Lost in Translation:
This past weekend, Aaron and I traveled to Paris, and all day Friday was spent running around Disneyland Paris trying to make the most of our time there. In an effort not to waste time or money, we didn't really eat any meals while at Disneyland. The lack of food, coupled with a long exhausting day, resulted in extreme hunger. We could not wait to eat a big meal.
That night we went to a restaurant near our Airbnb, and surprisingly the waitress knew no English, and the entire menu was in French. We know no French. My vocabulary consists of hello, goodbye, thank you, and any of the words that the English language borrows from French, such as baguette, ballet, or rendezvous - none of which go very far when trying to communicate with someone for more than 2 seconds.
Needless to say, we did not know what our options were for food, and we had no way to find out in that moment. Aaron said we should be adventurous and just order something, because we never do that when it comes to food, but that is for good reason; I'm a pretty picky eater.
Well, we did as Aaron suggested anyway. I ordered ravioli (which was the only word on the menu that I did recognize), despite the fact that I had a feeling it might come with mushrooms (which I do not like), and Aaron ordered the Thai version of something.
When our food arrived, I quickly discovered that my ravioli did, in fact, have mushrooms in it. Luckily they were very easy to pick out, so my meal was actually quite delicious. After I was a few bites in, I looked up and Aaron hadn't really touched his food yet and said to me, "so, I think this is raw meat." Sure enough, that's exactly what it was! He ordered a dish called tartare, which we later confirmed is basically a big plate of seasoned raw ground beef.
He took a few bites and said it didn't taste bad, it just also didn't really taste good.
I told him I didn't think he should eat much of it because his body isn't used to eating raw meat, and I was afraid he would get sick. He agreed with this logic, and despite his hunger, he didn't eat any more of the meat on his plate. He did, however, eat all of the fries and lettuce on his plate, but the tartare appeared untouched.
The waitress came over and spoke to us in French, but very clearly communicated something like "You haven't touched your food, why not? It's delicious!? Eat!" Aaron did his best to tell her that it was good but that he was very full. He then asked for a to-go box, and she packaged it up for us.
At first I thought Aaron just didn't want to seem rude and leave the meat there untouched, and that he just planned to throw it out once we left. That's not who I married, though. Aaron is just as thrifty and resourceful as I am, and we both hate to waste food and/or money. It turns out he had a brilliant plan! Despite it being 11:30 at night, we took the plate of meat back to our Airbnb and Aaron browned the meat himself. He then ate the entire plate of cooked ground beef for dinner! It was actually really tasty after it was cooked, like ground beef with ginger root spices. The waitress was right, the food was clearly high quality and seasoned well. But as Aaron said, we just don't understand why anyone would eat it raw when you could have it cooked and taste so much better!
We were glad not to have wasted any food or money in the end, though I'm not sure how soon we'll try and be adventurous with a menu again...
Exploring the City (of Paris):
We arrived in the city on Thursday afternoon, since Thursday was a holiday in Madrid and we didn't have to work. The first place we explored was the Louvre art museum. First of all, it is HUGE. An entire town could fit inside this place. It is filled with incredible works of art and, of course, the famous Mona Lisa.
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| Raclette - that bowl is filled with melted cheese. |
After exploring the museum for several hours, we went to two different Christmas markets. Paris is really into Christmas, and I love it! So many buildings are decorated very elaborately, and many of the streets are decked with twinkiling lights. The first Christmas market we visited was in a large plaza with over 300 booths either selling decorations, gifts, or food. We enjoyed walking around and looking at the wide range of goods for sale, and enjoyed a few snacks along the way, including a raclette sandwich, which is basically bread with a huge amount of melted cheese on it.  |
| A Ferris wheel at the end of the Champs-Élysées |
The second market lined both sides of the Champs-Élysées, a prominent street filled with highend retail stores. We saw many of the same types of booths, but this market also had some family-friendly attractions. There was a small "Christmas Land" type place filled with great photo-ops, as well as singing and dancing animatronic animals of all types - even dinosaurs. You know, the Christmas dinosaurs? Totally normal. There was also a huge, beautifully-lit ferris wheel at the end of the walk, as well as a Christmas-themed Michael Jackson Thriller fun house. Also totally normal. 
