How are we all?

(Day 112, Grenoble)

I notice it's been a while again. I had a plan to bring my computer to Italy with me, but I decided I didn't want to lug it around on my back through Europe and left it in Grenoble. So I'm sorry I didn't post last week. As for the week before... I forgot. Oh man, while I've been counting the days I've been here for, I've also been counting how many are left. As that number has been shrinking and shrinking I've had significantly more to do here. From exams to traveling, I've been rather busy, but I'll do my best to recount the past... 20 days. (Procrastination as a way of life is not always the best choice, if I may so so hypocritically.)

So Switzerland and Easter, yeah? Let's check the handy calendar, shall we?

I seem to have had a test for my techniques class on the 9th, which sounds exciting. That wednesday we went to a local museum in Grenoble instead of actually having my language and culture class. Went to the crypts of Saint-Laurent which were really cool. We got a guided tour from the city center to and through the museum by a man who works for the university I'm studying at. I learned a lot about the history of Grenoble, which has been around for ever. Going to William & Mary and being from Boston I feel as if I've got a large knowledge of old America, but Europe really takes the cake. This city has been around since the Romans were in power. I know I've been to Rome and I understand the history of this area, but to be reminded of how old this place I've been living in for the past 112 days is wicked old is sort of mind-blowing. The crypt has graves dating back to the origins of the city as well which is so crazy! Okay, enough on that.

So that weekend we went to Orange, Nice and Éze. More ancient Rome in Orange. They have this great ancient Roman theater that has been pretty well preserved considering it's been around since the 1st century AD.

We only stopped in Orange on the way to Nice for lunch. Nice was AMAZING. It was so refreshing to be warm, for the first time in forever. We went to see a monastery on one of the hills around Nice and the Matisse museum. We also walked around the Old city which looks strikingly like Italy. A nice warm up for the week to come. Pictures of course, I got it.

Ancient, look what our theme seems to be.

On the way back, we stopped at Éze, a medieval city in the south of France. Once again very cool. It's on the top of a mountain and it is so very cool. I don't know if you can tell that I'm already running out of synonyms, haha.

I can't describe to you how nice it was to be near the water. It truly felt like summer. I'm very ready for summer. But doesn't it always get this way at this time of the year?

Let's get back to the schedule then. Movie night, we went to see a French film with my study abroad program. Then Italy! Nicole, Claire, Aubrey, and I went to Venice and Cinque Terre. Mostly because we wanted to go to Italy and I hadn't been to those two places! Venice was amazing. We saw the Basilica of St. Mark and tons of other churches around the city, the Rialto bridge, several museums including the Guggenheim, we took a gondala ride, and I celebrated my 21st birthday in Venice. We walked all over the city and rented an apartment in the city as opposed to staying in a hostel or hotel. We were right next to St. Mark's Basilica which made visiting things really convenient and was awesome. Venice isn't as big though as say Rome, so we only spent 4 days there before leaving on Monday for Cinque Terre. 

Cinque Terre was so cool. It's comprised of these 5 small villages on the coast. You can hike from village to village, which we did (Physical activity! Me!), and each village is  different from the other. with its own identity. I totally suggest visiting! We rented a room in Vernazza and had some of my favorite gelato ever in Italy, which is saying a lot, because I'm now an expert. This is a point where I would like to apologize to everyone. I bought you all souvenirs of gelato, but I ate them all... although I'm not particularly sorry, they were delicious.

Oops. Over exuberant about these Cinque Terre pictures. It was just so incredibly beautiful.

