It is amazing how you wake up one day and realize how much time has passed. I have been here in France for almost 14 months now and it still seems like I just got off the plane a few hours ago. I find myself at least once a day thinking either to myself or outloud jeeze I really live here.
You know I came here to learn alot of things and was in search of even more. I have learned and found so much and yet at the same time find myself noticing that they are not the things that I "planned". I think it can be summed up in really one thing...but do not fret in true Katie fashion I will elaborated. In the time since I have been here I have learned how to breathe.
Original boy told me that would happen before I ever decided to come for sure but in the end he was right. It is not always easy heck most of the time it is very hard. And with every exhale there is some terrible mistake or dizaster. The beautiful thing though is that every inhale is so fresh and clean and pure that you just push through the glory to the next breathe. I was never sure that this was even something that I was missing in my life but now that I have this knowledge I feel as though I only just began living.
Through all this living and breathing I have learned another very important lesson. The unbelievable value of the people in my life. Whether they be past or present or in Europe or the United States. I used to say that my goal was to really touch someones life and change it for the positive in some way. But I never took the time to stop and think about all the people who have taken the time to touch my life.
One of the hard things about growing up is that you lose touch with some people before you ever realize how important they really are to you. I had some people back in the States that were so amazing I could almost cry thinking that it has been this long since I have seen and in many case spoken to them. They are buying houses, having babies, and i suspect a few are even getting married soon. They are graduating from University and starting new chapters in their lives. While I am sad that I have lost touch with some of them I still find myself so lucky to have ever found them. These people gave me strength when I thought I had none and let me go when they were not ready. In the end I know that they will be the standard by which I will "judge" people in the future.
Then there are the literaly hundreds of people that I have met since I got here. Some of them are amogst the most amazing and some of them have not neccessarily been my favourite people in the world. But in this land so far from where I grew up they have become my family of sorts. And while I make mistakes that make me unworthy of them at times and they do the same they really are amazing additions to my life. It is so hard to believe that this is the third generation of people that I have met here in France. But they also remind me that sometimes it does not take an ocean to grow apart from someone sometimes all it takes is a foolish mouth and a wall. Yet rather than regret the way life evolves I can sit back and look at the amazing things I have gotten to do and learn with them. I mean seriously in the last year i have been well too many places to list.
Wow I guess this is a pretty lofty entry but well sometimes I can be pretty lofty. It all really is so great. Mainly because these are all things I never knew I was missing in my life. And sometimes you have to sit back and go with the change because the next inhale will be even more fresh and amazing than the last.
On another note. I have tried to contact the people close in my life both here and in the states. It seems though that everyone is quite busy so I guess this will be a good way to do it...if anyone even reads this anymore. So I have some kinda big news...no I am not pregnant or getting married :) but I have decided to remain in France for another year. and both of my universities have approved. So short of having the new visa in hand it is pretty official. I have no idea how most people will react but I know that my life here in France is not over yet. And I have to wait because when it is time for me to go back I will know.
be well
17 February 2008
12 August 2007
Shall we off?
In a little more than an hour I am off on the next great adventure. Believe you me I am stoked. The last week or so has been much better than the previous three. I was able to have a last meal with a friend I made this semester. While in the end the night was a disaster it was good to see him one last time. I have also been spending a great deal of time with the Nanny Clan. They consist of 3 girls from New Zealand who are working as nannies. I heart them tons! While I was only able to see two of them as the third is gallivanting through Paris. We had what they dubbed a TEXAS week. They hung out with me (a Texan), learned how to play Texas Hold'em, and went to their first Tex-Mex restaurant. We even had a watermelon on the balcony. They took several pictures that when I get copies ill be sure to post. We also as is the case when any group of girls is let loose together went shopping. While it was glorious and wonderful I think that the magnetic strip on all our cards is broken. Basically it was just good to see people. We talked about how excited we are to meet all the new people this fall and are hoping to take some classes together. This would be great as they are fluent in French and I get all tongue tied every time a french person looks at me waiting for me to speak. It is so bad.
While I am thinking about it I wanted to thank Scarlette for commenting on the last blog. I have not heard from her or any of the girls in forever and was worried that I was a bit forgotten. It really meant alot to hear from her and McBrooke. Even after all these months here I miss my Girl Scouts terribly. Okay enough sap.
So this next adventure will be pretty cool. I am taking the train to Belgium to meet up with Silke. On Tuesday we head to Glasgow and will spend the following two weeks working our way south before heading back. There will even be a 2 day trip to Dublin. AND!!!! the queen is not in residence in London so the Palace is open for tours. If we do anything this trip other than of course the Guinness tour I want to go on a palace tour. Would that not be the coolest thing.
