After a bit of delay, I have finally accessed the French internet! (It turns out that the code they gave us was good for only 1 computer, but they don’t staff much on weekends. Yesterday was the first day we encountered someone we could explain our problem to, someone who could get me a login.)
The first few days have been busy-busy-busy! Jennifer’s had even less free time than the kids, since there’s been planning and website design meetings during the students’ breaks. I’ve enjoyed the trip, but week one of this trip has been a whole lot busier with school activities than last year’s week two. [Just a lot of getting things running– plus welcome parties for faculty and their men.]
Enough with the boring: on to the pictures! [Click for larger versions.]
We had a lot of bags this trip, but not much clothing. (In fact, today is already laundry day– as soon as I finish this post.) That’s because we were hauling over a lot of gear for the program: computers and video cameras.
We flew from San Fransisco to Toronto, where we picked up several students (bringing our total to 10), then on to Barcelona where we met several more. Here we stand with everyone’s bags at the designated gathering point.
We were met by our bus driver, who took good care of us. He didn’t speak any English, but shepherded us along to the bus just fine.
The next few photos are north-eastern Spain on the way from Barcelona to the border.
Now we’re crossing into France. Perpignan is just a half hour north of the border, so there’s a lot less French countryside.
Now we’re entering our hotel, Citea. It’s set up for long term stays, with a nice kitchenette. The room is nicely large (for Europe). Our room is trapezoidal, with the diagonal part due to Citea’s round architecture.
From the hotel we wandered to a reception and cheese tasting. We met a few of the French professors who are partnering with IEI for the program. This reception is in the yard of the school, Alfmed, where the classes are taking place.
After the reception, Jennifer, Rachelle, Courtney and I went to an event hosted by Florenz, who drove us out there. This is the moon rising just after we parked at the reception.
The reception was fascinating [no photos]; held at an old family estate in the country. One of the buildings surrounding the courtyard was where the daughter was displaying her works. Another building is ordinarily used as seating for restaurant, but was cleared out. The party was just getting going as we arrived.
Waiters circulated with wine and tiny strips of bread. After being introduced to the host, we sat. Jennifer and I were exhausted– neither of us slept on the plane, and there was less than an hour’s rest before we returned for the drive to the party. We socialized with each other at the table (and briefly with people Florenz brought over to us). The tables began filling up as people settled in and socialized in groups. Many of the locals still smoke, which surprised me a little.
After a couple of hours, the artist was still checking people in at the front, so we decided to view her art on our own. It was an eclectic mix, heavy on the abstract, with a lot of phallic shapes and occasional German and French phrases worked into her art.
When we finished with the three large rooms of art, they had finally broken out a few bins of veggie and pasta salads. It was interestingly presented; large drinking glasses were provided and you scooped in the vegetables to make a layered salad. I liked the effect and the ease of customization.
We bowed out early (to lasting comment) when jet lag meant the end of our ability to concentrate and stay awake. Courtney kindly drove us back to the city, where we crashed for the night.