So that you guys caught up. Mentally speaking I'm 50/50 about coming home. I'm excited to use a real shower and wear clothes that feel clean again, but I'm going to miss being able to walk 4 seconds to a café and fabulous pastries and speak French first. I know that's weird and I revel in the moments when I get to speak to native English speakers, but I do enjoy speaking French with people. It's definitely the best way to improve your language skills and I'm going to miss actively improving it without having to seek it out. Mostly I've been sad about leaving Europe, until last Monday and the marathon bombings in Boston. My dad was running the marathon and I had been following his progress all afternoon online. For some reason he had passed the 40k mark and for an hour it never showed that he finished. I had been watching a movie on my computer and went to check Facebook before starting a new one when I read my newsfeed saying different variations of "Pray for Boston". Pray for Boston? I mean it's an awesome city and I'm the first to admit that, but what are we praying for? It was people who I know that go to Boston universities and who were from the area, but I got concerned when a girl I know from Canada updated her status. So I did what we all do now-a-days, I googled it. Suddenly my computer screen was filled with these news articles about bombs at the finish line from an hour previously. I couldn't read fast enough. I went back to the BAA website to check my dad's time but he still hadn't crossed and I kept reading. I didn't know what to do. I was freaking out in my room all the way in France and all I wanted were my parents. I called my mom, but she didn't pick up. I took this 3 ways: 1, something bad happened; 2, everything's fine and she didn't pick up her phone; 3, she took up her usual post of super-mom and was at the medical tent helping out as she would. So I called my dad. Instead of actually hearing his voicemail box I heard some automated voice breaking up over the line. This did not help my mental breakdown. Suddenly I got a Skype call from my cousin who reported that my parents were fine. My dad was fine but lost in the city because they're closing down all of the streets and my mom is in the city trying to find him. When I finally got to talk to my dad two hours later, they are calling me on Skype from the car, that's how scared I sounded on the voicemail I left my mom, haha. My dad's biggest complaint about the whole issue, I'm sure to calm me down, was that he was running too slowly for his liking. I told him that was probably forgiven seeing as his foot hurt and bombs went off. For the rest of the week, I was sort of out of it, and I still kind of am. You see these things on the news happening elsewhere, and you visit Ground Zero in New York, but it still is jarring to me that it would happen in my city. I wasn't even there, but I was floored. I know people who were there, I'm related to them! The best part though, was the response. I know my city wouldn't have responded in any other way. Even shutting down the city to track the suspects down was not unexpected. And I'm so proud of the people that were there and responded right away. I miss Boston and I'm so happy to go back to such a wonderful city in 19 days. Boston Strong.

Switzerland for Easter!

(Day 92, Grenoble)

Here is my politically neutral post for you all!

Once upon a time, there was a student at Northeastern University named Brenda who was part of the co-op program. One semester she decided to take full advantage of this program and work on site at a hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.

There she got to meet many awesome people and make friendships that would last her a life time. One of her best friends while in Germany was a woman named Dagmar. After Dagmar and Brenda had both gotten married to their respective husbands, they both had their first child within a month of each other. Dagmar's daughter, Saskia, was born in March, while Brenda's, Kaitlin, was born in April. As the two girls got older the mothers thought they would be good pen pals. The two girls wrote to each other regularly with their mothers translating the letters to and from German for their daughters. One day, the two friends were finally able to see each other again when Brenda and her family traveled to Europe. The two families vacationed together in London, and an idea was hatched in each of the families heads. This idea came to fruition when Saskia came to live with Brenda and her family a few years later and study at the same school as Kaitlin. Ever since, Kaitlin and Saskia have been very good friends, so much so that for Kaitlin's 18th birthday, her parents gave her a trip to Germany to spend a week with Saskia and her family. 

Another friend of Brenda's was a man named Gerold. The two of them didn't keep in touch as regularly as Dagmar and Brenda did. However, when Brenda was gifted a trip to Germany by her family for the Christmas of 2011, she thought to get in contact with Gerold and try to meet up with him and his family while she was in the area. Gerold had met a wonderful woman named Yolanda and the two of them and their children lived in Baden, Switzerland together.

When Kaitlin, Brenda's daughter, decided to study abroad in the French alps in the spring semester of 2013, Brenda thought to contact Gerold and his family to see if they would have Kaitlin over for a weekend. 

