Sasha and E and I went to Paris on a field trip with her class this past Wednesday.

Barring the day's long accumulated pain from wearing the boy on my back all afternoon, while walking hither and yon (albeit beautiful!!!), it was a very fun day!

How many class field trips are to Paris?! Obviously if that's where you live, that might be where you go!...we're still pinching ourselves and I wanted to share:

The teacher's goal of the trip as far as I understood it was to give the children the sense of the landscape, structures and streets that they walk as they correspond to and are reflected on the map they see in their hand...

We walked from the school to Igny, a neighboring town, connected by beautiful paths...

...took the train (25 mins) into Paris and were dropped off just a the northern tip of Jardin Luxembourg. From there we walked and walked...Sasha's teacher, I learned in an earlier outing, is a very fast walker and kept the kids at a very good clip. Today's destination was Notre Dame. It was wonderful walking through the streets, which at 10am on a cloudy, rainy day in April, weren't crowded in the least....until we reached Notre Dame Cathedral.

The approach was quite spectacular... (not this photo, camera was still buried in my backpack...) Inside, hundreds of people milled around. It was a shame it rained. I think we entered just to get a break from the rain. That said, the stained glass was spectacular, hundreds of years old and so beautiful!
Hundreds of people were in the main worship area...I say this cautiously, as they were selling little do-dads inside, headphones for the tours, etc...I wouldn't normally put the two in the same breath, worship and sales, but this is what it is. That said, it's a spectacular piece of gothic architecture and construction. Back in November we had taken a tour of the cathedral...it was amazing!
Here is Sasha's teacher, Emmanelle Bialas on the left, talking to some of the mothers who accompanied the group, and the kids as she is telling us about the history of the rosette windows...

When we leave Notre Dame, it's time for lunch .so we go to Hôtel Dieu, the oldest hospital in Paris (maybe france?), it was built in 671!
We ate there because it was pouring rain and they had a long hall with benches which they gave us permission to use. It's still in use today. You can see Elijah in the lower right hand corner...Much of the history is illustrated down along the walls of this hallway.

...the hall above is where we ate, it is actually through those windows to the right of this photo below. As we exit, we see more of the hotel, which was still a fraction of what there is, I'm sure:

Here we are exiting the hospital literally through the center out through the front. The exit is straight ahead, through the doors and to the left is the courtyard and Notre Dame itself. They're neighbors. The blocks Sasha (above) and the kids are walking on, I'm guessing, are ceiling windows to a floor below...giving natural light...I'm sure one of the more modern upgrades done over the years. Below, as we're exiting out the front, I turn around to take a photo...we had exited from the left out the center, where the two trees were.

Below, turning back around, we exit out the doors ahead, and enter the courtyard shared with the front of Notre Dame.

Hôtel Dieu was very cool!..a bit scary too, to think you're in the same place where you KNOW there were cholera (and who knows what else) outbreaks and hundreds/thousands/millions(?) patients over centuries were brought there. All that aside, they've kept it up beautifully.

As we left the Hôtel Dieu hospital-not hotel, we walk down along the northern side of the island, Ile de la Cité, heading west, we pass several bridges the last of which will be Pont Neuf, the bridge that crosses over the tip of the island. It was here the teacher pointed out the point at which the river splits. Ile de la Cité is the oldest and original part of Paris.

At last it was time to head back home...after arriving at our stop, we still had a 30 minute walk back, but it was a beautiful winding path alongside a bubbling brook, so I don't think many complained. We've been loving this area!


How cool is it to say you went to Notre Dame for your class field trip that day?!

Poissons d'Avril and Fish...Happy Birthday to my Great-Grandfather 2nd April~!

Yesterday, (or if you're reading this from the US, today), it was (is) April Fool's Day! Happy April Fool's Day everyone! Not that this is a standard greeting one uses to acknowledge such a holiday, on the contrary, it's generally acknowledged that April Fool's Day is the day when jokes are played on one another, and if you had forgotten the date, you'll be quickly reminded if you happen to be the target of someone's merry pranking.

