Orange France - March 19, 2011

The Opera House
 in the Orange Town square

One of the cute side streets on the way to the
Antique Theatre

We aren't sure, but maybe the Phantom of the Opera
will be performed at the Theatre soon?

Statue of Augustus Caesar - still stands in the original wall

The "hallway" in the outside wall



Sign in front of the temple ruins right next to the theatre
which states: "Entrance to the Temple is Forbidden"





The Temple ruins - taken from the Theatre

The Theatre - still used today for performances

Emma holding Caesar

Emzie Pooh!

Andrew dancing on the stage - of course, after he, Nathan,
Adam and Emma crawled up there and danced around,
we saw a sign forbidding it!

Criminals! Standing on the stage

The pillars - still standing - The family could
have been pole dancing! :)

Seating

Between the Theatre (behind us) and the Temple ruins (left)

Exterior look at the Theatre wall

Triumphal Arch in Orange - and three thinkers :)

Ceiling of the Arch - beautiful!

Nathan standing on the Arch

Triumphal Arch

Nathan standing on Dad

Adam squishing Emma!

Adam - First one to have an official French haircut

Adam's new look!

Having a little snack before moving on in Orange

View from Domaine De Saint Siffrein - Vineyards
and mountains - a common site during our
travels

Domaine Grand Veneur-reminded me of a Cali winery!

On Friday afternoon we received a call from Monsieur Didier Valery of the Espace Leopold Sedar Senghor to let me know that they have found a spot for Nathan at the Lycee!  Yea! Now we have to wait to hear from Nathan's new teacher about the location and the time for him to report to school - more waiting - ugh.  We received this call while Nathan and I were having a croissant, pain au chocolate and coffee at  a local boulangerie - yum!  Maybe I should go out and do that more often, the phone seems to ring when we leave the house :)  Emma and Adam are doing alright at school - I think that the education is better but the friend-making still isn't happening due to the language barrier again.  They asked if they can come home for lunch from now on, not because the food is bad, but because there is "nothing to do" for an hour.  We told them to use the time to try to communicate with the other kids standing around with "nothing to do" and threw the deck of UNO cards in Adam's backpack - they should all know their numbers and colors in French by now right??? That could be fun! - We'll see what happens.

Saturday morning started off similar to last week - we let the kids sleep as we headed for the Montpellier Market. We ended up with some dried fruit, new jelly (cherry and black raspberry), fresh bread, scallions, pears and apples. We were also given a lesson by a lady selling 100% mohair blankets on the difference between Mohair and Casmier - the Mohair blankets were beautiful and warm but we can't spend 165 euros on one right now so we just enjoyed the lesson, said our "mercis" and kept going.  About 3/4 of our way through the market Nathan showed up and joined us for the end of our shop.  I looked at the Madagascar basket booth again - we liked the polka dot baskets but they only came in REALLY large sizes and we need a medium so I will think about it all some more and go back soon.  It's just so hard to pass these baskets up for 10 - 12 euros!!

On our way home, Andrew decided to walk the whole way, Nathan and I took the basket of goodies and jumped on the tram.  Adam was up but Emma was still snoozing away and didn't wake up until late!  After she woke up, we ate some lunch and headed for Orange France, a destination listed on Adam's list that we had planned to do last weekend but due to the rain, postponed that idea.  Saturday was bright and sunny and very welcome after all of the rain we've had.

Orange was very nice - a friendly little town with colorful buildings and many cafes etc... We enjoyed seeing the old (duh!) Roman Theatre, from 1 AD - reign of Augustus,  which is one of only three theatres in the world that has maintained its original theatre wall measuring 120 ft. high and 338 ft. wide. The theatre continues to be used for performances & concerts today due to it's perfect accoustics.  The statue of Augustus Caesar is still housed in an alcove high and in the center of the theatre wall but was difficult to photograph due to the location of the sun while we were there - we got a lot of shadows. After looking all around the seating areas and hallways of the theatre, Andrew decided it would be fun to jump up on the stage and do some fancy moves (yes, there were other people there, listening to their audio tours and taking pix!), all three kids decided to join him in his antics as I photographed the whole event and then made them all jump down so our fellow tourists could enjoy their visit and photograph the theatre.  It was on our way out that we noticed the sign stating something like: "Please, for your safety, do not climb on the stage" - and it was in several languages -- including English, so we couldn't even play the "we don't speak/read French very well" card.  Big OOPS!

