Happy Turkey Day

I know I'm a lot behind on my blogging, so I will catch myself up all in one blog post. First my trip to Paris with the little girl that I babysit and her family.

Sweet boy is ALWAYS happy and smiling!

PARIS

They decided that they wanted to meet up with some of their old friends from New York in Paris, so I got to accompany them for the weekend...which meant free food, free hotel room bed, free HUGE shower, free Eiffel Tower visit. Everything FREE! This is the dream for a poor college kid. And even more, they paid me for the time that I sat with the two kids while they were SLEEPING as I played on my computer. Babysitting is the easiest and most rewarding job ever. You get to play with kids, relax by cleaning up house, enjoy free birth control (those little suckers will have you waiting to have your own children for YEARS), and every once in a while free weekends to Paris. I felt like a true "au pair" last weekend, and it was great! They said I could go off by myself and meet up with friends, but who would want to do that when all your food will be paid for if you just stick with the family all day?! I got to experience a French meal (pasta and chicken), spend time with my two favorite French kids, visit the Eiffel Tower, and learn some new French words! All in all, it was a really great weekend! I missed Paris quite a bit (that was the first time I've been back in two years). And I finally got some serious pictures out of the kids!

Le sénat in Paris

Serious picture!!!!!!

Eiffel Tower...she's standing on a block,
she's not really that tall!

Two crazy French girls ;)

Oh how they love each other...at 7 in the morning

 BRUXELLES

Gary Reedy

I also had the amazing opportunity to visit Johnson & Johnson in Bruxelles, Belgium (yes, I was in Belgium again, no I am not fat yet from all the chocolate and beer). I shadowed a few of the members from the Government Affairs & Policy sector with the focus on Europe, Middle East, and Africa (GA&P EMEA for short). They were an amazing team who were all MUCH younger than I expected them to be. All of them were younger than thirty years old and had all had experience in previous companies. The first day I had dinner with Gary Reedy (member of the Board of Trustees and alumni of E&H). He was the one who set all of this up for me and really helped me through the week. He made me feel right at home with his southern accent, and I told him I was "in heaven" because I was finally speaking with a native American speaker. Sometimes I get homesick for that good 'ol American accent (or normal accent as I call it).  It was nice to relax and eat some pizza after having had to take four trains and the airport shuttle to the hotel. After a long day of traveling, I was ready to get to bed. 

One of the committee meeting rooms

The next three days were filled with meetings, lunch dates, and a team dinner with a few of the members. It was a jam-packed week, but it was well worth it in the end, and I am more than happy that I took notes! I ended up getting sick on Wednesday night (which I am still recovering from), so my head was a little cloudy to remember everything that I had done. I don't want to reveal too much of what I did because I have promised Dr. Lane that I will do a presentation on it when I return, and I love telling my stories in person way too much to spoil it in a blog post! Don't worry, I took lots of notes, so I won't forget everything I did! If you want to know more about it, just let me know, and I can fill you in on the details, but for now, things remain a secret :) One thing I would like to say, though, is how impressed I was with the EU Parliament. The meeting rooms were astounding! It was literally like the movies in that there was a huge room with chairs everywhere for each member of the committee, and then in little boxed rooms situated all around the room translators of 23 different languages would be translating directly what what going on on the floor for each committee member to listen to if he/ she wanted. All they had to do was pick up the headphones, turn it to the right language channel, and they would be connected to that translator. That has to be one of the hardest jobs to directly translate what is going on in the room. Maybe José Lucas can attest to that since he translates from Portuguese to English/ French for me on a daily basis ;) 

Grand Place

JnJ building right across from my hotel

Little restaurant - "Le Tout Bon"

Sitting in the president's chair in the EU Parliament

MEXICAN DINNER DAY 

Well, we all decided that we wanted to eat Mexican food together, so that's exactly what we did. This last weekend, we ended up going to the store and buying a whole bunch of Mexican food. What was supposed to be just a lunch turned into a full-blown Mexican day. We had so many tacos that we ate them for both lunch AND dinner, and we spent the whole day resting in the kitchen, talking and spending time together. It was a good day of fellowship and friendship. 

