Go long!

In attempts to make friends here in Paris I have come up with a variety of new, fun and inventive ideas to get connected to French community while still doing things I enjoy. Last week while searching for furniture on Craigslist I saw an ad of a flag football team looking for extra girls. I was very excited. I love to watch football (GO CHARGERS), I love to play catch, I need friends, I am in!

Yesterday I went to my first football practice. It was quite the experience! There were many factors I did not take into consideration before showing up to practice.

First- playing a sport and watching a sport are two very different things. I may like to watch football but the skill it takes to run AND catch a ball at the same time is surprisingly difficult. Suffice to say, I fumbled the ball a many number of times when a pass was directed towards me.

Second- Speaking the same language as other team members, would help when plays are being given, or drills are being run. The post on Craigslist was in English and we corresponded many emails in English. His English was so good, I assumed it was an English speaking team, filled with others like me. It's not. Some of the team members did speak a bit of English and would help me when I was confused. They loved the fact that i was from CALIFORNIA and would "oh la la" all about that.

Third- The football itself was different from ones I am used to playing with in the states. This is what I choose as my scapegoat to why I couldn't throw or catch the ball that well. The balls were much smoother and a bit more round. The smoothness made it difficult to catch, and due to the extra width with the smoothness more difficult to throw as well. Which then made me look like the girl who couldn't throw or catch a football. And that is something that is just not true. (or at least it wasn't up until yesterday).

We started with a few drills and then eventually played a 5 on 5 scrimmage of football. This is where all the three issues listed above came to a forefront. If you have ever seen the episode of FRIENDS where they play football for thanksgiving (season 3 episode 9) I would be Rachel in the game. And if you have never seen the episode, you are missing out and you should do so now.

This is one of my favorite episodes and after last night I appreciate it all the more. Every time we went into a huddle or finished a play I would internally laugh and think of how much I am like Rachel in this moment.

When on offense plays would be given and I would always be going long. I would sometimes do a chair (5 yards forward, 3 yards right, then go long) but essentially it was my job to stay out of their way, and for legitimate reasons. When we were on defense we would either do "man on man" where I would cover the girl on the other team, or a "zone" where I was responsible for covering a specific area of the field.

At one point in the huddle the coach said we were going "to cover Zhune." I told him I wasn't sure what that was. Again he repeated, "Zhune. Zhune just like before." Again looking confused just looked at him with a blank face. Then he pointed to where I was supposed to stand and like a light bulb it clicked and I said, "ahhh ZONE!" He responded, "YES Yes Zone! Are you saying I speak poor English?" We all started laughing and continued to play. From then on when ever the "zone" play was called for defense, everyone would look at me and repeat the word with an extra added emphasis on the zoNe to make it clear for the girl from "CALIFORNIA."

I honestly am not exactly sure how it happened, but like Rachel on FRIENDS I did end up scoring a touchdown! And my team did win. But the touchdown I am sure it was a fluke. I just remember standing there and suddenly the ball was in my hands. "I ACTUALLY CAUGHT THE BALL," was all I could think but then there were cheers and apparently I was already in the end zone. Thus TOUCH DOWN! whoo hoo! I think this was my one redeeming play of the night.

I had a ton of fun. Everyone was really nice and I think this could really great a way to meet real French people, and get better with my french. I just have to figure out what to do about that horrible commute. Ugh. Maybe next time I'll score a touchdown and actually know about it!

Pain, Vin, Fromage

A few nights ago we went out to dinner to celebrate a birthday. We went to this restaurant called Pain, Vin, Fromage. That is exactly what you will find on the menu at this restaurant. Bread Wine and cheese. I was unsure that a plate of cheese could be filing enough for dinner but I was quickly proved wrong.



Once walking into the restaurant you enter a very small room where the walls are covered with old large cow bells, baskets and french decor. On the right there are cobblestone steps that lead you down to a room that has a few small caves with tables. The walls are made of old stone while the lighting is dim, and enchanting.


On the Menu they have a map of France and based upon different regions of France they list 7 types of cheese that come from the region. Each plate has a range of soft to hard chesse. On two of the plates were ramekins of walnuts and on the third plate there was a ramekin of honey. For your reference Cheese + honey = amazing! They also had cheese fondue and other great all cheese and bread meal options. Next time I am totally going for the fondue it looked incredibly delicious.


To assist you in knowing the type of cheese you were eating they placed small flags in each piece. My favorites I cannot remember the name of but there was one cheese that had thyme on the outside and the texture was like a Brie. I think all the cheese here looks like Brie but the French quickly correct me that there are major differences between are their identical looking cheeses.