Okay, this is starting to bug me, so it must be getting to you. Surprise! My full name is Kaitlin! And Brenda is my mom too. Typically, the Kaitlin thing is more surprising to people, so I thought I would just drop that in there for good measure. So yeah, for Easter weekend I took a train (well 3) to Baden to stay with the Möhrs for the weekend, and it was one of the best weekends I've had here in Europe. On the Friday, we went to Basel which is right on the boarder with both France and Germany. We did this cool scavenger hunt/walking tour of Basel using this program called Foxtrail. It was really cool and took us to parts of the city we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. Saturday, the daughter of the family, Leana and I walked around Baden and I helped her with her homework. Yes this is worth mentioning, because I haven't gotten to be the big sister that helps with homework in forever (possibly ever, sorry Maggie) and it was so wonderful and refreshing. Sunday was Easter, and we went to Yolanda's sister's for Brunch. We did what I called an Egg fight. Explanation: so you know how for Easter you hard boil eggs and color them. In my house that's usually the last step. They're a sort of decoration for the few days around Easter and then they're thrown away. In Switzerland they eat them on Easter, but not before having some fun with them. 

You hit eggs against other people at the table and whomever's egg doesn't crack after the encounter wins and moves on to the next person. This keeps going until there is one egg left and they are crowned the winner. Then you dig in and have some tasty eggs for Easter. We also hid chocolate eggs (and chocolate bunnies) around the house (it was snowing) which is something I haven't done for years (mostly because my most recent Easters have been in college). After brunch, we walked around Zurich and stopped at a very fancy cafe, Cafe Felix, where I got to have hot chocolate legally for the first time since lent finished.

(http://www.cafefelix.ch)

Sunday night we Skyped with my family. My whole family. My grandmother, uncles, aunt, cousins, parents, sister and exchange student. It was a lot for me to take in, I can only imagine what it was like for the Möhrs! Monday I trained it back to Grenoble. It was a fabulous weekend, and I'm excited for Leana who is going to stay with my aunt Denise's family this coming fall and study at the same school as my cousin. Hopefully the Möhrs will be able to come visit us all in the US!

Other than that, my week has been pretty relaxed. This Friday, however, my study abroad program is bringing us to the south of France to go to Nice. I'm wicked excited and the weather better be spectacular, because I'm ready for it to be spring now! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, and if you don't celebrate Easter, I hope you at least got to eat some of the candy of the season!

We're getting real.

(Day 92, Grenoble)

Warning: What you are about to read is a blog post that directly correlates to my political and social opinions. Do not take this as me shoving my opinions down your throat. If you would rather skip this politically charged post, feel free! One thing I learned from 7 years in a right-leaning school is that it can be very difficult and uncomfortable when people are throwing their political and social views in your face, especially when you don't agree with them. It has guided me in my life to not hide my views, but be more open-minded and accepting of others' (I hope). As such, if you would rather not read this post, that's fine! I don't take any offense to it. In fact, I'll make a second post of happiness and travels for those that would rather not read this one. Donc, let's get this show on the road.

These past few months, in the US and France alike, people have been discussing the implications one's sexuality has in the rights given to them. In the US it's been about gay marriage, and in France it has been about gay marriage and adoption by gays. This is where things begin to diverge, because while America has had enthusiastic protests in favor of gay marriage, the French have been storming Paris, monthly it seems, protesting against marriage for all. This came as sort of a shock for myself and my American co-travelers here in France. On the first weekend we arrived in Grenoble, many families left to go to Paris and join in on the protests. While we know that us mostly liberal, college-aged girls were in favor of marriage equality, it came as a surprise to find out that the French, a stereotypically loved-up nation with stereotypically blasé citizens who, in theory, shouldn't care who you love were so emphatically against gay marriage. Further proof that stereotypes should not be the basis of your knowledge on anything! Do your research! I knew that France was a Catholic country, but even many of my Catholic friends back in America are for gay marriage. It was surprising to me that France wasn't jumping on the bandwagon, but then again, when have the French ever done what everyone else has?