From the theatre we walked to the Triumphal Arch on the edge of town.  The arch was built around 20 AD and is elaborately decorated with battle scenes, military trophies and inscriptions of the glory of Tiberius.  I loved the ceiling which reminded me of a quilt pattern - the center ceiling (there are three arches in the monument as you can see above) remains in very good condition, the little arches on the sides seem to be fading somewhat.

After hangin at the Arch for about 15-20 min we walked back to town and on the way happened to pass a barber shop listing haircuts for 10 euros! Wahooo - the cheapest we've found them in Montpellier is 14 euros so in we went and got Adam in the chair - he was getting very shaggy - still cute, but shaggy.  The barber was a very nice gentleman from Avignon who had worked in a shop their until he bought this one in Orange and is now his own boss.  He spoke very good English and when we asked if he had been to America he replied "no, I learned all of my english from watching T.V.!"

Adam got a nice haircut, we met a very friendly Frenchman and were ready to continue our little exploration of Orange.  After realizing that we had probably done all there was to do in Orange, we treated ourselves to a little snack and jumped back in Mo Mo (we named the Peugot Mo Mo - I don't think I've mentioned that yet - she's been Mo Mo for a few weeks now) and headed for Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a little village nearby where in the 14th Centruy, the popes of Avignon built a new castle (chateau neuf).  They also planted vineyards from which one of the finest wines of the Cote du Rhone is produced.  During the Wars of Religion, the Chateau was destroyed for the most part and all that remaines of the papal fortress are a few fragments of walls and tower.

This area is known for the vineyards, numerous wineries and tasting opportunities - we were psyched!  The first winery we visited was Domaine Grand Veneur - Alain jaume & Fils.  The wines were alright - my favorite was the first one which was actually in a very cool bottle and, of course, the most expensive at 23 euros.  Andrew said he didn't care for any of them (three) so we bought the pretty bottled wine and left.  I feel so awkward when we go into these wineries, don't pay anything for the tastings and then don't buy any wine - I always feel like we need to purchase something. Sometimes I wish that we could just pay for the tasting so my guilt would be alleviated!

The next winery was a REAL letdown - the sign out front was pretty, the drive up to the tasting/selling area was gorgous, the buildings on the property were lovely, the directions to get to the tasting room were easy to follow - unfortunately, although the signs around said "Ouvert" (open) - none of the doors would budge - no matter how much we pushed and pulled them!!! So we looked around, took some pix and headed for Domaine De Saint Siffrein where the above photo of the vineyards and mountains was taken. Andrew asked if he was the owner/wine maker and he replied "yes" - he looked about 28 years old -- maybe!  When we asked how old the vineyards were he told us that the first vines were planted in 1880 and that he is the 5th generation to run the business.  He works the fields along with his father and a some folks that they hire during the busy parts of the year.  The winery itself was very simple and had a nice sense of history, family and ease.  We didn't love either of the wines there but, thanks to me and my obligatory nature, did purchase one bottle.

After that we headed for home as Andrew and I were invited to dinner at his boss's house (Veronique and Phillipe).  Another friend of their's, Hollie, who is a French professor at San Diego State University in California and is currently in Paris teaching French at a university there, would also be at dinner. We got home, Andrew napped for a few minutes while I had a snack and the kids scattered to their respective electrical devices.  We then got dressed and ready and picked up the phone to place a pizza order (there are 2 or 3 nearby pizza places).  I couldn't believe this - ALL of the pizza places were closed!  Andrew even walked to a couple of them to see if they were just too busy to answer the phone and came home to report that, sure enough, they were closed.  I, who had been a tad bit tired and grumpy all day finally blew - "WHO IN THE %$#$*@!! CLOSES A PIZZA PLACE, ON A SATURDAY NIGHT, IN A COLLEGE TOWN??!!" Now what??? I offered to drive the kids to the grocery store to pick out some frozen pizzas but time was closing in on that opportunity because we had to leave in time to get to Veronique's house by 8:00 - dinnertime!  The kids were very gracious (much more so than me!) and Emma said "Mom, just give me some money and I'll walk to Shoppi and find something for us" - bless Emma (and Adam who walked with her) and Nathan too for cooperating with everyone - they took care of everything so we could leave.  Andrew and I had a wonderful evening with Veronique, Phillipe, and Hollie - who is also in a Rock and Roll band in San Diego - she seems like a very bright and fun lady and we enjoyed getting to know her.  The dinner was amazing - asparagus, lamb, potatoes, salad, cheeses, bread and a wonderful apple tart and of course Wine!  We took a bottle and everyone enjoyed it with dinner.  When I finally looked at the clock after dessert - it was 12:00! Midnight!  OMG! We have to get home but we can't just eat and run - ummmmmmm - well, we helped clean up the table and made it home by about 12:50 - kids were still up and had watched two episodes of Bones :)  Sunday we were all going to be tired!