One not so fun part about the evening is that someone tried to steal my cell phone. I was well aware that this crowded market would be a hot spot for pick-pockets, but I had my phone in a vulnerable location anyway. The market was full of so many beautiful things that I kept using my phone to take pictures about every 30 seconds, so it didn't make sense for me to put it in my purse. I instead kept it in my coat pocket, which unfortunately was not big enough to fully conceal my phone. We were stopped at a crosswalk when I felt something touch my right side, right where my phone was. Someone had reached over and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. Without even thinking, I grabbed for the phone and yelled, "That's mine, give it back!!!" and the man instantly handed me my phone. He then proceeded to continue to stand at the corner with all of us and wait for the signal to change. He didn't run away, didn't say sorry, didn't say anything!! I was so angry, yet so relieved. It would have been a sad weekend with no tool to take pictures of all the wonderful things we were seeing. I spent the rest of the weekend either having Aaron hold my phone in his very deep coat pocket, or awkwardly holding my hand on it when it was in my coat pocket, just to make sure no one else could get their hands on it.
On Saturday, Aaron and I got a day pass to use the city bike system. It was only €1.70 for access to the bikes for an entire day! The only catch is that you must return the bike to a docking station within 30 minutes of taking it out. This is no problem at all though because there are bike stations all over the city! This made for another day of cheap transportation. It was a ton of fun seeing the city by bike, even if it was freezing cold all day. I always enjoy exploring a new place by foot, but bike provides a similar perspective at a much faster rate.
Our first stop on our bike ride was the Notre Dame cathedral. We've explored quite a few cathedrals in the past few months, so I am a little bit underwhelmed now by the design of many of these buildings, but the outside architecture of Notre Dame is remarkable. The inside was not as impressive as some of the other places we've been, but we did see a large nativity display, and we got to enjoy the beautiful sounds of a choir practicing.
Later that day, we rode bikes to the Eiffel Tower, and then climed the 704 steps to the second floor for a great view of Paris at night. It really is an amazing and unique structure. Once we climed down, I had just finished taking a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower lit at night, when all of a sudden it started sparkling like crazy, with very bright white lights. It was gorgeous! I don't know if this happens every night, or if it's just a thing they do at Christmas time. We also saw what looked to be preparations for a proposal - a walkway lined with candles and rose pedals. How romantic!
One highlight of Saturday was warming ourselves at a cute little bakery after bicylcing through the cold all day long. We enjoyed some hot soup with a fresh baguette, hot chocolate, and a very sweet raspberry pastry. This was the perfect meal to prep us for our last ride of the night back to our Airbnb, which was the longest and coldest ride of the day. Memorable Meal:
Saturday we decided to seek out a place to have some authentic French crepes, and we landed at a place called Au Berre Salé. They had an extremely extensive menu, with numerous flavors of both savory and sweet crepes. We opted for one savory and one sweet to share. The savory one we got had duck, cheese, and spinach. It was quite tasty, but nothing compared to the sweet crepe - caramel apple! It was filled with warm, gooey apple slices and a delightful caramel sauce. I think we followed every bite with "mmmm...." and a sigh of enjoyment.
Who’s Coming to Dinner:
We were lucky to have 2 different meals with dinner guests this past week. The first set of guests was Riley and Nicki Estes, classmates of Aaron's from high school. Aaron hadn't seen either of them since high school until this past summer, when our paths crossed in Phoenix. Now, just 5 months later, our paths have crossed again! They just happened to be vacationing in Madrid and they sent Aaron a message to see if we could get together sometime while they're here. We happily invited them over to our place and we shared a nice visit in which Aaron got to catch up with them both, and I got to know them a little better. I wonder where we'll see each other next?
Our second guest of the week was my previous Spanish teacher, Teresa. I had been wanting to hang out with her for quite a while, so it was really nice to finally spend some time together and get to know one another outside of the classroom. It was also great learning about her family's holiday traditions, and hearing about the cool things she does for fun in Madrid. Maybe sometime we'll join her at a swing dance lesson, or check out a concert of the choir she sings in. Either way, I'm looking forward to hanging out again soon.
