We've moved!

It's been nearly two weeks since I posted anything, and a lot has happened, namely, we successfully moved! It was quite a challenging experience which is still in the process. It all began with our first experience with a taxi strike. We had planned on using a taxi to transport our 6 large duffell bags along with all the rest of the stuff we had bought while staying in the hotel. We arrived in the hotel lobby only to find out that the taxi drivers decided to take the day off. We left our stuff at the hotel and ran to our apartment to meet our rental agent, arriving 45 minutes later than we intended. We spent the rest of the day figuring out how to get our stuff to the apartment. The delivery man from the second hand store where we bought the bedroom armoire agreed to help us out, and all our stuff made it by 7:30 that night. The next week was spent with setting up our aparment as much as possible while making room for the painters who had not quite finished (we agreed to move in while they were still working). I never thought that I would so willingly open up windows in the middle of winter, but the paint had to dry! It was quite cold. The painters finished, we're relatively stocked up on food, we finally have dishes and towels of our own, and in about another month we will have a couch and a coffee table (which we are purchasing from a kind lady who is moving back to the States). Whew! I bought a couple of chairs, so we have a place to sit down at least. Here's the tour:











We love our apartment. It's smaller than our place in Altadena, but it's smartly designed and in some ways is nicer than what we lived in before. Our favorite part is probably the view. We can see down through the trees to our 19th century neighborhood, where we know how to get to our favorite bakery, market, flower shop, laverie (to wash clothes), post office, brasserie, etc. It's only a 10 minute walk to a huge park (similiar to Central Park in NY, really), right across the street to the metro, and right in the middle of everything we wanted to experience in France. The only downside is that it is quite close to very busy train tracks (the old train station is right across the street, and is one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere). We see TGV trains, regular passenger trains, and cargo trains with all kinds of cargo. It makes dish washing more entertaining, as I can see them when I look out the window. When we close the windows, we barely notice the sound (thank goodness the windows are so effective at shutting out sound), but when we open the windows, we are reminded that we are now "city folk" by hearing all the cars, horns, and trains going by. We are very happy, though, and feel like this place was waiting here for us and that many happy things will happen while we are living here.

One thing is still missing, though (other than the couch, coffee table, rugs, pictures, telephone...uh, you know what I mean)...YOU!!! We already know that one of the best parts of all of this will be sharing it with you.

Ok...I am experimenting with making naan tonight along with veggie curry. I think the dough has risen to about double...gotta go...

Meet the members of Mark's lab!

We went out last Friday night with the members of Mark's lab to celebrate the completion of the new building. This is about half of the group. They are really great, fun, intelligent people, whose group we are very happy to be a part of. The restaurant was in a very old building with stone walls and an arched ceiling. We ordered a veggie sandwich, which looked exactly the same as the hamburgers except with no meat. At first we wondered if it was going to be any good, but it turned out to be great (the really really good bun and cheese made the difference I guess).

Tomorrow is moving day! We'll carry what we can (including the cats) to the apartment tomorrow to meet the rental agent and get the key. After that we will call a taxi for the rest of our stuff. We have our appliances and some furniture being delivered later on in the day. I can't believe moving will be over for awhile. I've just gotten so used to it as a way of life...

I went to IKEA yesterday to buy some necessities and had a very interesting experience. So we don't have a car, right? Well, I rode a tram for about 40 minutes to get there, and when I got off at the stop I was directed to, I was surrounded by a few buildings, and a lot of empty fieds. I had no idea I would be taking a trip into the country, and I couldn't see IKEA anywhere! So I just began walking back in the direction the tram had come. After about 10 minutes, I saw IKEA and walked another 10 minutes to get there (I guess I got off at the wrong tram stop). It was an interesting scene. I found lots of good stuff at IKEA, and after buying it (which I am also very nervous about since I don't speak the language), I had to walk all the way back to the tram with two huge bags of stuff on my shoulders. After another 40 minute ride, and changing to the subway, I got to the stop and had to walk another 1/4 of a mile to get to the hotel. It was quite a site and quite an experience! It changes shopping for me, knowing that I will have to carry everything I buy! It's a very good way to control the budget!

For all my cytology colleagues...

I found the following short article in an issue of Bien-dire (a French magazine for english-speaking people who are trying to learn French). Yes, the vaccine has made it to Europe, and it will be interesing to see the results. Here is a translation (checked over by Mark):

"Soon Saved From Cancer?

Every year in France, nearly 3400 uterine cancers are diagnosed and more than 1000 women die. Good news: the first vaccine that protects against this type of cancer, Gardasil, is now available in France. It protects against the sexually transmitted [HPV] virus, which provokes the sickness. The vaccine has maximum efficiency when it is given before the first contact with the virus. It is ideal to vaccinate before the first intercourse. Doctors recommend giving the vaccination to young girls between 11 and 12 years of age, with a catch-up vaccination for those between 13 and 26 years."

In case any of you are wondering, yes, I miss my microscope! I am still testing the waters of screening here in France (though I have not yet had much time to track anything down). My difficulty with the language is a higher priority so far.

