Time to reel it on in...

"I'm leaving on a jetplane. Don't know when I'll be back again... Oh babe, I hate to go." 
 Not really, but I'm leaving Madrid tomorrow to head back to Paris! (and hopefully more scheduled blogposts!)

I'm sad to leave Madrid  because it really is such a beautiful city! Not too mention the family I am staying with is lovely! But I'm excited to head back to Paris and an almost-normal "routine!"

Speaking of routines, its time for Morgie to "reel it on in!" Back home-home (as in Philly) I was an early riser, as in 6 or 7 am. Even if I wanted to sleep-in, my own little mental alarm clock would go off, telling me to get my arse out of bed. I ran just about every morning. Outside. Even in the snow and rain and freezing temps. If I were a Spice Girl I'd be Sport Spice (even though Posh was my fave!) I would go to class come home, do some homework, shoot the bull with my sis/roommate/BFF, make us some yummy/healthy dinner, watch the office/greys/etc, then hit the sack.

Needless to say, in Paris, my life is completely upside down. I cannot physically get out of bed until 10, 9 at the earliest (but I look like a puffy-faced witch) and going for a run? pfft, only if its sunny and I don't have a million other things to do. I used to never, ever miss a workout. EVER. When I came to Paris, I knew I would have to ease up on my workout regime, and at first I went a little crazy, not being able to work out everyday (not to mention the huge quantities of food I was now eating every day)  Then another classmate of mine (who was going through something similar) told me to just relax and worry about working out when I was back in the states. I was only going to be "living" in Paris once, so I might as well enjoy it to the fullest why I can.

Well enjoy it I have. My mind and body has been on vacation-mode for far too long. But now I have a semester left to go (four and a half months) and I've already gained quite a bit of weight. The first five pounds I didn't mind a bit (i finally have an ass! Wooo!) but now as more and more pounds (i'm not going to give figures here, but believe me its a sad day when I have to put on a pair of my jeans!) keep creeping on, I'm thinking about joining a gym. No way, no how am I giving up French wine and pastries while I'm here (i had to give up the cheese because of an allergy) but somethings gotta give (and it ain't gonna be my clothes!)

Gym memberships are tres expensive, but I think its worth it! I genuinely LOVE a good sweat session and there might be a chance of meeting a cute French boy at the gym, so I'm excited!

Plus, I signed up for the Paris Marathon right after I finished the Dublin one in October, so now is a more than perfect time to ditch my bad habits and get back in shape. So I might be taking this blog from a study abroad blog to a study-abroad-healthy-habits-blog! You dig? I don't know, I might even post my progress on here, but as I dont believe in weighing myself, I don't know how I'll track it? I just go by home my clothes fit, so maybe once I fit comfortably in my jeans again, we can all have a bloggy-party?! =D

Did you ever have a "health crisis" moment? Where you felt like you needed to take your life back into your hands? The past semester, I decided to totally let go of all my control, but now I feel like I sort of need to take some of it back. Not all of it, but at least get back to the "old me" a bit more! I've  notice I'm not nearly as confident as I once was and the once "take my picture!"-me is now hiding in the background... not good. I know loosing weight isn't an answer to self-esteem problems (which I don't think I have a problem with) but I know working out helps get my endorphins going and will be a move in the right direction.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Sorry for the longggg boring post, but its been on my ever expanding chest for a while and it feels great to get it off!

*** edit: I just realized its Wednesday, definitely not the week-end just yet... whoops! But have a happy hump day then! =)

Bisous!
Morgan

Happy Epiphany!

Hola Amigas et Amgios!

Thats about as far as my spanish has come! I've been having a great time here in Madrid, thanks to the wonderful family I am staying with. They have been feeding me amazing food and the little boys are too cute! We went on a beautiful, long hike up Sierra de Guadarrama. It was snowing, so we made a snowman, had a snowball fight, and just had a good time! I love "family time," so it was really more than I could ask for!

In Spain, they celebrate Christmas differently than in America and France (no duh, Morgan!) They don't give presents until the Epiphany (or when the three kings came bearing gifts) We have gone shopping a few times this week, and instead of pictures with Santa, little kids line up to take pictures with one of the three kings!

Yesterday there was a big parade in the city to celebrate, and I have to say it put the Macy's parade to shame! There was an acrobat hung from balloons that looked like she was flying through the air! Every culture was represented in the Parade, so it was not like they were pushing religion on anyone. AND there was bon-bons... lots and lots of CANDY! Before we went to the parade, we stopped at Dominique (my host father's) favorite pastry shop because I just  had to try a galette there. The line to get into the bakery was incredible! It wrapped around the whole block! Luckily, Dominique knew the owner, so we got to line-jump!!

