It's been a great couple of weeks here in Edinburgh: Classes have finished and the final essays have been handed in; The weather continues to be surprisingly nice; summer travel plans are beginning to formulate; the search for a job has commenced; and I suppose there should be mention of my dissertation. It'll be interesting to see how all of these elements play out in the coming three or four months. This is about the third year in a row where I've been in the precarious position of having immediate responsibilities that require a large degree of attention while also having one foot out of the door, looking for that "next step" in the process of life. I have fought hard to maintain a fragile balance of "living in the moment" and "looking forward", planning for the future. I suppose this is a dichotomy that will play out several times throughout my life but I've already had about enough. It's tiring. It's stressful. It's scary as frick. But it's also exciting.
It was about this time two years ago when I cemented my plans to work for Habitat in Greensboro following graduation from Hope. I remember how quickly the melting pot of emotions shifted from confusion and chaos to anticipation and excitement upon having the opportunity to work for AmeriCorps. So although I have absolutely no idea where I'll be living, what I'll be doing, how much I'll be making, or how I'll manage the incurred debt, I am pretty stoked to see how it all plays out. Call it naiveté or a return to innocence, but as many question marks as there may be littering the prospects of the future, I am excited. I suppose that's all I can do.
These 8 months (dang) in Edinburgh have been an unparalleled life education. In that regard, I've received what I came for. With four brief months ahead, there is still so much to do. Realizing this, any reaction/interpretation to the current situation other than excitement is foolish. There will be much, much more to report as the summer takes its course and the veil of uncertainty begins to lift, revealing bits and pieces of what is to come. I hope everyone is well.
ps- in case there isn't another post before hand: Happy Mother's Day to mom, grandma Castle, and Melissa, and congrats to my brother Aryn as he graduates from Miami University (OH) on May 9th.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Paris, with a little Pep
This past month has been pretty special for several reasons, one of which was my trip to Paris. Although it did not go nearly according to plan, it was an experience I would be hard pressed to trade for any alternative. It started out as a planned weekend rendezvous for three friends; it became a weekend of site-seeing and first experiences for one, playing tour-guide and translator for another, and wrecked travel plans/40 hours in JFK for the third. When it was all said and done, the three friends converged for 45 brief minutes near the Eiffel Tower on Monday afternoon before they had to part for their respective destinations. Now, I could spend the next 4000 words explaining the details of how this all came to be, but I'd rather tell you all in person one day. So I will just give you a few highlights from my end (the one with the "weekend of site-seeing and first experiences"). Here are my top three highlights from my weekend in Paris:
3) Walking along the Seine. I must have expressed my desire to walk along the Seine esplanade to Brianne a solid half-dozen times. Recalling memories of Gene Kelly - Leslie Caron, Cary Grant - Audrey Hepburn, I was set on taking a stroll along the famed river at some point during the weekend. That time came on Sunday afternoon/evening. Brianne and I had finished lunch and had spent some time scouring a book stand on the edge of the Seine. Brianne came away with a copy of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo; My prize was a tattered, two volume translation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. The total price for our purchases was an incredible €6. Still beaming from our recent finds, we headed down a ramp from the main road to the river esplanade.
Other than a bout of stiff wind, the weather was as nice as it had been all weekend: dynamic, but sporadic, cloud cover with plenty of room for the sun to reach us below, and a temperature of around 45 F. We walked westward from an area east of the Louvre towards Brianne's "pont préférés", of which I have forgotten the true name. It was an amazing walk that I won't soon forget.
2) The apartment. One of Brianne's friends (I don't know exactly how to spell it, but phonetically it sounds like "Guy-Elle") opened her apartment to us for the weekend. I'm not too familiar with the average living accommodations in Paris, but from other people's reactions it seems as if Guy-Elle has a ridiculously nice place. Located near Montmartre, the apartment was in a nice part of the city. But the story here is not the apartment; it's the overwhelming hospitality and authentic French experience lavished on me throughout the weekend. Spending Saturday night drinking wine and eating pasta, various cheeses, and sweets with Brianne, Guy-Elle, and Gwendalynn (another Brianne's friends,sp?) was surreal. I use the term "eating" loosely, as most of time the food was being forced onto my plate while I played guinea pig for what I was told was "uniquely French" cuisine (not that I was putting up much of a fight). After an elongated Sunday brunch, which included brioche and homemade jam from a fruit that supposedly doesn't grow in the US, I began packing my pipe to smoke outside when Guy-Elle insisted that I smoke inside. I was stunned. I didn't know how to respond! It was the first time I was ever allowed/asked/able to smoke in an actual apartment/house! I had smoked in garages, cars, stairwells, and an unfortunately cramped "smoking room" in an attic at Hope, but never sitting in an actual kitchen chair in an actual living accommodation. It was awesome. Guy-elle sat there and chatted with me as we shared a bowl of aromatic Cavendish that had made its way from Easton Town Center to Montmartre. With another dinner party featuring crepes on Sunday night, my weekend was made. This would have been the number one experience if it were not for the long-waited for arrival of Adam Pepper.