Montpellier vs. Chambery - Handball Match 3-16-11

Ready for the match to begin!

Time out

Up by 1 - this was the case for most of the game

Lining up for a penalty shot

Penalty shot - He got it!!

Allez Allez Montpellier!!

Up by 6 - then we were up by 7 - and then....we lost it!

A slightly disappointed Adam after the match

Outside of the Arena - Adam was treated to a Montpellier
team jersey for his birthday!

He's bouncing back from the loss

The roof of the Arena outside changes colors - very cool!

Staying positive - walking home - see story below



Ditto



Getting ice cream at Quick Burger - while getting some help

The Jersey - very cool!  #22 - one of the MVPs of the team



Karabatic - #22!

Wednesday March 16 turned out to be a fun, exciting, interesting, frustrating and scary day/night for our little almost french family.

The morning began, after 4 days of rain, with no rain but a lot of clouds. Emma and Adam headed off to their second day of school at College des Aiguerelles after the placement testing on Monday.  The administration is still trying to figure out where to put Nathan since he tested higher than Emma and Adam and should be going to the Lycee (high school), however, there is limited space there so, we wait.  The vibe after the first day seemed to be pretty positive for Emma and Adam so we are hopeful that it will continue that way.  The plan for after school today (noon - it's Wednesday!) is for E and A to ride the tram to the Odysseum to buy their school supplies.  Nathan had plenty of homework from Hoover to work on and was comfortably seated at his computer by 9:10 am.

I happily woke up, showered, got dressed and ready for my second Sensorial Analysis session! At 9:30 I walked to INRA with my trusty umbrella, and met Andrew at the gate. I arrived dry, although my hair had soaked up a lot of the humidity in the air and was now pretty big.

I was led to my favorite seat - cubbie #1 and signed into the computer all by myself!  After a minute or so, the little door to my cubbie opened and my first sample was slid onto my desk.  This session was different than my first;  We would not be rating the color of the wines this time, only the smell and taste so the wine was delivered in black wine glasses.  In addition, some of the questions on the computer were different and I had not received them ahead of time so was unable to check the translation prior to arriving.  After asking one of the scientists about two of the words, the gentleman next to me tapped me on the shoulder, told me that he knows a little English and would be happy to help me with any future questions - which he did several times!

After 17 wines I was finished, a little happy, but not very excited about any of the wines overall.  Either the scent was bad and the taste was alright or the scent was wonderful and the taste was awful !  Nothing was really worth asking to be led to the back of the van again for - maybe next time, which is scheduled for March 25 - yea!  I walked home with Andy, had a little lunch and took a nap for about an hour.  Nathan was not home when we arrived - he was scouting out the route to our very first Handball match which was taking place at 7:30 - we purchased the tickets as part of Adam's birthday gift and were excited for our first match - Montpellier vs. Chambery.

Mr. Boisson, who has season tickets to the matches but will be out of town for this match, had advised us to drive the car to the match since he figured the bus would be full - he explained how to get there on a map but Andrew was very hesitant since it was clear on the other side of town, out of the town a little bit and through the construction areas where tram 3 is currently being built.  All of that, along with our wonderful history of getting lost confirmed that we would be traming and busing to the match.  Nathan did a great job of tramming, figuring out where bus 28 picked up and where we would be dropped off in relation to the arena.  We were ready.  Everyone  got home, chowed down soup and sandwiches, put on their shoes, grabbed umbrellas and we were out the door! Well, everyone except Emma who wasn't interested in going to a handball match and decided to stay home to have some personal time.