Here in France (read upcoming post on that new bit of news if you're not already aware...), as I was dropping my daughter off at school, we crossed the threshold of the classroom and were greeted by much happy noisemaking and found Sasha's teacher across the room covered with little pieces of paper. As she crossed the room to greet us, we could see that the little pieces of paper that covered her sweater had fish drawn on them...they were taped all over her! She was laughing and smiling, and the kids around her were busily laughing at the funny gifts to their teacher. She told us that today was "Poissons d'Avril"...of course that explained everything! In my mind I was quickly putting it together that today was April Fool's Day and this is how they celebrated it in France! Great!...so I communicated this to Sasha and went on my way. Poisson, by the way, is the French word for 'fish'.

Later, after Sasha had returned home, I heard more about the jolly mood of the day, then went to put E down for a nap. When I returned I found her cutting out little fish shaped pieces of paper with which she spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sneak (and tape) onto each of us! The trick, as far as my currently limited understanding has come to realize is to tape a fish to someone without them knowing it.

It was still later in the afternoon today that a series of emails between my mother, aunt and husband floated around regarding 'Poissons d'Avril' during which my husband pulled the following from Wikipedia:

"Poissons d'Avril is first mentioned in a 1508 poem written by Eloy d’Amerval, a French choirmaster and composer. The poem is titled Le livre de la deablerie. According to Wikipedia, it consists of “a dialogue between Satan and Lucifer, in which their nefarious plotting of future evil deeds is interrupted periodically by the author, who among other accounts of earthly and divine virtue, records useful information on contemporary musical practice.” (It seems that in 1508, Satan and Lucifer were two not one individual...)

The poem would only be of interest to historians of music, except that it includes the line, “maquereau infâme de maint homme et de mainte femme, poisson d’avril.”

The phrase “poisson d’avril” (April Fish) is the French term for an April Fool, but it is unclear whether d’Amerval’s use of the term referred to April 1st specifically. He might have intended the phrase simply to mean a foolish person.

In 1564 France reformed its calendar, moving the start of the year from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th and April 1st, had jokes played on them. Pranksters would surreptitiously stick paper fish to their backs. The victims of this prank were thus called Poisson d’Avril, or April Fish—which, to this day, remains the French term for April Fools—and so the tradition was born."

Paul then included this from the Irish press (on 1st April):

"The origin of April Fools' Day is obscure. One likely theory is that the modern holiday was first celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar; the term referred to someone still adhering to the Julian Calendar, which it replaced. In many pre-Christian cultures May Day (May 1) was celebrated as the first day of summer, and signalled the start of the spring planting season. An April Fool was someone who did this prematurely. Another origin is that April 1 was counted the first day of the year in France. When King Charles IX changed that to January 1, some people stayed with April 1. Those who did were called "April Fools" and were taunted by their neighbors. In the eighteenth century the festival was often posited as going back to the times of Noah. An English newspaper article published on April 13th, 1789 said that the day had its origins when he sent the raven off too early, before the waters had receded. He did this on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with April." (reference to come shortly)

...and so progressed this email exchange today, and now ends our broadened understanding of the varying traditions of an annual holiday the origins of which hardly anyone remembers. It was a fun day!

So here, at the end of the evening, by now the 2nd of April, as I closed my email to my mother, who reminded me it was way too late to be writing (yes, still up and will be heading to bed shortly...), she reminded me, that it's my maternal great-grandfather's birthday today!...born 128 years ago today!


Alfred Ernest Hefford...while I have never met him, my memory of him exists in the form of stories of told to me by my mother: How he was a marine biologist, how he loved to garden in his home in Wellington, New Zealand, how he spent 2 years in the 20's (?) in Bombay, India away from his family, doing marine research for the government of India, how he spent his career studying fish and how to manage fishing practices (and exports) in such a way so as to not deplete New Zealand's rich fish supply, how he became the Director of the Department of Fisheries in New Zealand and spent 20 years advocating for such practices. No fool by any stretch, I'm sure it's a fact that my great-grandfather loved fish and spent his career trying to ensure their longevity. Happy Birthday Great-Granddad!

Adventure Hopping...

so you may wonder...Why Are We In France?

Hi everyone, blogging for me is in fits and starts...small bursts of energy expended on our life and events, then nothing. Then small bursts of energy again. The goal would be to manage an even output over time...so updating can be in real-time. But these days that's been in my world of dreams.

France! It all started with the fact that our lovely little Kildare Steiner School in Ireland ends for Joshua at 6th grade -or class, creating a need for us to find a school for Joshua next year. That lead us to the French School in Dublin late November. All good, go check out the school, talk with the principal, get a tour, etc...