The perfect accomanyingment to cheese is Wine. Red wine preferably. Before France I didn't like wine or cheese. But they go perfectly together. It's like the sophisticated version of peanut butter and Jelly.


After sampling 21 types of cheeses- and eating in one sitting more cheese than I have ever eaten in my entire life we were offered dessert. On the dessert menu there was only one option and that option should have been obvious- but it didn't click until the plate was pressented to me. For dessert we had:

CHEESECAKE!

I think the Biola Cheese Club should take a field trip and come and give this resturant a try.

Twins!

When I was a little girl I loved the school days where you could dress as twins with your best friend. I loved to play the matching game where you would flip cards over to find pairs, and when I have kids I would love to have twin boys.

This weekend while touring around, my fascination with duplicates came to a forefront. I found my Twin! Never would I have expected my twin to be a guy. I first saw him while out side the church that holds the "Madonna and Child" by Michael Angelo. He was standing with his two friends, hanging out, not realizing that his twin was walking out the door and right in front of him. He should have known how lucky he was to be twins with me. Though I thought us matching was the best thing ever, I decided it would be best not to call attention to this and move forward with my day.

As fate would have it, hours later I once again found my twin in the middle of a large town square. I could no longer resist the temptation and had to take a picture. Below you will find a picture of the two of us. Okay... so technically we are not standing together. This was my attempt to get a shot with both of us in it without being obvious. His friends kept trying to cover him and then I would move around as well. I am pretty sure he knew what I was doing, but I am also pretty sure he too thought it was funny. I think I would know since he is my twin and all.


*Twins: Katie Hickey and Mystery Boy*

Superstars!

So I have been incredibly blessed these past few weeks and I would like to share with you the Superstars of my life.

1. My mom for obvious reasons and see post below. I just needed to state again how amazing she really is and how much I appreciate all that she does for me.

2. Gwyn. Gwyn is a 74 year old lady who is pretty much AMAZING. When I first arrived to Paris and had no place of my own she took me under her wing and helped me get my feet on the ground, she gave me lots of tips, and tons of things to get my apartment setup. She has so much wisdom and is basically the answer to everyone on of my moms prayers over the last year. She lets me use her GPS system, she has fed me, when I broke my car last week she took me to go get the gas, when I locked us out of my apartment last week (that is a whole other story...) she stood with me and had a good laugh at the whole situation. She has 5 children of her own, a bunch of grandchildren and a handful of grandchildren. I am amazed by this woman! I am so thankful to her and all that she has helped me with since I have arrived to Paris.

3. Tiffany and Marla: Tiffany and Marla are two girls who are a bit younger than everyone in the office, but still older than I. They have helped me make my apartment actually livable. They took me to their church to meet people and get friends while I am here in Paris. Tiffany took me to Ikea and sat with me for 7 hours while I picked out my kitchen, mostly by her direction and knowledge. Once I had assembled my kitchen cabinets and cupboards I had to go to Turkey for two weeks. When I returned to my apartment, these two amazing women had hung my cabinets and placed my cupboards, and put on the counters! It was amazing! And I could honestly tell you that if it weren't for them, they would probably still be sitting in my living room area.

What makes Tiffany, Marla, and Gwyn all the more amazing is how much they blessed me last night. I have been without a fridge for the two months I have been here. It hasn't been that bad because I am mostly on the go, I stayed with Gwyn for most of that time, and I just hadn't yet found anything in my budget. Yesterday Tiffany and Marla took me to a second hand store where I was able to buy a great fridge! They then came back to the office with me to get the moving van, picked up the fridge and helped transport it back to my apartment.

Once we arrived they helped fix all the mishaps I had done to my own kitchen. These occured from what I tried to install without their supervision. I am so thankful I wasn't born to be a carpenter, and you should be too! Marla switched the sides that my fridge doors will open, Tiffany got my cupboards to actually shut because after I hung the doors they wouldn't completely close. Then the wonderful Gwyn came to my apartment with three large bags of food to help stock up my kitchen! I cannot begin to express how overwhelmed I have been with the generosity and kindness of these three people! They are simply amazing and I hope to one day return my gratitude to them and pass it along to others around me.