After the parade, we went to a lovely Belgium restaurant where I got a warm goat cheese salad. DELISH! I don't know if I mentioned this before, but French people always, always have to finish a meal (even breakfast!) with a dessert!! Believe me, after two weeks here, I'm either going to be a diabetic or extremely obese. But I'll take either considering the food is so amazing!!

In a few minutes we are leaving to go to the park to go running! They know I am crazy about running and since today is the first sunny day, they are taking me to a "safe" park! ha They are too cute! I see a lot more runners here than in Paris, and people running at all hours. This will be my first run here,  because they would rather "not worry" about me and it has been horrible weather.

My camera seems to not want to load my pictures, so check in tomorrow for a picture update!
Bisous!
Morgan

Silly Baxter you know I don't speak Spanish!

HOLA!

I am in Madrid for TWO weeks, stuffing my face tutoring English to a French family here. My BFF (not the one who visited me last week,  but my French BFF who I met in Philly, while she was studying abroad) has family who lives in Madrid. They were very interested in having an "au pair" to tutor their two sons English. . They have WiFi, but turn in off because the mother feels it is not "healthy" to have access to internet 24/7, so it may be difficult to post everyday. Desolee!

I arrived last night and my word is the Madrid airport beautiful! HUGE, but very beautiful! My flight was supposed to leave at 2:45, but there were problems at the airport (big surprise there!) so I left 2 and a half hours later!

As you can imagine, I was a little timid to and unsure of how it would be spending 2 weeks with a family I didn't know (even though I am living with a host family in Paris?!) but it has been so much fun! I am very close to my younger siblings, so being around 2 young boys, playing wii and other fun games has been great! Not too mention, more French cooking! =)

See you soon!
Morgan

Rainy Day Blues and A Running Horror Story

Before coming to Paris, I thought I prepared myself for all the drastic changes I was going to go through and being away from my family for so long. But lately I've just been in a weird funk. Maybe I'm scratching it up to be more than it is, and its just after holiday blues plus the horrendous winter weather?

Lately, without any school or reason to get up early, I've been sleeping in WAY too late. Back in the states, I was always up by 8 am, off running or doing something productive. Here, I'm lucky to be out of bed and dressed by 11!!! I can't stand wasting my days (especially in Paris!) so hopefully I'll get over this bump soon enough!

Also, it could be because I have no been exercising regularly. I know I feel so much better after a long run, but its just so difficult in Paris. I am not exaggerating either. Before I started this blog, when I was training for the Dublin marathon, I had HORRIBLE experience. I didn't want to share it in case there were any "readers," (if I have any yet! ha) who were thinking of studying abroad.

In the beginning of October, before I lived in Neuilly, I lived right next to Belleville (a bit of a harder, more workign class part of Paris) There was a great running path that I ran just about everyday that went though Villette park and then followed a canal out of Paris to a "suburb" called Pantin. Paris has been putting a lot of money into Pantin to beautify it and try to better the area, so I had no idea I was running through the equivalent of Harlem everyday! The was always a lot of other (male, older) runners and mommy's pushing babies in strollers, so I never had any reason to feel unsafe!

Well, one day at around 4 pm I laced up to go on a longgggg run, when I left the house I had an uneasy feeling, but I just decided to shake it off. Running down the streets of Paris is always an "experience," as you have men who dont think a woman should be running, not too mention how packed and tiny they are. I LOVED running along the canal because there was no cars and seemingly just other runners! It reminded me a lot of my favorite run in Philly, along Kelly Drive.

Once I got past the normal cat-calls of the street and into the park, I still couldn't shake the uneasiness. In hind sight, I should have turned around, but when it comes to running, I'm pretty hard core and don't like to "give-up," so I just kept truckin'. As I continue through the park, at about mile 9, I hear more cat-calls. I do my best poker face and ignore. Next thing I know, I'M IN THE AIR then IN THE CANAL!!!!

The canal is very deep and wide (and DIRTY), but I still managed to hurt my foot upon landing (thank gosh I went feet first!) When I rose to the surface, I swam to the edge and saw an 18 year old GIRL pointing and laughing at me. Along with her was a gang of 7 boys of the same age (18-22ish), all laughing as well. As you can imagine, I was more than a little confused! I tried to climb out, but the wall was just to high, so I shouted "Aidez-moi!!," and two younger boys run up from another direction. I drop the ipod out of my hand in order to raise it to be pulled out. What do you know, they steal my iPod and run off, leaving me in the freezing water!!

Meanwhile, I'm still being laughed at by the gang and becoming quite the spectacle to the others in the park (which is still heavily populated) In the defense of the passer-bys who don't help me, I can't really blame them. I too would have been frightened of the scary gang, but did no one have a cell phone to call the police?! I waited 5 more minutes in the water (felt like 20!) until finally a young, brave man pulled me out. I was so angry at this point, that I didn't even thank him, I RAN UP TO THE GANG and started yelling like a craZy person (in English of course, ha). Thank gosh for France's anti-gun laws or else I am sure I would be dead right now!