Little hitch: Joshua ne parle pas français, and was contingent upon his acceptance to have some french...! So we think: tutors, study, post-it notes around the house...couple months go by. This isn't going to work. So one day, Paul says he had a dream... that we did a full immersion for a few months, from January until the end of the school year.

That's when it really started.

Still on Christmas break - Early January: Wrote letters to 6 Steiner/Waldorf schools in France. Received 4 responses. Narrowed the choices down to 2: Paris Steiner School or Lyon Steiner School. Make plans to visit each.

Mid January: Make appointments with the schools. Travel to France (cheap Ryan Air!), Lyon then Paris. Visit the schools, meet with the teachers, look into housing options. It's all good, but which would be the best for us?

End January: Decision made - We're going to the Libre Ecole Rudolf Steiner School in Verrieres-le-Buisson 20 mins SW of Paris. Look into housing, move date, etc... Joshua and Sasha start school 3rd March, 2008, first day back from mid-term break.

21 February: Trains, Planes, Ferries and Automobiles - Arrive in Paris, car loaded with 4 months worth of goods! Move into a 3 level 'maison-ville' rural townhouse just seconds from the school's entrance! Incredible! Here we are, Ireland temporarily relieved of a few inhabitants...we'll miss you, dear Old Barracks!...but can't wait to tell you of our Adventures!

The following was a letter I sent to my parents and brother when we landed...

Dear Family,

I hope this finds you all well. I just wanted to let you know that we are now 'installed,' as they say here, in our new house 20 mins sw of Paris. Current plan is that we will be here for 4 months. Our address is as follows:

Paul and Natasha, Joshua, Sasha and Elijah Kewene-Hite
Verrieres-le-Buisson
France

THE WEBSITE and the SCHOOL
The School: Libre Ecole Rudolf Steiner
Look for the 'Enter Cet Site' then for an English Flag for an english version

Inside the site, photos will be scrolling through; you may see two photos of a teacher in front a blackboard, in the middle of a lesson. His name is Jean Pierre Ablard and he will be Joshua's teacher, and that will be his class. When you see the Grand Maison, or a large mansion, it is where all the classes (1-8, I believe) are held. Joshua's on the first floor, on the right. You can see it's the one with all the windows, like a main room. Sasha's class is on the opposite end of the same building.

WE'VE ARRIVED
Joshua, Elijah and I arrived on Saturday night, with Sasha and Paul having driven the car, loaded with 4 months worth of living 'stuff' the night before, loading it into our new place, just in time to sign the contract and return to the airport to pick us up!

IKEA
School starts next Monday, and we're very happy we have this week to get settled in. With IKEA only 15 minutes away, and get this, it being one of at least 4 to choose from in relatively close proximity to the house, we've been able to stock up on a few basics beyond what the car would hold (which, by the way, was stuffed to the gills!...though luckily, it didn't sink the ferry!).

THE HOUSE and NEIGHBORHOOD
Except for Paul, the rest of us moved into this house sight-unseen!...and I'd say we got lucky! It is funky in that it's sort of ad hoc in it's updates over the years, and has been in recent renovations, but is seriously cool in it's character, it feels very French, local and has history. We are, most importantly, literally steps from the entrance to the school, so we are all thrilled about this, especially the kids! Because the school is on holiday, most everyone around us are gone, so it's been very quiet. We do, however, get the feeling that we are in the middle of a neighborhood rich in community and feeling. The house is one of a row of townhouses, each facing one another with a little 'street' running through it, past us, off the main street, each town house being 3 stories high, from the ground floor, up 2 more flights. Our house is the second one in from the main street, on which sits the entrance to the school. With the houses facing one another and being side-by-side up a slight incline away from the street, people seem to walk up and down this path past the front of our door to get to the main road, but I would guess they would all be neighbors; this is not regular street traffic. It's very interesting and feels very local.

Just tonight, we met our first neighbor, Danielle, who lives about 3 houses up from ours. She was extremely welcoming and warm to us. She is a retired physics and science teacher, I'm guessing from the school here, but not sure yet. Paul and Sasha had learned from our landlord on the day they signed the lease, that the house she lives in was built sometime in the 1500's (!!), and she has a certificate that has authenticated it's age. While no one else in the neighborhood has anything like an authenticating certificate, the general thought seems to be, that based on the age of her house, most of these houses here are about the same ages, as well. They are certain that none of these houses is newer than the 1700's Isn't that amazing! THey've all been modernized and, from what I can see from the outside, they look really nice on the inside...i've seen lots of exposed beams. All, very, very cool! While our place is imperfect, and a bit funky, it has great 'bones' and there is a lot of cool stuff that can be done to it!