The Best

I have to officially state that I have the Best Mom Ever! Now I know that everyone usually thinks they have the best mom ever. But I really do! While I am here living in Paris, my mom is my extention to my life in the lovely San Diego. She checks my mail, goes to the bank for me, and run errands that I need done but can't do because I no longer live in the country (small detail).
Last week I sent a box to her house of goodies to be distributed to different people, Souviners, birthday gifts, and such. I am so thankful for the time she takes out of her schedule to pass out gifts I have gotten for OTHER people. (note I did send her chocolates too!) Then today as I walked into my office sitting on my chair was a BIG box with my moms hand writing all over it! Whoo Hoo a care package!
Now I knew I would be receiving a box with a GPS system so I would no longer have to drive blind in Europe but I did not expect to find the wonders that filled this box.
My mom sent me many of my favorite things from home that are not available here in Paris, IE: popcorn, fiber one bars, and canned soup. She also sent me a pair of shoes and a purse I left behind. Along with measuring cups and spoons because measurements here are not the same as our American cup, 1/2 cup, tablespoon standard. Then there are magazines and mail. She took so much time to think of small special things to put in this box and each new item I unloaded was more excited than the one before.
So now I am sitting here with a big smile on my face, tossing Mike N' Ikes into my mouth thanks to my mom and thinking of how much I am loved and how thankful to have my mom as My Mom!

Keeping the ratio

So today- my computer needed to be worked on while at work for a while. I decided I would use my time wisely and go pick up a few things I still needed from Ikea. So I quickly ran through (I have this place memorized!) and then got stuck behind one person who took 30 minutes to check out. 30 minutes! crazy.
Anyways... I then proceded to drive back to work where I got stuck in the heaviest traffic ever. Picture large Semis, small french roads and then merging. Not fun. So 40 mintues to go the equivilant of 2 miles. As I see my exit I get excited and throw my car into first gear to get a move on it.
Expect there was no movement. I can feel the car wanting to move but we aren't making any progress. Ut-oh... I think my Unleaded to Diesel ratio is getting lower... Thankfully I was able to pull over to the right lane.
I then got out of my car- walked 2 miles to my office where this amazing lady Gwyn took me to go buy more Diesel and resat through the traffic to get to my car. Once I arrived and filled in the fuel I just prayed it was start... and IT DID!
Looks like this is going to be a process that needs to be montiored.
Good news of it all was today was the most beautiful day since I have arrived so I was more than happy to walk along outside for 30 minutes enjoying the day- who cares that I was walking along a road with no sidewalks. haha!

Gazole vs. Sans Plomb

I would now like to give you all a lesson in pumping gas.
In France, Unleaded would be called Sans Plomb. While alternatively Diesel would be called Gazole.

When I was handed the keys to the car I am "using" (note I do not own this car) I was told the car takes Diesel- and that Gas here is called Sans Plomb. The car was a quarter of a tank full at the time. When I went to pump gas for the first time my dear friend Tiffany did so for me because my credit card would not work in their machines and the store to pay with cash was already closed. Thus I did not pay attention to what fuel she put into the vehicle. Though I remembered her saying something about Gazole.

Yesterday, I noticed it once again was time to fill up the car. I pulled up to the gas station and there staring at me were two options... Gazole vs Sans Plomb. (Place Scarry killer music here: Reeek Reeek Reeek) Hmmm I thought... Which one do I put in... "Oh! Tiffany told me to use Gazole for Diesel." So I pick the Gazole. Two Liters later I realize I am mixing fuels because the owner of the car said, "Sans Plomb." I immediately stop pumping and being to fuel up on Sans Plomb, Praying I will not blow up.

Feeling a bit more assured that I have made the right decision in what I am putting in my car to make it run, I begin to confidently fill up my car with the Sans Plomb. While looking around the gas station I see that on the stall across from me on the Gazole pump someone had written the word- DIESEL!
UT-OH! I promptly let go of the lever flowing the poison of Sans Plomb into my car and wonder what to do next.

I now have have in my gas tank: half unleaded half Diesel. I think to my self... "Only Katie Hickey would do something like this." And then think- I can't be the first person to make this mistake and that I really really hope I don't blow up!

Turns out, I didn't blow up. Though, this mistake is not recommended. Should you ever make this mistake here are the steps you should take to correct it. You should have the incorrect gasoline drained from your car and then re-fill your tank with the correct energy source. However- because I now had a mix of half and half was told to finish filling my tank with GAZOLE (not Sans Plomb) to make the Gazole more dominant and the car should run fine.

I know this is one mistake I will be sure not to make twice. I will now ALWAYS remember that Gazole is Diesel and Sans Plomb is Unleaded. And if this helps you avoid making the same mistake, then I feel okay about my idiotness!

DOH!