a new appreciation

It can be so easy for me to get used to living in Rennes, that I fail to see the beauty and charm of this old and historic city. And Rennes IS a really beautiful city. And though I wish it weren't so, it seems somewhat inevitable, what with the busyness and fullness of life, that its beauty and charm that is at first so awe-inspiring, can quickly go unnoticed.

But last week was different. I realized that I hadn't been taking as many pictures as usual, and decided to have my camera on me more often. And I'm so glad I did, as it  led to a "I can't believe I LIVE here" week! I don't know if you anyone else ever has those moments? Aunt Terry, on the farm? :)

And while I know you have often seen pictures of my city, or have seen it in real life (!!!!), or live here and walk on these streets every day... I thought maybe we could all appreciate the charming little city of Rennes. :)

I love the cobblestone streets that are everywhere!

I do sometimes find it a bit eerie when the carousels go round and round with music playing and no children on it... kind of Ray Bradbury-esk.

  
best.bakery.ever. 

I loooooove the colors of these buildings! And if you look closely, you can see Dan walking (red bag) down the street!

Does it make you want to come visit?? We even had 3 days of sunshine and warmer weather this week! Now it's raining and cloudy again. Hmmm. Maybe next week will be sunny weather again!

Int'l women's day!!

March 8th was International Women's Day. Did you Kansans know that? I don't think it's a very celebrated holiday in Kansas. But it's really cool. Want to know how I celebrated?? The Stade Rennais sold soccer tickets for only 5 euros ($7) for all women AND not just any tickets, but the BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE tickets; literally called "the presidential seats". They can go up to like fifty bucks on a normal game day for an average joe. 

So of course I was all over that deal -- seeing the team I love so much right up close in person, and for cheap?!? YES please!! There were 6 of us girls total; happily seated front and center. 

Oh, and of course being in the best seats in the house meant that we had a great view of the players -- including my favorite -- Pitroipa (or "Pit") who is from Burkina! He's number 7. Before heading to the game and while I took a power nap, Joel, Jeremie and Joanna made me a paper Burkina flag to wave around. Often after games, players will walk over to the "presidentially seated" fans and shake their hands, thank them for coming, etc. I was hoping that Pit would see his country's flag and come bounding over, but alas, he went straight to the locker room. Boo.

But now the flag is hanging in my office! Naomi, aren't you proud of your daughter's coloring skills? :)

And yes, one corner is a little less green -- I had to finish coloring at the game. :) 

This is the "crazy fan" section -- where we normally sit!  Notice it's like all guys. No discount for them! 

There he is! Burkina Faso represennnnnt! (The bald guy behind him is Renne's coach)

 

Mascot!

This is my second favorite player -- he's a true Breton (from this region). 

 

 

 

This is Kembo. I met him last year, but no one really knew who he was then. 

And the goalie... he's a good player. :)

I'm so sorry if soccer posts are boring to some of you... if you come and visit me I'll take you to a game and you'll see how much fun they are in person!! Right Shorty and Linds? STADE RENNAIS!!!

discovering a new "city"

This past Saturday, my friend Cecile was going to be performing in a dance recital in a city about an hour from Rennes. She is an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G dancer and I went to a lot of her shows when I lived in Nantes, and a few in the past years. So when I heard she was performing not too far from Rennes, I was overjoyed at the chance of seeing her again. She said the city was called "Ploermel", so I bought a TRAIN ticket (emphasis on the word train) from Rennes to Ploermel for Saturday evening.

Well, upon arriving at the train station, but 6 minutes before my departure, I saw on the board that the "train" going to Ploermel was leaving by bus from the bus station. What?!

It's not abnormal to take buses to other cities -- France has a really awesome transportation system, so you can get about anywhere either by bus or train. But typically, it's written on your train ticket, or even when you're buying your ticket online that it's a bus. My ticket said nothing.

But that's alright. I had 6 minutes until the bus left, and thankfully, the bus station is right next to the train station, so it all worked out splendidly. The only problem was that I had told my friends (who were coming by car from Nantes) that they could pick me up at the train station, which, was obviously not going to be the case anymore. But I figured I could find a different meet up point when I arrived in the city.

After about an hour and 15 minutes on the bus, the city named "Ploermel" flashed on the computer screen, announcing our arrival. I quickly put my book back in my bag, hopped out of the bus and watched it zoom on its way. And then I looked around me. There was one long road stretching behind and in front of me. Some houses on one side, a bakery on the other, and a small parking lot. That.was.it. Where in the world was I!?! But what could I do, but walk in the same direction of the bus, and hope to find something more like a city ahead of me. And that is what I did.

After walking for a few minutes, I came to this plaza with this beautiful cathedral

a cute little cafe / restaurant / bar / pizzeria / creperie

and a little newspaper stand. I was looking for the center of town, so I thought I'd ask the nice lady at the newspaper stand.

Me: Bonjour! Sorry to bother you, but could you please tell me where the center of town is?
Lady at Newspaper Stand (LaNS): the center of town?
Me: Yes. You see, I'm not from around here, and I'm supposed to be meeting some friends near the center...
LaNS: You ARE in the center of town. Have a nice day.

:) Hmmm. Come to find out later, that apparently the cathedral is always in the center of town? I did not know that.

