Presque Fini! (Almost Done!)

Holy Cow! Today is May 7th, meaning I have only 10 days until I am on my train to Paris and then a plane to Detroit....for good.

Last week, as soon as I got back from Ireland, I had a list of things to get done! Firstly, there was the IES family reception, where I gave a short speech thanking the families for the amazing job they did last summer. Next I had my Microbiology final, a friends birthday to celebrate, make-up courses on top of regular courses for all the times professors were absent this semester, required attendence to a Arms Trade conference, souvenirs and train tickets to purchase, etc. Also, my french professor from Alma was in Nantes for a few days, so although I was only able to spend about an hour going out for a coffee at a cafe, I was so happy to see her, and in France too! I only wish I could have had more time!

Such a short time remaining means that we have been taking advantage of as many activities as possible, just to cram in all that French culture. Therefore, Saturday, IES organized a day-trip to Clisson, an adorable neighboring village with Italian influences. Tres cute. We spent the day exploring the castle (I feel like I have written that sentence SO many times in these blogs!) which was interesting because, in contrast to other Chateaux, it was falling into ruin, and thus felt much more midevil. The weather was gorgeous: 75-80 degrees, so after picnicing along the river, Julie and I found an awesome tree that led out over the water, so we just sat and enjoyed the weather for a while. During the afternoon, we had our wine tasting at a local winery. The region around Nantes is famous for Muscadet, a white wine, so, after getting a tour of the wine-making process, we tried three different types of Muscadet, which were all very good I might add. The one problem was that we hadnt eaten in about 5 hours and were all a bit dehydrated from the heat, so add some wine and we felt the need to go to bed a bit early that evening.

Sunday turned out to be beautiful as well! I spent the morning in catholic mass with my host family and then accompanied them to the Talensac Market, one of Nantes largest, to buy fresh fish, veggies, and fruit for lunch. That afternoon, a group of 6 students rented a small motorboat and took it up the Erdre (one of Nantes 2 rivers) for an hour, something I have wanted to do all semester! So many people were outside : having drinks at outdoor cafes, jogging, musicians playing on every street corner. It is such a bummer that we have to leave just when the weather is becoming amazing! The first Sunday of the month in France is also Free-Museum-Day, so before catching the bus home, I finally decided to check out Nantes' Museum of Natural History. Not bad, I think the problem was that I just didnt understand exactly what Natural History was..so I was a bit surprised when I got to the room of all the stuffed/painted animal bodies. A tad creepy. But interesting...i guess? At least now I won't regret not going to any museums.

In conversations with friends over the past week, I feel that around IES we have a pretty general concencus on how we feel about going back to "Les Etats-Unis." After spending almost every waking moment depending on eachother, for study partners, social outings, help with cultural differences or translation, or even just lunch buddies, the saddest part of leaving, is the idea that we have no clue if we (students) will ever see eachother again. We come from different states across the nation and are all moving on to different areas of life, so who knows? However, with the type of experience it has been, I truley beleive that the friendships that have been made mean that we could call eachother up 10 years from now, after barely having heard from eachother, if we were in town and needed a place to stay, or just simply wanted to catch up and it wouldnt be a problem. I know that I am going to miss everyone incredibly. On top of that, there are our host families who have made France really seem like home and been one of the biggest aides in improving our french. Furthermore, Im just going to miss living comfortably in a big city, where there are always things to do, the hustle and bustle, my weekly routines, etc. I feel like we have all really grown up during the last 5 months, and have come to realize that we can make it, wherever we decide to live, if we just give it some time and effort. And although we have had a lot of help from our school and from our friends, we have become much more independant, just knowing we can plan out the logistics of our own travels, manage our money, confront different cultures etc. I think that we all have deeply fallen in love with Nantes and life here and could probably live here quite contentely for a while.

Nevertheless, taking all that into account, the general concensus has been "It's time." We can feel it. With finals coming, our classes ending, and even the weather changing into summer, it has given our semester/time here a bit more closure than if you were just living somewhere rather than going to school there. We miss our families and friends. our american comforts. our homes. our hometowns. the dollar. customer service with a smile. the ability to drive somewhere. our bins of clothes stored in our houses that we couldnt bring overseas, and therefore the feeling that you are not wearing the same thing every day. and as for me, I miss Slurpees. Its just not summer without them! And of course, I am also excited to be done, because it means that 1 year of my boyfriend and I being on different continents is finally coming to an end :) So thats something to celebrate, right ? :)

Anyways, as my stay is coming to an end, I will probably be only adding 1 or 2 more posts to my blog, so if you have any questions or you want to know about things I havnt covered, let me know and I would be happy to!

More Ireland Pictures!

A Tree in the Rock Close next to Blarney

Running across the Irish fields!

We had fun with these pictures!

Couchsurfers!

Danderin' Around Ir'land

So coming back from the States, I had 1 day to relax and recover from Jet lag before I left for Ireland. The reasons behind going may have been a little shallow (Allison and I had recently seen P.S. I Love You and had been easily convinced) but I was extremly excited to go. It was to be a 5 day trip covering Dublin, Blarney, Cork and Kinsale, originally only Allison and I but as time went on our friend Lauren from IES and Axel, a french friend, decided that they wanted to see the famous Green country as well.

So we arrived in Dublin Wednesday afternoon. and yes it was really cool! Our hostel was painted all these funky colors and we enjoyed learning some Irish slang such as when we were told we would be "dandering around the city" that night looking for a bar where we could try the famous Guiness. However, we got a little more sightseeing in, stopping by St. Patricks church, then sitting in on the beginning of an Augustian mass, and just exploring the city a bit. It was funny because throughout this whole trip we probably heard as much french as english, since there are so many french tourists in Ireland. So that night, we went to the famous Temple Bar district and since Allison and I consider ourselves "cultural drinkers", meaning only drinking when its truley part of the experience, we split a 1/2 pint of Guinness and could barely finish it! Wow, like cold distusting alcoholic coffee. Not my thing. So we moved on, walked around a bit more, got some Gelato, and returned to our Hostel. However, that night was a nightmere! Although cheap and convienant, we defineltly paid for choosing a hostel over a more expensive hotel since a middle-aged french man snored violently throughtout the entire night and we did not fall asleep until 4-5AM when he left early, only to be woken up many times by others leaving. It was probably one of the worst nights of sleep I have ever had in a Hostel but I guess it makes me all the more thankful that I have my own room to come back to!

Thursday we tried to fit everything else in. Trinity College, The Book of Kells, Dublin Castle, St. Steven's Square, Jonathan Swifts Birthplace, and every Irish souvenir shop in Dublin, etc. We even hit up the newly opened and conveniently free Tax and Revenue Museum, Exciting huh? It was great though. The guy in charge was telling us about the exhibits on counterfitting,etc and says something like "and over there, thats my old uniform." So I really am convinced that it has been his dream forever to have a little museum like that, and now all the exhibits are from collection. Furthermore, our 30 min evening chorale service was really beautiful and it was so relaxing to sit and hear classical music in English, since I have been so used to going to church in French. So on our way back, we tried the famous Fish N' Chips at Dublins most famous restaurant, only to find that they were REALLY bad. So I dunno if I got a bad batch or what, but I'll stick with my Amercain Long John Silvers if I ever get the hankerin for some Fish N Chips in the future. Overall, I did really enjoy my time in Dublin, but I have come to realize that big cities are often just big cities, and that for me it is soo much better to spend time enjoying the nature or small town authentic atmosphere of foreign countries.

