The Editor Writes
The Editor Writes
Happy New Year!
Last year at this time I expressed the hope that our race would become civilized
during this millennium. Looking back at that I can only add that it's a good thing that a
millennium is a long time.
Howes Things
Welcome to our new Scholarship Chair, Pauline Corzilius! We'll still need judges once the essays start rolling in so don't be shy - contact Pauline by phone (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) or email (anytime) to volunteer. Her contact information is on the back cover of the print edition.
Our Nominating / Election Committee appointments will be finalized at the December ExComm meeting. They will be looking for candidates for the elected positions on the 2002 - 2004 Executive Committee. Contact information will appear next month so you can throw your hat in the ring or be encouraged to do so.
CultureQuest® XIII is coming up on April 28, 2002. This is a Mensa level, timed
trivia quiz taken simultaneously by teams across the country. Those who have participated
in this challenge have had a great time. Prizes are awarded to the top twenty teams in the
adult division and the top two in the youth division. By contest rules prize money is
donated to the scholarship fund of the local group that sponsors each winning team. Teams
can have up to five members and two alternates. In the adult division all must be current
Mensa members, only the team captain need be a member in the youth division. There is an
article planned for the January Mensa Bulletin that can tell you more. If you are
interested in forming or being on a team contact me. The entry deadline is April 1, 2002.
Last year I had only one response, surely there must be more who want to take up the
gauntlet!
Paws for Reflection
As we start the new year, Region 1 has a lot to be thankful for. I'm really pleased at how well Mensa did on National Testing Day with a total of 1,467 people tested. Boston tested 54 people! The only group that surpassed that total was Minnesota with 55. Connecticut and Western Massachusetts tested 48 and when you see that Greater Los Angeles tested 49 people you realize just how fantastic that number is. Thanks to all the proctors, coordinators and P.R. folks for making this a successful effort.
The membership in Region 1 is also growing. So far this year we've added 317 new members with 209 being between the ages of 16 and 35. Thanks to the membership officers for all the work you're doing to help.
Thanks also to Richard Schwartz who is giving up the chair of the Cyberspace Committee. He's done a wonderful job working on this committee and has agreed to continue to remain a member. Tyger Gilbert will now chair this committee.
At the December AMC meeting Bob Cox was appointed the new SIGHT coordinator as Tanya Hsu has resigned. The vote was 17 in favor, 1 against and the chair not voting. The other issues that were dealt with were the member's privacy rights and the need to revise Mensa's bylaws.
If you're planning your yearly budget remember to allow money for gatherings.
February will find many of us in New Hampshire for their RG.
Check your bulletin or the web site for other gatherings that are coming up.
Our New Member Handbook has a Name!
MovErs aNd ShAkers was submitted by Jake Clohecy. Get a chance to check
out the handbook before it goes to print at the New Member Social on January 20th.
A Mensan in France, part I
We almost didn't make it. The trip that we (and others) had planned for so very long was almost canceled at the last minute. I had been asked to come to France and give seminars on fibromyalgia and myofascial pain in Provence and Brittany. My husband Rick would travel with me as life support, since I have both of these conditions in severe form. We could get standby business class tickets for coach prices, thanks to my sister-in-law, a Northwest flight attendant. The catch _ we had to fly from Hartford to Detroit and then to Paris. I had a powwow with my doctor, standard procedure before a trip, and we did what we could to minimize the travel trauma. When I travel, I face sustained immobility, difficulties with staircases and hauling luggage, and uncertainty with food allergies. I do my best to minimize the aftermath of a trip by careful planning. In both cases, I would be the only speaker, so people were depending on me. Then came September 11th.
All planes were grounded. I contacted both "French connections". We still planned to go, but didn't know what would be possible, nor what would happen next. The Friday before the trip, Rick's sister called him at work and said that our tickets may not be good. When I found out that evening, I explained to Rick that I felt I needed to go. It took a lot to get a seminar together, especially when you had these conditions. I needed to find a way. He was on the Internet trying to find an option when his sister called. The tickets would be good. That Monday we were on our way.