Having a couple hours to kill, I walked around the center several times, and took a few pictures of what there was to take a picture of.

I then went and sat myself down in the little "cafe de la tour" (Tower Cafe), which I joyfully discovered was decorated like an old medieval Tower.

Nothing like a yummy coffee, and reading Les Miserables in an old cafe in a small village in the middle of France. I was a happy camper.

There were TONS of old books! They were so cool!

The way to the bathrooms!

I REALLY liked the books!

I was able to meet up with my friends -- it was quite easy, as the road from Nantes came right into the "big city center". After a crepe for dinner, we went to see our friend Cecile perform.

They were by far the best performance there. Their piece was 18 minutes long! Cecile is in blue! :)

What fun adventures can be had in France! And believe it or not, I have a LOT of pictures to blog about... so there should be new posts coming soon!

a special interview

I talk about my family a lot. :) I'm a very proud daughter and older sister. But, I ask you, how can I help it, when they are such cool and unique people!?! 

The other day, while I was skyping with Shorty, I decided to ask her a few questions about life for her these days, and thought I'd share them with you. She's of course, given her lovely and willing consent. :)  (My questions are in red!) 

This is she. My youngest sister. She's in her second year of nursing school in Kansas and in my unbiased opinion, the best nurse in training. 

What is the most exciting thing you've recently learned in nursing?

Hmmm. Probably that sudden infant death syndrome is most common in the second and fourth month of life. It’s really sad! AND the correct terminology for “goose bumps” is “arrector pili”. 

Can you use it in a sentence? 

When Erika walked outside without a jacket, her arrector pili were engaged at 90 degrees.

What is your most boring class? 

Pharmacology. It’s all about different drugs and they all kind of run together… and it’s not very interesting.

(I hope my teacher doesn’t read your blog!)

What are you  most looking forward to this week?

Going to the perk to get my last “very vanilla latte with whipped cream” before I give up coffee for lent. So I’m very much going to enjoy that cup of coffee.

What were your 2 exams in this week?

Nursing and Pharmacology

Hmm… isn’t nursing what you’re studying? Can you be a little more specific?

Cardiovascular disorders, respiratory disorders in children and health promotion in children and families.

Is it interesting?

Yes.

What are the books you’re reading right now?

Eric Liddell’s biography

Nursing textbooks

If you could eat with ANYONE dead or alive, what would you eat?

Rice and sauce, plantain, and African coke. Then have a rhubarb mulberry pie for dessert. Oh! And French baguette!

Did you make your bed this morning? :)

YES!!!

What are you most looking forward to in the month of May?

Seeing Melissa’s pretty face in real life. :) That’s a manipulative question.

What is something that is uniquely “Erika”?

I’m very symmetrical. If you would split me in half, I’d be exactly the same. I have matching freckles on both of my eyelids and on the front of both of my legs.

What’s your biggest fear in becoming a nurse?

Giving a patient the wrong medication.

What does it feel like to have your family live on 3 different continents?

Lonely at times, an excuse to travel, and having the privilege of telling people why we are on 3 different continents.

What is the most exciting thing you've done the past 2 days?

Angela and I ran in a thunderstorm and we almost got struck by lightning, but it was really thrilling and we’re both still alive!!!

If you could create an army out of any animal, what animal would you choose?

Rhinoceroses

What are your plans after next year?

I have one of 3 options: 

1.  Get my bachelor’s in nursing

2. Take a year and live with Mom and Dad and do nursing in Niger

3.  Get a job and start getting work experience.

Which one are you leaning more towards now?

NO idea! But I figure “no option is a bad option”

Give me one of your favorite Dad quotes.

“Remember T-mobile” (when Dad ("T" = Tom) was reassuring me that he'd always be available to come back to KS if I needed him or Mom; regardless of how far away they lived)

  

Top 5 current favorite songs:

1.       Rain in Us (Starfield)

2.       Beautiful (Phil Wickham)

3.       Yiruma

4.       Just the way you are (Bruno Mars)

5.       Love like woe (Ready Set)

Thank you for letting me interview you Shorty! I love you much much and can't wait to see you in 2 months and a few days! :)

piano + cello

One of my friends, Josephine, plays the cello beautifully. We thought it would be great fun to learn a piano / cello duet, just for the fun of playing together and having the challenge of learning a new piece. 

We picked "The Swan" by the French composer Camille Saint-Saens -- you can listen to it here. Isn't it so beautiful? I really love this piece.

Saturday night we had our first practice of playing it together. It was... fun, funny, sometimes beautiful, but mostly really cool to just play together. Neither of us have practiced enough for it to sound like the youtube version, but it was so neat to play together, and definitely motivated us to continue practicing. It was, after all,  only our first time playing together! 

We had to get creative with how to hold up our sheet music, as I have no music stands in my apartment. Clothespins on the drying rack worked quite well. 

The lighting in my office is really bad, and not only was it hard to see our music, but for picture taking, it's not ideal, to say the least.  

A year or so ago, one of the students that was involved in Agape moved to Canada, and left me her keyboard -- SO generous and kind of her! It's definitely a keyboard -- not full size and no weighted keys, but it's much better than nothing, and I'm so thankful to have something to play on! 

Maybe one day when we've mastered the piece, we'll put up our own video on youtube. Ha. :)