SPEAKING FRENCH
Lastly, it's been wonderful to be soaked in the french language. And it's just beginning. The kids are increasingly getting their bearings, and I think as they hear more and more and begin to get context for what things mean, it'll start sinking in. I believe they're excited for school to start, but nervous at the same time...it's the unknown. We're very open to this experience, and I must give Paul a tremendous amount of credit for making this whole adventure possible! Seriously, his adventurous spirit never ceases to amaze me, and I'm very grateful for his interest in creating experiences like this for his family.

COOL CARS and CRAZY DRIVERS
On that note, because the drivers here are so aggressive and parking is often tight, Paul has let us use his car, a little Mini Clubman, to get around! It's a great car...and most critically, small. The Volvo Estate (Irish for Wagon) has been left at home! So, due to the great abilities of "Kate" our very own, personified GPS, we can get around with her verbal cues and maps with great ease! So, getting from our new house to Ikea, was no problem at all!...neither was driving on the right side of the road again, in a right - wheel (however it's called) car! As long as I have Kate, I'll be okay!

VERRIERES
Today on a hunt for fresh produce, before the further hunt for other basics like places to put towels, things to keep our books on, we briefly discovered the local town of Verrieres-le-Buisson, and found it to be extremely beautiful, old, characteristically French and not at all touristy. I look forward to exploring it further. As our school is 50 years old, I get the feeling it's influence is known and felt. That said, we discovered today an 'epicerie' called Tonton, which has all kinds of organic and bio-dynamic produce. I think it's like being in Provo, UT and being in BYU bookstore and finding all kinds of church books, only this is food and produce and it's full of the food grown based on the agricultural writings and studies of Rudolf Steiner, which is known as bio-dynamics. It's where the Demeter brand comes from if that means anything to anyone. If I had internet, which we're in the process of getting, I would include links to what that's all about, but for now, i'll just say it's very interesting!

More updating to come...for now, we're here, have been here now for 2.5 months...and have been enjoying it very much, though we really miss the Old Barracks!...

Updating...

The year has come and gone...Happy New Year! It's 2009 and all kinds of things have happened: kids growing up, trips come and gone, photos taken, moments passed. Life is a beautiful thing, something to share, something to reflect on; lessons learned, things to do again, things not to repeat. Here is our [long] holiday letter from 2008 we hope you enjoy! Click on the Holiday Letter link to the right in the side bar. Photos included. Sending love to all and peace and joy for the new year.

The Kewene-Hite Family
Paul and Natasha
Joshua, Sasha and Elijah

Stop over in Dogs Bay, Connemara

Saturday morning, day before Easter: Having spent the night in Clifden, in Connemara, we spent the next day driving home through the incredibly scenic route around the coastal roads of Connemara. Superlatives abound in our experience of this trip. While the temperature was absolutely freezing, the sun was shining, and the water and landscape was striking! I think we all felt as if you could have pulled over every 10 feet. As it was, there were lots of pull overs to take snaps, but Dogs Bay was worthy of the hour plus we gave it. Rounding the coastal roads, we came upon this spot, which could just have easily been in the Caribbean-only about 40 degrees colder, plus intense wind chill factor.

Parking the car, we made our way down to the beach. I think it's human instinct to make a b-line for the waters edge. This shot below is Paul holding Elijah, talking to Sasha about the little sea life in the water. With my new, handy dandy camera, I got a great 'close up' from very far away!


Having finally made it to the beach, Paul took this shot of me holding Elijah with J&S in the background. The water was much more intense in color than I think what shows up in the photos, but I think the message gets across. It was a stunning beach.


Paul took the E to the car, which left me with the big kids. A very nice Englishman, apologetically wearing a colorful scarf wrapped around his head to keep his head warm, wearing his hat on top of the scarf, offered to take this photo of us. With the wind whipping all around us, I think it was all we could do to stand up straight long enough for him to snap the shot. Yea, I think we did it!


Facing the water looking out toward the coastal road.


