News Barcelona, Corsica, Morocco October 2011

Lots of news since the last blog:

Barcelona - Xavier and I went to Barcelona, Spain for work for Xavier. I drove to Lyon to drop the kids off with Yvette and then hit the road with just Xavier for 3 days in Barcelona. He had a seminar for one day and we hung out the other 2 days. It was a great chance to put to use my 1 trimester of college Spanish. I really wanted to see all things Gaudi (the best architect for my personal taste up to date). Ever since a Korean friend of mine went to Barcelona and brought back photographs of Gaudi architecture and pictures from Park Guell, I've been decided to go too. I had Barcelona on my list of things to see before I die, especially this cool beautiful Gaudi bench that wraps around a seating area in Park Guell.

Xavier and I enjoyed a relaxing stroll around Barcelona. I found the city to be pleasant and spacious, though I wouldn't want to live in the center. No privacy, everyone can see into your yard or your house. It is way too crowded in terms of shared living space. We found Starbucks, so had a nice break there and just drank Chi Tea, which I haven't enjoyed since 2009 in Munich. We read books and spent the day on the beach playing in the waves. I had a really nice time. When I had the day to myself on Monday, I was on the long stubborn journey to Park Guell which was extremely difficult to find. The tour book looked easy, but on foot it was impossible. I ended up asking everyone for directions off the street in Spanish. No one spoke English, except for these nice Indian men working in a Kiosk. With a little French, I was able to understand enough. I didn't bother trying Catalan. I figured they would at least try to speak to me in Spanish, but I speak so little, it doesn't really matter anyway. Images from Park Guell are at the following link.
http://www.google.fr/search?q=parc+guell&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=I52&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=G0qNTrGhDKa00QXMgsk_&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=665

After 1 hr of meandering uphill and asking directions from every passerbyer, I finally made it to ParK Guell. It was very cool. I took photos, and will attemt to post them? There is no one interesting in the photos, just a little beautiful architecture. Gaudi looks a lot like the Palais du facteur Cheval in France. The Palace of the postman Cheval. I think he existed about the same time as Gaudi and wonder if Cheval was influenced by Gaudi or if they were influenced by the same things common to their time period. It is very cool to visit as well. I think it is near the area of la Drome. The kids loved running through it. There are lots of little passages and windows from which to peek.
http://www.facteurcheval.com/

There were other things I wanted to see in Barcelona regarding Gaudi, but I didn't have enough time. We saw the outside of the Cathredral designed by Gaudi called Sagrada Familia. http://www.google.fr/search?q=sagrada+familia&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=bpN&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=665&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=TEuNToubMumx0AWuzY0d&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBEQ_AUoAQ

We also visited the old city center which is the Barri Gothic Quarter.
http://www.google.fr/search?q=barri+%2B+gothic&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=SXi&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=6kuNTuyRMaiw0AXEorgm&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=665


Barcelona is supposed to be about 5 hrs without traffic from Gréoux. It took us 8 because it was in high tourist season.

Corsica: In mid August we took the kids to Toulon, climbed on Corsica Ferries with the car and slept overnight during our boat ride to Ajaccio, Corsica in the Mediterranean. A few years back we took the same boat company from Livorno Italy or some place like that to Sardinia before Nicolas was born. The kids loved being on the boat, but this time neither of them could remember it. It was like they were experiencing it again for the first time.
http://www.corsica-ferries.fr/

Corsica, how to some up in a few words??? Hot, Hot, Hot, sunny, wasp infestation, mafia, tourist rip off, beautiful nature, beautiful landscape, beautiful beaches, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
We camped for 2 weeks with the kids. It was about 40 celcius (95-100 farenheit) every day from about 9 AM onwards. It was hotter at the campsite than at the beach. The wasps are around you from dawn till dusk. The first day we arrived, we made the horrid mistake of attempting to cook hamburgers. We were attacked by a swarm of wasps. I litterally had my hamburger on a fork and was walking briskly to keep ahead of the wasps, since I was being trailed. We never cooked during the daylight again. There were always about 5 wasps around us as we ate breakfast, as I cleaned dishes, etc. They would fly into my body and bounce off me, fly into my face, land on everyone. Miraculously, no one was stung during the entire 2 weeks!! We brought a picnic salad with us to the beach everyday. We realized we forgot to pack tupperware, so there we were all 5 of us spooning salad collectively out of my cooking casserole pot and spooning the food directly into our mouths. I don't think our children ever ate as healthy as during those 2 weeks off of different kinds of salads. They normally don't like lentil salad, etc, but suddenly when hunger strikes and there is nothing else, they can't stop saying how good it is!! We couldn't eat chocolate because it was so hot, it would melt into a river.

