24 novembre 2004
Day before the turkey
So I decided that we are going to have everyone we know over to our house for a big Thanksgiving celebration. Everyone kept talking about doing something, but I knew no one would get organized in time, so I told all my roommates that we're going to have a huge feast on Thursday. It's going to be a potluck, so I hope people actually bring stuff and we don't all sit around picking at a tiny bird. Once my roommates found out the price of the turkey, they decided that they couldn't afford to make their own dishes, so we're just going to have turkey as a main course. A 3 kilo bird for about 20 people...Yes, I've temporarily renounced my vegetarianism (no smirks, family!) for a little while. And yes, I was planning on buying, roasting, and carving the turkey myself, until I found a charcuterie that would roast it for me. All I have to do is pick it up and carve it. I've never carved anything in my life, so this should be interesting... I think the evening itself will be interesting, as we'll have a wide range of nationalities in attendance.
15 novembre 2004
mountain
Went up to the mountains Saturday night with Annah and her friend Avril, who lives in Villard. Avril lives up there and works as a ski instructor. We got there at night so couldn't see the view as we ascended, but it was a pretty marvelous sight the next morning. We didn't ski as the season hasn't started and there's not too much snow, but we did go swimming at a nearby sports complex (not your typical winter weather activity but it was refreshing). That night and much of the next day we basically just hung around with some friends of Avril who live downstairs in the tiny lodge/apartment complex. They had a little soirée Saturday and we ate enormous plates of nachos and drank a fine assortment of beverages, so much that I spent the last couple hours of the evening back at Avril's place taking care of my stomach and didn't feel too well on the long, windy car ride back down the mountain the next day.
03 novembre 2004
rock thevotemyass
Deeply disappointed. Depressed. Insulted. Results of pres. election not looking good this morning. Went out last night to a bar to watch some CNN but couldn't determine much. How could my fellow Americans have made such a collectively backwards decision once again? I had a glimmer of hope last night when talking to my dad on the phone and hearing optimism coming from someone whose motto is to expect the worst so you won't end up disappointed. Boo. Hiss. I'm staying in France.
02 novembre 2004
chez moi encore
So I am back in Grenoble after a whirlwind couple of days in Paris. I didn't go to Barcelona with Annie, but I did send her there on her own. Not a very good friend, but I was having serious issues with going so far away after being in Chicago. There were also other reasons having to do with the amount of paperwork I still have to work out in Grenoble in order to secure my residential status, but we won't go into that because it's boring...
So in Paris we were blessed to be hosted by my friend Lauren, who has lived there for about 2 years and always shows us a good time. Oh yeah, my friend Annah (not Annie) came up from Grenoble to take the GREs in Paris and stayed with my the whole weekend. Anyways, we didn't do too much sightseeing, but we did take in a great art show along the Seine and we walked around a lot. We went to the Fifth Bar (Lauren's ex-pat stomping grounds) every night, which I didn't mind because the atmosphere is great. We played a lot of pool with Lauren's boyfriend Stephane and some of his friends, celebrated Halloween (I was a Russian spy, Lauren was a punk rocker, and Annah was Annah).
It was mad fun.
So in Paris we were blessed to be hosted by my friend Lauren, who has lived there for about 2 years and always shows us a good time. Oh yeah, my friend Annah (not Annie) came up from Grenoble to take the GREs in Paris and stayed with my the whole weekend. Anyways, we didn't do too much sightseeing, but we did take in a great art show along the Seine and we walked around a lot. We went to the Fifth Bar (Lauren's ex-pat stomping grounds) every night, which I didn't mind because the atmosphere is great. We played a lot of pool with Lauren's boyfriend Stephane and some of his friends, celebrated Halloween (I was a Russian spy, Lauren was a punk rocker, and Annah was Annah).
It was mad fun.