On the way back to the car, Joshua stole a few last moments before we had to squeeze back into the car. It was hard to deny him the opportunity. We loved Dogs Bay...Next stop: Roundstone, then home.

Last Stop in NW Ireland Tour: Roundstone in Connemara

We loved Connemara! To say the area is picturesque is an understatement. There were incredible photos at every turn. Our last big stop was in a town called Roundstone, where we found the shop of bodhran maker, Malachy Kearns, who is one of Ireland's master Bodhran makers. To add to the local flavor of the area, after looking around and having decided that we were going to get each of the kids a small personalized bodhran, we met the man himself! He shook each of the kid's hands and wished them well with the instrument. I took this video on the [long] drive home, just after leaving the Roundstone:



It was a fun [if not long, did i already say that?!] drive out of Connemara! Of all the towns we visited, Roundstone was among my personal favourites. We will come back again and again!

Weekend in Dingle Bay!

A few weekends ago, at the tail end of a school holiday, we took off …to see what we could see…We squeezed ourselves into the mini (that’s a feat for five!) and drove 4 hours to Dingle Bay, a wonderful little resort town in the south west.. One of Paul’s friends and Vyro board member, Brendan, very generously offered up his holiday home for our use. What a treat! We promptly took him up on it and, by the days end, found ourselves in a fully stocked home-away-from-home.

In the morning, we readied ourselves for adventure. It started with fresh fish and chips (caught that morning!) and while I took Elijah home for a nap, Paul took the kids out on a little tour boat to meet the lone resident dolphin who had been living in the Bay for as far back as 20 years!


As the story goes, this dolphin, who is a HE, has been a bachelor all this time, and apparently over the years the town has offered up she-dolphins to expand the pack, but to no avail…he’s shown no interest. This has lead many to wonder….

Next morning, we drove up the road to Dingle Horse Riding, where Paul took Elijah and the big kids and I each took a horse back riding trip for an hour. What great fun! We drove up at 11am, where the young 20s-something riding instructor, Louise, had our horses all saddled and ready to go! I was excited, but couldn’t remember the last time I had actually sat on a horse, let alone ride it! Was I an old lady already, being anxious about something like that? Louise, set Joshua up on his horse, Fuschia.


He was happy enough. I don’t think any of us had ever really ridden a horse the way we were about to for the next hour. I had no way of knowing whether or not the horse was going to buck him off. It was one of those moments, where I had to trust and get on with the experience.

It was also interesting to note, as I watched Louise help Joshua get settled into his saddle, that we had signed no waiver, had not yet paid; we just got out of the car, walked over, found our riding boots and hat and climbed the horse. Welcome to Ireland!... the last frontier of trusting and non-litigious societies.

Then it was Sasha’s turn. Her horse was Blackie. Very excited to be there, Sasha climbed the horse and turned to wait for me.

While Louise was saddling her up, I climbed up onto my own horse, somewhat awkwardly, but…I made it up with some semblance of grace, I’d like to think, then was told that my horse was a lazy one. It was in that moment that any fear of my horse bolting off at a gallop uncontrollably –died away. Lazy horses don’t do that. Now I could enjoy myself. After a few directions we walked over to the staging area, circled a few times...and headed out on our hour-long ride.


Three young girls, whom I learned along the way traded stable help for riding time lead the way, followed by Joshua, Sasha then myself. Leading up the rear was Louise. As it turned out, the ride was calm, pleasant and just great fun! Louise turned out to be a very kind riding companion who, as we were following the trail along the base of a hill, which we shortly thereafter would turn right to ride to the top, as I was asking her about her background, it just so happened that the valley scene were passing off to the left at that moment, she pointed to saying, ‘see that house way off in the distance? That was my grandfather’s fathers house. My father was born in that house and my brother is now renovating it. I live in that house over there [pointing off to the left]; that’s where I grew up.’ It turns out that all the land off to our left was her family’s land! As she was telling me this, I was admiring the life this young girl had and wondered when it would occur to her what an amazing gift she had been handed; to live in such a gorgeous land and be so close to nature.


As we climbed the hill, Louise offered to take a few shots of us, then we climbed over to the other side of the hill and descended back down. As we came closer to the town, and our ride came to an end, we quickly noticed that our hour long ride passed literally within feet of the Brendan’s house! Had we known, we would have Paul standing out there with Elijah to welcome us back! It was a wonderful and unforgettable ride. We know we will return to Dingle again and again!