En la clase:
This was my last week of classes with my actors until January, so it only made sense to have Christmas-themed lessons. And since my students love movies, naturally I planned a lesson on one of the best Christmas movies of all time, Elf! Much to my surprise, many of my movie-loving students had never even heard of the movie. They very much enjoyed watching a couple scenes, and I think I gave them just enough of a tease to convince them they should watch all of it sometime. Since we were on the theme of Christmas, one of my students brought a snack to share with the class: polvorones. These are a typical Spanish treat at Christmas time, and they are quite tasty! Some people eat them in the form pictured above, and some people smash them in the wrapper first, then eat them.
For my more advanced class, I had fun introducing them to the world of cheesy made-for-T.V. Christmas movies, such as the ones on the Hallmark and Lifetime channels. They couldn't believe how many of these exist, and they laughed with me about the totally predictable girl-meets-guy right before Christmas plot line that so many of them posess. We ended the class with them writing their very own plots to an actual title, and they came up with some quite believable and creative ideas! They also shared a lot of laughs trying to pronounce the word "unavailability." Apparently it's a tough one.
Final Notes:
A HUGE highlight from the week was of course our visit to Disneyland Paris! Most people who know me well know that I love Disney, and I love all things Christmas. Put those two together, plus international travel, and I am one happy girl. Aaron was afraid that my expectations were way too high going into it, but I was not disappointed in the slightest. Disneyland truly is a magical place, and when you add the magic of Christmas, it's just amazing. Aaron was a little hesitant to go, but I talked him into taking me as part of my birthday present. He has no regrets. It turns out that happiness and excitement is contagious when you're surrounded by smiling children (and adults who feel/are acting a bit like children...like me for example). Disneyland Paris consists of a park, much like the Magic Kingdom, as well as Walt Disney Studios, which has more of a theme park feel. We just went to the park and only had one day to see it. While it's not quite as big as Magic Kingdom in Orlando, it is still big enough to spend several days there. In an effort to see and do as much as possible, Aaron and I ran from place to place like crazy people. Or, I guess I was the crazy person and Aaron is just the super supportive husband who happily put up with my persistence and ran along with me with no complaints.
We were somehow able to visit all of the sections of the park - Fantasyland, Discoveryland, Frontierland, Adventureland, and Main Street, USA - ride most of the rides (except for a few that were closed for the winter and a few that we decided were not priority because we had ridden them at other Disney parks), and see at least a little bit of every scheduled event for the day (such as parades and performances). I think this was partly possible because it was quite cold, so there were far fewer people there than typically would be. We never waited longer than 30 minutes in any line. We were so focused on fitting in as much as we could, that we even skipped eating for most of the day. This was also in an effort to save money, since the food there is so expensive! We only had a few snacks that we had brought with us, and then shared a small pizza. I guess the excitement was enough for our bodies to forget how hungry they should be. By the end of the evening, of course, we were so exhausted and hungry!
Some of my favorite parts of our time at Disneyland were the following:
- Watching the parades and getting a close-up view of the amazing costumes.
- Watching the kids around me who were as excited as I was to be there, many of whom were dressed in princess dresses underneath their heavy winter coats.
- Admiring all of the elaborate, Disney-themed Christmas decorations, and then getting fake-snowed on!! Snow makes everything more magical, even if it is made of soap.
- Getting to feel like a kid again, without a worry in the world (other than trying to see everything) for just a day.
- Experiencing the magic of multilingualism. Almost every employee (or "cast-member" as Disney calls them) seemed to speak at least two languages. I felt like they had a super power as they would just switch back and forth from language to language, communicating with everyone around them. I was so impressed by the quantity of people who possess these skills, and at the same time saddened that there is likely no place in the U.S where this is true. I wish there was a stronger focus and priority put on language learning, as it really is like a super power. A super power that can do wonders for your professional life, no matter what line of work you're in.
- Watching the "bilingual" shows in which Mickey would speak English, and then Minnie would respond back to him in French. I guess everyone understood at least half of what was happening.