All of this of course is given that my gimp leg manages all right. Previous walking experiences with the Nanny Clan and the Goodbye Friend have led to the removal of skin on top of my foot because of the cast rubbing, and yucky swelling. But we shall see. I am taking my crutches and a good attitude. I know Silke will stop and rest and such and besides this can be like a taster trip to decide all the things that I have to go back and see in depth. You know because there is going to be a GIANT Egypt exhibit in London starting in November. I swear if it were not such a patriarchal field I would have gone into ancient history in a heartbeat. But alas I am a girl therefore only relegate to potential successes in late and modern historical fields. Such is life.
I am so giddy about this trip. I guess I will type at you all soon. Maybe on the trip or if not when I am back and begging for the next great adventure.
Be Well
K8e
While I am thinking about it I wanted to thank Scarlette for commenting on the last blog. I have not heard from her or any of the girls in forever and was worried that I was a bit forgotten. It really meant alot to hear from her and McBrooke. Even after all these months here I miss my Girl Scouts terribly. Okay enough sap.
So this next adventure will be pretty cool. I am taking the train to Belgium to meet up with Silke. On Tuesday we head to Glasgow and will spend the following two weeks working our way south before heading back. There will even be a 2 day trip to Dublin. AND!!!! the queen is not in residence in London so the Palace is open for tours. If we do anything this trip other than of course the Guinness tour I want to go on a palace tour. Would that not be the coolest thing.
All of this of course is given that my gimp leg manages all right. Previous walking experiences with the Nanny Clan and the Goodbye Friend have led to the removal of skin on top of my foot because of the cast rubbing, and yucky swelling. But we shall see. I am taking my crutches and a good attitude. I know Silke will stop and rest and such and besides this can be like a taster trip to decide all the things that I have to go back and see in depth. You know because there is going to be a GIANT Egypt exhibit in London starting in November. I swear if it were not such a patriarchal field I would have gone into ancient history in a heartbeat. But alas I am a girl therefore only relegate to potential successes in late and modern historical fields. Such is life.
I am so giddy about this trip. I guess I will type at you all soon. Maybe on the trip or if not when I am back and begging for the next great adventure.
Be Well
K8e
31 July 2007
Canned fruit and pretty perfume
Sometimes I feel like I am living in a TV show. Not in the people are staring sense but in many others. There are new episodes and seasons. Often there are guest stars and every once in a while there are running characters. It is silly is it not that one could think that? Or maybe we all think that every once in a while.
Here I am only 25 years old doing things that people do not even dream about. How lucky am I. I feel like I am stuck in the middle of November sweeps and the writers are not holding anything back at all. Maybe they are trying to positron me for an Emmy or a golden globe or maybe they are looking at establishing a long running show. Either way it is one heck of a ride.
Okay enough of the metaphors for now. I am at the point in my life and school where I have to seriously evaluate what comes next. It is all anyone talks about and it seems that it is all that I can think about. (It does not help that I have been stuck in bed for the last 2.5 weeks with my leg in a cast alone) It is time though for some honest reflection and maybe a few ideas.
Two years ago my path was set and I knew exactly what I was going to do and how I was going to get there. It was simple and clear. I have to confess that the only thing that remains of that girl is her name. Many of my dreams are still similar but in reality one day someone came into my life, turned on the lights to the world and said it is all out there what part of it do you want? How do you react to that. Well I did the typical Katie thing and totally ignored it for as long as I possibly could. Yet it was always there these opportunities and options and I never took the time to look at them carefully.
Now it seems that I have nothing else to do but to look at them. And I have to make some kind of decision. When I was in High School I desperately wanted to write. I wrote on anything about all sorts of things. In the 10th grade I had an English teacher that was wonderful. After class one day we were talking about writers in my grade and she said that there were two who were utterly capable of writing and had a future in it. She went on to tell me that it was not me. I stopped writing on napkins and in spirals and looked for another dream. Down the road I found history. I do not think that I have ever been really in love but i imagine that it feels something like i feel for history. To learn about other people and their choices and how they changed and impacted things gives me a rush i cant explain. The only thing more exciting than that is to be able to help someone else get as excited about it as I can be. To literally see passion and curiosity wake up in a person is amazing. I can only compare it to my high school days as a mascot. One year I had a football father come up to me and get teary. He told me that I made the games worth coming to. I think that moment was the closest to self pride that I have ever been.