Friday morning, bright and early, we took the bus down to Cork, and then over to the Blarney Castle, famous for the Blarney stone. The Irish make a sort of pilgrimage to this stone so they can kiss it and therefore receive the gift of gab/eloquence. The problem is that the stone is at the top of a tower over a ledge, so they actually have people there to hold you, and a camera to take your picture like its a Cedar Point ride. Afterwards, they give to a little number card and you can go see if you want to buy your picture. So anyways, we very much enjoyed the castle because it was out in the GREEN countryside. So, since we had to pay 8 euro to get in, we took our time, reading all the signs and making the most of the experience. I had meant to bring Lysol or something to wipe the rock before kissing it, but upon arrival, realizing I had forgotten, also saw that it really wasnt possible. You have to lean backwards, while holding on to two metal poles, while being directed by two old men on what to do. But it was fun and Im very glad I did it. Afterwards, we explored the Rock Close, with rocks that were shaped like all kinds of cool, mythical things, made wishes on the wishing stairs, and climbed a few very old trees :)

That evening we headed back into Cork so Axel could find his hostel, and we 3 girls could do couchsurfing for the first time. Now, for those of you who dont know, couchsurfing is an online backpackers travel network where you make a profile, and say that people can stay on your couch for free and you do the same for others, with reviews and rating system and a way to contact people beforehand to check out that they are legit. So we did all this for Cork. and ended up staying with 3 American guys who were studying in Ireland for the semester. We were all really nervous at first to try this and were worried it would be awkward, or weird people, even though we had already contacted them a few times, but it ended up being a great experience! Since all the students studying from their university live in the same building, we made a ton of Pasta and then they invited a bunch of their girl friends over to talk and just hang out. Even better, turns out, they are fans of The Office so I even got to watch the newest episode before laid out all the borrowed cushions and slept on the floor :) Very fun.

Saturday, we decided we needed to get out and see a bit more of the Irish countryside, so we took a bus for 45 minutes to the coast to a little town called Kinsale. This was probably my favorite day of the trip. We started on a 1 1/2 mile hike to Charles Fort and were very pleasantly surprised with the results. The weather was gorgeous, warm in the sun but with a brisk, strong Irish wind to keep you on your toes. About half way there we stopped to rest a small beach, covered with interesting shells and polished glass and stopped to snack and enjoy the beautiful view of the harbor town from across the bay. We even met this little stray puppy who wanted to play fetch with us for about 30 minutes. Continuing on our way, we found that the coolest thing about the fort was the views it gave of the water, since it was higher up, and, naturally, on a lookout point. It was so peaceful and we felt like we were the only tourists there which made it seem more of an adventure rather than just another line to wait in. So I found this spot on a look point, climbed up and just sat for about 15 minutes, soaking it all in: the wind, the water, the smells, the GREEN GREEN hillsides (did I mention it was reeeeally green?) and I just thought to myself : hmm...I think I could just sit here all day, just lost in thought. It was so peaceful and it gave me a few moments to reflect on such a crazy last few weeks, with Nicoles passing, reunions with friends, and now beautiful Ireland. I seriously felt like I had been living 2 separate lives as the contrast in events and emotions has been so huge. But it was so peaceful up there with the wind at times blowing fiercly and then in a minute not at all. and I just had to sigh and finally say to myself that I guess this is Life. God gives us blessings and hardships and you just have to appreciate the people and the moments as they come, and while reflecting from time to time, not get too caught up in analysing the past because sometimes Gods plan is too big and mysterious to understand.

I seriously could have stayed there for hours. However, from so high up, I saw a little path along the bay and couldnt resist wanting to explore more. So Allison, Lauren, Axel and I set off to go see what was down this little seaside dirt path. But...we got distracted. Those amazing green hills were just calling our names, so although there was a fence (possibly electric) we decided, "Hey, you're only in Ireland once!" and army-crawled underneath them. I was the first to go and as soon as I was on the other side, I got up and just took off running up that hill so exhilerated to have such a Classic Ireland Moment. However, the grass is about 2 feet high on those hills and in backless-clog-shoes, I tripped and planted my face in the grass about 20 yards from where I started :) No worries, I recovered quickly. We spent about the next hour running up and down those GREEN hills, taking beautiful scenery pictures, and some just silly frolicking-in-the-GREEN-Irish-grass pictures. All 4 of us were completely elated by it. And it truley just gave me a wonderful taste of the true beauty of Ireland. If I ever go back I will probably simply skip the big cities and go straight to the countryside, because that is where my heart really lies.

Returning to our couchsurfers that night at about 9pm, we were exhausted! However, we knew we had a French Toast Party with about 12-15 other students awaiting us. The thing was, we had heard that these guys make very good french toast, so Allison hinted that we would like to try it, and the next thing we new, it was party :) It seems the theme in their apartement is Make as Much Food as Possible, and Then Try to Eat It All. So I literally stuffed myself with French toast and Irish pancakes until I was about to explode, and then around 11 we started Mafia. A wonderful card/group game where everyone is secretly given a position and then the townspeople must figure out who the Mafia before they are all killed. I personnally happen to LOVE that game, so I had soo much fun as we played til about 1:30am. I think we all really enjoyed meeting this whole group of people, because they were so fun and welcoming, and it just was awesome to hang out with these random strangers united by the fact that we were all poor college students loving our time abroad! But it was great that we all just clicked. They were even Switchfoot and Lord of the Rings fans! How much luckier could I have gotten? Following Mofia, we were shown their video of their backpacking trip through Scotland, including the Braveheart reenactment, and finally went to bed around 2:30 to wake up at 5am for our flight.

So needless to say...we slept through most of our layover in London and got back to Nantes, so thankful to have a nice warm bed, with no snoring French man to keep us awake :) It was an unforgettable 5 days and I absolutely fell in love with the Irish countryside! So now I am just hoping that I will have the opportunity one day to go back and see all the rest!

Nicole

On April 10th of this year, Nicole Marie Miller died in a car accident. She had been my best friend almost since we met at about 8 years old and although we had begun to drift apart these last few years with college getting the way and life taking us down different paths, she was one of the most important people in my life. So, with my parents help, I flew home for the funeral. Below is posted the speech Val Harris and I wrote for the memorial service.

V: Hello, I'm Val Harris

J: and I'm Joye Kallgren. We were both very close friends with Nicole and we thought we would share a few memorable moments with you.

V: In 9th grade, I moved to Trenton and joined the Marching Band, happening to be in the same section as Nicole. The first memory I have of her is when she looked me square in the eyes and said.."Yeah...I really don't like you." The thing was, coming from a sarcastic family, I got a kick out of it and ended up appreciating the blunt person she was.

J: My memories of Nicole go back to 2nd or 3rd grade. I even remember standing up during Pioneer Girls Show N' Tell and announcing proudly that my mom was going to have a baby, only to have Nicole stand up immediately after and say MY mom is going to have a baby. 9 months later we were both big sisters again. It seems like we were always together, from our trips to Camp Cherith, Summers at VBS, and sleepovers in the basement where we would stay up to 3am playing monopoly. In 9th grade, we both agreed to try out for the Volleyball Team, despite knowing we would both get cut, me because of my lack of talent, and her because she was hopelessly too short. Yet we both agreed to celebrate NOT making the team with our favorite treat: slurpees. I still remember her calling me up after 2nd round cuts and saying " Well, we're going to 7-11!"

V: If it wasn't slurpees, it was Ice Caps. And any time we were going out and I asked her "What sounds good?", she'd reply without hesitation, "Taco Bell." Any time we would sit down in a restaurant, she didn't have to say anything, we KNEW we had to order for her. She has such a spunky personality and sense of adventure. This lead us on multiple occasions to climbing walls, buildings,...THS,...Alma College. You name it, we've climbed it. We did so many random things. For one of her birthdays, I bought her Van Gogh's ear, in the form of an air freshener, just to add a little spice to her car. She must have kept that up for two straight years, until I bought her a new one. And she kept it up ever since.

J: Not only was she spunky with a random sense of humor, but she also had quite a competative side. She and I had been designated Euchre partners since I learned how to play. We knew how to read eachother's every expression and therefore, I learned to expect that she would call a loner on a 9 and a 10. Most things went without saying. When either of us had something on our mind, we would call the other up and spend the afternoon "porch-sitting" as we called it, basically just sitting on my front porch talking about life. I'll never forget it.Someone once told me that you meet 3-5 people in life who truley change you and for Val and I, and so many others that she encountered, Miller was one of those people.

It was a very weird few days, because inside we all just wanted to cry for days but then my closest friends from highschool and I would get together and find ourselves laughing for hours over memories. I mean, you are there, trying to move on and not be overwhelmed by this horrible grief, yet you dont want to and can't move on too quickly, as if that person didnt mean anything to you, but at the same time, you know that person would want you happy. So I've found that the grief comes in waves. There are days when I'm busy and doing fine, and others where I just want to cry and ask God Why?.