I've been willing to accept this as a facet of the French people, keeping my mind open and understanding that not everyone sees things the way I do and I've been listening to their sides of the argument (through my friends). While it's not a topic I've discussed at the dinner table with my host family, who has not left me in Grenoble to protest in Paris, most of my friend's families have been very open about it with my friends. Many people aren't against the marriage equality, but rather giving gay people the right to adopt. They believe, as many do in the US, that the best way for kids to be raised is by a mother and a father, not two mothers or two fathers. I understand where they're coming from, as I've sincerely enjoyed my life with a mother and a father, but I also believe that it's not a necessity. Why should the gender of your partner determine whether or not you would make a good parent? I really don't see heterosexuality as a necessity in parenting, but that's just my opinion. The other day, however,  my friend was chatting with her host mother about the issue. The two of them know they have different opinions on the issue, but her host mom was feeling like going in depth on the issue this day. I don't remember exactly what she said about it, but she started pulling out an extremely offensive argument in defense of her opinion against gay marriage. She was talking about how if the government was allowing anyone to get married based on the argument of "being in love", what if someone claims they are in love with their dog, should they be allowed to marry their dog?

Hold up. Did you just equate a human being to a dog? As I remember from many an attempt at a different answer to my inquiry, despite how much I love my dogs, according to the Roman Catholic, dogs to not, in fact, go to heaven. The reason for this being, they are not given free will and a soul and all the good stuff God gave to each and every human being. Just because they also happen to be gay does not mean that they suddenly lose all of these things. Homosexuality does not negate the existence of a soul. Being a dog does. So, in answer to your question, no maybe governments should think twice about allowing citizens to marry their dogs, but they should stand up for their citizens regardless of sexuality and grant everyone the same rights, including marriage. Furthermore, France, haven't you historically had problems with the ties between Church and state? I distinctly remember you having a rather turbulent end to the 18th century and debut of the 19th century as a cause of this.

(http://lefsummerschool.eu/theme-2013/)

Yes, maybe your problems were because God has supposedly chosen the monarchs that had driven your nation to the ground, but still you went through the entire country taking the Church's goods and destroying Churches to install government buildings or hospitals or a metro station. Now you want to bring the religious argument into the debate and allow that to determine your laws? No.  If you would like to have that option, then feel free to vote for a government more closely tied to the Church, by all means! However, while the church and the state are still not one and the same, you cannot use religious arguments as valid reasons behind laws. Unless you also take into account the beliefs of all citizens including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc. as well, your government is not required to make your religious beliefs law.

Don't think you're getting out of this easily, America. The same argument applies to you, even more so. While France has historically been a Catholic country, going so far as to being half of the Great Schism with the Avignon Papacy, an active member of the Crusades, and a prominent part of the Holy Roman Empire, we have none of that. We were a country founded on the idea of religious freedom, being a safe haven for people of any religious belief to practice it without persecution. Yes, sometimes that's been a challenge for us.

(http://unconfirmedbreakingnews.com/2013/01/breaking-news-1763/)

I'm talking about you Salem. The 17th century was not your highest point in upholding this belief that the pilgrims were (sort of) aiming for, especially considering the majority of you were descendants of if not pilgrims yourselves. However, we have a bigger population than France and a bigger religious diversity, even when just considering Christianity on its own. I think that means we are held to an even higher standard when it comes to the separation of Church and state. When our melting pot of a nation tries to use religion as an argument, they better double check that this is what every religion practiced in the US believes, because the government I voted for is not one run by religious leaders, rather people looking to bring about a better standard of life for the American people as a whole, including equality for all. Whether you are black or white, gay or straight, female or male, Christian or Islamic, you deserve to be treated equally under the law of the Unites States in my eyes. If this means two men want to get married to each other, they should be allowed to just based on the fact that a man is allowed to get married to a woman. That is reason enough for me. 

I have so much more to say on politically charged topics with regards to France, but maybe I should leave that to another day. So, until then, equality for all always.