Let me get back on track here. I have to come up with a plan, a goal, something to move towards. So I am going to lay out here the options that I see laying before me and some of the input that I have received from family and friends. Feel free to tell me what you think. I know that most of you will not and that is all right too. I bet you are asking yourself why I am writing about all of these things on a blog that my family and friends and even some of my teachers read. I do not have a specific answer. I kept other blogs that held many chapters of my life but I really am kind of over being several different people for everyone. Trick is i really am only one person and that is all ill ever be. You can take me or leave me and do not worry while you can hurt me by leaving you cannot break me. People are good at leaving in part i think its in our genetic makeup, whether it be by choice or not. I will be all right heck I will be better than all right and whatever path i end up on whether it be one i thought of or from a window I have not even seen yet i will be great.
I have a cousin who says that our family is really good at making people above average and under extraordinary. I used to think that he was right but really he is full of crap. We all build a safety net and this was ours...our genetics. Well here are my options throwing out genetics.
1. Finish my masters degree and go on to get my Phd (hopefully at UConn). I would be only the second in my family ever. I could then get a job as a professor and spend my life in academia teaching and researching about the lives and times of people throughout history. I think that this is the option that most people want me to choose. It is safe and is totally capable of keeping me comfortable and content. Maybe someday I could even publish my dissertation.
2. I could finish my masters degree and apply for the Peace Corps. I love to travel and with my background in education, childcare, and AIDS i would be an ideal candidate. I could go to some amazing place and touch the lives of people who have so little. If I could teach one child or prevent one woman from contracting AIDS i would have succeeded more than i ever though possible. This is a difficult option for many reasons. The connections that I have in this world would undoubtedly move on just as they have since I have been here in France. They get married, have babies, and they even die. Most of the people close to me are very against me going away for at least 2 years again. When do you decide where the line between you and them is?
3. I could finish my masters degree and move to Florida. I could live in my house and maybe become a high school teacher or teach at a community college. I would have a relatively easy life. Plenty of time to travel and do new things. But it would be a ceiling a final step, a place that I go to not go any further. Maybe someday someone would come into my life and we could be content there. This is another option that people are fans of.
4. I could finish my time here in France and go back to tech. I could not only finish my masters in History but attain a second in English, perhaps creative writing. Then I could see where the next step took me.
5. I could stay here in Europe forever. I could travel and write and maybe if I stayed somewhere long enough i could start painting again (did you even know i used to paint?). I could lead a terribly fantastical life fraught with adventure and surprise. The next step would always be an anomaly. I have not met anyone yet other than me that thinks this is even remotely a good choice. But something about it entices me.
6. I could finish my masters degree and look for a job in the "real world" Maybe with the government or something. Become a white collar American. Another safe choice albeit a bit rigid. Family really likes this idea ALOT.
So these are just a few of my options that i never really knew I had. I think that you would be overwhelmed too. I feel better putting them out there for the world to see.
On a different note my ankle is doing well...i think..its in this horribly uncomfortable cast that makes it hard to walk. And the stitches feel super weird all the way down there. Cast comes off Sept 7 and then I have some intense physical therapy. Who would have though that i came all the way to France to have my ankle reconstructed.
Be Well,
k8e
Here I am only 25 years old doing things that people do not even dream about. How lucky am I. I feel like I am stuck in the middle of November sweeps and the writers are not holding anything back at all. Maybe they are trying to positron me for an Emmy or a golden globe or maybe they are looking at establishing a long running show. Either way it is one heck of a ride.
Okay enough of the metaphors for now. I am at the point in my life and school where I have to seriously evaluate what comes next. It is all anyone talks about and it seems that it is all that I can think about. (It does not help that I have been stuck in bed for the last 2.5 weeks with my leg in a cast alone) It is time though for some honest reflection and maybe a few ideas.
Two years ago my path was set and I knew exactly what I was going to do and how I was going to get there. It was simple and clear. I have to confess that the only thing that remains of that girl is her name. Many of my dreams are still similar but in reality one day someone came into my life, turned on the lights to the world and said it is all out there what part of it do you want? How do you react to that. Well I did the typical Katie thing and totally ignored it for as long as I possibly could. Yet it was always there these opportunities and options and I never took the time to look at them carefully.
Now it seems that I have nothing else to do but to look at them. And I have to make some kind of decision. When I was in High School I desperately wanted to write. I wrote on anything about all sorts of things. In the 10th grade I had an English teacher that was wonderful. After class one day we were talking about writers in my grade and she said that there were two who were utterly capable of writing and had a future in it. She went on to tell me that it was not me. I stopped writing on napkins and in spirals and looked for another dream. Down the road I found history. I do not think that I have ever been really in love but i imagine that it feels something like i feel for history. To learn about other people and their choices and how they changed and impacted things gives me a rush i cant explain. The only thing more exciting than that is to be able to help someone else get as excited about it as I can be. To literally see passion and curiosity wake up in a person is amazing. I can only compare it to my high school days as a mascot. One year I had a football father come up to me and get teary. He told me that I made the games worth coming to. I think that moment was the closest to self pride that I have ever been.