However, the other thing that this experience taught me is how loved I am and how great friends are. The people at Agape in France here took the time to pray over the situation, for the family and friends, I received letters, notes, candy, visits from so many people, prayers, and so many people sacrificed time and money to get home and be there for me, and for the family of Nicole especially. So I want to thank you all so much because although only time will truly heal something like this, its so comforting to know you have so many people to lean on. Despite the horrible circumstances, I had a great week home and saw so many amazing people. I realized how much I miss and love my highschool friends as they made their way home from all over the US. I saw my boyfriend, cousin, grandparents...and I just realized how important all of my friends and family are to me. Its so cliche but I think you can really never tell them enough how much you care for them. I love you all.

In conclusion, I would just like to ask for continued prayers for Mr and Mrs Miller and Will and Cat, because its as things start to die down that you need continued support and prayer.

Good News :)

Well I happy to inform you all that I am officially done with all of my papers that were due in the last two weeks. I know you were all extremely worried ;) But I am very releived. I have spent the last two weeks with an Alma work load, meaning every night right after dinner, I'd hide away in my room to research and write. I felt really bad about basically ignoring my host family, but I guess school is why I am here, right? Anyways, because of that, I havn't had the time to fit any out-of-this-world events in, but there have been a few things worth noting.

• I Passed my test! : Last blog, I wrote about my French Certification Exam in Angers. And I wasnt supposed to get my results back for a month, but I just received them this week and am SOOO relieved that I won't have to retake it this summer. Now I can just concentrate on the GRE instead....
  
• My first Professional Soccer Game : Last friday, on our way to "escalade" we passed the Stadium and saw that there was a game that evening. So, seeing as that was one of the many things on my List of Things to Do and See Before I Leave, we opted to skip out on rock climbing a bit early and go to the game : Nantes vs.......Some team in Blue. Yeah, you can tell I am a huge soccer fan. Anyways, since they dont allow food inside the stadium, I ran and bought a "Galette Saucisse", now a Galette is really just a wheat crepe with bits of meat or cheese, or in this case sausage. So I was a bit suprised when they handed me a full brautwerst (sp?) wrapped in a galette. Im thinking..."I guess this is how they do hot dogs here?" But anyways, it was fun being in the crowd and learning the very repetative cheers like "Allez Jaune" ...which means Go Yellow. But we finished with a 1-1 tie, so I was a bit disappointed. But all in all, I am so happy I got to go because my last few weeks are going to fly by with all the events crammed in!
  

• Boulangerie Tour : This was really neat. We were taken to Nantes most famous bakery and given an 1 1/2 lesson on how to make different kinds of bread, the process, etc. Bread with meals, and great bread for that matter, is a signature of France and I think it was pretty rare to go behind the scenes and learn some of their secrets. It was a bit like the cooking channel, He made the dough in front of us, telling us that it needs to sit for a few hours to let the yeast ferment and give it the right gout (taste/flavor). Then each and every one of us got to make a baguette, put the crazy lines across it so it looks tasty, and they went into the oven. Then to finish it off, he let us all taste-test 5 different types of bread, explaining what gave it its unique flavor. I had never realized that there was such a difference in taste! But now I feel so knowledgable, and went into a boulangerie the next day knowing exactly what I wanted to order, rather than choosing the cheapest or most tasty-looking thing I saw.

• Pancakes and Friends : Saturday night, I was invited to a little going away party for a canadian girl I didnt know, at a french friends house. So it was only four of us, but we had a big pancake and brioche dinner, mixing french and english and just joking around for a few hours. It was very relaxing after writing my paper all day. And It made me start thinking about all the friends I have made here. In the last few months, we have spent more time together than I have spent with a lot of people at Alma in 3 years, since we eat meals together, we travel together, we have all classes together, we endure crazy cultural differences together. It really is a unique experience, unlike other week-long trips that I been on, I know that I will be lifetime friends with a lot of the people I have met my trip. I've just realized in the past week or two, knowing that the semester will soon be done, just how much fun we have together. I think its because we have time to go to have a 2 1/2 relaxing lunch at a local restaurant or suffer through the freezing cold rain as we search for a non-existant but advertized Carnival of Nantes, or better yet compare drawings we have made out of boredom when sitting through a 3 hour conference on the geopolitcal importance of the Caucasus mountain region at 10pm. (Three things I have done in the last week). So I am completely torn. I really am excited to be back in America, to see all of my friends and family, but I am going to seriously miss all my friends here so I am trying to spend as much time with them as possible before I leave!
  
  
• VACATION!!!!!! yay! Saturday I leave for the South of France for a week. and it can not come too soon after two weeks of stress. (I know, I know, Alma kids have been stressing all semester...) Im going to Carcassonne, a mid-evil castle city, then Aix-en-Provence, supposedly the essence of France, and then onto Nice for some relaxing beach time on the French Riviera! eeeeh:) So excited :) Then I'll be back in Nantes for a week studying for exams and going to the coast for a day with my host fam, and then I am off to IRELAND for 5 days doing Dublin, Blarney Castle, and Cork. Its going to be amazing. and Im soooo excited. If you couldn't tell by the previous caps and exclamation points.

Oh, and before I end, I want to say a quick Congratulations! to all my friends who are graduating. Im totally bummed I can't be there for the ceremony but keep in touch! I'll miss you! As for all you non-graduating people. Let me know what you are doing with your summers. I'm doing my summer at Georgetown, and have the whole month of August off and I may get to go see some of you!

Scott and Easter

Well, I just keep getting busier and busier!

Monday night, with almost no time to regroup after my trip to Normandy, I picked up my brother Scott from the aiport :) It was so nice to see him, as he is a grad student in NYC and since I wasn't home for Christmas, I had figured I wouldn't see him 'til Thanksgiving. However, when he told me he planned to do Spring Break "London, Nantes, and Paris" it was a pleasant surprise.

Once again my host family was very gracious and not only allowed him to sleep at the house, but also to eat two home-cooked french meals with us, something my parents missed out on (although I tried my best to replicate them!). Now, the only problem with the week was the timing for my exam. To graduate with a french major, I am require to pass a certification test given by the french government that says I have a certain level of french in all areas (speaking, listening, writing, reading). This isn't all bad, since its nice to have something like that on your resume when you are finished; however, the only testing center near me that would work for the semester was in Angers (45 mins by train) and was taking place over the two full days that Scott was here.

So 5:30am Tuesday morning came and we hopped on a train to Angers, had some breakfast at a local boulangerie (bakery) and I handed Scott the map of Angers, while I went to take my test. Turns out, that while you can't really study for a thing like this, as it was much harder than I expected, I really wish I had had more time/materials to help me prepare, but I did my best under the circumstances. That afternoon, Scott and I did some shopping, bought some paninis, and visited the local Castle (supposedly on the list of most beautiful castles in France) and also went to the Tapestry museum which holds this huge famous tapestry of Revelations, giving a play by play of the Apocalypse. Angers is a cute city, smaller and quainter than Nantes, and also another one of my options of where I could have studied. But I am still satisfied with my choice.

So, Jet lag + 5 hour of sleep = Exhaustion. So we headed back to the house, for a few hours of relaxation before going out to dinner with my families left-over euros(Thanks Dad and Mom!) . We were directed to this little adorable french restaurant called Le Petit Baccus by my host parents and were not dissapointed. The atmosphere was very french ( well...actually kinda international as we were in a corner with a some germans and french) and the food was wonderful, not to mention the 14.50 for 3 courses. So we had a nice night out, took the night bus back, and got to bed early.

Wednesday morning we did some walking around, before I headed to Angers for the afternoon. Scott on the other hand visited the Nantes Castle, Cathedral, large mechanical elephant, and did some shopping before I got back. All while practicing the french phrases he was learning so that he could get around in Paris. That was one of his major goals during his time here, to learn the meaning of every word he saw, and he did pretty well in simply guessing them and, the most difficult part of french, in pronouncing them. So we stopped at bar after I got back to chat with some IES friends for a bit and then headed home for another wonderful home-cooked meal.

