p.s.

who says i can't cook?

red pepper and mozzarella with olive and balsamic starter

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Can't stop me!

I decided to not let my new disease stop me - the sun was beckoning for me to come outside and enjoy it! I meandered down to the main square and into old lille and I ended up going to the Hospice de Comtesse, an old hospital run by nuns turned museum of Lille and historical site. It was really interesting actually. Did you know that Louis Watteau (famed Rococo artist) was the official painter for the city of Lille? Sorry, it's the art history nerd coming out in me...

The courtyard of the Hospice...no, the photo hasn't been retouched!
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This globe mapped the astrological patterns at the exact moment of Louis XIV's birth. Isn't that crazy?
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Moi! Don't judge, I'm sick!

An too-expensive chocolate and a banana-shaped purse I picked up today... what do we think about it?
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one day at a time...

my week of "recovery" has left me with a fever and a sore throat... yikes! hence, nothing much to report from here - i have just been watching movies and reading and whatnot; i keep heading somewhere thinking i'll go to a museum or something but i get so tired that i usually just turn around and head back to my shoebox! oh well, at least the beach will be nice next week, right?

just for "kicks" here is a picture of some new shoes i recently purchased - very leah, no?

Bird poo

hi! as jeremy has so kindly reminded me, i have not posted in a weekish... not because i didn't want to! my internet hasn't been feeling so well but it seems to be at optimal health again so here we go!

not that there is much to report - it is spring break here in Lille and everyone is off traveling to exciting places and having grand adventures except...me..... no! i am going to Marseille next week for some beach time so i decided to lay low this week in the interest of resting, relaxing and saving money!

i'm realizing that i kind of like myself though! i have had a lot of time to myself since not very many people are around, and i've gotten around to things i have wanted to do around here: mainly, reading, sleeping, sitting and shopping! it's nice to not have a mile-long list of things to do for once! trust me, i know how lucky i am!

so here is my advice for the day: take as much time as you can afford today (even 2 minutes is good) and RELAX! it's something i haven't done enough of and i'm sure you aren't either! DOCTOR'S ORDERS!

bird poo that narrowly missed my head but hit my blanket at the park...

X-Ray Day

So I had to go get a medical exam to obtain my living permit, which was not the funnest thing to do in the world...but they let you keep your x-rays here!! This is my favorite souvenir from France so far...

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Hahahaha it *cracks* me up... I hung it on my wall!

Vimy Ridge Madness!

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the Canadian consulat in Lille to participate in the rededication ceremy of Vimy Ridge... I thought it sounded cool, but no big deal right? WRONG! I had no idea that it was going to be an extravangaza of Canadian pride and craziness!

We show up at this thing to "volunteer" and get all this free stuff - pins, a cd, a book, pencils, a vest - we get fed Subway all day (luxury here in France, I'm tellin ya!) AND then we get to sit in the VIP section with the veterans to watch the Queen, Stephen Harper and the prime minister of France speak!

It was quite the day to say the least! I also met some really great Canadians from the area who I plan to keep in touch with!

But I still can't die happy... I wasn't lucky enough to meet Peter Mansbridge! I guess Jeremy saw me on tv?

The Queen is a very cute little lady.

Easter Dinner... just like the grown-ups!

Hi!


I haven't had Internet for a while so I'll do a couple of posts here separately...





Easter Sunday, a few of us here (20 or so!) put together an Easter potluck dinner to sidetrack us from the fact that we couldn't be with our families... I made the mashed potatoes of course! It turned out quite well and a good time was had by all! See? we did it just like the grown-ups!

I carried out the mashed potato tradition quite nicely - Everyone said they were their favorite part!

I love the potluck....

Yeah, I know....stop drooling.

Nothing says a good night like a moss-covered toilet...

I have HAVE to show you this... My friend Laura from Ireland and I went to a DJ showcase on friday night because all the DJ's were from Canada (!) It was amazing....but what was even more amazing was the bathroom - it was done in theme, although I'm not sure what theme haha! Anyways, have a look for yourselves:

Good times.

Meet my new best friend in France...Henri!

After a particularily raucous weekend here at the foyer, there were several casualties. One being the employment of our residence "madame" and the other, our microwave. So, at this point we were down to 2 burners for 150 students, and then. And then, they locked the kitchen to "show us a lesson". In a food-fueled rage, I marched down to the store to find ANYTHING to cook with.... As it was, this incident was fated for me, as it led me to Henri. Henri, the indoor electric barbeque grill.

Our first week together has been awesome! Pizzas, french toast, pasta, curry, turkey burgers, veggies....here is one particularily fun event: Katie and Leah's veggie burger experiment!

The burgers are so happy they are smiling. We all love Henri!

The finished product...sooo good.

Kraft Dinner, my love

That's right! I had Kraft Dinner last night YESSSSSS It was very generous of my friend Katie from Georgia to share! It tasted like home!

Pics from the beach in Calais are up on my web album if you want to see them! My interweb doesn't feel like loading them up on my blog at the moment...arg http://picasaweb.google.com/leahskinner8

Calais? Pourquoi pas?

So! Sunday's exciting event? We (Me, Malika [USA], Adam [USA], Tanya [Ukraine], Ina [Ukraine], Licette [Mexico] ) took a day trip to the coast, a town called Calais, to sit our bums on the beach and chill all day. SOOOO much fun!

We left at 8ish in the morning to go, it takes an hour and a bit to get there, and arrived a little before 10. There's a really cute park and gardens near the train station so we checked them our and played in a playground. Oh! I also got a chocolate chip cookie that was way too good! We toured the town a bit, saw some historical monuments. Calais is the port that links with Dover in Great Britain so it was a strategic war town and has a lot of history. Did you know it was liberated by Canada in WW2? Ok, enough with the trivia...

Down to what's REALLY important.. the beach! White, smooth sand and blue COLD water... we got greasy french fries and ate lunch, then walked down by the water. Basically we just listened to music and hung out for hours. Perfect for a Sunday. We got the (brilliant? haha) idea to write a message and put it in a bottle - we are so original! But we did it in four languages, English, French, Spanish, and Russian. We felt a little stupid throwing it off the pier but oh well! It was a little cold and windy but the sun made up for it. After eating some ice cream (I got pear and coconut) we headed home at 7:30ish. I met a couple from Calgary on the train.. weird hey? Actually I recognized that they were Canadian because the girl was wearing lululemon's. Old habits die hard I guess!

I took a lot of photos but my internet isn't working at the moment so I will post them ASAP. Heard that Edmonton has snow again...