- Being mesmorized by the light/fountain/fireworks show at the end of the day. Some extremely gifted artists figured out a way to project videos of Disney characters onto Sleeping Beauty's castle, and synced it up with music, fountains, flashing lights on the castle, and fireworks. The spectacle lasted about 30 minutes, and I was totally enthralled throughout its entirety. Aaron and I were both even brought to tears a bit during the "Let it Go" portion of the show. That song is definitely overplayed and I'm a little bit sick of it, but there's no denying its beauty and power, especially in a setting such as this.
All-in-all, the trip was an absolute delight! Paris lived up to they hype in my eyes, and Disneyland is definitely worth visiting if you ever get the chance. This trip to France got me thinking a lot about language, and actually gave me a huge confidence boost in my Spanish-speaking abilities. Sometimes I feel extremely discouraged when I go out in public and still can't understand what the people around me are saying, or can't think of the right words to express a simple request at a store or restaurant, and I end up feeling like I don't know anything and never will. Travelling to Paris, however, really put things into perspective. I actually know a lot of Spanish! It was really helpful, as weird as this may sound, to be surround by a language of which I actually don't know any, because it helped me realized that I do know how to communicate a great deal in Spanish, it just might be a bit slower than the norm.
I had never traveled to a country that doesn't speak either English or Spanish, so it was so strange to be in a place where I really didn't know how to say anything. It really makes one aware of the beauty of language and the fact that we as humans are able to communicate with one another in such an effective way. Communication is obviously possible without words, but words definitely provide a quicker way to get to the point!
I think this small boost of confidence was just enough to inspire me to speak with less inhibitions this week, and I had two very positive experiences with Spanish. I visited the post office for the first time, and I managed to handle everything without asking the woman working to repeat anything or to slow down her speech, and she never had to ask me to repeat anything either! Then, one evening I went to teach a class at an apartment I had never been to, but I couldn't remember what floor my student lives on, so I went to talk to the portero (doorman) and we had a full conversation in Spanish. I began by creepily asking, "Do you know where a little girl named Violeta lives?" and then quickly followed up with, "because I'm her English teacher and I don't remember which apartment is hers." The portero then said, "Oh, you're not Spanish? Your Spanish is very good!" I was so flattered, but later thought I must've misunderstood him because there is absolutely no way someone could mistake my accent as being a native Spanish speaker. Either way, I felt pretty good about myself.
Another interesting thing that I witnessed this week was a shouting fight in the metro, that was sort of caused by me. I was in a rush to get to work one day, and in one of the train stations there is a moving sidewalk. The general rule is that if you prefer to stand, you stay to the right, while people who want to walk, stay to the left. Of course there is also an option to walk on the regular floor of the hallway, but if you are in a rush, it makes a lot more sense to use the moving sidewalk that will give you a boost in speed. I of course, opted to use the moving sidewalk, but there was a woman standing on the left with her suitcase blocking the right side of the walkway. I said several times, "Perdona. Perdona." Thinking she didn't hear me, I repeated myself, a little louder this time. "Perdona, perdona." She then angrily explained that she had her suitcase and couldn't move out of the way, an that I should not have come onto the moving sidewalk if I wanted to walk. She had so much space to just step either in front of or behind her suitcase!
I anxiously stood behind her, and then a man came up behind me and asked what was wrong. I think he had recognized my haste and was confused as to why I was now standing still. The woman, a little angrier now, explained to this man why she couldn't move, and he thought she was being ridiculous and wasn't afraid to tell her this. They argued back and forth a bit as he tried to reason with her, and then he plowed over her suitcase with his body, and then his suitcase. This really made her upset. They were full on shouting then and he was in front of her, but facing her. Despite his hurry to get past her, once he was in front of her he just stood still arguing with her until we reached the regular floor. They called each other animals and were still yelling when I ran away to catch my train. I have never seen so much as a disagreement between two strangers in public here in Madrid, let alone a full-blown shouting match. I felt so uncomfortable and couldn't help but feel like I had started the whole thing.
In other news, we finally broke down and bought a toaster oven, and our lives have been enriched! I had forgotten how nice it is to be able to make frozen pizza, or enjoy the comforting taste of home with a nice warm bowl of apple crisp.
It is so good to hear about your adventures! I too found Disneyland Paris magical, I especially liked all the Jacques Cousteau references fun! Your posts help us remember our lives in Spain!
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