We arrived at the tram just in time to jump on - arrived at the bus stop just in time to hop on - the travel gods were with us on this journey - we would arrive in plenty of time!  The bus driver was very nice, spoke a little english and confirmed that we were on the right bus to get to the Arena - Wahoo! Smooth sailing from here - Well, maybe not :( - As the  bus rounded a corner, and the road narrowed, some nut had decided to park 1/2 on the sidewalk and 1/2 on the road, blocking any possiblity of the bus getting past - one of these tiny european cars-yes, the bus - no!  Our driver prooved that he knew a little more english when he very clearly said "Oh Shit!" and blew the horn several times very long, however, nobody came to claim the car.  In the end, the license number was taken down, police were called and arrived (to pull over another car though - then helped us!), after about 20 min. of this, an older lady showed up and argued with the policeman for a minute, was given a nice ticket and moved her car - we were ready to go again, but were now getting very close to match time. When the bus stopped, we ran to the arena with the rest of the people on the bus (not full at all by the way - maybe 10 - 15 others), got in line with our tickets, turned our umbrellas in since we were not allowed to take them into the building (supposedly we could pick them up again on the way out - ha!), found our seats and got comfortable just when the real "owners" of the seats showed up to inform us that we were in the wrong ones - so we moved to our actual seats which were better!

The match was very exciting - we learned how the game was played, Andrew and Adam figured out the strategies, Nathan and I tried to figure out where the band came from since this wasn't a school function but a town function - we decided that they were townspeople or a club that formed the band which played a lot of songs that our bands at home play at football/basketball games in high school and college.  There was no announcer which was fine with us since we wouldn't have known what he/she was saying anyway.  There was lot of cheering and chanting - one of the chants was "Allez, Allez, Montpellier" -we liked that one and joined in.  We also were participants in the wave - all around the arena several times!  Montpellier was ahead of Chambery for most of the match until the last quarter of the game. It was very apparent who the MVP of Montpellier's team is: #22 who scored most of the goals - Chambery's coach caught on and put a defensive player on him (Andrew called it the "box and 1") - from then until the end of the match, Montpellier couldn't score and Chambery was on fire - we ended up losing by 1 which was disappointing but the experience was great - we had a fun time and Adam was treated to a Jersey - #22 of course!  He said to me, "mom, #22 is like Lebron James on the Cavs before he left!"

We left the arena, looked for our umbrellas and actually found one of them - the broken one, not the nicer of the two, and then headed for the bus stop where there were several other people waiting - Nathan realized at some point, however, that according to the bus schedule, there were no buses running this late (9:00 ish) - the last one was at 8:00pm.  We asked one of the young girls who was waiting and who spoke a little english about this potential problem, she looked at the schedule and agreed with us, called the office number on the schedule but got no answer and we all decided that we better come up with a plan "B".  The younger folks decided to hitch home, we decided to walk along the tram 3 construction.  Keep in mind now - it's dark, we are on the complete OPPOSITE side of town and OUT of the town in the country area.  I was ticked that none of us thought to check the return trip plans while Andrew remained calm and positive.  We began our trek home and after a while, I grabbed the phone and called our S.O.S. buddy, Marie, explained our situation and asked if there are taxis in the area - she said that there are and that she would go to her office  and find some numbers for us ( I told her that wasn't necessary) or we could walk to the airport and find a taxi there - "just walk toward Montpellier and you will see the airport".  Our problem was, we weren't sure which way, once we hit the first round-a-bout, Montpellier was but we did see a Quick Burger that was still open (like a Burger King) so we headed there. The nice young man behind the counter figured out our problem, raised his eyebrows when he discovered that we were walking to a tram line and when we mentioned "taxi" he very kindly grabbed his cell phone, looked up a number and called us a cab!  While we waited, Nathan and Adam waited behind a family ordering $60.00 worth of food to ask for ice cream.  The taxi arrived, we all piled in, and I was able to convey our destination with the help of the bus map - "any tram 1 stop"!!! We arrived at Place De L'Europe 10 minutes later safe and 30 euros lighter. As we waited for the tram to arrive, a girl on the other side of the track stood up and waved at us - it was the same english speaking girl from the bus stop!  She told us that there was a mini-bus at the arena when they went back there - UGH!