1) You may have noticed that to this point there has been no mention of the third party of our planned rendezvous. That's because Adam Pepper spent the better part of two days in JFK airport. After a series of delays, cancellations, and airport changes, Pep made it to Paris at 1:15 pm on Monday afternoon. All I could do when I saw him carrying his luggage on his shoulder and looking half-dead was laugh. That's actually all I did each time I heard of a new misfortune in his travel plans throughout the weekend. Before you judge me, you should know that out of our group of friends, Pep would be the one that this would happen to. He's the nicest, most upbeat/kind-hearted guy I know, so of course the crap would fall on him. The situation was hilarious. Anyhow, we finally met at 1:15 under the center of the Eiffel Tower. As you have probably witnessed from the title picture, we proceeded to make the most of our extremely limited time together and had a session of catch on the lawns sprawling to the north of the Tower. There probably wasn't a way we could have stuck out more from the multitudes of tourists and local schoolgirls on field trips other than nuding-up. But I didn't care. i had accomplished a mission I had set for myself when wer first decided upon meeting in Paris. The weather was perfect. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Again, there is so much more to say about my trip to Paris, and this past month overall, but that will have to wait for another time. Hopefully a time where it can be shared over coffee.
3) Walking along the Seine. I must have expressed my desire to walk along the Seine esplanade to Brianne a solid half-dozen times. Recalling memories of Gene Kelly - Leslie Caron, Cary Grant - Audrey Hepburn, I was set on taking a stroll along the famed river at some point during the weekend. That time came on Sunday afternoon/evening. Brianne and I had finished lunch and had spent some time scouring a book stand on the edge of the Seine. Brianne came away with a copy of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo; My prize was a tattered, two volume translation of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. The total price for our purchases was an incredible €6. Still beaming from our recent finds, we headed down a ramp from the main road to the river esplanade.
Other than a bout of stiff wind, the weather was as nice as it had been all weekend: dynamic, but sporadic, cloud cover with plenty of room for the sun to reach us below, and a temperature of around 45 F. We walked westward from an area east of the Louvre towards Brianne's "pont préférés", of which I have forgotten the true name. It was an amazing walk that I won't soon forget.
2) The apartment. One of Brianne's friends (I don't know exactly how to spell it, but phonetically it sounds like "Guy-Elle") opened her apartment to us for the weekend. I'm not too familiar with the average living accommodations in Paris, but from other people's reactions it seems as if Guy-Elle has a ridiculously nice place. Located near Montmartre, the apartment was in a nice part of the city. But the story here is not the apartment; it's the overwhelming hospitality and authentic French experience lavished on me throughout the weekend. Spending Saturday night drinking wine and eating pasta, various cheeses, and sweets with Brianne, Guy-Elle, and Gwendalynn (another Brianne's friends,sp?) was surreal. I use the term "eating" loosely, as most of time the food was being forced onto my plate while I played guinea pig for what I was told was "uniquely French" cuisine (not that I was putting up much of a fight). After an elongated Sunday brunch, which included brioche and homemade jam from a fruit that supposedly doesn't grow in the US, I began packing my pipe to smoke outside when Guy-Elle insisted that I smoke inside. I was stunned. I didn't know how to respond! It was the first time I was ever allowed/asked/able to smoke in an actual apartment/house! I had smoked in garages, cars, stairwells, and an unfortunately cramped "smoking room" in an attic at Hope, but never sitting in an actual kitchen chair in an actual living accommodation. It was awesome. Guy-elle sat there and chatted with me as we shared a bowl of aromatic Cavendish that had made its way from Easton Town Center to Montmartre. With another dinner party featuring crepes on Sunday night, my weekend was made. This would have been the number one experience if it were not for the long-waited for arrival of Adam Pepper.
1) You may have noticed that to this point there has been no mention of the third party of our planned rendezvous. That's because Adam Pepper spent the better part of two days in JFK airport. After a series of delays, cancellations, and airport changes, Pep made it to Paris at 1:15 pm on Monday afternoon. All I could do when I saw him carrying his luggage on his shoulder and looking half-dead was laugh. That's actually all I did each time I heard of a new misfortune in his travel plans throughout the weekend. Before you judge me, you should know that out of our group of friends, Pep would be the one that this would happen to. He's the nicest, most upbeat/kind-hearted guy I know, so of course the crap would fall on him. The situation was hilarious. Anyhow, we finally met at 1:15 under the center of the Eiffel Tower. As you have probably witnessed from the title picture, we proceeded to make the most of our extremely limited time together and had a session of catch on the lawns sprawling to the north of the Tower. There probably wasn't a way we could have stuck out more from the multitudes of tourists and local schoolgirls on field trips other than nuding-up. But I didn't care. i had accomplished a mission I had set for myself when wer first decided upon meeting in Paris. The weather was perfect. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Again, there is so much more to say about my trip to Paris, and this past month overall, but that will have to wait for another time. Hopefully a time where it can be shared over coffee.
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