Let me get back on track here. I have to come up with a plan, a goal, something to move towards. So I am going to lay out here the options that I see laying before me and some of the input that I have received from family and friends. Feel free to tell me what you think. I know that most of you will not and that is all right too. I bet you are asking yourself why I am writing about all of these things on a blog that my family and friends and even some of my teachers read. I do not have a specific answer. I kept other blogs that held many chapters of my life but I really am kind of over being several different people for everyone. Trick is i really am only one person and that is all ill ever be. You can take me or leave me and do not worry while you can hurt me by leaving you cannot break me. People are good at leaving in part i think its in our genetic makeup, whether it be by choice or not. I will be all right heck I will be better than all right and whatever path i end up on whether it be one i thought of or from a window I have not even seen yet i will be great.
I have a cousin who says that our family is really good at making people above average and under extraordinary. I used to think that he was right but really he is full of crap. We all build a safety net and this was ours...our genetics. Well here are my options throwing out genetics.
1. Finish my masters degree and go on to get my Phd (hopefully at UConn). I would be only the second in my family ever. I could then get a job as a professor and spend my life in academia teaching and researching about the lives and times of people throughout history. I think that this is the option that most people want me to choose. It is safe and is totally capable of keeping me comfortable and content. Maybe someday I could even publish my dissertation.
2. I could finish my masters degree and apply for the Peace Corps. I love to travel and with my background in education, childcare, and AIDS i would be an ideal candidate. I could go to some amazing place and touch the lives of people who have so little. If I could teach one child or prevent one woman from contracting AIDS i would have succeeded more than i ever though possible. This is a difficult option for many reasons. The connections that I have in this world would undoubtedly move on just as they have since I have been here in France. They get married, have babies, and they even die. Most of the people close to me are very against me going away for at least 2 years again. When do you decide where the line between you and them is?
3. I could finish my masters degree and move to Florida. I could live in my house and maybe become a high school teacher or teach at a community college. I would have a relatively easy life. Plenty of time to travel and do new things. But it would be a ceiling a final step, a place that I go to not go any further. Maybe someday someone would come into my life and we could be content there. This is another option that people are fans of.
4. I could finish my time here in France and go back to tech. I could not only finish my masters in History but attain a second in English, perhaps creative writing. Then I could see where the next step took me.
5. I could stay here in Europe forever. I could travel and write and maybe if I stayed somewhere long enough i could start painting again (did you even know i used to paint?). I could lead a terribly fantastical life fraught with adventure and surprise. The next step would always be an anomaly. I have not met anyone yet other than me that thinks this is even remotely a good choice. But something about it entices me.
6. I could finish my masters degree and look for a job in the "real world" Maybe with the government or something. Become a white collar American. Another safe choice albeit a bit rigid. Family really likes this idea ALOT.
So these are just a few of my options that i never really knew I had. I think that you would be overwhelmed too. I feel better putting them out there for the world to see.
On a different note my ankle is doing well...i think..its in this horribly uncomfortable cast that makes it hard to walk. And the stitches feel super weird all the way down there. Cast comes off Sept 7 and then I have some intense physical therapy. Who would have though that i came all the way to France to have my ankle reconstructed.
Be Well,
k8e
02 July 2007
Hello all,
Well I guess it is not really all as there are really only two people whom I know read this and one is my mother. PS Thank you Aunt Nancy for calling me just to check up. It really meant a lot.
Lets get started I have absolutely no excuse for taking so long to update. I cannot even say that nothing has happened because so much has. Ill give the readers digest version first for those of you who don't want to read all the way through. I believe that the last time I updated was sometime in Avril. Well since then I finished classes, went to the US for two weeks, Alice came to visit and we went to Prague, Amsterdam, Geneva, and Paris; I moved to a new apartment in the same building, I was given a surgery date for my ankle of July 13 ( yes I am aware that is Friday the 13), and the last of my new found family here in France has returned to their respective homes and countries.
Those of you that are interested in K8E ramblings feel free to continue all others thank you and you are now sufficiently caught up on my goings ons.
It is hard to think of where to even start. The last few months have been overwhelming in so many ways. Interesting thing though is that they are positive overwhelms. The most impacting will seem silly but to me it is a big deal. I am not good at good byes, I never have been. Not since my step dad died when I was a tyke (this whole other story about a glass of milk, perhaps another time). For a great portion of my life I have not had to say goodbye. People simply leave, are not going away for ever, die, or I go away. I don't mean that at all in a feel bad for me way. Lets face is most of the time it is me leaving or me managing to get other people to leave (98% of the time my own darned fault).