Sadly, thursday Scott had a train for Paris at 1pm. So we got up early and did some last minute shopping and exploring before getting him on his train. It was a fun few days, and I wish I had had more time to just hang out, but we made the best of it and it was so nice to see some family during Holy Week.

Which brings me to Easter. Friday after Rock Climbing, I walked in all sweaty and gross only to see a table full of college age guys who had been eating dinner, turn around and stare at me. "Umm....Hi Everybody..?" Needless to say, I was a bit confused. I knew that my 22 yr old host brother Alban was coming home from Paris and that the 25 yr old daughter Alix was heading in from Brussels, but who were all these people? As my host brother Pierre Antoine was there I figured these must be just some friends. My host dad did all the introductions (which include the french cheek kisses..awkward when you are self-conscious that you are all smelly and gross) and I found out one was my host brother I had never met, next to his cousin, and Alix's boyfriend. Turns out, all the women were in the kitchen and bathroom at the time. My reaction: oooooh, I feel stupid. Oh well, first impressions!

It was a bit weird doing easter with another family. One one hand, I really enjoyed seeing all of their traditions, but on the other hand, although they included me in everything, I kind of felt out of the loop because these wern't MY traditions, and I felt like I was just observing. However, everyone was really nice. I made pancakes Saturday morning and got a chance to talk with some of my siblings. Also, Marc, Alix's boyfriend, is german, spent a year in the states, and speaks great english(and french for that matter), but it was nice to not feel like the only foreigner :)

Anyways..Saturday night, we did Easter eve service. No one wanted to get up early Sunday morning so it was agreed upon ahead of time. So we went to this huge cathedral in town that I had never been too, but reminded me of St. Marks in Venice : Big dome mosaic ceilings...old. :) The catholic mass itself was the first one in Europe I have gone to and been able to understand it (St. Marks on Christmas Eve was in Italien and Latin with an occasional flash of English). It started out completely dark, and then, as at the Christmas Eve service, every one lit their candle (which we held still for 90 mins totally lit...I can NOT beleive nothing caught fire) . Then as they read the texts, more and more candles were lit. It really was a beautiful service and although I knew it was long, I didn't realize it had been 2 1/2 hours until I checked my watch at the end!

On Sunday, all of the family came for the big meal : Roasted Lamb...mmmh. It was fun because with all of the kids there, it reminded me of home : everyone talking at the same time, the one child who always feels like everyone disagrees with him, and the look on my host mom's face who was thrilled to have all of her kids home at once.

That afternoon, the college age kids invited me to play poker. Now, I have never really played poker in my life, and am not a huge fan of gambling, but I figured it was some host-sibling-bonding that I couldnt pass up, so I agreed on the terms that they would teach me and help me along. ...So turns out, I rock at poker. hehe. well, at least I did on Sunday. I think having different expressions, and being the least known in the group played into my favor, but after 4 hours of intensity, I ended up splitting the prize (10 Euro) with my host sister Alex because, the only ones left in the game, we didn't want to keep playing. It was a fun afternoon, not just because I won, but because I felt like part of the group and that was nice :)

So the rest of the weekend was spent catching up on homework from the week that I hadn't done, and this week is mostly going to be paper writing since I have 2 due next week. Also, yesterday was our Film Night at IES that I helped put together as VP and I think it went well. It took place after conversation club so I think it gave french and american students the chance to interact in a more informal setting. It was a lot of last minute work all day, since no stores were open this weekend but with that and the Easter Egg Hunt from last week, I think that we have done a few nice things with our limited budget and are going to try to plan a few more (possibly trip to the beach, barbeque, etc.)

Well thats all folks! I'm coming home in almost 7 weeks! Crazy!

Normandy

Saturday morning, we met at IES at 7:45 to take a 3 hour bus ride to Caen, in Normandy. Arriving at lunch time, we explored the local castle (yup, every big city seems to have one) and picniced on the ramparts. Julie and I also found a small "History of Normandy" museum which had free admission and starting in the middle ages, gave to an overview of what this territory had gone through. After a long tumultuous history of viking invasions, the normands invading england in 1066, etc, D-Day in 1944, this country side is now just a quiet peaceful region known for cider, apples, camenbert....and what we experienced for the rest of the weekend....rain.



Thankfully, our afternoon was planned INSIDE, at the Memorial of Caen, a museum that takes you through world history leading up to WWII and then focuses on the D-Day attack of the Norman beaches. It was probably one of the most effectively put together museums I have ever visited and I am glad we had 4 hours to experience it. We started inside this circular dome, on a spiral path moving down a few floors, giving you a brief overview of major world events in the 20th century. When you reached the bottom floor, World War II had broken out. It was immpressive how they used more visuals (photos, artifacts, etc), radio recordings, etc than words to tell the story, although historical descriptions were availiable for reference in both english and french. I guess I had never realized how much France had suffered in the World Wars. I knew it had been damaged..but it was seriously torn apart, given over to Germany by its own government, and was left defenseless against invasions and battles which raged all over France.



My favorite, although the most heart-wrenching, part of the museum for me was when they started going through the typical life of a soldier. They ended this section with a display of letters soldiers had sent their families right before the debarquement. It was amazing the contrast of content. Some soldiers had just been informed that they would be involved in a sizeable attack and were writing their families to let them know that they were finally going to see combat. I couldnt tell if they were actually oblivious to the danger (and death) they would be facing, or if they were just writing in a very casual way so that their famillies would not worry. Written on the top of one such casual letter was written , "This is the last letter my uncle sent." Still others were writing with a more serious tone, the "death notice" only to be sent to their families in the case of their death on the battlefield. It was very difficult to read as one soldier apologized for all the trouble he had caused his family, knowing they had not parted on the best terms, but still wishing them the best, and telling them that they were strong and would be able to deal with his death. As I sat their and read that letter, I was imagining the family opening it...full of regret and sorrow, and I admittedly got choked up and had to stop reading so that I wouldnt be spending the next 15 minutes crying like a blubbering fool. Still, I think that the museum, along with history, gave me an appreciation for soldiers in general, and the families of soldiers. It must be incredibly difficult to go through every day not knowing whether you, or your son, will ever come home again, but, hopefully, knowing they are fighting for a good cause.

However, my whole day did not consist of such depressing thoughts! That evening we checked into our hotel. This was not just any hotel. This hotel rocked! Usually we get the cheapest thing around, so I dont know what happened but we had beautiful spacious rooms with televisions 20 channels (that is incredible for France, which normally has 6). But the best part was the food! Dinner that night was a buffet for every course, soupe, appetizer/salad, entree, dessert. Then the next day, breakfast was even better. I don't think any of us realized just how much we missed American breakfasts, and since they get lots of American tourists in Normandy, they knew just what to make for us: Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cold milk, cereal! and then all the best parts of french breakfasts, pain au chocolat (chocolate chip croissant), 6 types of jam, dried apricots....mmmh. Delicious. wow, I miss America!

So on sunday morning, in the pouring rain, we headed over to Omaha beach and the American cemetary. Simply unbeleiveable. I walked through the huge cemetary, stopping to read some of the names. It was freezing cold, and as I had left my umbrella in the car, I was soaking wet and shivering. But at the same time, it seemed very appropriate that the weather not be all sunshine. Still, despite the cold, I decided to walk the whole length of it just so I would have an idea of how long it was. However, when I reached the memorial in the back, I realized, disturbingly, that I was only halfway through, and that another huge field of white crosses lay before me. It was just an incredibly sad feeling to think about, especially after the museum the day before.

After finishing with the cemetary, I made my way down to the beach. In any other circumstances (and perhaps with a bit better weather), these beaches would be a prime spot for hotels,etc. They are huge wide sandy beaches, which slope up into some hills that look down on them. It was unsettling to picture the nazis, with such an advantage high above the beaches, while americans, canadiens, and british did their best to get undercover, on an open air beach with no protection. However, the US was given this land, so the land has not been developped much. There are a few houses and it was weird to learn that the french do swim on those beaches, when to most americans, the thought is simply horrifying.

We all loaded back on the bus and headed down the beach a little ways to Point du Hoc. This was the general quater for the germans, and therefore, strategically, received the most bombing. We walked down a path that led between the huge holes in the ground, left from the bombs, explored some collapesed german bunkers, and really got a feel for how much damage the war caused! I wish we could have stayed longer, since, as with all of these trips, I am never sure if I will have the opportunity to return ever again, but the cold was getting to be too much and my coat, soaked completely through wasn't helping, so the visit was a bit short.