"Luckily" for me the brave man pulled me away from the gang, but they jumped on the scooters/vespas and started CIRCLING around me! Can you imagine 4 scooters (with 2 people to a seat) circling you?! The young man who helped me, quickly evaporated and left me to myself again. I have never been so scared in my life, as they circled me, but eventually an older woman told them off and they crossed a bridge and continued to follow me from the other side of the canal. This said woman, gave me a metro ticket and wished me "bon courage" on my journey. Thanks for your generosity, m'am! I mean a SOAKING wet, shivering american girl who barely knows any French yet, and a metro ticket is all I get. BTW- the next metro station is about 5 miles away. Oh, and it was Paris' fashion week.

By now I'm sobbing, making an even bigger spectacle of myself. I passed many people who just kept skirting away from me like I had the plague. After about 2 miles of walking soaking wet, a young man on a bike spots me, does a double take and decides to take pity on me. He rode ahead to get canal security. After a day spent at the hospital and police station and some blood test (i drank the water, GROSS!), the rest is history!

Most people ask me two questions after hearing this (LONG) tale:
1.) why did you not book your first flight back home?!
2.) YOU KEPT RUNNING AFTER THAT?!

I didn't run home crying because I was not going to let it ruin my experience here. Like I said before, I would NEVER run through North Philadelphia or Harlem. The girl who pushed me in was SO surprised that I was American. She only pushed me in because it was her boyfriend who catcalled at me. Also, there's a huge class problem in Paris. I probably looked like a rich, white girl running through her turf. This could have just as easily happened in America, but it probably would have ended with me getting shot!

I kept running because, well I AM a runner. Nothing was going to or is ever going to change that. I just needed to find a new route. That being said, it has been hard to find a "safe," easy to run route here, so I am thinking of joining a gym to run on a dreaded treadmill. Especially after reading Megan over at runnerskitchen.com take on the how to survive it!


Sorry for this long, ramble-y post but I just wanted to share this little gem of a story. Anyone have horror stories or similar experiences with catcalls gone wrong?

Have a happy and SAFE New Years Eve! What are your plans? Staying in with close friends and family or going buck wild?! Me, I'm going to my friend's family house for a quite night!
Bisous!
Morgan

Alone in Paris!

Sorry about the lack of posts the last few days, but as you all can imagine with the holidays and being a "tour guide," I've been a busy girl! I dropped my friend off at the train station this afternoon (shes headed for London, Lucky!) and I had an amazing time with her. It was great being able to show this city to someone. It made me realize how much my French improved and how much I LOVE PARIS!

Here's a little recap of the rest of the week...

I tutor English to a family in Bourg-l-Reine (a suburb of Paris) and one of the families invited me there for Christmas dinner. They are a wonder and sweet family. Christmas Eve is the day most French families/Parisians celebrate Christmas. The actual Christmas day is spent traveling to their vacation homes or a ski resort. So lucky enough for my friend and I, we were able to partake in a real French Christmas Eve dinner! It was so wonderful and definitely distracted me from the fact that I wasn't home for the holidays!

My poor friend doesn't speak a lick of French and is Jewish, so she was such a great sport about going to a long Catholic mass with me. We had a great time sitting around the table of 16 French people, and communicating through broken french and english. We didn't start eating until 10:30 though! It started out with Foie Gras (ie- duck LIVER and LARD, it tastes surprisingly like a creamy peanut butter, but the thought of it makes my insides churn!) and smoked salmon. The next course was duck,  potatoes au gratin (french style, yum!) and a dish of acorn squash and apples! We ended the meal with a salad and a plate of TWELVE different cheeses! As a new vegetarian/vegan (hello lactose-intolerance!) the meal was a bit difficult to eat, but I decided the cheesy potatoes and cheese plate were to hard to pass up. Of course, I suffered horribly the next day. Did I mention there was a different wine with each course?!

We took a break to let our food digest to let the little children open their presents. Christmas is done quite differently over here. First off, as cliche as it sounds, everyone (even the 4 year olds) are dressed sophisticated in head to toe black.  Secondly, under their christmas trees, instead of mounds of presents, each person gets about 5 or 6 really nice presents. The little kids grab the presents and give them out to whose ever name is on them. Obviously since I am not family and only knew 5 out of the 20 people there, I wasn't expecting anything, but Madame Mangez had three beautiful gifts for me and 3 for my friend as well. Her generosity astounded me! 

