Guess WHAT?!

I GOT AN INTERNSHIP!
for the film festival

I am now working for... http://www.semainedelacritique.com/ <--- them.

To explain the SIC, it is a group that chooses the unknown films that are going to be shown at the festival for the first time to the public. Which means, that the directors, producers and casts as well as the critics are going to be at this little 10day long showing. It's from the 14th of May to the 24th of May and I will be working in the afternoons showing people to their seats, answering questions, being fantastic, and hanging out with the three other girls who got the positions as well.

and here's the catch - IT'S IN FRENCH! so we have to speak French the whole time pretty much.

Georges, who interviewed us, said it is pretty laid back and there aren't a whole lot of people working on this thing, so you get to know people up in the industry quite well. I'm excited! I adore being behind the scenes of things and can't wait to start it. We have a petit cocktail party to go to the 10th of May to meet everyone!

Graduated from Cooking Class!

We had our final cooking class yesterday.

Our group of 50 came to the school for us to cook for them - it was great playing chef!
We made beef, potatoes au gratin, and vegetable soup + upside down apple cake and ice cream!

I made the dessert and it was absolutely fantastic, if I do say so myself!
They called us up afterwords and gave us a little "diplome" for our "hard work" cooking once a week. It was cute, and everyone is really nice! The chefs were great and spoke the best "franglais" ever. Once I steal the pictures that were taken of the classes, I will post them!

The Big CHANGE

After spring break we started over with new professors. I am no longer with my beloved Claude - he has to get surgery done on his shoulder and is not going to be here for awhile!!

So, the group has switched it up and we are now with Gisele - a funky, very french, crazy jewelery woman who is genuinely interested in discussion. Seeing as we are here to speak french (what?!) I will take discussion over grammar any day!! She is definitely not Claude, but I have to keep telling myself that. A bunch of the people in class don't like the way she teaches - she is used to teaching a class below us.

Also we have "acquired"
a Swiss German (she is actually just Swiss, but speaks Swiss German, so therefore, she is different?!)
a Russian
two "petite mexicans"
to go along with our group

It makes for an interesting dynamic to have other nationalities than Americans in the room!

I did have a happy moment the other day at dinner while we were sitting around. There were about 5 nationalities sitting at this table. A friend of mine was trying to explain something to a Russian in English and I said it in French, it made sense, and we had this moment of connecting through French. It was actually pretty cool because I don't speak German, Spanish, Russian, Norwegian, or Italian and haven't even heard of Swiss German until now but we do all have that common language of French while we are here.

As for classes they are going quite well. I'm enjoying my French Civ class a lot - learning about the different regions of France. I really really really want to go to the Loire Valley and take a hot air balloon ride through the region and see the chateaus! I might just make that happen in the next few weeks! Art class we got a new professor which has made going to the class a lot more bearable! She is much better than the other one, so I'm enjoying the class a lot more - even though I know nothing about art history.

Cooking Class #3!

On the menu on Wednesday we had:
-Spanish Omelets
-Vegetables
-Lamb
-Creme Brulee
-Almond Cookies

yummy!
I was on dinner duty today. It was actually quite a simple dinner, but it was good. I am not a very good omelet flipper at all - let's just say that much. Catastrophe!

Everything was good though. Our next class we are cooking for the rest of our group and we get a surprise! I don't know what it is - but I am excited!

Praha

My second half of spring break I spent in Prague (Praha). I got there late Thursday night, checked into my hotel. I managed to meet up with a friend from my program, Heather, and a friend from high school who is studying in Praha, Kelsea. It was a lot of fun - and with all the non-touristy stuff I did in Galway, I made up for it in Prague! Above is Prague Castle

The beautiful Gothic Church inside the castle


so many flying buttresses!
View of Praha from the top of the castle!
There are vineyards too up there!
The river that runs through Prague
Charles Bridge
Me!
Charles Bridge - under construction, but still pretty!
Friday night Heather and I went to this Czech folk night - ate great food, drank lots of wine, and watched Czech dancing and singing. It was great!
Saturday we wandered up towards the "mini eiffel tower" to get a great view of the city. On our way we encountered some old communist statues - seeing as communism fell so recently over there, they dot the landscape. This is one of them
At the top of the tower! That is the castle behind me
It's like I was in Paris again...
The park up there was massive. It had some gardens, a church (shown above and below) and lots of people walking around. We got really lucky too, the weather was gorgeous!