For lunch we stopped in Bayeux, grabbing a pannini and trying to explore without freezing. The main reason for our stop here though was to see the Bayeux Tapestry. This tapestry is 60 meters long and is like a cloth painting of the Battle of Hastings between the Normands and the British in 1066. It was kind of crazy to see it, as it is one of the oldest artifacts of France, and I learned about it freshman year in French Civ I. Thats the best thing about studying abroad, i think. It gives me the opportunity to really SEE all these little things I have always read about, and as a visual learner, I think it sticks better this way.

All in all, it was a very interesting trip, more like a school field trip than a vacation like the other ones have been, but I am so happy I had the opportunity to go and I'll never forget it!

Getting Cultured

Bonjour tout le monde!

Phew...so glad that midterms are over. Well, almost. I have one if a few weeks for Translation, but there is really no way you can prepare for that one other than reading books and learning new vocabulary. So anyways, last week was a busy week for me and wouldn't be too exciting to recount in detail, since it mostly consisted of late night studying for Midterms in my Middle East and European Union class with breaks for some Office Season 3 :) So I'll just give you some highlights.

Since we have 3 weeks total of break, most other students have planned amazing trips for our time off. Going back to school on Monday, it was amazing to hear everyone's stories; however, even more fun to think about what I was going to be doing in April for our 2 weeks off. I orginally was thinking Ireland and Switzerland, since firstly, Ryanair has some great prices to Dublin from Nantes, and secondly Switzerland is a frenchspeaking country so it would be easy to get around. So I started asking around, and found a friend who wanted to go to Ireland too! So Thursday night we stayed up til 12:30 booking our flights, and let me tell you, I'm syched! So sooo excited! We havn't pinned down anything except the planes yet, so all I know is Im going to Ireland for the last 5 days! Sooo cool! For the rest of break, I beleive I will stay in the South of France, but that is still to be decided...

Anyways, Friday was an IES "field-trip" to Paris. We had a few choices, but I ended up deciding to do "Le Senat" (Capital Hill of France) in the morning and a guided tour of the French Painters wing of the Louvre in the afternoon. So 5:30 am, after reserving my Ireland tickets, I woke up bright and early and got the train with the rest of my class. The Senate was interesting enough. I chose it because its not exacly a tourist hot-spot and I didn't think I would ever get the chance to see it at another time. But in reality, its just a big, nicely decorated building, where people make laws. No biggie. For lunch, I dragged a few of my friends over to the Latin Quarter where I promised them a hot, tasty, and reasonably-priced lunch and we were not dissapointed. I dont know if I could ever get tired of grabbing a hot crepe or Gyro and wandering around the streets of Paris looking at the cute shops and famous monuments. So we stopped at the famous Shakespeare & Co bookstore and then wandered over to Notre Dame since some of the people I was with had never been to Paris before. I enjoyed pulling out my Rick Steves' guide to France and reading them some history of the famous monuments :) The afternoon at the Louvre was good as well. It was my third time to the Louvre, so even though we explored a few rooms that I swear I had never seen before (its soo huge!), the whole awe and amazement has started to wear off. Therefore, we decided to go to the statue section of the museum and spent the rest of the afternoon taking pictures recreating the famous poses. The Centaur with an angel riding on his back was extremely challenging. We had a lot of fun, but after walking around in heals all day (had to dress up for the senate) I was so very happy to get on our train, come back to Nantes, and spend an evening relaxing with a book and some American Popcorn :)

The next day I woke up to a light rain. Here in March, the weather is insane. It down-pours for 10 minutes, and then you look up in the sky, its sunny, and you cant find any clouds, then 15 minutes later it rains, or hails (as it did on Sunday). But I happen to find a light rain at 50 degrees Farenheit perfect for running. So, completely energized, I just took off and for an hour I ran next to the river near my house, exploring some of the forest, finding a random field in the middle of nowhere. It was great :) I do not know where it came from, but it was one of those moments where you are just thrilled to be alive and I just took off sprinting up and down hills, loving the feel of wind and rain (or sometimes complete sunshine!) on face. Now, since I havn't been running regularly enough...waking up Sunday morning and feeling the effects of all this wasn't very nice. But it was a good afternoon.

Saturday night was movie night :) I went to a friend's house only to find they were planning on watching one of my favorite movies in the whole wide world : La Vie est Belle/Life is Beautiful/La Vita e Bella (but in French of course.) I brought some of my popcorn, which if I say so myself, was a hit..since most people havn't had it since they left the states. As for the movie, it was great...except that Bonjour, Bonjour Princesse just isn't as good as Bon Giorno Princepesa! There's something about that Italian! (If you have no idea what Im talking about....Go watch the movie)

Sunday morning was my first Nantes Market experience. France is famous for their open-air markets. and in other cities that I have been to, I have loved to walk through and see all the fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, meat, etc. However, I hadn't ever found one in Nantes. Turns out that there are a few bigs one, but just not on any of my normal routes. So since I arrived at Church Sunday morning only to find that the service for the day had been moved to an unknown location, we opted to go check out the Talensac Market. It was very fun and I am pretty sure you could find just about anything there. From the 80 cent crepe-lady to the dried candied fruits to flowers to shoes to almost full cows hanging in the meat sections! The great thing about markets though, is that its the reason why French and Italian food is so good! Its not exactly that they know how to cook a ton better than American chefs, its that ingredients are so fresh and delicious :)

For the afternoon, we had been given tickets to see a modern dance performance at the Theatre Graslin near my school. I was very excited because I walk by this theatre with huge roman collumns and stairs leading up to its doorway every day when I walk downtown, but had never seen the inside. However, it was not what I expected. The theatre was nicely decorated, but could only hold 300-400 people. But the dance was just crazy. I know that I am not an incredibly artistic person, and that sometimes I dont really care for abstract things because I just don't understand them, but this was just nuts. For the first act, 3 people pretty much just ran around the stage while one man sang an opera-like solo. While trying to keep from falling asleep, I thought to myself...I'm pretty sure I could do that, and I havn't been in dance lessons since I was 4. The second one seemed like it was representing a dream-state (as one man started off wearing a goat mask), and although I didn't understand a thing, at least there was technique. However, as the french are much more comfortable with nakedness in general, it was a bit odd to watch a dance where the two woman were wearing dresses that only covered half of their chests. All in all though, I guess I can now say I've gone to a french theater! and at least its a funny memory...This has truley been a week of cultural events.

One last thing before I go. I recently found out that I got into a Research Experience for Undergraduates at Georgetown! So I beleive that is where I will be spending most of my summer. I know I wrote earlier about the stress of finding an internship, and its an incredible releif to know this far ahead of time that I have a job and will be getting some valuable experience to help me decide on grad school! So now, I just have to keep praying that Jim will get one in D.C. as well :)

Well, it seems that my time here isn't going to slow down much, as there is SO much on my schedule! This weekend, we are going to see the famous Normandy beaches of WWII which I have really wanted to see and I think will be very moving. Then, Monday my brother Scott is coming to visit me for a few days! Later that week, I am taking my exam for Certification in the French Language and then its Easter! So I apologize ahead of time if you don't hear from me for a while!

In the mean time, Have a great Palm Sunday and an Incredible Easter! He is Risen! :)

A Week With The Fam.

Wow, these blog titles are getting more and more creative ever time.

My family arrived in Frankfurt on Saturday morning, with the plan to rent a car and drive to Nantes. Of course, they had a bit of trouble since they hadn't slept in 48 hours, not to mention the jet-lag. So they made it as far as Reims, famous for the cathedral where every french King as crowned-King since the first French King, Clovis in 496A.D. Calling me on saturday afternoon to let me know they had arrived, I informed them that they simply couldnt leave the city without visiting the historic site. So they visited that Sunday morning, and arrived in Nantes Sunday evening.