The first hurdle was having our luggage torn apart by guards in surgical gloves. They opened all of my carefully wrapped gifts. By the time they had revealed numerous maple syrup bottles, Vermont recipe books, and Native American crafts, they got the idea that we did not have terrorism on our minds. Then they found my new books, and apologized for having to leaf through each page (400) to be sure that there were no knives in between. I told the guard I had written this, and he saw my photo on the back and had to show the others. We were grateful that they were so careful. We made it to the plane, which was oversold as usual. Enough people were "no-shows" so that we got the last seats in coach. That leg was the only one we had to fly in coach. The seats were comfortable, but we didn't get much time to sleep on this overnight flight. We were occupied by being fed the first of many meals dedicated to la cuisine française. Even on the airline, it was something to write about. Champagne that was mild and fruity, delicious cheeses and fruits, and red wines that were buttery and soft and gentle on the palate and stomach! I know I need my sleep, but this was no time to diet, and my doctor was in full agreement. I had chronic pain conditions, but my mind was sound. Rick and I both enjoyed the late dinner, which stretched on until after midnight. I used the medication which allowed me to sleep, but it didn't have enough time to work. Rick said I was functional when we arrived, but not quite all there on less than 5 hours sleep.
We arrived in Paris in the rain, and took a taxi about 8 miles to our hotel. Using to the postage-sized elevator took some doing. Rick and I needed two trips to get the luggage and ourselves up to the room. I need to travel with my own air mattress and compressor. "Traveling light" is not an option. The room was good, and we had arrived safely. To combat jet lag, we were going to stay awake, and planned a light day. There was a Métro station, the Paris underground train, close by. We needed to travel to another station to get advance reservations for the TGV _ the high speed train that would take us to Provence two days hence. The TGV ALWAYS required advance registration. Our mission that day was to get those tickets, and get oriented. We would have another day to see some of Paris.
I delight in difference, although sometimes it gives me some thought. In France, every toilet seemed to require a different mechanism to flush it. Some have little foot paddles, some have buttons to press, or to pull, and some have levers. Some have chains from an upper water closet. The toilet is always in a separate room from the wash basin and bath. This seemed common from hotels in the US, but took some getting used to in homes. If the hands are dirty enough to wash, and you must open and close two sets of doors, what is the cleanliness of the doorknobs? Mensans are seriously curious about many things.
The Métro is user-friendly. Except for the eleventy-million steps you must traverse before you reach the stations. I tried to move carefully and attentively, using my t'ai chi practice, but it still was a challenge. It is easy to purchase a two day pass, and then you can go anywhere. The Métro tickets are interchangeable with the bus tickets, but we never used the bus. We walked.
There are many shops in Paris, and many lovely parks. The people are very friendly, and very approachable. Rick had taken three years of college French, and I once spoke a French Canadian dialect, but fibromyalgia has left me with few language skills. I sometimes have difficulty finding a word in English. With a little refresher and our phrase books, we did OK. The people we met seemed very pleased that we were attempting to speak French, and that we included some idioms and polite expressions that are necessities to the French, but are often forgotten by people struggling to figure out how to find their way in a world much different than they are used to.
From Cligancourt we successfully navigated the way to Gard du Nord. What an amazing train station! There was a good restaurant and many shops selling delicacies for the travelers. There were so many lovely baguette sandwiches offered, and a number of hot specialties such as quiches and sausages. It is a very clean station, with flower venders and chocolatiers, and many trains. It is also heavily patrolled by armed guards. Rick handled the currency on the trip, for which I will be forever grateful. The Euro is coming January first, and some machines had already been converted and could not be used. We did OK. We walked around a little bit in the drizzle, and then went back to the Cligancourt and walked around some more, stopping at a local brasserie (café) for déjeuner (lunch). Most people in France smoked, so we ate outside when we could, but it was still rainy.