Powder Tower
We went into Old Town Square where the Easter Market was - those are real eggs, hollowed out and decorated. They were beautiful! I wanted to get some but was terrified they would break somehow.
Astronomical clock - every hour it goes off and does something very cute! I wont spoil the surprise in case anyone goes to Prague...
Another massive church in Old Town square
I happen to have a special place in my heart for adorable old men. He played the saxophone and sang on the street!!

A large park on top of a hill overlooking the valley


Another large church - I love walking around places like this because you can turn the corner and there is another absolutely beautiful piece of architecture - it is incredible.
We made it to Wenceslas Square - Good King Wenceslas.....sound familiar?!
Prague at night
Old Town Square at night
Sooo.....while I was in Prague I was being followed by our President!! I woke up at 4:30am that morning to see him speak in Prague. He happened to be there while I was there. 30,000 people showed up to see him, it was an incredible experience. These pictures aren't mine - I stole them from someone who was there with me, they had a better camera and could actually see!

I actually took this picture - seas of people
We were waiting for 2.5 hours standing to hear him speak - we kept trying to find the snipers....
My friend Kelsea who is studying in Prague. I went with her and her friends

Prague is so incredibly interesting to me. I loved the mix of history, recent history, change, and westernization that is present in this beautiful city. And Czech is one of the most confusing languages!!!

Gaillimh

Spring Break '09 happened! My first Guinness in Ireland....it was a happy moment. I visited my friend Emily in Galway (Gaillimh). She is studying there for the semester and offered up her couch for me to sleep on. I haven't seen her in a year, so it was nice catching up!

I arrived Saturday afternoon after a flight and a bus ride. It was great to be able to spend a larger amount of time somewhere, rather then jetting off to the next destination. I stayed in Galway for 6 days and actually got to know a little piece of Ireland!

A lot of the time was spent relaxing and having her show me what she's been doing the last few months. We did go out a lot to the pubs, which was very fun. I have to say, that was probably one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. The atmosphere of an Irish pub is just friendly, fun, inviting, and relaxing. I felt comfortable, slightly at home, and not at all intimidated with just sitting around, chatting, listening to Irish music and hanging out all night.

While she did show me around Galway and the area, we took a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher - all I have to say is incredible. I got to see my castles and beautiful Irish countryside as well.

The Poulnabrone - a tomb that is 5800 years old. That is older than the Egyptian Pyramids!!! There are about 30 persons burried under that as well. They were constructed by Neolithic farmers.
Several of these types of tombs dot the landscape on our way up the Burren mountains towards the coast. These mountains are made out of limestone carved by the glaciers.
Galway Bay
More of Galway Bay
Me!
Kilfenora Cathedral and Crosses which are Celtic Crosses that ardorn the 6th century monastery







Leamonagh Castle
The dome on the Cliffs of MoherCliffs!







Dunguaire Castle/Kinvara. This is a 16th century castle!


Ballyalban Fairy Fort - A prehistoric ring fort or ancient farmers homestead is now believe to be inhabited by little men with orange beards and green hats! So they say....

At The Crane - Monday night, Emily and I decided to go listen to some Irish music. There were originally 3 people playing when we walked in. Throughout the course of the 2hrs we were there, 6 more people showed up and began playing. It was awesome!
At the Bierhaus, we decided to enjoy another Guinness.
The river running through Galway near Emily's school
Taaffes - one of the well-known bars in Galway

I took this picture because it said Cheesemongers!!!!

I fell in love with Ireland and really hope to go back one day. I even managed to get my french paper done while there. I liked getting to know a city a litte bit better and after 6days in Ireland I felt relaxed and ready for Prague!