Now, about everyone at IES was leaving friday afternoon for winter break. I beleive that most countries in Europe had at least some IES student in them, so I can't wait to talk to everyone and get advice for my 2 week break in April! However, meanwhile, I realized that I was going to be sitting at my house all weekend waiting for my parents, which as I found out last time that I tried to have a relaxing-do-nothing weekend, can become quite lonely. So I found a friend who wasn't leaving until Saturday morning and we went to see the movie P.S. I Love You in french. The story is basically about a young married couple who are completely in love, and when the husband dies, he sends letters to his wife for a year, helping her to rediscover life and move on. Wow. I have not cried that much in a looong time. Not in A Walk to Remember, not in The Notebook. It was entirely in French so I understood about 90% of it, and although it didnt get great reviews in the states, perhaps watching it in a foreign language made it even better because you had to fill in the parts you didn't understand with your imagination. I finally just stopped wiping away the tears because I figured there would just be more 5 minutes later. So that pretty much sums up my friday night..

Saturday and Sunday, I worked on homework that I knew wouldn't be touched during the week with my fam. I have midterms this next week, so I really have quite a bit of work to do! Sunday night, my family arrived and I made them potage (french pureed vegatable soup) and my version of Croque Monsieurs (hot ham and cheese sandwiches) and I enjoyed introducing them to my home here in France. They also came bearing gifts like Popcorn (which I missed sooo much), girlscout cookies (mmmhh), and the Office Season 3 (eeehhh...so exciting!!!!) from my boyfriend :) I think they made me realize just how much I don't know about France, since every time we went anywhere I was given hundreds of questions that I had no idea how to answer. What is that? Why do the French do that? How much does it cost to do__? Do they just do this at so and so a time or all the time? Now, occasionally I could answer with a nice satisfactory explination or just make something up :) But it was an interesting to hear their view on french customs/way of life.

Monday and Tuesday were basically spent touring Nantes. On monday, we started with the Castle, climbing the ramparts and trying to answer all those Why? What? Where? questions about the way of life of 14th century Dukes. Next we moved on to the huge St. Peter and St. Paul cathedral, walked down some cute french streets, had a street lunch of paninis, quiche, and baguette sandwiches. For the afternoon, I showed them the huge Theatre Graslin, right next to IES where I go to school, and the Fountain of Place Royal. It was kind of strange giving a tour of my every day life, for the simple reason that it is so every-day to me now. I realized how often forget that I am walking next to 14th century cathedrals and buildings built hundreds of years ago. Following French time, we had a nice pasta dinner around 8pm and I taught my family how the French eat in courses instead of simply setting everything on the table. Also, how the French put their bread on the table, not on the plate...something that my parents had a very hard time adjusting to. Tuesday, it rained. Kind of a bummer. But we made the best of it, shopping most of the morning, taking a tram ride to the Fac de Sciences where I take my Microbiology class, and then finally going to see the Machine de l'Ile, a giant mechanical elephant built for tourism that walks down the street, and gives rides to 45 people an hour. The engineers have started to do something every year like this. Last year, it was a giant, who would walk down the streets, sleeping on cars, etc. So that was fun, and I think that Dave, my little brother, really enjoyed that after being dragged about listening to boring history lessons for two days.

Wednesday, my parents decided that we needed to take a train ride somewhere, so since I had not yet been to the sea, we took an hour trip to La Baule, the largest beach in Europe, just west of Nantes. Little did we know that the weather was going to be the worst of the week. Although they enjoyed seeing what trains are really like, at La Baule, it rained all day, which was amplified by the freezing cold wind off the sea. So after about 5 minutes on the soaking wet beach, we retreated into a seaside restaurant to eat Galettes, the Brittany (the region that Nantes was in, before they redrew the borders) specialty. It is basically a crepe with meat, cheese, and vegatables inside, however, its a bit more cruchy. However, they were delicious and one of those dishes that you just cant miss if you go to Brittany.

Next, after spending an hour and a half walking up and down the main streets trying to jump inside any store that was open (Stores often close from 12-2pm for lunch....crazy French), we decided to give up and go see a movie. So, as nothing was in English we decided on a film that they had already seen in the states: "Le Dragon des Mers" or "The Waterhorse." Two funny antedotes. Dave loves french bread. Seriously, everytime we saw a Boulangerie(bakery) he wanted to go inside and buy a baguette. So right before the movie, he says to my dad " If you let me get a baguette, I won't eat popcorn!" So 20 minutes later, Dave and my mom returned right before the start of the movie with a 3 foot long baguette. I think the French people around us were extremly confused. Film and baguette are two things that the French don't even do! But Dave finished this huge baguette in the first 30 minutes of the movie and loved every bite of it :) Secondly, since it was in French my parents and Dave had to go off of what they remembered of the movie to understand it. And even though my mom didnt understand a word, she stilled bawled at the end during the "free willy moment", as I call it, when the lockness monster escapes toward the sea. (oh..oops, movie spoiler)

Thursday, we left Nantes for Rennes, where Marion, the french student that we have hosted for 3 weeks the past 3 summers, lives. On the way, we stopped at Chateaubriand and explored castle ruins. My mom insisted that we have true Chateaubriand(meat and veggies) in Chateaubriand so we ate a 4 course lunch at a local restaurant before continuing to Rennes. We toured the old city, with its pretty wooden midevil houses and I did my best to show them everything that Marion's mother had shown my some weeks before. Then, at 6pm, we arrived at Marions house where her family cooked us this 8 course meal which lasted for 3 hours and allowed us to stay at their home overnight. It was very enjoyable and I was very impressed at how well her parents could speak english. However, I still played the role of translator a bit and experienced again how tiring it is to try to think in both languages at once.

Friday we got up bright and early and headed for Paris. Since this was kind of a spur of the moment trip for my parents, and planning had never become a priority, we had to move a lot around just so that we could visit Paris. However, I think it was worth it. You just can't go to France without seeing Paris. However, not wanting to experience the crazy parisien drivers, we left the rental car at Versailles(the Palance in the country that was stormed during the French revolution) and took the 40 minute train into the city. We started by climbing the first two floors of the Eiffel Tower, getting a beautiful view of Paris. Although there was no snowshoeing, like the last time I was there, it was much warmer and therefore easier to enjoy our time outside in the city. Next, we took the classic boat ride down the Seine river that runs right through Paris and gives you a cute little British audioguide introduction of all the famous buildings that line the river. Following our mini-cruise, we headed over to the Arc de Triomphe right in time for the lighting of the French Tomb of the Unknown soldier and then walked down the Champs Elysee as the sun was setting, enjoying the "New York City" feel and hearing people in so many different languages walking by us. Paris truely is an exciting place. There are so many things to see, and so many interesting people to meet. But I am so happy that I chose Nantes over Paris, not only because I have heard that the IES program in Paris doesn't enfore an only-speak-French rule, but also because I just feel safe and secure here in Nantes, where as in Paris I am always looking over my shoulder making sure Im not getting pick-pocketed. It also is simply HUGE and even with its incredible metro system, takes quite a while to get from one end to the other. However, as this was my Dad and Dave's first time in France, I think they both extremly enjoyed seeing monuments that they had actually heard of :) We finished the day by grabbing some crepes in the Latin Quarter and stopping by the St. Michel Fountain. Its one of my favorite parts of Paris, just because of the nightlife, the people, and the smell in the air (90% of the buildings are restaurants.) The atmosphere is just so lively and fun and I wish we could have spend more time there.

For the evening, we took the train back to Versailles and stayed with an English couple a few miles away from Versailles. My mom and I had stayed with them on our last trip to France and their cute cinderella-ish french neighborhood, their forest full of huge holes from World War II bombings, and even them themselves were exactly as my mother and I had seen them 4 years ago. So we had a relaxing night there, and woke up early again to head back to Versailles to leave the car again. However, we found out that we could tour the gardens of Versailles in our car for only 5 euros, so we visited Marie Anoinettes little Austrian village that she had built so that she could dress up like a peasant when she was feeling homesick, the Temple of Love and other places the King would take his mistresses. Therefore, we got a later start to Paris than we wanted but we spent the day walking around the Tuileries Gardens (the Louvre Palace gardens), the exterieur/courtyards of the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur (my favorite church) and Montmartre(the hill that Sacre Coeur is built on). It is always fun to walk around and look at all the Painters in the famous square next to Sacre Coeur, however, after asking the prices (2500 euros for a 3ft by 2 ft painting) we headed out to find something to eat. Tired and hungry, we finally sat down around 4pm and ordered some "Must-try" food : Escargot (not bad...i think you just eat it for the sauce), Creme Brulee, and some other classic french dishes.