We found a little shop close to the hotel and purchased some brie, Jambon de Bayonne _ a magnificent ham that is cured like prosciuto but not cooked, and some fresh bread and fruit. Rick purchased some red wine there, and we had our evening meal in our hotel room. It was grand. Rick Steves (VT PBS) would have been proud.
The hotel was the only one we stayed at that didn't offer le petit déjeuner (breakfast). We had breakfast the next day at the brasserie. We discovered Págo, a wonderful fruit drink in little bottles. (I have yet to find a supplier in the USA _ ah, the dangers of foreign travel!) The crêpes were delightful. By then, we had decided the French were far ahead of us as far as food, although they could learn a thing or two about toilet paper from us.
That day it poured. We still did a lot of walking, and a good bit of stairs courtesy of le Métro. It was not unusual for people who saw us struggling with the maps in the rain, sans umbrellas, to stop and offer directions. We visited the Cathédral Notre-Dame du Paris. The magnificence of the rose windows and sculpture was breathtaking (or was it those steps...?) It was an architectural wonder of space and carvings and little grottos and side chapels. We were not allowed to use flash photography there, but could take digital video.
Then we visited the Musée du Louvre. As we crossed the Seine river to the Louvre, we caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the distance through the fog. That is as close as we got to that landmark. No matter. We spent the rest of the day trotting though the magnificence of the Louvre, trying to drink in as much as our eyes could hold. This fortress, built in 1190, is one chamber after another of art, art , ART! Severe sensory overload here. It would take at least a month to even scan everything here. We saw what we could see, and were very grateful for the extremely comfortable seats placed mid-room in which one could rest and appreciate huge paintings that decked the walls and ceilings. The sculpture, which impressed me the most, was amazing. Diana the Huntress, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo. Their robes chiseled from marble gave the impression of flowing translucency. The colors were often vivid, always lovely.
We made it back to the hotel, but the rain had soaked our clothes through. The business cards in my pocketbook had become a sodden mass. I had spares. We were content, and ready for our next adventure.
The next day we started early. While we awaited our train at the Gard du Lyon, we heard the sound of a bullet resonate through the station. Apparently, someone had gotten near the restricted areas. A remembrance that we were at war.
The trip to Provence from Paris was very fast, and delightful. The seats on the TGV were comparable to business class airline, but with a little more room. There were good foot rests, and tables available for the passengers, even in second class. The cars had clean rest rooms, and they were air-sealed and quiet. You could hardly tell you were moving.
Toulon / Hyérs, Provence
We were surprised by Toulon. We had been told to "bring our woolie" and expect cool weather. We were greeted by date and fig trees, olive orchards and grapes, and summer weather for us. The locals were in sweaters, and they kept asking me if I would like one. We were met at the train station, and from there it was a flurry of activity. The other seminar organizer had arrived that day from Toulouse. The town was still in shock due to the recent explosion that had killed at least 30 people and injured many more. The doctor coming to the seminar from Toulouse would be delayed. I would learn more about this later.
The streets of Provence are incredibly narrow but beautiful, and the terra cotta tiled roofs are picturesque. There are no parking meters, but parking is at a premium, and there are paid parking complexes. I would not like to drive there. The parking is tight, the cars are very small, and often the roads are one way and twist and turn and climb, and the driver must use the horn to alert anyone else using the road that there is someone coming. When they meet, somebody has to back up. There are many roundabouts.
We stayed in a loft apartment on Hyérs, next to Toulon where we would give the seminar for a group of fibromyalgia doctors and therapists. Again, a very small elevator, and then two flights hauling luggage up. But what a view! The ancient church in the back tolled gentle bells, and the sky became a deep cerulean that approached the surreal just before dark. We were surrounded by stone churches and old ramparts and antiquity.
Pets often rule in France, as in our house, and Brian, the cat, often came to our loft to visit. We learned that in France cats don't "purr...purr". They "hronn...hronn". Yet another language!