After that, I believe I may or may not went into diabetic shock. I did not keep track of the macaroons, "french brownies" (don't know their name, but they were AMAZING!!), ice cream, and bon-bons I ate. I do know that I washed it all down with a glass of champagne, though. 

We left at about 3:30 am, sufficiently stuffed and extremely merry! It was the perfect Christmas and something I'll never forget!

Christmas day, we woke up at 1 am and did not leave our beds allllll day. I have NEVER stayed in my PJs all day, so it was a big deal for me! ha, trust me I've had my lazy days before, but I normally do at least a pilates video or a 20 minute walk, but my friend was having none of it! We stayed in our PJs, ate more cookies and candy and watched GLEE all day/night. I'm officially obsessed! =)

Saturday we went to the Louvre all day to see my girls Mona and Venus. Then we went to the Galleries Lafayette to check out their Christmas displays before they took them down. So pretty! Sunday and this morning involved lots more touristy things, too much to recap!

I had such an amazing time with my friend, it was a great distraction for all the change I'm going through! I can't wait for the new students in my study abroad program to come, but I'm definitely going to miss all the friends I made last semester!

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas day and break with their family and friends!

What is your favorite Christmas memory? Mine is when my mom accidentally put my name on my brothers BB gun when I was 10. We were both so confused (he was jealous, I was pissed!) that we cried before my mom realized that I had opened the wrong gift!

Bisous!

Paris, je t'aime!

I am so glad my friend is here to distract me from not being home for Christmas! It has been great to show her around and be a "tour guide." Not only is it making my life here seem more real (I still have to pinch myself everytime I see the Eiffel Tower) but I took an intense class on the history of Paris through architecture (hello, 15 page research paper!) and I didn't realize how much I learned! I love me some historical facts and pretty buildings!

Yesterday we probably walked around 14 miles, no joke! We started at my apartment (in Neuilly) climbed to the top of the top of the Arc de Triumph (second time, but the view still blew my mind!), then continued down the Champs l'Eysee to the Tuilleries Gardens. We went to the famous Angelina tearoom for a nutritious brunch hot chocolate and pastries! Mmmm....

After getting our blood sugar levels up, we sortied for rue Rivoli for some shopping! We're both broke as a joke, so only faire du lèche-vitrine (window shopping) was done. Every other store is either a boutique or a patisserie, so Paris can be a walking trap for the sweet-tooth, shop-a-holics of the world!

After getting our shopping fix, we went to the Notre Dame. There was a HUGE xmas tree in front, the cathedral was as beautiful as ever! After that we headed for the Pompidou museum, but of course, it was closed on Tuesdays, so we decided to just walk down/explore random streets. We ended up in the Bastille area, where I know there is some delish French Onion soup. DELISH!!! Then after filling our bellies, I made poor Annie walk all the direct six miles back to my apartment! (before Paris turned into a winter wonderland, it was part of my 12 mile loop!)

Today we are going to rent the "velibs," or the sort-of-free bikes Paris offers. They are a Euro for a day subscription and then a euro for every hour on top of that. The bikes are really nice and are another great way to get around this city, but sometimes I swear the cars are out to get us! =)

Have a wonderful day!
Morgan =)

When Life gives you Lemons, Make Lemonade

Yesterday I picked my BFF for E up from the airport at around 9:30ish. I could not have been happier. Four months of not knowing someone, and finally seeing a familiar face was AMAZING! We walked around Paris a bit, but it being a Sunday, everything was closed, so I just let her soak up the sites. Of course we stayed up till wayyyy past our bedtime catching up! She had been studying in Israel, and boy did she have some stories for me!

We got up bright and early at 6:00 to catch out train to Amsterdam. Everything was going as smooth as a jar of jif, until we got to the train station. It was unbelievably populated. I know its a busy time to be traveling, but I knew this amount of people was unreal! Turns out the train that left before us was cancelled due to someone getting "sick" (aka committing suicide) on the tracks. Therefore, their train was delayed and would be delaying all the other trains. For some reason (that is unclear to me) the conductor needed everyone for the 8:30 train to refund their tickets and repurchase new one for a later time. Annie and I had bought these tickets 2 weeks ago for 245Euros for two people, roundtrip. Well, we were refunded (it takes TWO months for them to process the refund though?!?!) but to by two more round trip tickets cost.... i kid you not FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY-EIGHT EUROS!!! Thats about $+600, and WAYYY over my price range.

Needless to say, we just decided to stay in Paris for the week! Not too shabby, if you ask me! Also, I'm big into believing everything happens for a reason, so maybe we would have gotten into some trouble in the Red Light district and this is just a gift from the Big Man?!

Well, I'm off to show my BFF my favorite spots in Paris with some French Onion soupe for this cold, rainy day! =)

Bisous!
Morgan