Our adventure didn't end there - suprise!  We boarded the tram, got comfortable, and I texted Marie to let her know that we had made it. I then heard some loud voices coming from the tram car ahead of me and realized that there were several drunk guys sitting down there and one of them was looking my way (I was sitting with Nathan).  Being the very smart traveler, I avoided eye contact and ignored him.  A few minutes later, however, he stood up, walked toward us, and sat down behind Nathan and me.  When I felt a hand on my hair I turned around and saw him sitting there with another guy who was smiling at me.  At this point I'm trying to figure out the best thing to do - give him the "evil eye"? Ignore him? Move seats? Get off of the tram?  If this continued I didn't know how to handle it since if we yelled at him in English I was sure that he would just laugh -this was our first uncomfortable experience.  The tram stopped, I looked at Andy and said "Get off" - we all stood up and I led the way off of the tram while the drunk guys yelled something behind us.  None of the boys knew what had happened and didn't have a clue why we were getting off at the darkest stop along the tram line.  I told them what had happened and they all understood as we walked the 2 minutes to the next stop on the line to wait for the next tram.  When we saw that it was 12 min. out, we decided to walk to Comedie and wait for the tram there instead - wouldn't you know it, when we got there, my "friend" was there too!  I probably used our bus driver's earlier language and then told the guys that he was there.  We all agreed it was best to keep walking to the next stop at Corum - which we did, boarded with no problems and got home alright.

Thankfully everything worked out alright but I was pretty shaken up about the experience and had to work through some thoughts of "what if" before I went to bed.  I've told friends at home that I've never felt safer in a city and that is still true - we just have to be smart about night time travel like anyplace else.

Overall - the whole experience was good - I think we would all like to attend another match at some point, and Adam had a great birthday - he, of course, wore his new jersey to school on Thursday and was very proud!

Rainy Weekend Fun! - March 12 & 13, 2011

Our market finds!  Garlic olives, dried fruit, apples, pears, curry,
cute bundle of garlic bulbs, herb mixtures for cholesterol (A) and
memory (B) along with some black currant jam and fresh whole
grain bread 

Wrestling on a rainy day - Go Emma!

Adam's taking over!

Ah - The papoo conquers all!

Typical scene at our house

Very cool caves!

Getting ready to tram to the top of the incline to begin
the tour

Ready!

Yikes!

See the jellyfish?

This is a replica of the skeletal remains of a dinosaur that
was found while digging the incline tunnel for the tram in 1929

Looks like a beautiful chandelier huh??!

The hole to outside at the top of the caves

Truly Amazing!

We thought that the orange stalagtites looked like
BBQ Pringles!

Lots and lots of baby stalagtites

Peek-a-Boo



Look closely just to the left of center - can you see the
profile of a witch's face??



Beautiful!

Looking down - the variety of colors was spectacular

Enjoying a rainy day away from the house!

This was our most challenging weekend - it rained from Friday night through --- well, it's now Tuesday and it's still raining!  We did get a little break on Saturday morning when Andrew and I walked to the tram to go to the outdoor Montpellier market.

On Friday night we relaxed and watched a Bones episode.  I forgot to mention in Adam's birthday blog post that after bowling, we found a VERY LARGE bookstore which reminded me of a Borders and Joanne Etc.. combined - lots of books along with craft items.  We had a nice time browsing through the store and Nathan ended up using his birthday Euros from Nana to purchase the first four seasons of one of his favorite shows (and now becoming a favorite of the rest of the family): Bones.   Popcorn was popped, we all snuggled on the very uncomfortable couch in our family room and enjoyed watching Booth and Bones solve another murder.

The kids enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday while Andrew and I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes and headed for the Montpellier outdoor market which is held down by the aquaducts.  We remembered to bring the basket that Mrs. Boisson has loaned us and were looking forward to finding some fresh stuff.  Upon our arrival, I noticed that the Basket booth with baskets from Madagascar wasn't there - I assume due to the impending rain, the smart market folks decided not to brave the elements - bummer for me, good for them!