Talking after having stuffed our faces 

Marcelo and Pri getting ready to assemble tacos

SOCCER

José Lucas #3

I also got to attend a soccer game of José Lucas'. He plays well except for that part where he only played a total of maybe 30 minutes during two whole games. He even bet me that his team would win if he got to play more than 15 minutes during the second game. His team lost...he played for 14 minutes. I timed it. It's funny to watch French people play sports because you imagine them being these more feminine people due to the clothes they wear, and then they really show that style on the court. Now, not all of them run weird or are really bad at defense, but they aren't as "manly" at sports as us Americans are. Anyway, that was fun considering we were walking through centre ville when JL's friends called all of a sudden and within 10 minutes we were being wisked away for him to be able to play soccer at 8 at night. 

THANKSGIVING

This was my first Thanksgiving away from home, and I didn't really realize how much this holiday means to me until I had to spend it without my family, and especially without the ability to Skype them because the internet was so bad yesterday. But I am incredibly thankful for not only my family back in the States, but also my family here in France. They don't fully understand what it means to celebrate Thanksgiving, but it really is the most unique holiday in that our country preserves a day just to celebrate FAMILY and everything else we can be thankful for. So this week, and all the weeks to precede and follow this one, I am thankful for my family, I am thankful for the chance of a lifetime I have to spend in France, and I am thankful to have met all my Brazilians. 

Waiting for dinner to be ready

Proof that I actually cooked

Playing "chubby bunny" 

I got to make Thanksgiving dinner for all 8 of us on Wednesday night, which was a blast. I did pretty well considering everything for my recipes I had to find in French, in the confusing French grocery stores, and then I had to convert the units of measurement. The only thing I was not able to make was the pumpkin pie (I couldn't find the pumpkin), but we still had rolls, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, apple pie, and chicken (turkey is not so common here I guess). The only thing that went wrong was that the bottom of the apple pie got a little burnt, but they still ate all of it! I also don't think it was my fault that it burnt because the top of the pie had only just started to get golden brown when I pulled it out of the oven. Needless to say, it was a successful Thanksgiving dinner - my first to cook, and the Brazilians' first ever! They are excited to celebrate next year in America with me and have a true Thanksgiving dinner with all the American favorites. 

Thank you mom and dad for everything you do for me, for all the support, love, attention, and encouragement you give me on a daily basis. Without the two of you, of course I wouldn't be on this Earth, but I also wouldn't be nearly as independent and ready to explore the world as I am. As I look back at this past semester, I can only imagine how hard it would have been for me to study in a foreign language, find metro lines to take, navigate the bus schedule, cook for myself, make friends, and live by myself if mom hadn't been asking me if I was ready to pack my boxes for college two months before I was supposed to leave ;) I complain about it, but I truly do appreciate having been raised to be an independent, outspoken woman. My family is my rock, and to them I will always run.

Also, my town is better than yours. We have a giant ferris wheel for Christmas :)

Centre Ville with Christmas decorations

Also have been feeling pretty homesick this week. I've been overwhelmed with work, I've been sick, and I missed Thanksgiving at home. I actually had some guy turn around this morning in class and tell me that I need to blow my nose. Excuse me, but I am sick. Would you rather me get up in the middle of class, make a bunch of ruckus, and go get a tissue? That would be better? Or you want me to blow my nose right in the middle of class? In America, if someone was sniffling, we would be kind enough to ask if they need a tissue and have one ready at their disposal...not turn around and make the person blow their nose! I told him I didn't have a tissue, at which time his girlfriend proceeded to pull out TWO packs of tissues, and then he glared at me while I took the tissue and pretended to wipe my nose. I think that is the most insensitivity I have experienced in any culture. I'm sorry I'm sick, France. I'm sorry to disturb you with my germs. At least I go to every class and TRY to take notes even when I'm sick.