Won't you tell the world, I'm coming home?

Sorry that the posts have become few and far between...I'll try harder from now on! Christmas season has been keeping me awfully busy (in a wonderful way!) I mean, is there anything better than buying gifts, celebrating the season, and watching 439867392 Christmas movies? (thanks Hallmark!) 

Jack and Jill have been working hard at school and are quite ready and deserving of this break! I got to help them do their Christmas shopping for Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto, which was a lot of fun. Also fun was trying to pick out perfect gifts for all of them from me. For the kiddos I settled on creating geocaching bags, fully equipped with all the supplies they need for a geocaching outing. And for Mickey and Minnie, I decided the best thing would be to give them quality time together, so I organized 3 dates: a brunch, a night at the movies, and a romantic home-cooked meal (by me). Hopefully it will prove a successful gift!

An now, 7 hours from this moment, I will be loading into a taxi and headed to Reagan for a flight home. I think I started the countdown sometime back in October, but it never seemed like it would actually come! (I mean, don't get me wrong, I wasn't quick to want to leave here, but around Halloween is when I started realizing that Christmas wasn't far off- and here we are!)  

The family has been so overly generous and kind to me, and it is a somewhat strange feeling to be leaving- kind of like when you leave school- you leave behind dear friends for family time, which is both wonderful but slightly bittersweet. But I couldn't be more excited to see my familia for a while! Hopefully they are prepped for geocaching, some serious Just Dance destruction, ping pong battles, and family dinners!

4 days until the big day! Now that we actually survived despite the Mayans, I guess it's time we all stop procrastinating, and do our Christmas shopping! 

May the force be with you!

Rachel 

From the city of love, to the city of brotherly love

Apparently I love me some cities of love! Turned out I had a three day weekend this past weekend, which meant, time to head to Philadelphia to visit two wonderful wonderful friends: the best of my high school and college days! Though it was a rainy weekend, it was a weekend that was unarguably and completely perfect.   I hopped on a Megabus on Thursday night, and 3 hours later I was pulling up behind the station (because they don't believe in actually dropping you *at* the station) of the lovely Philadelphia. And then Friday morning came morning. Friday, the best day of all days. Why? 

That's why! (The friend, not the giant macaroni noodle) What began as a lost wander to Broad St. to have the movie-moment reunion on the street with the one and only Mary Simms (which we did have- middle of the sidewalk, passerbys irrelevant and unimportant) culminated in a day of wandering, catching up, and simply enjoying each other's company, and of course, would any reunion be complete without a coffee at a local coffee shop? No! No amount of coldness or rain could keep that day from being absolutely perfect! 

And then Saturday we got up bright and early to have a final cup of coffee before Mary got back to her normal routine.  I headed back to my friend, David's, apartment and we headed out to see the UPENN campus (where he currently is attending med school). We also went ice skating: I fell right on my sorry butt, and remembered in a quick moment why it is that I haven't gone skating in about 8 years- because I don't enjoy it at all. But I enjoyed the company. Sunday morning I hopped back on a bus and headed back to DC. 

And now here we are- refreshed, renewed, and ready to dive head-first into Christmas preparations. 

Hope the Christmas season is as wonderful for you as it is for me!

Rachel 

Thanksgiving Reflections

So, I swear that my intentions were good when I was in France to blog while I was there...unfortunately, trying to see France, care for the kiddies, keep two journals, and sleep and recover somehow seemed to get in the way of blogging...so with deepest apologies, some more about France...

France is a beautiful beautiful place. In regards to people saying the French are rude; I found quite the opposite to be true. When we got into the airplane leaving DC I had that "oh crap" moment, when I realized that around me I heard much French being spoken, and didn't understand even a bit of it. It's somewhat incredible to see how far you can get not speaking the same language as the people around you, but it's also terrifying, and can be quite frustrating. Frustrating when people are ushering you off a bus a mile from your destination, and there's no way to find out why...frustrating when you're trying to pay for groceries but aren't allowed because you haven't weighed your fruit...frustrating when your 8.5km from the Eiffel Tower and have 35 mins to get there. And so when people say the French are rude, I beg to differ. I can't call the cashier or the woman behind me in line who helped me weigh the fruit rude. I can't call the store clerk who found an english-speaker to help select clothing rude. I can't call the woman who missed 4 opportunities to cross in the crosswalk so that she could instead pull up directions and maps and metro stop listings on her iphone to help me get to the Eiffel Tower rude. It's incredible to see how very generous and kind people are, if only you're willing to abandon the stereotypes that you've adopted and held onto. 

I can't describe France in words alone. Cue the slideshow!

By night

Inside Notre Dame

Some really cool grafitti

The Louvre

By night

Montmartre art square

Venus statue

Inside the Louvre

The Mona Lisa

Mont St Michel

Thanksgiving Dinner attire

Chateau D'Audrieu (where we stayed in for our time in Normandy)

Utah Beach

Horse training- to make them fast trotters (weird)

Ship remains at Utah Beach

Pointe Du Hoc- craters formed by US bombs shot from boats at German Bunkers

Pointe Du Hoc

Pointe Du Hoc

Omaha Beach

American Cemetery 

Flag lowering ceremony at the Cemetery 

Arc de Triomphe

mi crepe! (yum)

Getting artsy with the Eiffel Tower shot

So, basically, my time in France will be forever unforgettable. I don't think words can actually describe the way it felt to be there. There was the incredible rush of being somewhere new, the adventure of discovering a new place, but also a strange familiarity, like having an old friend greet you. I felt like Europe was embracing me in a hug and saying "welcome back, Rachel, we're so glad you're here!" Hey Europe, I'm glad too! 

xoxo

Rachel