After 1 week of camping and swimming in the Mediterranean and playing on the beach, snorkeling, etc, the kids had enough and started asking to go home. They didn't want to see another beach. We also wanted to go home. One night our blow up mattress broke so we deflated within the hour. I didn't sleep real well that night. We had to buy a new smaller air mattress since we couldn't fix the old one. One day we went to Quick for lunch, just to escape the wasps and have AC for a change. The kids were very happy until we said it was time to go to the beach again. That's when all the moaning started.

It's funny at any other time the kids always ask to go to the beach. 1 week of excessive heat, excessive wasps and beach, and the kids have had enough. One day towards the end, we made the mistake of going to one of the local mafia run restaurants on the beach. A few signs of shadiness: 1. it was almost always completely devoid of customers 2. there were the same 2 men sitting at a table at the entrance all day every day during the work week, reading magazines, smoking and drinking beer. My question is, how do they live? What do they do? Even mafia can't make much money off 5 customers a day. Xavier said he had coffee there and he saw some local people get a great meal so he wanted to try it.

How does one spot local mafia? Well.....I'm just going to give you an educated guess at the following description. When we were there, we saw 2 families. 2 fat older tubby men each with very, very young, as in half their age kind of skanky looking wives. Every single person was covered in these gaudy thick gold chain necklaces, including the 2 yr old baby. To increase the confusion in new money, poor taste, the skanky young wives wore, bsides their bikinis showing off their stretch marks, large diamonds wedged inside their belly buttons. Given Corsica is isolated and seemingly poor, and since it has no industry outside of 3 months of tourism and some fishing, and everything costs 2X as much as the already overpriced mainland, it makes you question???

My one and only meal at this restaurant by the way which was part of the "lunch special" and costed a whopping 20€ was called grilled chicken. Imagine what you would envision as a 20€ meal of grilled chicken for a moment....... This was my meal: 1 overcooked thigh from an anorexic chicken (A chicken thigh, as you may know is the CHEAPEST part of the chicken to buy) and about 20 french fries still swimming in grease, yes actually counted them, 20. There was more plate than food. I was really pissed but wasn't sure what to do. Other restaurant options were limited, kids were hungry and this retaurant had the ONLY toilet on the beach, which I'd been using for free for the entire 2 weeks!

During our 2 weeks, a weatlhy french entrepreneuer was shot dead by a sniper on his own boat. At least one person on the island has skills I suppose, be it as nothing more than a hired sharp shooter.

We met some nice people, hiked up to one of the waterfalls inland, canoed on the Mediterranean, and snorkeled. I took some photos of the kids. It was an interesting vacation and I don't need to go back. However, I must say Corsica is a truly, truly beautiful place. I have never seen a more beautiful place. If you have a choice between Corsica and Sardinia, go to Corsica. Sardinia has terrible beaches. Corsica beaches are large and pretty. Just remember to bring your own toilet. Corsica is a part of France and therefore toilets are few and far between and no one will share theirs willingly. Most beaches don't have toilets and therefore if you want to use one in a restaurant, then you have to buy something. At least the beaches and parking are for free. Otherwise, we'd be REALLY broke after out trip. A family of 5 at Quick (McDonalds) was 40€ ($55).

http://www.google.fr/search?q=corsica&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=Kn4&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=yWONTtGBMYeZhQfAnbAH&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=665

Morocco: OK if you can still stomach reading, the REALLY BIG news. Xavier has accepted a new job in Morocco. He leaves October 24. He will come back every other weekend. It will be hard to be without him. I was very worried and panicked to be on my own in France. I was worried about stupid things like if my car breaks down, if I can't get the computer to work right, or if I get sick. I have friends, but my stand by back up will no longer be here. My computer techy husband will be gone and I will be forced to deal with the PC alone not to mention the French Administration. I'm feeling better now though.

The goal is for us to move to Morocco for the next school year, only if things go well for Xavier there, only if the region seems stable enough, if it's safe and if he thinks we will be happy. He has to find a nice school for the kids. It will probably be in only English. Which makes coming back here difficult, since the kids will then lose at least 1 yr in French. We'll see. So far, Xavier's contract is for 2 yrs. We have 3 2 week breaks coming up, X-mas, Feb, spring. I just found out my sister's getting married, so we will fly back to Chicago during the summer. I will have to stay behing in Gréoux to get the move into order. School here ends July 5. It will take maybe 2 weeks of packing and camping here and moving our things into storage and shipping the rest to Morocco. I think I will see if I can give the kids to Yvette during that time. We want to sell the cars. I will lease a small crappy car there. I don't want the hassle of shipping my car. Then we can be free to go wherever we want afterwards.