But this is different I am in a position now where I am expected to say bye. How weird is that. I mean I know that back home I went out to dinner with friends for my farewell dinner, but really it wasn't bye I will see them again. Yet here I find myself going to these dinners, drinks, group hugs where I am to say goodbye to people whom there is a great likely hood of me never seeing again. To put it simply I just do not know how to do it. Part of me is still that little girl in the back room playing thinking that everyone elses lives just pause or cease to exist when they are not in my life anymore but the rest of me is old enough to know that is not at all the case. It is strange for me to see these people whom I barely know that have well they have accepted me for who I am. Another really new phenomenon. Some people I met for just an evening like the Belgian Dr. Student or the Glorified Pool Boy and others I knew almost the whole time I was here like Silke and Dan. They never once question who I was or what my motives where and for the most part never expected anything from me. I wonder if maybe this is what philosophers are talking about when they say as you get older you make family not friends cause its true they each and every one of them were part of my family even if just for a short time. Is this what it means to feel like you are home?
If it is then moving to France was the smartest thing that I have ever done because I truly have missed out on this feeling and these people who so seamlessly fit into existence. And in the end it makes me appreciate 100000 times more the people that I know are back home. The Collin and Nicole who still take care of my mail even if they are ready to divvy up my things if I decide to stay ( WHICH I HAVE NOT), Amy who gets in touch with me halfway around the world to tell me she is marrying the guy of her dreams, Garrett who wakes up to look up phone numbers for me while I am in Europe (cheaper than info.), Tim who avoids me just as much as I avoid him (yes we are both okay with it), Staci who is up for the impromptu Vegas trip, the people who remember my postcard collection and send me some now and again (thanks Kathryn and Katie), and Alice who flies halfway around the world so we can stay up until 7am at some Bistro in Paris with a bunch of Belgians. I am the luckiest woman in the world because those people whether we are still getting into trouble 30 years from now are with me forever. How cool is that. And as my life continues on this path that I am so uncertain of I get to meet more amazing people who will impact my life in ways that I cannot even begin to acknowledge. WOW!
Okay enough philosophizing you want to see pictures and here about what I was up to :)
I went to an doctor while I was in the USA and he stuck me in this cast. I spent two and a half " wonderful" weeks in it before the French doctor promptly took it off so that I could get strong enough for surgery. Ironic is it not that you have to have a healthy strong ankle in order to repair the fact that you can not walk without hurting it. :)
You can see that Karrie, Ducky and I had a lot of very important bonding time. That blob on my right side is actually Ducky.
These two photos were taken at dinner the night before I left. I was especially grateful for this because I did not get to see most of these people before I left the last time.
Alice came to visit for a few weeks and we had a fabulous time. We were able to meet up with Silke and her friends in Paris. This picture above was from a pub called Wallace here in Lyon.
When we got to Prague we decided to take this car tour of the city from this kid who thinks the fall of communism was the worst thing ever (you can imagine how well we got along). And boy was he in love with this car.
This was also in Prague in front of the original Town hall. Most of it was burned by the Nazi's but this clock that represents the plague managed to survive.
While we were in Amsterdam we managed to fit in a trip to the Anne Frank hous which was far more moving than either of us had anticipated. Everyone should try to go there at least once in their lives.
Here are Alice, Silke and I at Versailles. We spent 9 hours there and still just barely managed to see the orangery. AKA big area with more than 800 orange trees that Louis XIV had because he was jealous of "some other not royal guy".
I don't remember whose idea it was but we ended up renting a canoe on the Canal at Versailles. We probably should have been more prepared for the fact that we would then have to row ourselves. We survived unscathed and surprisingly enough no one ended up in the water although we were a bit wet.
The last night we were in Paris Alice and I went on this awesome outing. It was dinner at the Eiffel Tower, a river cruise, and the night ended with seeing the Moulin Rouge. Each and every peice of it was as wonderful as I could imagine.
I figured I would end this post with an entertaining photo. Leave it to Alice and I to be super silly on the night cruise in Paris. Seriously how could we not be everyone all around us was kissing..
I will do my best to update after i get home from the surgery but I know that I will be out of it for a few days. If you want to email me your phone numbers so I can call when able I will. Otherwise if you just email me at katie.nolde@gmail.com I will just email back so you know everything went alright.
love to you all.
Be Well,
K8E
18 April 2007
To quote the fabulous Amy C = I got the mean reds!
Here goes yet another seemingly ridiculous post about my leg. I think that at this point I am not entirely opposed to simply cutting it off and feeding it to the lions. But that might possibly be a little drastic.