I miss you guys and think of you often!!

Tanzania Remembered...

Mark and I recently realized that this time last year we were exploring Tanzania. What a year we've had in between! If you want to remember it too, here is the website we created to tell the story:

http://kittynet.dyndns.org/mark/index.html

Surprise, surprise...we have a place to live!

We signed the lease this morning that will allow us to occupy that lovely little French apartment we fell in love with! As many of you know, we had great difficulty obtaining the lease because we did not have someone to sign as a guarantor. We worked for a week and a half trying all sorts of alternatives to no avail. It was discouraging to be in that situation, especially considering that back home it would have been absolutely not a problem (with our good credit history, etc.)! The agency called us on Monday to tell us that they would give it to us without a guarantor, which surprised us. Mark asked them this morning why they decided to do that, and they essentially said that they liked us, thought we were nice, and decided to trust us and take the risk! Somehow it's all the better that we were accepted on those grounds! (Mark said he remembers years ago humorously signing in somebody's high school year book that he planned to get by in life on pure charisma alone, so there you have it!) We're soooo glad it's all over!

Here are a couple of photos of our new neighborhood:

Somewhere between a tourist and a local...

Hello Family and Friends!

Welcome to the MK Butler Blog! We are going to try this out as a way to keep in touch and to share a little bit of our experience here with you. So here goes!...

Well, we made it! We landed in Lyon on January 9 with 2 cats in carriers and 6 large pieces of luggage. Since then we have been struggling to have some normalcy again, which is being acheived a little bit at a time (and something that has been greatly helped by our collection of english DVD's and finding a bookstore that sells a few books in English). Mark started work a week ago, and he is loving the environment. He is getting to speak French as much as he wants (sometimes more), and he is learning incredibly fast. I have been exploring Lyon, looking for the best places to buy produce and finding healthy staples we depended on in California, like flax seeds and soy products. I have been walking several miles a day, just absorbing France.

Take a look for yourself...

The living room of the temporary accommodations we've been grateful to stay in while we have been dealing with the bureaucracy involved with renting and apartment.

French Doors...

I've cooked some impressive meals considering the size of the kitchen!

I've included this photo because of the evidence of the mischief that Misha was up to while I was taking the photo (notice here tail reflected in the mirror). She immediately struck one of the cutest poses ever.

Misha plays in the bathtub.

An afternoon nap...

Freya, now often referred to as "Duck" - she meowed so much on the flight here that her voice is so hoarse she sounds more like a duck than a cat.

Misha (a.k.a. Misha Mouse-because she squeeks when she meows)

Mark meets his Macbook Pro (sitting in his new office with a window, no more sub-basement)!

My first time visiting the lab...

The windows in the lab have NMR equations and symbols etched all over them. This is Mark's view of France from his desk, as he sees it through a filter of NMR.

A closeup of a window, taken from outside.

This is the lab. The finishing touches are still being applied by the construction crew. Ironically, Mark's first day was also moving day for the lab. The entire building is devoted to the research of Lyndon Emsley's group. It's pretty amazing to be starting in a place like this. Two more buildings will be built in the same lot (hence all the dirt), so there will be some noise in the coming months.

Lyon has miles of walking paths along the rivers there, which is where I will often be located.

Along the river...

Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere. This cathedral was built atop Fourviere hill, on the same ground where the Roman city of Lugdunum was built a couple of thousand years ago. The cathedral itself was built in the late 1800's (relitively young), and is absolutely spectacular.

Basilique Notre Dame de Fourviere

The view from Fourviere hill (looking down at the much older Cathedral St. Jean).

Theatre Romain--the remains of a theater built by the Romans around 15 B.C., which sat an audience of 10,000.

Theatre Romain. This place was really really fun. The ruins include two theaters, plus a large building of unknown usage. A lot of it was open for exploration to the public. We walked through rooms of the ancient building, imagining what that world might have been like.

The odeon--a smaller theater which accommodated around 3,000 people.

The layers of civilization -- ancient Roman ruins, an old cathedral, and modern buildings, all in the same view.

The basilica rising above the neighborhood...

Another view from the gardens below...

We have been loving it here, but it is also quite an adjustment to adjust to daily life in a place where we would normally be tourists. It is very different than California!! I will be highlighting various aspects of this in the near future. One story first, though:

Mark and I did a weight work-out for the first time in a few months. I anticipated I would not be able to use as heavy weights as I normally would because it had been so long since I worked out. I tried to use a few pounds lighter for every exercise, but it still felt pretty heavy. I concluded that I was even weaker than I thought I would be. I woke up yesterday more sore than I have been in a very long time, to the point of having difficulty walking. After a day of this, I was complaining to Mark about my soreness. He asked how much I had been lifting, and I told him (for example, on lat pull dows I was using 40, which is 20 lbs less than usual). Mark then said, "Kendra, the weights are measured in kilograms here, not pounds." In case you forgot, 1 kg is about 2.2 pounds. So, you can probably imagine the state of soreness I am experiencing!

More soon...