All of the other booths seemed to be there and we enjoyed looking at the fresh fruits/veggies, cheeses, breads, herbs and spices (much different than the Arles market), fish, shellfish, flowers.  We spent a lot of time talking with the lady at the herb/spice booth learning about her business.  The herbs that she sells are primarily for medicinal purposes although she does have some pre-packaged curry and tumeric etc.. which we have purchased.  Mrs. Boisson had explained to me the first time I went to the market that if we tell the lady at this booth what our problem is, she will come up with an herbal remedy for us!  So - Andrew asked what she would suggest for his cholesterol (remember about 10 years ago when the doctor told him that his numbers might be getting a little close to the high range??? He has been very good about watching his cholesterol intake ever since!).  A mixture was explained, he had an option of three different ingredients to make it taste good (two were licorice flavors - anise and ???, and one was citrus -he chose citrus), the procedure for preparing the "soup" was explained and everything was packaged up.  I asked about my memory issues and was given a package that they have pre-mixed, along with instructions (mine seems to be more of a tea).  My mixture contains Melisse, anis vert, ginkobiloba, vervelne, hibiscus, ecorces citron, reglisse, basilic, rocibos vanilla (I copied this off of the package and can't read some of it well - it may even be partially in french).I tried mine the next day and liked it - Andrew has not tried his yet.

On the way home we decided to walk to the boucherie and pick up some meat - we came home with chicken breasts, ground turkey and pork chops. The rain started soon after we arrived home and the rest of our day was spent playing Parcheesie (sp?), cards, wrestling, skyping, computering, napping, being bored, getting on each other's nerves etc...

The rain was still pouring down on Sunday morning - I didn't even want to open the shutters but we feel like we are in a cave if we don't so I did and we watched the droplets hit the poolwater out the window.  Emma had suggested several times that we go to the other cave we had heard about so Andrew decided that it was time to get out of the house before we hurt each other and called Grotte Des Desmosielles to ask if they were open and what the tour schedule was. It turned out that an english speaking guide would lead a tour at 3:30 so we putzed around the house for a couple of hours until it was time to go at 2:10 or so - the trip was about 45 min. Nathan chose to stay home which was ok with us - I think he needed some alone time.

As you can see above, the caves were gorgeous!  Grotte De Clamouse, which we visited a few weeks ago was amazing in a different way - it was a "newer" area of caves and more crystalized or sparkly.  Grotte Des Desmoisels was much older and larger.  Some of the "rooms" we visited included: The Royal Room, named for the stalagtites hanging down in such a way that they looked like fabric robes; The "Dining Room" which is where you may be able to see the witch's face in the picture above; "The Cathedral" which is indescribeable - this room was massive - the size of a football stadium at 52 meters high (about 156 feet), 48 meters (about 144 feet) wide and 120 meters (360 feet) in length - full of stalagmites, stalagtites, columns, columns that, due to their weight - had collapsed into themselves, and many different colors from red, orange, blue, green, black, brown etc... - gorgeous!  One of the Stalagmites which sits on two platforms in the middle of the cathedral is known as the "Madonna with child" because it actually looks like Mary holding Jesus - very cool!  My camera battery had died by the time we saw her and Emma hasn't loaded her pix yet so I couldn't post it.

The legend of these caves tells the story of a young shepherd who, while looking for a lost sheep, fell into the cavern and upon awakening, claimed to have seen thousands of tiny fairies dancing around him.  He ran to the village to inform the people. (nobody knows how John got out of the cave!).

The first real tour of the caves was in the middle of the eighteenth century but were largely athletic and dangerous and lasted about 14 hours.  The caves were open to the larger public in 1931, after the creation of the tunnel in 1929 where the complete skeletal remains of a dinosaur were discovered.

Our day continued with a rainy ride home, checking out the flooding grape vine fields, overflowing rivers etc... we now are under a flood warning and the rain is supposed to continue through Wednesday night.  Sunday evening we enjoyed "On a Clear Day" a movie that Andrew's mom sent - it was slow at first but had a nice story/lesson in the end.

Monday began with the kids taking placement tests at, what we hope will be, their new school.  Emma and Adam started classes today (Tuesday) and Nathan will begin as soon as they find a spot for him at the Lycee (high school).  Although Emma and Adam seemed happy to go and take the tests yesterday and were happy afteward, when I got the call that they could begin today, the moods suddenly changed.  I am hoping that they are happy, make new friends, learn french and make the most of this new chapter in our trip!

My french class continues to go well and I've met people from all over - we have nice time together, laugh a lot and understand each other's frustrations.  I am, by far, the oldest person in the class and the only one who isn't working at the University or local research facility!  Several of the students are post doctoral students and I love hearing about their adventures! 

That's it for now - I have another Sensorial Analysis job tomorrow (Job???!!! ha ha ha ha!)