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!