’s was a little tough because we didn’t really consider that lots of people like to eat out on New Year’s Eve. We finally found a restaurant that would take us and after we were done eating, we had about 20 minutes before midnight to try and find a bar. We found a cute little Irish pub with a Korean bartender, ordered 5 pints, 5 shots of whiskey, and toasted to 2005 in lovely little Florence. I kept telling the girls that we had to find ourselves an Italian to kiss for the big moment, but they had complicated situations, as Pete liked April, and Collette liked Matt… but neither April nor Matt were reciprocating those feelings. I had a lot of possibilities, however, as every time I went to the W.C. there was some Italian dude touching my hair, calling me “Molta bella,” or groping me. I was just about to give up on the idea completely when I met David. A tall, dark, and handsome 23-year-old Italian who resembled Adrian Brody, of whom I’m not a big fan, but believe you me, David was a cutie. He spoke only Italian and a little bit of Spanish, so our conversations consisted basic “Sì, bello!!” Anyway, I was incredibly happy because: 1) I was in Italy on New Year's Eve, 2) I got to see David, 3) I got to make out with him later that night. All in all, it was the best New Year’s Eve I’ve ever had.
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