So I had yet another scan of my leg where they determined yet again that I had no breaks but some serious tears in the ligaments and a great deal of inflammation. That was on Monday. Tuesday I went back to see the Sports Doc and gave him the results. I told him that the swelling does go down with this orthopedic sock. And it is true that the pain is better when the swelling is down. He really did not give me a chance to tell him that when I take the sock off it swells back up. My goal of the appointment was for them to schedule the surgery so that at least there is a time frame on the end of this whole ordeal.
I am not by any means someone who wants surgery. I am however someone who is familiar with her own ankle and the amount of times that she has injured it. I also remember all the doctors in my past telling me that if I hurt it again I was going to need surgery to re-stabalize my ankle. I ALSO REMEMBER THE SAME MAN TELLING ME THAT JUST A WEEK AGO.
Well he has done an about face on his previous decision and is now saying that after 7 weeks in a boot cast I can just walk like its nothing and that he does not think that I will need surgery. But he will not decide for at least another month. ?!?!?! Which means that if I do end up needing surgery. My ENTIRE summer will be wasted instead of just the beginning. Talk about frustrating.
I have been able thus far to make jokes and find the lighter side of this whole ankle order but at this point I feel like I have wasted two months...IN FRANCE. I was not able to go to class, or to travel, heck I did not really get to spend much time with new friends other than those in the building. My life had to pause in this amazing place because of my leg.
Now the stubborn Katie in me wants to force her leg to be as miraculously better as the doc thinks and get out there and live life in France and her beautiful spring. But the scaredy cat Katie is all to aware of the fact that she hurt her ankle this badly by simply walking. What is to say that it wont happen all over again. Is there a term for having a phobia of walking...other than crazy.
Okay that is all out...I am going to try to stop talking about my ankle and its ensuing dramas unless there are valid..and scheduled for really real updates.
THE OTHER FRONT.
This week is the last week of classes and next week are finals, presentations and turning in of papers. I have to still write a paper and get a hold of the notes for a class that I was only able to attend like three times. Fortunately I can rely on the fact that I already have a degree in Political Science. This should help me to muddle through the final. As for the paper and the presentation we all know too well that i only really function in the ninth inning so I am confident that too will be done. Then I have the French final on Tuesday. That should run rather smoothly.
Once those things are done I will focus on getting my work done for my TTU classes. I am quite lucky that they are being so patient. I also need to figure out about scheduling my trip to the states to get my visa stuff taken care of. I was hoping to make it back for two weeks but at this point that might be hard. I think that it will be weird to be stateside after a few months here in France.
HAPPY SECTION
This past weekend Jane and I went to Paris for the weekend. We did not have much of a plan just a go and relax weekend. I think that I am getting the photos from her tomorrow and I will post them then.
Until then Have a wonderful day :)
Be Well
Katie
So I had yet another scan of my leg where they determined yet again that I had no breaks but some serious tears in the ligaments and a great deal of inflammation. That was on Monday. Tuesday I went back to see the Sports Doc and gave him the results. I told him that the swelling does go down with this orthopedic sock. And it is true that the pain is better when the swelling is down. He really did not give me a chance to tell him that when I take the sock off it swells back up. My goal of the appointment was for them to schedule the surgery so that at least there is a time frame on the end of this whole ordeal.
I am not by any means someone who wants surgery. I am however someone who is familiar with her own ankle and the amount of times that she has injured it. I also remember all the doctors in my past telling me that if I hurt it again I was going to need surgery to re-stabalize my ankle. I ALSO REMEMBER THE SAME MAN TELLING ME THAT JUST A WEEK AGO.
Well he has done an about face on his previous decision and is now saying that after 7 weeks in a boot cast I can just walk like its nothing and that he does not think that I will need surgery. But he will not decide for at least another month. ?!?!?! Which means that if I do end up needing surgery. My ENTIRE summer will be wasted instead of just the beginning. Talk about frustrating.
I have been able thus far to make jokes and find the lighter side of this whole ankle order but at this point I feel like I have wasted two months...IN FRANCE. I was not able to go to class, or to travel, heck I did not really get to spend much time with new friends other than those in the building. My life had to pause in this amazing place because of my leg.
Now the stubborn Katie in me wants to force her leg to be as miraculously better as the doc thinks and get out there and live life in France and her beautiful spring. But the scaredy cat Katie is all to aware of the fact that she hurt her ankle this badly by simply walking. What is to say that it wont happen all over again. Is there a term for having a phobia of walking...other than crazy.
Okay that is all out...I am going to try to stop talking about my ankle and its ensuing dramas unless there are valid..and scheduled for really real updates.
THE OTHER FRONT.