We still hadn't finished our shopping so we tried to quickly head over to Paris's famous shopping district of the "Grands Magasins." Not having much success, we looked at our watches and realized that I still had a train to catch that evening. So, rushing over to the train station, we found out there was a train leaving in 15 minutes for Nantes, and I didnt have a ticket yet! Standing in line, trying to rush the people in front of us, we finally got up the ticket office only to find out that the train, leaving in 3 minutes was full, and the next and last train wasn't leaving for 2 hours and 15 minutes. On any week day, there would have been trains every 45 minutes but it was just our luck that I was trying to get home on a Saturday! But there was nothing we could do, and long story short, (because this blog is getting tooo long), I took my family to their train back to Versailles, said a quick goodbye (for their train was coming in 2 minutes) and went back to the train station to sit, wait, study, and read. I got back to Nantes at about 11:30pm and realized that my parents had been trying to call, but I hadn't heard my phone. So there they were, at their hotel outside of Paris, not being able to sleep because they thought I had been kidnapped or worse. Luckily they decided to call around midnight as I was walking into my room and they were able to sleep peacefully.

So now its Sunday, I am back in Nantes, safe and sound, and am going to spend the rest of my day studying for my midterms! I have European Union, Middle East, and Translation coming up, and these tests are 25% of my grade. So its been a fun and exhausting week, now its back to work! I hope everyone had a great break! Email/Comment/Message me and tell me what you did :)

Suggestions, anyone?

The Classic Brochure Picture, taken at Chambourg during Orientation

Eh hem. The moral of this blog entry is that I like suggestions. Recently I was given a short list of topics that I need to cover in my blog by someone I will keep anonymous, for their protection of course. :) Therefore, the remainder of this post will delve into those topics.

1)"Your crazy Middle East Class" : So, I am taking this class called France and the U.S. and the Middle East from 1945 to Today. As I was almost a Political Science major, these kind of things are vastly interesting to me and I figured that perhaps when I done I'd actually be able to have an intelligent conversation with someone about Iraq, etc. However, aside from learning a ton of history that I have never seen before, the most interesting thing about this class is my teacher who is, in one word, a character. This woman loves this topic with her entire being and it comes out in her utter exasperation (good-natured exasperation) every time we can't remember who was leading Jordan in the 60s or Egypt in the 50s. The weirdest thing though is that this is the first time I have ever had a teacher who wasn't Pro-Israel. For some reason, I have always just assumed that since Israel was our friends they were the only country in the middle east that followed all the rules, etc. However, since taking the class I have realized a little bit why the Arabic people are so angry. We kinda just kicked thousands of Palestinians out of their homes to give a people a homeland that belonged to them 2000 years earlier. To an extreme lesser degree, it'd be like if someone gathered up all the native americans and feeling bad for the wrongs we had done to them, gave them a state just for them, telling all the other americans to leave. Even knowing that Native Americans wern't treated well, those americans would be pretty angry! So Im not saying it was right or wrong, but it makes a lot more sense. The other thing about my teacher is that she has some spunk. She claims that she went to Israel, knocked on all these leaders doors, and heard from their mouths that it was Israel who started some of the israelo-arab wars in the 50s because they wanted to restore the state to the size of Biblical Israel. Thats a pretty big claim to make! But she no problem with it. Example #2, when she was in grad school, she wrote to Henry Kissenger, asking for an interview. He wrote back asking for thousands of dollars as payment. As you can imagine, she was furious. So she decided to write him a letter back calling him "The Black Angel of American Politics." Needless to say, she didnt get the interview. Her third quality is that she is a bit obsessive compulsive, not in the medical way, but..you know what I mean. For example, we have to sit in the same seats for the first two weeks or she'll freak out like we just upset her entire structure of thinking. Next, noises. Cellphones, cars in the street, a girl hitting her earring against her pen, she'll stop the whole class, asking "Im not hearing things am I?" A girl from last semester told me that she had her shoe untied one day, and our prof just stopped class to tie her shoe! Shes probably someone you would just have to meet to understand. But I've done my best to explain.

2.) "Frenglish" : In reality, its really called "Franglais." This is what most of my conversation consists of here in France. Since all of my close friends are americans, and english is forbidden at the center, we speak in French to eachother for the whole day and even a lot of time outside of class. However, there comes a point when you just know that you are not getting your point across and you switch to english, or you try at least. Really, you switch into franglais because you have gotten so used to certain expressions.
Examples.
Hey, Do you want to dejeuner with me a la Fac?
: Translation : Hey, do you want to eat lunch with me at the university?
Maintenant, should we prendre le tram ou marcher?
: Translation: Now, should we take the tram or walk?

And I use this half french/half english language so much that Im not quite sure how I am going to deal with adding in French words and not being understood when I get back to the States. That'll just be fou (crazy).

3.)"Events you're planning as Vice Pres." : The big change we are trying to bring about for IES is to establish some community service activities that are accessible to the students, since its not really IES's strong point right now. However, the problem is that in France they only want you if its for the long haul. You can't just go in and volunteer somewhere for a day from time to time. Also, the youth don't volunteer like they do in the States. Perhaps they're busier with school or something, but it simply isn't stressed, whereas in the US, its the basis for scholarships, admittance to programs, etc. So we're working on that, slowly. The second big event is a trip to the beach in May. La Boule, which is the biggest beach in France and possibly Europe is only 1 hours away by train so we're going to go once its nice enough to swim :) And finally, we're working on setting up a talent show after a conversation club (a topic for another blog) one night to allow more interaction between the French and American students who come. The only challenge now is finding willing participants.

4.) "Your uneventful weekend" : So since I seem to have been going non-stop since I arrived, I decided this weekend was a good time to stay at home and do nothing. Well, other than homework all the time. It was really strange though. It seemed that after 2 months of my time flying by, it came to a screaming hault as I had the time to sit back and think about it. Although I had piles of homework, my mind kept straying to things I missed about home. I do know that my schedule, although busy now, will pick up even more after break and that I will be done in no time. However, this weekend, as I thought about the 3 months ahead of me, I realized that it was still a long long time. And thinking about that made me realize how much I miss everything really. My house and my family, Alma, my friends, internet access, a car or the ability to walk across campus in 5 minutes, snacking throughout the day :), hugs (french ppl don't hug), not having to ask before I use most anything in my house, SNOW!, my boyfriend, etc. So I made some calls home and tried to stay focused, but I think I was releived when classes started monday as I would have something to take my mind off of it. My Desk, where I spent most of my weekend.. :)

5.) "Your feelings" : I pretty much summed up a lot in the previous paragraph. I do feel that I am learning a lot here, although its not always easy to see. I think thats the most frustrating part. You don't really know how much you have gotten better because it happens slowly and everyone gets better at the same time. Sometimes, after a complicated conversation, I am so happy because I realize that I could not have understood that 2 months ago but in the same day, I'll become equally as frustrated because I get all jumbled up trying to say something simple. Its then that I just feel worthless and completly discouraged. I have truly realized just how hard it is to become fluent like a native speaker. and I think the jump from No knowledge to Proficient is easier sometimes that going from Proficient to Fluent. I do worry from time to time that I am not doing enough to get better considering I have this limited time frame, but worrying has kept me motivated to stay involved in activities that will improve my french.So perhaps worrying isn't such a bad thing now. As for my french, its a work in progress.

The other big stress on my mind right now is my summer. I have applied to a ton of internships and am in the process of applying to a few last ones before I just leave it all in God's hands. The problem is that I need a heavy research experience in order to decide finally whether I want to go to Grad school in medicinal chemistry, or to pharmacy school, or just enter the work force and pay off my loans.So this summer is my last chance for most of the big ones. The other big issue for me is where the internship takes place. After being away from my boyfriend for almost a year, I want to avoid not seeing him for another whole summer. So, despite the fact that I am powerless to do anything about it, I constantly worrying about not only getting a research position in an area that I enjoy, but also in a city that would allow us to visit eachother! I should hear back from these programs begining in a few weeks, so until then, I'll just have to hope.