Xavier's contract is for 2 yrs. He won't really know the situation or the needs until he gets on the spot. He is going to be head of project management for a phosophate mine or something. I'm not really sure what he will be doing. The job is in and near Casablanca. The Sahara dessert is in the south. I've always wanted to take a camel ride through the Sahara!! That will be first on my list of things to experience. I will need to learn Arabic. I would like to speak and read some Arabic. I've always been very curious about that. I also need to work while I'm there. It is very important for my mental and emotional balance. I had depression since I stopped working and during the past 10 yrs have slowly reflected and figured out the specific balance I need in my life in order to be happy. I'm not sure how it is for others, but I've learned that I need 1. constant intellectual stimulation 2. feeling of positive production (meaningful work, not JUST work) 3. family 4. lots and lots of socialisation 5. being busy (also sport) 6. accomplishment in some form, or working towards new goals 7. travel. When I moved to Dresden, I was totally deprived of 1,2,4,5 and 6. I was completely depressed. When I went to school the first month, I was totally happy and could deal much better with being in a new place because I had so much socialisation and mental stimulation, but once that month ended and we couldn't afford for me to continue, I fell into a horrific depression. Sometimes it takes us to have difficult situations in order to learn more about ourselves. I've also learned I am an Expat no matter where I am and that's ok. I don't need to fit into the local culture because I will ALWAYS be an outsider, which is ok too. The people I will most likely become friends with are expats and locals who have travelled and who have also experienced expatriation. They also feel out of place with the other locals. It doesn't matter to get involved with the locals and or to be accepted by the locals. You will have a hard time becomming friends with the locals, but have a much faster time becomming acquainted with the expats because the expats are all in the same boat. They are ALL away from their families and have no back up so you become each other's back up. It is like have a large transient extended family constantly surrounding you. It is very good and important.

We have an appt with the US consulate Oct 12 to get our passports in order. Hopefully we will be able to get our passports by x-mas. Xavier is going to Paris this weekend. Then next weekend is passports in Marseille, then the following weekend is the first weekend in the fall break and goodbye to xavier. Being away from my husband isn't such a bad thing since it will force me to stand on my own a bit more and become more independent, which is never a bad thing. The goal is to slowly introduce the children to Morocco in a positive manner so we can move there next year. 9 mos alone is 1 thing. 2 yrs alone is a lifestyle. I want my family to be together and I think this is a wonderful way to visit Africa. I have always been curious about Morocco. I have always wanted to go to Morocco and have recently wanted to visit Africa. Of course Morocco is just the Maghreb. While we are there, I would like to extend his contract if possible so we can stay at least 2 school years there and take the time to visit the rest of Africa like Kenya or something. I've always wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro since I learned about it in college. It has been on my list of things to do before I die.

I'll keep you posted. Today is the first day I'm actually home since school started Sept 5. Craziness.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Africa
http://www.google.fr/search?q=mount+kilimanjaro&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=ptO&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=VluNTtZ7g7qEB_rmnfoP&ved=0CEwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=665

Casablanca, Morocco
http://www.google.fr/search?q=mount+kilimanjaro&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=ptO&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=VluNTtZ7g7qEB_rmnfoP&ved=0CEwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=665#hl=fr&client=firefox-a&hs=9uO&rls=org.mozilla:fr%3Aofficial&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=casablanca+maroc&pbx=1&oq=casablanca&aq=1&aqi=g10&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=85182l87563l0l95435l10l10l0l4l4l1l724l2399l2-2.1.2.0.1l6l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=5d2108b9fb05369&biw=1366&bih=665

By the way, I don't anticipate Casablanca to be pretty or anything. I figure it will look like a run down version of Marseille. At least they speak French. I think it goes like this. The common blue collar majority will speak Arabic (that means all shopping, food, etc). The university educated people will speak both Arabic and French. The higher educated people (doctors, higher degrees, Moroccan expats) will speak Arabic, French, and English. Either way, I think it is important that I learn Arabic. I started writing my first novel called Isabelle in July. I have to hurry and get that finished because I want the heroine in my next novel to speak Arabic. But, I cannot start that until I finish this first one. I have to make it a habit to write EVERY night after the kids go to bed in order to get my novel finished, otherwise it will just sit there and not get done!!!