It was an honor to visit with JB Eisinger and his wife, Andreé. JB is the most renowned fibromyalgia metabolic researcher in France. We had written papers together, but never met. Again, great food, good conversation _ much in French _ and great wines. Fresh olives from the garden are marvelous. I don't like processed kinds, but these were tasty, soft and delicate. JB not only heads the rheumatology department, he is also an accomplished jazz pianist and composer. He gave me a CD, with the last song named "Season of Change" from a process in my science fiction novel. Way cool.
Saturday morning we had a brief time at the local farmers' market before the seminar. They block off streets to car traffic, and there is an explosion of flowers and food. We picked out some grapes and a few thing that would keep. We had toured the hospital the day before. Hardly any of the doctors at the seminar spoke any English. They were fibromyalgia specialists, and a great team, but needed to know more about myofascial trigger points. Most of their patients had them too. I presented my recent clinical study paper, which will be published in November. Rick managed the overheads, some of which I had done in French. Then we discussed the recent medical research and advances in the field, and I learned something of the therapies that they use in France.
The French are wonderful people. They are often misunderstood. They love to argue and debate and critique. They expect the same. They also appreciated my humor. The first slide, in French, apologized for my lack of good French, finishing with the equivalent of "It's OK to laugh". This slide did well at both seminars. Of course, after the seminar, we had a feast. Canapés of every description. Shrimp, caviar, mussels, and even things I eat, too! The doctors were very careful of my food allergies. Oui, you can eat this! Oui, you must try that! You will love this! We both did. The cheeses, and the wines! Yes, wines, at a hospital seminar. They warned not to taste the rose though, since it had sulfites. I did not feel deprived.
Then came the tarts and meringues and eclairs and other patisseries. You like chocolate? Taste this! You must have one of these! Yes, but this one you will enjoy even more. I could not disappoint the good doctors. Ah, shameless consumption of "vitamin ch". What a delight. Only one taste of the Belgian chocolates after. The nurses upstairs had an unexpected bounty with the leftovers, except, of course, for the wine.
I will not bore the reader with account after account of feasting. When we went to JB's house after for "Coffee" (translation: more food and wine and other goodies), we observed good French manners. The gifts I brought were New England gifts, and a handcrafted turtle. Andreé had 80 live turtles living in luxury around her home under terra cotta and other housing. There were also the more traditional pets, including a parrot and dog and cat. One thing you do NOT do is to bring wine to a dinner. That can be insulting to the host, by suggesting that s/he does not have the ability to provide the proper wines with each course. We learned to eat French style, with the fork remaining in the left hand, tines backwards from the U.S. style, using both knife and fork to eat. We didn't cut bread or lettuce, which would be bad manners. The French shake hands a lot, even if you have seen each other a few hours before, so we did also. We were at "la bise" stage, the kissing of both cheeks, with our friends.
The doctor from Toulouse explained to me that the recent explosion there had been a terrorist act, but the press wasn't writing of it as such. I was puzzled about the choice of target. Only after I reached home did I realize that Toulouse was the starting point of the Crusades, and bin Laden and company were after the "Crusaders". Symbolic indeed.
By now, I was beginning to get worried. Not about the bomb threat that closed the airports _ we were traveling by TGV on our next journeys. I was becoming seriously attached to some French food that I might have trouble getting in the US. Like the jambon cru, this melt-in-the-mouth ham of Bayonne. Rick had by then learned that any estate bottled red chateau wine was a good choice. We are still using that formula.
The next day we left the brick and cobbled streets of Toulon / Hyérs and were
back on the TGV traveling to Grenoble. We had some tomato seeds for next year's garden, a
bottle of the Eisingers' favorite champagne, lots of postcards and pictures. We maybe
weighed an extra pound or so each too. I was able to set up most of my next seminar
lecture on the trip. The transition in Valence to another TGV train bound for Grenoble was
exciting, and we wouldn't have made it except for a student traveling home making the same
transition. The trains don't dawdle at the station, and we had a brisk trot for quite a
distance, up an elevator, across a platform, and down another elevator. We made it a few
minutes before the train pulled in. Before we knew it, voilá! We were in Grenoble and the
Alps.
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