6.)"Your parents coming to visit" : kinda self-explanitory. except that my little brother Dave is coming too. So they are flying into Frankfurt, and driving across France to come stay in my host family's home while my host family goes on vacation in the Alps(it was soo nice of my host family to offer their home!)! I am extremely excited to see them :) What we'll do is a complete mystery to me since nothing is planned yet, so I'll have to fill you in in my next blog. Im thinking, the sea, Paris or the Loire Valley maybe.

Well, thats about it I think. I hope all of my Alma friends have a super great spring break and that everyone else has a wonderful week :)

Bordeaux and Saint Emilion

Sitting down to write this right now has just made me realize that it has been quite a while since I last wrote! Wow..time actually has begun to pass pretty quickly. While my everyday going ons have not changed much in the last 2 weeks (still school, homework, etc.), there have been a few new developments, so I will try to cover the highlights. I apologize ahead of time for a very long blog.

Friday, I left for Bordeaux with my friends Allison, Duong, and Julie. I had some days left on my Eurorail pass so we all decided to plan something. Such a fun weekend! We left after lunch, and took a 4hr train ride arriving right after sunset. The cool thing about it is that Bordeaux is known for its nightlife and the beautiful lit buildings. However, we decided that we wanted a nice dinner and to try some real Bordeaux in Bordeaux. So we found our restaurant and we're enjoying our meal. (and I never know how to lead into this story..) So our waitress came over to take our dinner plates. After grabbing them, she just froze for a minute. "Do you want us to keep our forks for dessert?" I said in French. No response. Just a blank stare. Theres more gorey details which I will spare you of unless you want to know, but turns out she was having a seizure! She didnt fall down or move at all, just froze, and since we were all really worried and made a commotion about it, we finally got the attention of another server to come over and help us. They led her away, but after that the restaurant got really busy. We were sitting there thinking "How can we go on with our dinner..is she going to be ok?" Now, in the U.S., someone would have immediatly come over to the table to reassure you that everything was going to be alright. Not France. We were waving down servers, who kept ignoring us, trying to ask for some info on whether everything was fine. Someone finally told us they had called the ambulance and they thought it was a "crise d'epilepsie" (seizure) , but the manager or owner never stopped by and the whole situation was just insane. Ok, so we had a rough start to our weekend. For the record, the Bordeaux in Bordeaux was very good, but not necessarily better than anywhere else, in my humble opinion.

So trying to forget our little restaurant experience, we went for a walk by the Garonne, the river, and took pictures of the famous bridge, plaza, buildings, etc. Bordeaux really is quite a beautiful city, and immense as well. However, as it was getting late, we returned to our hotel for a late night of girl-talk, etc. The following day, we enjoyed a breakfast of Pain au Chocolat and tea at a local Boulangerie, and visited a few medevil cathedrals. Saint Andre in particular was beautiful, with flying buttresses and an immense pipeorgan. Next we climbed the clocktower for a birdseye view of the whole city. It was incredible and as the weather was perfect. We proceded to search for all the cool looking buildings we had seen from high above and ended up across the river where we found this gigantic blue lion (in the picture) just randomlly placed next to the tram. So we had fun climbing all over it like little kids and getting some strange looks from the passing pedestrians.

Later that afternoon, we took a train to St. Emilion, a village of 300 people which is absurdly cute, and known for being surrounded by vineyards which produce some of the best wine in France. The reason we headed this way was that Duong's host father had a friend who owned a Chateau and vineyard nearby and he was going to let us stay with them for free on Saturday night. After everything was arranged, upon further research we discovered that this man is actually a Vicomte! Wow. It was unbeleivable. We were picked up from St. Emilion by his wife and after arriving at the Chateau were offered to be shown the "Chai," where the wine is made. As it was 8:00 and we had not yet eaten dinner, I think we all thought it would be a quick 5 minute walk-through of the building. Boy was I wrong! An hour and a half later, we had just been given a detailed account of how wine is made, the types of grapes used, processes of fermentation, storage, and the history of the Vicomtes family along with tasting red and white wine that was being stored from this last years harvest. It was incredible! The entire time I was thinking, How many people come to France and pay all this money to try to get an authentic experience? and there we were, for free, being given a personal tour of a business that has been in this family for centuries. Simply amazing! A quick antedote from their family history. So the Vicomtes great-great-great......grandfather from the 11th century was a monk. He happened to be the last of his family name, so the Pope (thats right...the Pope) said, "Go, Marry someone, have children, and carry on your family's name" So he went off, got maried and had 9 children! So now the family symbol is 9 monk cords to represent the story. How crazy is that? The fact that one could know the history of their family that far back is equally incoceivable to me as well.

So finally at about 10:00 we started dinner in the Chateau. As no one had lived in the Chateau for about 30 years between the time the Vicomte's grandfather died and the time they moved in, they have been doing a lot of construction inside and outside for the last 15 years to make it more liveable. So when we arrived, the family was in the process of redoing the dining room into a library and therefore we moved the dinner table right out into the living room, a first for them, and had our meal.They have an 18 year old son and 12 year old daughter and It was simply surreal to be sitting there with a french family, to whom wine and vineyards are their life, and to whom we had no connection whatsoever other than that they were a friend of a host parent, and to sit and talk (in French!) for 2 hours about cultural differences, history, language, etc. So many people dream of having that experience. On top of that, they brought out their 1989 wine which they won a medal for in the region, and we drank that with our dinner, which finished around 12:30. We all were So exhausted but we managed to fit in a family pic to document our time there :)

Sunday morning, I got up bright and early to see the sunrise. Amazing again! I walked out to see frost covered vineyards with a light fog covering the lower parts of the fields, but as the sun rose, everything warmed and the vineyards were so serene and peaceful, with every classic countryside noise..birds chirping, the occasional dog barking, somewhere a distant rooster crowing. Just another moment to thank God for this incredible experience. After breakfast, we were driven back to St. Emilion (while fitting in a quick stop at a neighboring chateau owned by some friends) and said Goodbye so that the Vicomte could be off to mass where he sings in the choir. Such a cute old french man. There for the day, we bought samples of everything that is famous from the town/region..foie-gras, Macaroons, and a bottle of wine. Since St. Emilion is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we also explored the Catacombs and underground church that the monks who founded the city carved out of limestone in the 11th Century. Supposedly, there are 200 miles of catacombs stretching underneath all the vineyards in the surrounding areas, and our guide told us that from time to time, if you are eating at a Chateau close to St. Emilion, they may bring out a bottle of wine from the 11-14th century, because the monks stored their wine in those catacombs that are now under some many different vineyards. (The Vicomtes Chateau was a little to far away to be included) The whole tour and city was very interesting, although a bummer that we couldn't take any pictures.

So Sunday afternoon, we returned to Bordeaux for a few hours, where we had a bit of craziness concerning lost tickets, etc. I beleive 4 minutes before departure, only 2 of the 4 of us were on the train, and the others got on at the very last minute. Phew! I was a bit worried. I think that though we had an incredible time, we were all so releived to come back to Nantes. Its amazing how nice it is to see familiar things, and it was comforting to realize that Nantes is now a place that is something familiar to come back to. Like I said in my last blog, it really has become a second home. I am happy to be back, but I just realized all the work that I have been putting off has really started to build up. So I'll be staying here this weekend, writing papers, filling out internship applications, and reading some more crazy french Microbiology.

Hmm...In other news...I was elected Vice President of my class last week, so since this is my first time doing anything like this it will be interesting. We are right now trying to plan some community service activities, a talent show/pizza night, and a trip to the sea which is only an hour away. Anyways, it is kind of fun to have the experience when your class is only made up of 49 people instead of 350. Oh, and in two weekends from now my parents and little brother are coming to see me, so that's exciting! Assuming that they figure out what they are doing when they are here (Cough Cough Mom and Dad..).

Apart from that, I wish you all a Joyeux Jour de Saint Valentin! (I enjoy saying it the french way because its got my name in the middle :) ) and as always, let me know how you are doing! Or even better(and here's my shameless plug) write me a letter!!! :) Come on...it's gonna be fun..