This week is the last week of classes and next week are finals, presentations and turning in of papers. I have to still write a paper and get a hold of the notes for a class that I was only able to attend like three times. Fortunately I can rely on the fact that I already have a degree in Political Science. This should help me to muddle through the final. As for the paper and the presentation we all know too well that i only really function in the ninth inning so I am confident that too will be done. Then I have the French final on Tuesday. That should run rather smoothly.
Once those things are done I will focus on getting my work done for my TTU classes. I am quite lucky that they are being so patient. I also need to figure out about scheduling my trip to the states to get my visa stuff taken care of. I was hoping to make it back for two weeks but at this point that might be hard. I think that it will be weird to be stateside after a few months here in France.
HAPPY SECTION
This past weekend Jane and I went to Paris for the weekend. We did not have much of a plan just a go and relax weekend. I think that I am getting the photos from her tomorrow and I will post them then.
Until then Have a wonderful day :)
Be Well
Katie
10 April 2007
CCF = It is France
Well world out there it is official. I have to have surgery on my ankle. Of course though there is a catch. They cannot operate until the pain and the swelling are gone. Yes this basically means that I cannot have the needed surgery to fix my ankle until it is for all intents and purposes better. Then the surgery will be done. My ankle will be in a cast for 6 weeks and then I face 3 months of physical therapy. After that I should be good as new...which is better than it will have been since I was 13.
The doctor was trying to assess old injuries which apparently you can see in my scans. He asked me how many times I have seriously sprained my ankle. My best guess is that I have hurt it 12 times in the last 12 years. Which basically means that I am a gimp. But now I am a gimp who knows what the next few months will be like and strangley that is a bit freeing and empowering.
I have quite a few things that I need to get done in the next two weeks. None of them are particularly overwhelming but necessary nonetheless. My goal is to have the majority of these things done by the 24 of Avril. I know that I wont be able to get all of my TTU stuff done in that time but that is what respit is for. I have to read 11 books for that and write short papers on each. My goal is to have 5 of them done by the 24 of Avril. After that I can work on the others and get the 25 page paper done. As well as all the work for the other class i am taking.
TO DO:
CLT Class Work - 5 pages
CLT Presentation- 10 minutes + Power Point
Paper on the Schengen Treaty - 13 Pages
France into the EU - 5 pages
EU Integration -Final Exam
French- Worksheets
French -Final Exam
Book Review #1 - 2pages
Book Review #2 - 2pages
Book Review #3- 2 pages
Book Review #4 - 2pages
Book Review #5 - 2pages
I guess in reality I totally have my work cut out for me. But it will be a good diversion from the fact that I kinda feel like I moved all the way to France to have surgery. Hopefully next week I will have some kind of a date for the surgery. I have not decided if I will post the date mainly because I do not want people to worry. I do not know yet.
Have a great evening.
k8e
The doctor was trying to assess old injuries which apparently you can see in my scans. He asked me how many times I have seriously sprained my ankle. My best guess is that I have hurt it 12 times in the last 12 years. Which basically means that I am a gimp. But now I am a gimp who knows what the next few months will be like and strangley that is a bit freeing and empowering.
I have quite a few things that I need to get done in the next two weeks. None of them are particularly overwhelming but necessary nonetheless. My goal is to have the majority of these things done by the 24 of Avril. I know that I wont be able to get all of my TTU stuff done in that time but that is what respit is for. I have to read 11 books for that and write short papers on each. My goal is to have 5 of them done by the 24 of Avril. After that I can work on the others and get the 25 page paper done. As well as all the work for the other class i am taking.
TO DO:
CLT Class Work - 5 pages
CLT Presentation- 10 minutes + Power Point
Paper on the Schengen Treaty - 13 Pages
France into the EU - 5 pages
EU Integration -Final Exam
French- Worksheets
French -Final Exam
Book Review #1 - 2pages
Book Review #2 - 2pages
Book Review #3- 2 pages
Book Review #4 - 2pages
Book Review #5 - 2pages
I guess in reality I totally have my work cut out for me. But it will be a good diversion from the fact that I kinda feel like I moved all the way to France to have surgery. Hopefully next week I will have some kind of a date for the surgery. I have not decided if I will post the date mainly because I do not want people to worry. I do not know yet.
Have a great evening.
k8e
06 April 2007
French doctors love their adjectives
While I have not been on any amazing adventures I figured I would give a so far update of the goings on in my life :). I am almost half way through the Avril break. I am trying to make the best of being stranded in Lyon by getting lots of French done and tons of reading for my courses back home.
I have made a new friend at Physical Therapy. His name is Ronny and he is from New Zealand. He plays Rugby for the Lyon team. I know very little about Rugby so I tend to be rather unimpressed but other people think it is pretty cool. He is a nice guy who has been kind enough to drive me around the city and get me out of the apartment once in a while. Last week we went up to the Fourviere and to the International City where the Zoo is. I also got a chance to make a few people in the building hamburgers. I think that they were a hit. I really do enjoy having people to cook for.
I have been kinda laying low this week and just taking a bit of time to reflect on the things that I am truly grateful for. As some of you know 2 Avril was the 1 year anniversary of my father dying. While there are times when I miss him terribly I almost feel that I need not worry because he is always here. Maybe that is my happy spin for it all. But there are so many things to be grateful for. I am here in France doing something that I love and meeting amazing people all the while having these amazing experiences.
There has been one interesting thing that I have learned lately. While the French do not often speak English. They are masters at adjectives. Well the doctors are at least. I had the MRI on my ankle on Lundi as well as the Cortisone injection. The injection was quite painful and you could literally see my foot swell up. I am supposed to be patient because supposedly in a few days it is going to feel loads better. So far 3 days later and I actually think it hurts more. Wait I digress. Once the scan and the shots were done I had to wait for the results. 130 Euros later I was ushered into a room where the oddly white haired doctor came in. In broken English he told me that I had no bone fragments or fractures. But I have HUGE tears in my ligaments and that my ankle is probably unstable. Keep in mind trusty leaders this scan was done almost 6 weeks after the original injury and they are still seeing HUGE (yes that was his word) tears. I have an appointment with the specialist again Mardi and hopefully we will come up with a course of action then. In the meantime I had to see him to get some pain medication to counter the inflatable foot I have since the injection. He looked at my scan and came out and said that I had a BAD BAD BAD BAD (yes he said bad 4 times) Sprain and that I would need a very thorough exam on Mardi.
See what I mean about the overwhelming adjectives. I am trying to remain optimistic and have been going to Physical Therapy, but it just does not seem to be getting much better. In the mornings my foot will look normal but by the evening it is swollen and funny looking again. I have taken a few pictures but I will go ahead and spare you the experience. What I am getting at is that I am coming to terms with the fact that I may well have to have surgery here in France. Maybe if I just embrace it then somehow it wont turn out that way at all. Who woulda thunk all this trouble just from tripping on a street in Prague. So the wait and see method is in full effect.
Hope you all have a wonderful Easter :)
K8E
I have made a new friend at Physical Therapy. His name is Ronny and he is from New Zealand. He plays Rugby for the Lyon team. I know very little about Rugby so I tend to be rather unimpressed but other people think it is pretty cool. He is a nice guy who has been kind enough to drive me around the city and get me out of the apartment once in a while. Last week we went up to the Fourviere and to the International City where the Zoo is. I also got a chance to make a few people in the building hamburgers. I think that they were a hit. I really do enjoy having people to cook for.
I have been kinda laying low this week and just taking a bit of time to reflect on the things that I am truly grateful for. As some of you know 2 Avril was the 1 year anniversary of my father dying. While there are times when I miss him terribly I almost feel that I need not worry because he is always here. Maybe that is my happy spin for it all. But there are so many things to be grateful for. I am here in France doing something that I love and meeting amazing people all the while having these amazing experiences.
There has been one interesting thing that I have learned lately. While the French do not often speak English. They are masters at adjectives. Well the doctors are at least. I had the MRI on my ankle on Lundi as well as the Cortisone injection. The injection was quite painful and you could literally see my foot swell up. I am supposed to be patient because supposedly in a few days it is going to feel loads better. So far 3 days later and I actually think it hurts more. Wait I digress. Once the scan and the shots were done I had to wait for the results. 130 Euros later I was ushered into a room where the oddly white haired doctor came in. In broken English he told me that I had no bone fragments or fractures. But I have HUGE tears in my ligaments and that my ankle is probably unstable. Keep in mind trusty leaders this scan was done almost 6 weeks after the original injury and they are still seeing HUGE (yes that was his word) tears. I have an appointment with the specialist again Mardi and hopefully we will come up with a course of action then. In the meantime I had to see him to get some pain medication to counter the inflatable foot I have since the injection. He looked at my scan and came out and said that I had a BAD BAD BAD BAD (yes he said bad 4 times) Sprain and that I would need a very thorough exam on Mardi.
See what I mean about the overwhelming adjectives. I am trying to remain optimistic and have been going to Physical Therapy, but it just does not seem to be getting much better. In the mornings my foot will look normal but by the evening it is swollen and funny looking again. I have taken a few pictures but I will go ahead and spare you the experience. What I am getting at is that I am coming to terms with the fact that I may well have to have surgery here in France. Maybe if I just embrace it then somehow it wont turn out that way at all. Who woulda thunk all this trouble just from tripping on a street in Prague. So the wait and see method is in full effect.
Hope you all have a wonderful Easter :)
K8E
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